Student Loan Relief for Feds Act

Madam Speaker, this is a Republican bill that we are trying to fix to keep the government open and not holding our Federal employees hostage.

I support this bill with qualifications that I know that in the 2020 fiscal year,

Democrats will put forward a humane bill that addresses many of these issues. We gave $1.37 billion for barriers, not the wall.

We are protecting the environment in my own State: the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, the National Butterfly Center, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, places where I have gone and people are pleading: Don't put fences there.

We brought down the number of ICE detention beds from 49,000-50,000 to 40,000, and, of course, we have provided, as I have indicated, and fought for facilities that deal with those children and women that are coming across: $415 million for enhanced medical support; transportation; food; clothing for migrants in detention, particularly children; and $30.5 million for family case management.

As my good friend said, we brought up the alternative detention from 82,000 to 100,000. As my good friend said, there is $400 million for VAWA. We are funding these programs because we understand how important they are.

Finally, of course, in the justice area, we have given money for Byrne grants; Community Oriented Policing Services, sexual assault kits and DNA, Second Chance Act programs, and we funded NASA.

But more importantly, Madam Speaker, I think we have made a very important point that should be made, and that is, as we work toward fiscal year 2020 appropriations, it is critical that we ensure that robust accountability of DHS, including limiting the agency's transfer authority and dramatically reducing the number of people who are held in detention, utilizing proven alternatives to detention, including community-based alternatives and parole for the vast majority of people who are held in detention who pose no public safety threat or risk.

ICE--we have to realize, there must be due process and justice. It is unfortunate that this administration's treatment of immigrants is unconscionable and inhumane. We can do better and we will do better.

But the final point of all of this today is, we stand on the floor to not hold our Federal employees hostage and to open the government. I will be going forward with the qualifications of working on a better bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 31, which makes the consolidated appropriations needed to fund the departments, agencies, and programs of the federal government through September 30, 2019, and hopefully brings to a merciful end the uncertainty and hardship cruelly inflicted upon federal employees, contractors, and the American people by the President's decision to shut down the government.

I thank Chairman Lowey, Ranking Member Granger, and their fellow House conferees for their work in reaching this bipartisan agreement.

Left to our own devices, House Democrats clearly could and would have made many different and better funding decisions but this agreement is the best deal attainable in the circumstances, and importantly, it responsibly funds the government for the remainder, while securing our border.

Madam Speaker, coming from a border state, I am very pleased that this legislation does not provide the President the billions of dollars he demanded for a wasteful, ineffective, and immoral concrete wall.

In fact, it rejects the President's demand for $5.7 billion for his wall and provides instead $1.375 billion for physical barriers with language specifying that new fencing is limited to currently deployed designs--ruling out the President's border wall proposal.

My constituents and other Texans will be gratified to learn that this legislation specifically prohibits construction on sensitive environmental areas such as the Bentsen-Rio State Park, the National Butterfly Center, the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, La Lomita Historical Park, and the Lower Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge between Brownsville, TX, and the Gulf of Mexico.

I also strongly approve that the legislation provides a path to a reduction in ICE detention beds from 49,057 today to 40,520 at the end of the fiscal year, bringing the number of detention beds back to the level of average daily population funded in the FY18 omnibus bill.

This reduction in ICE detention beds, combined with Democratic control of the Appropriations Committee and new biannual inspections of detention facilities, will provide a check on the Trump Administration's out-of-control deportation policy that targets law- abiding families instead of focusing on deporting violent criminals;

The agreement before also provides funding a more humane immigration system with $415 million for enhanced medical support, transportation, food and clothing for migrants in detention, particularly children and families; $30.5 million for family case management; an expansion in Alternatives to Detention participants from 82,000 to 100,000; and a prohibition on ICE using information collected by HHS from sponsors of migrant children for removal and deportation purposes.

I also strongly support the new investments in national security provided in the legislation, including a new Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter, the first icebreaker in over 40 years; and an $884 million increase for the Transportation Security Administration.

In addition to the bipartisan compromise on Homeland Security, the legislation before us includes six other appropriations bills that reject the President's deep budget cuts and instead make bold investments in to fund the programs Americans depend on and need to move our nation forward.

For example, the agreement funds a 1.9 percent pay raise to federal workers that overrides the President's decision to deny these hardworking and dedicated public servants a pay raise.

