Transcripts For CSPAN2 House Appropriations Subcommittee Deb

CSPAN2 House Appropriations Subcommittee Debates 2021 Commerce Justice Science... July 12, 2024

Including myself have opted to use secure video teleconferencing which allows them to participate remotely. For those on video conference, once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before youre displayed on the main service. Speaking into the microphone activates the camera displaying the speaker on the main screen. Do not stop your remarks if you do not immediately see the screen switch. If the screen does not change after several seconds, please make sure youre not muted. To minimize background news and ensure the correct speaker is displayed we ask the members participating by video remain on mute unless you have recognition. For members using the video option, you will notice a clock on the bottom of your screen that will show how much time is remaining and one minute remaining, the clock will turn to yellow. At 30 seconds remaining i will gently tap the gavel to remind members that their time is almost expired. When your time has expired the clock will turn red and i will move to recognize the other members. In terms of the speaking order, we will follow our traditional order beginning with the chair, the Ranking Member of the subcommittee and then the chair and Ranking Member of the Pro Committee and then any other members who wish to speak finally we have set up an email address to which members can send anything they wish to submit in writing in any of our hearings for markup including documents to be inserted into the record by unanimous consent and so on. Mail address has been provided to your staff. I will remind all members that they must verbally request unanimous consent out loud, for documents or written request to the email address. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this new technology platform. Now let me move on to my opening statement. The fiscal year 2021 comments assigned appropriation bill includes a total of 71. 473 billion dollars in disregularsry Budget Authority which is 1. 7 billion dollars less below last years level. This reflects a natural decline due to decreased needs associated with the 2020 census. That said at this funding level, the bill sustained strong increases to invest in promoting Economic Development and reducing gun violence, addressing climate change, sustaining leadership and Police Accountability and Police Reform. Let me go into a little more detail on some of these. Our nation is at a moment of reckoning with the history and present concerning Racial Discrimination Police Accountability. This moment is long overdue in places like the community i represent in south bronx and elsewhere. The federal government and in particular this subcommittee has an Important Role to play in addressing these problems and it is my intent that this bill is a driving force for change. Toward that end, theyll still include mainly Reform Efforts to enhance Law Enforcement accountability. And to better protect our civil rights. The bill includes increased funding for the civil rights division, the u. S. Attorney and the fbi to conduct pattern and fact investigations of Law Enforcement agencies. We include language to roll back Justice Department policies that have these accountability measures. The bill provides funding for a National Task force on Law Enforcement ev enforcement oversight and the National Police misconduct data base and in addition, 500 million for new Grant Programs proposed for the George Floyd Justice and policing act to drive Law Enforcement reform and accountability practices. And we accelerate the momentum for reform by requiring recipients of federal Law Enforcement grants to first put strongly members into effect at the state and local levels and by requiring those entities who receive money to set aside 25 of those dollars for training and accountability efforts. In other words, this subcommittee will not tolerate Police Violence and the abuse of civil issues using federal dollars. The bill does these things without neglecting important priorities elsewhere. We well reject nasa and noaa and promote Economic Development by supporting significant investments by supporting those investments at the Economic Development administration. And the Development Distance agency and for your Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. We invest in reducing gun violence by reducing a. T. F. Budget by 150 million. By sustaining funding for this for programs and grants and increasing funding for the stop School Violence act. And we promote criminal Justice Reform with large increases for the First Step Act and Second Chance act. The bill will also ensure that our nation science increasing funding by 270 million for National Science foundation. By 35 million for core and missed activities and at noaa significant funding for educational components to assure that were looking at the National Sciences for this work. I do want to recognize the subcommittee staff and my personal staff for work on this bill. Theres been an enormous effort this year under extremely difficult circumstances. On the majority staff, let me thank jeff ashford, shannon mccauley, and tj. And want to thank stephanie, Christian