Steve Israel

Members on both sides of the aisle who represent the Long Island Sound area have long believed that the minimum level of funding to preserve and protect the Sound, not just environmentally but economically, is about $10 million, and that…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Administrator McCarthy, I want to talk to you about the Long Island Sound, something that is not just important to me as a Representative from Long Island, but important to the entire nation.

One out of every three Native Americans have reported being raped at some point in their lifetime.

I am disappointed that the increases proposed in fiscal year 2016 for Indian Health Service and many other agencies are not offset by responsible cuts to lower-priority spending elsewhere.

The U.S. Government must not return those stolen treasures to the Iraqi Government.

I know in my home state New York there is enormous demand, unprecedented demand for access to the affordable care act because in New York the exchanges are going to reduce premiums in half.

The American people deserve better than this.

We just want to recover the taxpayers' money for them.

No veteran should be homeless, no veteran needs to be homeless.

It seems to me that homeless veterans ought to be an absolute priority.

I commend you, Mr. Secretary, and the administration for putting this critical focus into homeless veterans.

I would just point out to my good friend from Virginia that these translators did risk their lives to help our troops in Iraq. If they stayed in Iraq, they would in all likelihood be killed. The reason they come here is to escape…

I am very proud to stand here as a sponsor of this bill to honor New York's 69th Infantry Regiment, known as the Fighting 69th, once fought as part of the Irish Brigade. Soon we will celebrate St. Patrick's day. That is a day when we will…

One of the proudest achievements that I believe this Congress has had is that we passed the largest single increase in veterans health care in the 77-year history of the VA. We did that several months ago. I think that's another shining…

While they talk about cutting the increase, criminals keep increasing. There has been a 3.6 percent increase in violent crimes. We believe at least we should keep pace with those criminals so we can put them behind bars and bring them to…

Now we have been accused of supporting a socialistic government because we want to put more cops on the street and because we want the FBI to have more resources to go after terrorists who are trying to destroy democracy. For that we are a…

I just want to shed some light on some of the rhetoric we've heard. Ripe from the committee report, FBI field investigative resources used for criminal investigative matters have decreased 29 percent from nearly 6,200 agents to 4,400…

The gentleman said that we can afford to cut or shave budgets for anticrime programs like COPS. The gentleman did not support attempts to cut or shave the $90 billion in tax shelters that allow offshore companies to shelter their profits…

With violent crimes increasing for the first time in 15 years, with more pressure on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, less resources and less investments in keeping our communities safe is not the answer. Cutting programs to the FBI…

I will conclude, Madam Chairman, by suggesting that the mainstream view, the view that has been endorsed on a bipartisan basis by mainstream Republicans and Democrats on the Appropriations Committee and the American people is that we…

It's time for a fact check for the American people. The gentleman said, well, we may have spent a lot of money; but now you're spending more. Fact: This bill saves $1.1 billion over last year. Fact: This bill slashes earmark dollar value…

I thank the gentleman. Responding to the gentleman's suggestion that we not do this because we may have a vice president one day, we may have a vice president one day, but that vice president will admit to being vice president. The current…

As I understood his argument, he said that when an organization promotes abortion, we are looking to punish it. But when a country that we happen to like promotes abortion, then we can provide them with $300 million or $400 million in…

I support the spirit and the intent of this amendment. I am concerned that New York City has not effectively advocated for these funds...will the gentleman work with me to pressure New York City to ensure that this agreement is signed? The…

I reclaim my time. The gentleman still has not told us what earmark that he has requested is so vitally important that it should not be scrutinized.