The agreement provides $3.8 billion for the 2020 Census, an increase of $1 billion, to ensure a fair and accurate count.

The agreement provides more than $3 billion for state and local law enforcement to keep communities safe, including by addressing the opioid crisis, closing sexual assault kit backlogs and hiring more police officers.

Madam Speaker, all Members should celebrate the fact that the agreement provides more than $17 billion in funding for new infrastructure investments to improve our roads, bridges, highways, railways and mass transit.

Another reason why I strongly support the legislation before us is because it restores and increases investments in job-creating initiatives for economic and business development, including for minority and women-owned businesses, that the Trump Administration tried to eliminate or reduce drastically.

Madam Speaker, the bipartisan agreement before us rejects the Trump Administration's attacks on the environment by blocking the Administration's deep cuts to initiatives to protect clean water, clean air and public lands and it invests more than $9 billion in the EPA and Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The agreement reinforces and strengthens America's global leadership by rejecting the Trump Administration's radical cuts and securing $9.1 billion in security assistance for allies, including $3.03 billion for Israel, $5.7 billion for PEPFAR and $1.7 billion for the Food for Peace program.

Madam Speaker, I would like to draw particular attention to provisions in the consolidated appropriations conference report that are of special interest to my congressional district.

Customs and Border Protection: $1.375 billion, $4.325 billion less than the $5.7 billion the Trump administration requested, for approximately 55 miles of physical barrier along the southern border in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

$564 million for the installation of non-intrusive imaging equipment in the in-bound lanes of southwest border land ports of entry-- significantly increasing the percentage of cars and commercial cargo scanned for narcotics and other contraband.

$415 million for humanitarian relief specifically for medical care, transportation, food and cloth; for humanitarian improvements to the McAllen Central Processing Center; and for a new El Paso CBP processing facility.

$100 million for new border security technology.

$77 million for opioid equipment and staffing for use at international mail and express consignment facilities.

$59 million for 600 new CBP Officers and encourages CBP to use fee funding to hire up to 600 additional CBP officers for a total of 1,200 new officers.

Does not fund the Administration's request for joint detention facilities.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--Provides an appropriated level for detention beds that establishes Congress's intent to reduce the daily population in ICE detention to approximately 40,520 by the end of the fiscal year, down from a current count of approximately 49,060.

Expands the Alternatives to Detention program from 82,000 to 100,000.

Provides $30.5 million for ATD family case management, which improves compliance with immigration court obligations by helping families' access community-based support for basic housing, healthcare, legal, and educational needs.

Provides $40 million for additional ICE staffing dedicated to overall ATD case management, particularly for asylum seekers.

Funds additional detention facility inspectors in the Office of Professional Oversight to bring the number of inspections up from once every three years to twice per year.

Provides funding to bring the number of detention facilities in compliance with PREA requirements from 86 percent to 97 percent.

Provides $7.4 million for additional attorneys and for courtroom expansion to assist in the backlog of immigration cases currently in the system.

$1.9 billion for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which focuses on a wide variety of investigations with a cross-border nexus, including those related to human trafficking, financial crimes and cyber investigations.

$7.5 million for new HSI Victim Assistant Specialists and $44 million for new staffing to enhance opioid/fentanyl-related investigations and analyses.

No funding for additional enforcement and removal field personnel.

Coast Guard--12 billion total funding ($10.3 billion in discretionary funding) and provides for an additional 250 military personnel.

Transportation Security Agency (TSA)--$4.9 billion in net discretionary funding, an increase of $884 million above the request and $5 million above the FY 2018 enacted level.

Includes additional funding for computed tomography imaging systems and $40 million for airport explosive detection system reimbursement.

Fully funds the TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, staffing at exit lanes, as required by law, and the Law Enforcement Officer reimbursement program.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)--$16.6 billion in net discretionary funding, an increase of $5.5 billion above the request and $4.2 billion above the FY 2018 enacted level.

$12 billion for disaster relief to help States, communities and citizens respond to and recover from disasters, as well as cost effective mitigation to reduce the risk from future disasters.

$3.1 billion for grants to help States, communities, citizens, and nonprofit organizations, with every grant being at or above the FY 2018 level, including $277 million for training, exercises, and education for our Nation's first responders and emergency managers.

An additional $111 million above the request for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to address high priority cybersecurity and infrastructure protection vulnerabilities.

