Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished ranking Republican member of the Appropriations Committee, my good friend, Ms. Granger, for yielding. I want to begin, Mr. Chair, on a positive note. I want to thank, particularly, my working partner, Rosa DeLauro, whom I have had the great opportunity to work with now for the fifth year. There are a lot of good things in this bill, a lot of things to be proud of. Frankly, we have worked together in the past and continued to work together in this bill. I am particularly pleased with the additional support for the National Institutes of Health and for the Centers for Disease Control. I very much support the focus on early childhood education, on first- generation college students through programs like TRIO and GEAR UP, frankly, through our ChalleNGe children, the IDEA program, and many other good provisions. However, there are certainly a number of other things in this bill that mean I won't be able to support it at this time. I was disappointed to see language inserted throughout the bill that ties the hands of the administration in many ways. The bill forces a return to the Obama-era policies on Title X family programs. The bill ties the hands of the administration by not allowing it to process waivers that protect deeply held religious beliefs of institutions that provide vital services funded in the bill.…”