Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to begin by agreeing with my friend in terms of the appropriations process itself. He is right to celebrate the appearance of one of the bills down here under an open rule, just as I am sure my friend is aware, the Committee on Appropriations, under Mr. Rogers' and Mrs. Lowey's able leadership, has actually produced a series of bills ready and lined up. So I have no doubt this is the first of many bills--I would hope all bills--that we eventually see on the floor that every Member has an opportunity to come down here and amend as they see fit. I also want to appreciate what my friend had to say about the VA and military construction bill. I think he is absolutely correct. That is one of our very best subcommittees. Chairman Dent and Congressman Bishop are chair and ranking member. They work together extremely well. While I know my friend has some concerns with specific provisions of that, again, this is a process. As he knows, this is our opening process. We will see what happens. I think at the end of the day, that particular legislation will garner a great deal of bipartisan support, in part because of the very points my good friend made in talking about the bill. Now let's move to Zika. Here, we obviously have a different point of view. Let me posit some things, Mr. Speaker, that perhaps those watching this debate and discussion aren't aware of. First, $600 million has already been deployed for Zika.…
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Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the distinguished ranking member of the Small Business Committee.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 211, I call up the bill (H.R. 1968) making further continuing appropriations and other extensions for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate…
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), the distinguished ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.