$10 million in direct funding for Citizenship and Integration grants, instead of relying on fee revenue to support the program.

$820 million to support cutting edge science and technology programs.

The bill includes the following provisions related to phisical barriers: continues language allowing only fencing designs in use as of 2017 and prohibits construction on sensitive environmental areas such as the Bentsen-Rio State Park, the National Butterfly Center, the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, La Lomita Historical Park, and the Lower Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge between Brownsville, TX and the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill improves transparency by requiring ICE to make public information about the numbers and types of people in its custody, such as families; border apprehension detainees; interior enforcement detainees; and those who are in custody who have a positive credible fear claim.

Prohibits DHS from preventing a Member of Congress from entering any facility that is used to detain or otherwise house children and directs DHS to make no changes to the current operations and facility conditions in anticipation of a congressional oversight visit.

Prevents DHS from destroying any record related to potential sexual assault or abuse of any individual in DHS's custody.

Prohibits ICE from using information provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement about sponsors or potential sponsors of unaccompanied children to arrest, detain, or remove those individuals, unless that information reveals the individual has a dangerous criminal background.

Prevents DHS from placing pregnant women in restraints who are in the custody of DHS, except in extraordinary circumstances. Provides oversight of ICE treatment of detainees, including protections for pregnant refugees, prohibiting destruction of detainee sexual assault records, and public reporting related to detainees in ICE custody.

$6.075 billion in discretionary funding for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which is $100 million below the FY 2018 enacted level and $325 million above the President's budget request.

$73.477 billion for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which will fully fund the program in 2019.

$23.141 billion for Child Nutrition Programs, which will fully fund the program in 2019.

International Programs: $1.716 billion for Food for Peace and $210.255 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is funded at $3.08 billion in discretionary funding for the FDA, an increase of $269 million.

Census Bureau--$3.82 billion, an increase of more than $1 billion above FY 2018 and $20.9 million above the President's budget request, to enable the Bureau to effectively prepare for a thorough, accurate, and cost-effective 2020 Decennial Census.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is funded at $3.37 billion, equal to the President's budget request.

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program: $140 million, equal to the FY2018 enacted level. The President had proposed completely eliminating this program.

NOAA Climate Research: $159 million, an increase of $1 million above the FY2018 enacted level and $60.4 million above the President's budget request.

National Weather Service: $1 billion for operating expenses, an increase of $6.6 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $85.5 million above the President's budget request.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)--$30.9 billion overall for Department of Justice, which is more than $638 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $2.1 billion above the President's budget request.

Federal Bureau of Investigation--$9.6 billion, an increase of $177 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $653 million above the President's budget request.

United States Attorneys--$2.2 billion, an increase of $75 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $107 million above the President's budget request.

United States Marshals Service--$2.93 billion, an increase of $25 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $104 million above the President's budget request.

Drug Enforcement Administration--$2.3 billion, an increase of $77 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $80 million above the President's budget request.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)--$1.3 billion, an increase of $23 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and the same as the President's budget request.

Grants to State and Local Law Enforcement--$3.02 billion:

1. $423.5 million for Byrne JAG;

2. $303.5 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program;

3. $178 million to address sexual assault kit and other DNA evidence backlogs;

4. $87.5 million for Second Chance Act programs;

5. $347 million for grant programs to address the opioid crisis;

6. $100 million for the STOP School Violence Act;

7. $497.5 million for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs; and

8. $75 million for grants to improve the NICS firearms background check system.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)--$21.5 billion, an increase of $763.9 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $1.6 billion above the President's budget request.

$1.93 billion for Earth science, an increase of $10 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $146.8 million above the President's budget request, to enable better scientific information about the Earth and its changing climate.

$725 million for aeronautics research, an increase of $40 million above FY 2018 and $91.1 million above the President's budget request, to continue efforts to make passenger air travel safer, more fuel efficient, less noisy, and more environmentally sustainable.

$110 million for NASA's STEM education efforts, an increase of $10 million above FY 2018, to enable NASA to inspire young people to pursue future careers in science. This amount includes funding increases for the Space Grant program, Minority University Research and Education Project, and Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR). The President had proposed eliminating funding for all of these.

$8.1 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), an increase of $307.6 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $603 million above the President's budget request.