Richmond and darin benjamin. I also want to thank my personal staff, marcus, and ned for the work, youre all truly remarkable. Let me just make a personal note to congratulate kristin who i understand became an american citizen just a few days ago, so congratulations to you, its a great week for you a and were very proud of that and i know youre celebrating and this is great. Before i call here, i do want to recognize the subcommittee staff and personal staff for their work. And as ive done already. Let me also take a moment to recognize and thank the Ranking Member for his contribution and ownership on this bill. I know he doesnt always agree with everything we have done, but i think weve always been able to have an open and honest dialog. Lastly, i want to recognize several members to like myself will be retiring at the end of this congress. Mr. Graves and mr. I want to thank you for your contribution to this bill so friendly and easy to deal with, i really appreciate that. Every chairman appreciates that, i thank you for that. I want to thank you for all of your contributions and we have been lucky to have you on the committee. I also want to reserve a special thank you for my compatriot and dear friend chairman lowey and many years ago we were with the Appropriations Committee on the very same day. It has been a true privilege to serve with someone so dedicated to her community and this institution. On a personal note, barring something unusual, this is the last markup ill be chairing on the Appropriations Committee. I just want to say it has been an honor to serve with all of you these past three years and the subcommittee and for many of you for years before that. This is a special place and despite our strong differences sometimes, were all striving to make this country live up to its ideals. You know, i served 16 years in the new York State Assembly and now 33 in congress and fortunate to receive the Community Support for 46 years. I still love my work, but Health Issues make me stop now. 46 years is a lot in Public Service and time to come home and spend time with grandchildren and constituents. I thank you for your support and my community for that. Now id like to yield to the Ranking Member for his opening remarks. Thank you, chairman serrano and we appreciate your diligence on this bill. Thank you for bringing forth todays fy2021 in the appropriations act. I want to thank you and also your staff for all that youve done to address the priorities and concerns of members on our side of the aisle. I also want to say thank you to the full committee chair, miss lowey and as was mentioned, we wish you the best as you move onto the next chapter of your life and we know well be seeing each other a lot over the next couple of weeks, but we do just because were here today in this subcommittee i do want to point that out. And also, i want to recognize Ranking Member granger. Thank you for your work with help on this bill. Youve been very helpful on a lot of projects that weve worked on, thank you for your diligence and paying close attention to this bill. Its been a pleasure to work aside chairman serrano who chaired this subcommittee and been involved on this subcommittee and this Appropriations Committee for many, many years. And we also wish you the best as you embark on the next chapter of your life. And you certainly have a long and proud career to be proud of and we look forward to continuing our friendship. We will miss your cooperative spirit, no doubt well miss your tremendous sense of humor and your dedication to the vital work that makes this committee so special. Of course, anytime you put a bill like this together you have a lot of people working, from the personal staff to the previously staff on the committee, and the majority staff, their work, and i want to particularly thank the minority staff on our committee, stephanie kristin and bob for all of their hard work to make sure we can move forward with this bill. Theres a lot in this bill that we can agree on. For example, i want to point out things im especially proud of. Providing no less than 400 billion for the block version of the space launch system and the Important Message that congress intends nasa to redouble its effort and produce the block 1b with the 8. 4 liter payload faring, its a strategy capacity for the United States in deep Space Exploration. In light of the administrations ambitious plan to return humans to the moon by 2024, congress has a particular interest in the block 1bs ability to manifest payloads and minimize risk. In this and of course in all of nasas accounts, nasa shall adhere it congressional direction and accelerate production of critical capabilities. Nasa must increase the pace of sls production to ensure an sls is available for the europa missions and other future sites missions in addition to meeting the human exploration needs. I also want to thank chairman serrano for agreeing to include 110 million for nuclear thermal propulsion. Its a necessary level to work toward the design of a flight demonstration by 2024. In addition to key priorities, the bill addresses issues impacting all of our communities. It increases funding for critical drug corps programs and vital initiatives that address the Opioid Epidemic and dn ach dna, and