Steve Israel

it warms my heart to know that the gentlewoman in her district visits schools and talks to local schoolchildren, and emphasizes those values of civility and tolerance and mutual understanding in our classrooms, and doesn't try to separate…

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…

Well, here we go again. We've been here week after week after week and entertained amendment after amendment after amendment. I respect my colleagues for trying. Unfortunately, a majority of their caucus disagrees with them, as does a…

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…

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…

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…

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 just make a brief point and then yield to the gentleman from Ohio. With the deepest respect to the gentlewoman, no one is implying that there is not concern by every Member of this body for those who have drug problems, for those…

this is like a soap opera. It doesn't matter when the American people tune it in, turn it on, it's the same script, the same characters, the same plot, the dialogue. Every week this small group of Members tries to offer these amendments…

Well, another fringe offering. Now we're down to .5 percent. The solution to America's problems is now down to .5 percent. The solution to America's problems is now down to .5 percent, less Pell Grant money so the kids can go to college…

Yes, we are making these investments. They are investments in strengthening American families, making sure kids can go to college, making sure people can afford to heat their homes. I will tell you something else, it's not just us, this…

I appreciate all these donkeys on posters. We won't say anything about the 3 trillion elephants that ought to be on these posters, the $3 trillion in debt that part of this fringe has supported when they wanted to spend more money on…

Reclaiming my time, I'm suggesting that it was more than a quarter percent when it came to a $13 billion tax cut for the biggest oil company executives on Earth, and it was more than a quarter percent cut when it came to excessive…

we have heard in this debate that the other side is not really cutting programs, they are cutting the rate of growth of programs. But we provided about a dozen programs that get no increase in this budget, that in fact will be cut from…

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…

Well, Madam Chairman, it is refreshing to hear some candor on the other side in their admission that there is a fringe. And that is, in fact, a matter of fact because there wasn't a single Republican vote against this appropriations bill…

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…

I reclaim my time. Madam Chairman, I am using the terms the gentlewoman insists on. I am reading directly from the committee report. The committee report states that there is $26,848,000 for adoption opportunities. Because we all want to…

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…

I would like to commend to the gentleman's attention $3 trillion in elephants, which is $3 trillion in debt that the other side built up while they were in control of this Congress; $3 trillion elephants rampaging through the Federal…

I think it is a critical reminder to the Palestinian Authority that they need to get their act together and that we are losing patience with them. I was at the border of Israel and Gaza when the gate fell down. The Israeli people said to…

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 think that we're all beginning to figure this out now. When this original amendment was offered, it was advertised as a cut to the foreign assistance budget, despite the fact that Democrats already cut the foreign assistance budget. Then…

I thank the chairwoman. I just cannot let this go. Pile on and pile on and pile on? Let me tell you what has been piled on, $3 trillion in debt, piled on by the other side. Growing government? The other side was in charge for the past many…

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…