Legal Services Corporation is funded at $415 million, $5 million above the FY 2018 enacted level; the President had proposed completely eliminating this program, which helps provide legal assistance to underserved communities.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission--$379.5 million.

International Trade Commission (ITC)--$95 million to enable ITC to investigate unfair trade practices that harm American companies.

Crime Victims Fund is funded at $3.35 billion for victims and for victim services, including a Tribal set-aside of nearly $168 million for programs to assist Native American victims of crime.

Federal Defender Services--$1.15 billion, an increase of $71.7 million.

District of Columbia (DC)--$726 million for special payments to DC, an increase of $4.2 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $67.2 million above the President's budget request; the bill rejects the President's proposal

to eliminate the Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) Program.

Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is funded at $17 million, a modest increase over both the President's budget request and the FY 2018 enacted level.

Small Business Administration (SBA) is funded at $715 million, which is $14.5 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $36.4 million above the President's budget request.

The cap on SBA's 7a loan program increases to $30 billion, which is $1 billion more than the current level and this amount includes $247.7 million for Entrepreneurial Development Programs (EDP), which is $55 million more than the President's budget request.

National Park Service is funded at $3.22 billion, an increase of $20 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $521 million above the President's budget request.

Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education is funded at $3.08 billion, an increase of $17 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $667 million above the President's budget request.

Land and Water Conservation Fund is appropriated $435 million, which is $10 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $435 million above the President's budget request.

Clean Water State Revolving Fund receives $1.7 billion, which is equal to the 2018 enacted level and $300 million above the President's budget request.

Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is funded at $1.2 billion, which is equal to the 2018 enacted level and $300 million above the President's budget request.

Indian Health Service is funded at $5.8 billion, an increase of $266 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $380 million above the President's budget request.

Smithsonian Institution is funded at $1.04 billion, equal to the FY 2018 enacted level and $86 million above the President's budget request.

$155 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (NEA/NEH), the President's budget proposal to eliminate the Agencies.

$5.1 billion for State Department Operations, which is $114 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $662 million above the President's budget request, and $6.1 billion for Embassy and Diplomatic Security, which is the same as the FY 2018 enacted level and $716 million above the President's budget request.

Security Assistance--$9.15 billion, including $3.3 billion for Israel, fully meeting U.S. commitments under the new Memorandum of Understanding.

Education and Cultural Exchanges--$701 million, which is $55 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $542 million above the President's budget request.

Contributions to International Organizations--$1.36 billion for assessed contributions to international organizations, which is $107 million less than the FY 2018 enacted level and $265 million above the President's budget request.

Contributions to International Peacekeeping--$1.55 billion, which is $169 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $355 million above the President's budget request.

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)--$5.7 billion, which is $50 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $945 million above the President's budget request, including $1.35 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)--$1.37 billion in total funding for the operating expenses of USAID, which is $25 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $258 million above the President's budget request.

Global Health Programs--$3.1 billion, including $575 million for family planning programs, $302 million to fight tuberculosis, $145 million for nutrition programs, $755 million to combat malaria, and $290 million for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

Development Assistance--$3 billion for Development Assistance.

Economic Support Fund (ESF)--$3.7 billion in total funding for Economic Support Funds, which is $251 million less than the FY 2018 enacted level.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Assistance--$7.8 billion, which is $173 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $1.46 billion above the President's budget request.

International Disaster Assistance (IDA)--$4.4 billion, which is $100 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $828 million above the President's budget request.

Refugee Assistance--$3.4 billion, which is $73 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $632 million above the President's budget request.

Multilateral Assistance--$1.86 billion to meet U.S. commitments to multilateral organizations and international financial institutions, which is equal to the FY 2018 enacted level and $440 million above the President's budget request.

Peace Corps--$410 million, $500,000 above the FY 2018 enacted level and $14 million above the President's budget request.

Millennium Challenge Corporation--$905 million, which is equal to the FY 2018 enacted level and $105 million above the President's budget request.

Department of Transportation (DOT) $86.5 billion overall for DOT, including $9 billion for new transportation infrastructure. National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER or BUILD) is funded at $900 million, a decrease of $600 million below the FY 2018 enacted level and $900 million above the President's budget request. The funding will be allocated 5o percent to urban areas and 5o percent to rural areas.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)--$17.5 billion, which is $549 million below the FY 2018 enacted level and $1.3 billion above the President's budget request.

