On the recordSeptember 16, 2014
I thank our very capable ranking member, Mrs. Lowey of New York, for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, I echo the disappointment already expressed that, once again, the end of the fiscal year has come, and rather than this House completing its work on the 12 appropriations bills, we are scrambling to pass now another continuing resolution. This is a classic definition of ``dysfunction''--kicking the can down the road, shirking our responsibility to address the priorities of our Nation through precise 2015 departmental funding levels and with decisiveness. We get the reverse of that--uncertainty, a 3 month kick the can. It hurts job growth. It hurts economic recovery. We must reverse this regression and inertia. Congress must make the difficult choices that allow our Republic to function with certainty and dispatch again. On the Energy and Water Subcommittee, we took great strides to set such a path forward. While I did not agree with some parts of the bill, our subcommittee did its job to fund critical job creation in water resource projects, to support science activities necessary for American competitiveness and economic growth, to fund work on critical national defense priorities, nuclear nonproliferation, and our cleanup efforts. Unfortunately, this continuing resolution stalls that work. Contracts cannot be let, and it keeps us mired in the past.…