Sexual Assault kit bag logs and too long on the shelves. The bill rightly directs the Justice Department to understake novel approaches to addressing online Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking and obscenity. In addition strong funding for the agencies that ensure compliance with our trade laws and their agreements. Im especially pleased that it funds the Trump Administration new aluminum import monitoring program. This bill also supports the administrations industries of the future initiative with its new investments in quantum information science, artificial intelligence, 5g research and advanced manufacturing. And last but not least i want to thank chairman serrano for including 10 million for vortex southeast program. The number of killer tornados in the southeastern United States is actually disapportionment throughout the country. This will go a long way toward the goal trying to identify those tornado, tore decks vortex southeast to improve Weather Forecast in my home region of the south and in particular around alabama. Unfortunately, strong funding in some areas make deficiencies in this bill more glaring. The flat nasa determination to rebuke the moon to mars Artemis Initiative yet we all saw for ourselves just a few weeks ago when the nation witnessed the first u. S. Base launch astronauts in 10 years. The passion in the American People that they have for a new era for Space Exploration and recognition of Strategic Value of u. S. Space supremacy. President trump rightly wants more fund to go reenergize americas leadership in space. So much so that hes willing to pay for it within an overall austere budget request and we should follow that lead. Instead, the bill flatly rejects capabilities that are needed to land the first woman on the moon, however, we are worst still the bill responds to the police, fbi, u. S. Marshal service are fully funded. The u. S. Attorney general made fighting gun crime one of his Top Priorities and yet not one of his initiatives received a requested increase. And even bipartisan request to address violent gun crime as well as the investigation and profiting of Human Trafficking, Child Exploitation and hightech organized crime have all been marginalized in this bill of the furthermore the bill includes so many new unauthorized conditions that are placed on the burn, jag and cops programs that these programs will be halted perhaps indefinitely. I have no doubt that this side of the aisle could have support supported bipartisan training reforms regarding Police Reform policy if the majority had not bowed to the pressure to defund the police. The bill as controvenes, for the alien arrives at our southern border, undocumented aliens right to counsel, they have that right, but its only at no expense to the taxpayer. A program that provides for direct legal representations of migrants at u. S. Taxpayer sperns will only have consideration for those making the deadly journey north. And the long Second Amendment provisions. Criminal misuse of firearms is an unfortunate outgrowth of a control control agenda with no basis in the sights of criminal justice. However, as this process moves forward i look forward to the opportunity to improve this bill, to Work Together with, on both sides of the aisle as we go to full committee markup. We have a lot to discuss, but i know well undertake a lot of those discussions in a mutually respect manner as weve always done under chairman saran uerrs leadership. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for your work and ill yield back. Let me also add theres two other members of our committee that chairman serrano mentioned that i also do want to mention. Miss roby and mr. Graves, i want to point out your hard work on this committee and you all have been a champion for so many issues, miss roby of course with nasa and Justice Department efforts to assist child and victims of crime and of course, mr. Graves has been very helpful working on wire fraud and threats that are a threat to our Cyber Security and intellectual property. Well be seeing you in the next couple weeks and looking forward to working with you the rest of the yield. With that, ill yield back. Thank you for your kind comments. Now id like to recognize the full Committee Chairwoman for her remarks. Thank you, chairman serrano, and Ranking Member for your work, for their work on this bill as well as the staff for reviewing the many member requests in helping to craft the product before us. I know my dear friend, mr. Serrano, is looking forward to retiring and i wish you the very, very best. Youve been a good friend, an extraordinary leader, but i know well keep in touch. At a time when we must restore americans faith in Law Enforcement, the Thomas Justice bill increases to improve civil rights and Police Practices throughout the country. Including more than 500 million in federal grants for states and localities to carry out Police Reform initiatives. Beyond this urgent responsibility this subcommittee is tasked with investing in programs that promote Economic Development, keep our communities safe, reduce gun violence and advance evidencebased scientific research. This bill would do so by providing an increase of 23 mil

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