Airport Improvement Program grants receive an additional $500 million to accelerate infrastructure investments at airports.

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)--$49.3 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion above the FY 2018 enacted level and $3.5 billion above the President's budget request.

Highway Infrastructure Programs are funded at $3.3 billion for highway and bridge rehabilitation and construction as well as safety improvements at railroad grade crossings.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)--$966 million, an increase of $19 million above the FY2018 enacted level and $52 million above the President's budget request.

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)--$2.9 billion, which is $218 million below the FY 2018 enacted level and $1.9 billion above the President's budget request.

Amtrak is funded at $1.9 billion, equal to FY 2018 enacted level, and $670 million is provided for rail infrastructure improvements.

The Magnetic Levitation Program is funded at $10 million.

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is funded at $13.4 billion, 2.3 billion above the President's budget request. Within this amount, Capital Investment Grants are funded at $2.6 billion, sufficient to fund all signed Full Funding Grant Agreements and continue work on projects in the development pipeline.

Transit Infrastructure Grants are funded at $700 million to improve and modernize transit infrastructure.

Maritime Administration (MARAD)--$1.1 billion, which is $419 million above the President's budget request; within this amount, the Maritime Security Program is funded at $300 million, funding is provided for the construction of a new schoolship, and $293 million is provided for port infrastructure development.

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)--$275 million, which is $21 million above the President's budget request.

$8 billion for new housing and public infrastructure.

Public and Indian Housing (PIH)--$31 billion, an increase of $6.4 billion above the President's budget request.

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance is funded at $20.3 billion, adequate to renew all existing vouchers.

Public Housing Capital Fund is funded at $2.8 billion and the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is funded at $150 million-both programs will revitalize our nation's public housing stock.

A mobility voucher demonstration program is funded at $25 million.

Community Planning and Development (CPD)--$7.7 billion, an increase of $29 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $5 billion above the President's budget request.

Homeless Assistance Grants are funded at $2.6 billion.

Community Development Block Grants are funded at $3.4 billion.

The HOME program is funded at $1.3 billion.

Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS is funded at $393 million.

Housing Programs are funded $12.7 billion, an increase of $726 million above the President's budget request.

$61 million is for the renovation and construction of housing units for the elderly and $30 million is for new housing units for persons with disabilities.

Project-Based Rental Assistance is fully-funded at $11.7 billion.

Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity is funded at $65.3 million, equal to the FY 2018 enacted level and $3 million above the President's budget request.

Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes is slated to receive $279 million, an increase of $49 million above the FY 2018 enacted level and $134 million above the President's budget request.

Madam Speaker, the collateral damage caused by the Trump Shutdown was substantial, long lasting, and unnecessary because it could have been avoided had the President not reneged on his promise to sign the continuing resolution passed by the Senate unanimously on December 19, 2018.

Instead, the President callously shut down the government for 35 days, furloughing

800,000 civil servants and forcing nearly half that many to work without pay, which cost the national economy more than $11 billion in lost productivity and economic output.

Because the President broke his promise, frontline federal employees, including law enforcement and public safety personnel, worked without pay from December 22 through January 25, 2019.

The way these federal workers, many of whom risk their lives in the service of this country, were treated was shameful.

The shutdown forced some employees to look for new jobs or take on extra work, and the pressure was immense for employees and families with no other source of income.

Among those not receiving a pay check for their work were 3,200 Secret Service agents who risk their lives every single day to protect the President and his family.

In addition to the federal employees working without pay, hardworking federal employees at agencies like the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and NASA had been furloughed without pay, plunging them and their families into uncertainty.

Madam Speaker, shutting down the Government of the United States, or any portion thereof, is not an acceptable tactic or strategy for resolving differences regarding policy, funding levels, or governing philosophy.

It should never happen again.

Given the damage mercilessly inflicted on the American people and the economy by the Trump Shutdown, Congress has a fiduciary duty to the American people to ensure the continued, uninterrupted operations of the Government of the United States and its services.

And that begins with an overwhelming majority vote in support of H.J. Res. 31.

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 131 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 131, providing for the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.J. Res. 31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019.

The rule provides for consideration of the legislation under a conference report rule and provides for 1 hour of debate. The rule also provides for standard recess procedures through Friday, February 22.

