Marsha Blackburn: “I appreciate the recognition, and I want to begin by commending Chairman Cole, his staff, and the Appropriations…”

“I appreciate the recognition, and I want to begin by commending Chairman Cole, his staff, and the Appropriations Committee for the fine work that they have done. As we are looking at the Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, we are looking at $156 billion for fiscal year 2018. My amendment would cut an additional 1 percent out of that number. I think it is important to commend the work that they have done over the past couple of years. If you go back and look at the appropriations numbers in 2016, they were at $163.65 billion; 2017, down to $162.985 billion; and this year, at $156 billion. I think that that work is to be commended. The leadership in this House, the chairman, Chairman Cole, and the work that they are doing is getting us on the right path. It is important that as we as Members of Congress do our job, it is important that we engage the rank-and-file employees that are there in these various agencies--over at the Department of Education and at Labor and HHS--and make certain that they are saving that one penny out of a dollar, because we hit a pretty dubious marker this week. Our national debt now is at $20 trillion, and because of this, because of the responsibility that we have to our children, to our grandchildren, to future generations, because we realize, as Admiral Mullen said on July 6, 2010, the greatest threat to our Nation's security is our Nation's debt, we need to do a little bit more.…”