Madam Speaker, this legislation has been a long time coming. In December, the Senate passed a clean continuing resolution for the seven appropriation bills which hadn't been completed. The President said at the time he would sign that bill, but then the President changed course and demanded $5.7 billion for his campaign promise of a border wall.

As we now know, this led to the longest government shutdown in United States history: 35 days. This put our country in jeopardy by withholding paychecks for 800,000 Federal employees who are patriots and provide critical services to our country and to all Americans.

Put simply, this was not an issue worth shutting down the Federal Government. That is why I am pleased we are here today to avoid another shutdown and begin to get the agencies affected by the shutdown back on track.

This bill provides appropriations for the seven remaining appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year, including Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, Science; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior and Environment; State and Foreign Operations; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Over the past 6 weeks, we heard testimony from the chairs and ranking members of the Appropriations Committee numerous times as we tried to reopen the government last month.

A constant theme from those hearings, from both Democrats and Republicans, was respect for the appropriators and their ability to negotiate a deal. Today's result is confirmation of that trust we placed in our appropriators.

I want to congratulate all the committee Members and staff for their work over the last few weeks.

The conference report in front of us today is by no means perfect, but it represents a compromise between Democrats and Republicans and between the House and the Senate.

There are many programs well funded by this bill. For instance, the Census Bureau will see an increase of more than $1 billion as they prepare for the 2020 Census, to ensure an accurate count.

NASA, which invests heavily in Colorado and across all of the country, will see a $763 million increase over last year to fully fund NASA's science mission directorates and support human

exploration, from the international space station, to the Moon, and on to Mars by 2033.

This legislation provides $17 billion in funding for new infrastructure investments in roads, bridges, transit, and housing, and the bill blocks attempts by the White House to hamstring the EPA and other agencies from protecting our environment.

Importantly, the bill overrides the President's decision to freeze Federal employee pay this year. Instead, it provides a 1.9 percent pay raise for all Federal employees.

This conference agreement also makes smart investments in border security by investing $755 million in infrastructure and technology at ports of entry, additional funds to hire customs agents, $563 million for immigration judges to reduce the backlog, and humanitarian aid for Central American countries and along our border to those who need the help.

The bill also provides $1.375 billion for border fencing, with restrictions protecting sensitive areas and local involvement, and takes steps to reduce the immigration detention bed levels, for which I am confident the House will provide rigorous oversight.

Madam Speaker, there are a few things missing from this agreement to help us repair the damage from the longest partial government shutdown in United States history.

First, the bill does not provide Federal contractors backpay from the shutdown. Federal contractors often work side by side with other Federal employees and perform jobs important to the country and all Americans. These contractors did nothing wrong and deserve to be made whole, just like the 800,000 Federal employees who missed paychecks. Congress needs to work together and make this right.

Additionally, during this shutdown, my State of Colorado, along with California, Louisiana, Vermont, and Washington, took steps to ensure fairness for excepted Federal employees to make them eligible for unemployment insurance because they were forced to continue working without knowing when they would be paid.

Unemployment benefits are a lifeline for situations just like this where there is nowhere else to go, but, unfortunately, the United States Department of Labor choose to make it more difficult for States to provide these benefits. The Department has said it will not reimburse States for these legitimate costs and has threatened additional penalties, putting earned benefits for other unemployed workers at risk.

I am a cosponsor of legislation produced by Representative Katie Hill from California which would clarify current law and ensure our States are reimbursed as intended by Congress. For reasons I don't quite understand, my friends on the other side of the aisle would not accept this provision. I plan to continue working with Representative Katie Hill and Chairman Richie Neal from the Ways and Means Committee to help States like Colorado.

Additionally, I worked to introduce two pieces of legislation during the shutdown to help Federal employees deal with the effects of the shutdown. First was H.R. 545, the Financial Relief for Feds Act, which was introduced by Representative Pete Olson from Texas and Representative Don Beyer from Virginia and me, and this was to ensure Federal employees who made withdrawals during a shutdown from their Thrift Savings Plan or other retirement accounts weren't penalized for their early withdrawals.

TSP saw a 35 percent increase in hardship withdrawals during the shutdown as Federal employees did anything they could to help pay their bills. I hope our legislation is considered by the House quickly to make these Federal employees whole again.

I also introduced H.R. 781, The Student Loan Relief for Feds Act, with Representative Will Hurd from Texas to allow Federal employees to defer their student loans without penalty during a government shutdown. A typical student loan payment is between $200 and $300 a month, and that is money you don't have if you are not getting a paycheck.

These are examples of legislation we need to pass to fix problems created during the shutdown.

There is one more bill I will be introducing today--I just put it in the hopper--to prevent these shutdowns from ever happening again.

If Congress and the White House have a political disagreement, our Federal employees and the American people shouldn't be the pawns who suffer the consequences of the disagreement. My bill, the No More Shutdowns Act, provides automatic continuing appropriations for any fiscal year when appropriations haven't been enacted.

This means whenever there would be a lapse in the appropriations, funding would continue at previously enacted levels, along with an increase to the account for inflation until Congress passes an appropriation bill. This is common sense and would allow our Federal agencies to continue their work without the start and stop of shutdowns and short-term CRs.

I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in making sure shutdowns do not happen again.

Overall, Madam Speaker, this is a good compromise to fully fund these agencies so we can finish last year's work and allow Congress to move on to other important issues that we were sent here to do, like reducing healthcare costs and repairing infrastructure across the country.

I urge all my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying conference agreement, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. Cole. We had a lot of hearings in the Rules Committee where we heard a lot of appropriations bills and, quite frankly, we knew that if we had some time and the appropriators were able to act, that they would come to an agreement, an agreement that didn't give everybody all that they wanted, but gave them something that they wanted.

I think our trust was appropriate at that time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate Mrs. Lesko's and Mr. Cole's comments. In the bill, there is $400-plus million for VAWA. It isn't as if it has been forgotten. But I hear this, and over the last few years, the Republicans have done nothing but try to defund VAWA.

So I am expecting a bill that was signed by Bill Clinton and was authored by the former chairwoman of the Rules Committee, Louise Slaughter, will be something that Democrats will certainly push forward. After listening to Mr. Cole and Mrs. Lesko, I am sure all of the Republicans will be on board with extending VAWA.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining me here today to speak on the rule and the conference report. Providing funding for the Federal Government is one of our most basic responsibilities here in the Congress. Unfortunately, the Congress in the last session failed to get it done and pass an appropriations package or even a short-term continuing resolution, and that resulted in a 35-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, something I hope we all can avoid from this point forward.

Starting on day one of the new Congress, House Democrats began by working to reopen the government, so we could negotiate the remaining issues on border security and finish last year's work once and for all. Today, we are accomplishing that goal.

I want to close with a thank you to the Appropriations Committee, which worked very hard to get this done. I thank the Rules Committee, where we heard every one of these appropriations bills.

I especially thank the 800,000 Federal employees affected by the shutdown, as well as the other 1.2 million Federal employees across the country. They are patriots. The employees are patriots for the work they do each and every day on behalf of our country and our citizens.

I met with dozens of Federal employees during the shutdown. I heard about the uncertainty of how to pay bills and the mental anguish from being sidelined from work because they were not excepted or essential. Despite all that, I still heard that they were proud of their work of 10, 20, even 25 years in public service and how they just wanted to get back to their jobs.

Madam Speaker, I say to Mr. Cole that I am hopeful, too, that we can come together on these important responsibilities. There are going to be basic disagreements, and hopefully, we can work together to iron out most of those. But shutting down the government is something we have to avoid from this point forward. So I hope the lessons we in Congress learned from the shutdown are not forgotten, and we continue working together to prevent this from happening again.

Madam Speaker, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on the rule and on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) for yielding, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, we are here today to pass an appropriations package that should complete our work and fully fund the government for fiscal year 2019.

As Members of this body know, this has been a long road, perhaps much longer than we expected at the beginning.

As we saw at the start of this Congress, the difficulties this body can sometimes face in coming to an agreement can translate into difficulty and hardship for the American people. I think I can speak for all of us here in this body when I say that government shutdowns are bad for the American people, bad for government, and bad policy, and we should all strive to never let them happen again.

Now, of course, we have a little bit different view of how that shutdown came about. It is worth noting for the record that the House actually did vote to fund the government and produced a bill in December that the President said he would sign and a majority of the United States Senate actually favored.

But the Senate gets to set its own rules. They could reach a number of 60, but the Democratic minority chose not to do that. So, given that, that is what shut down the government, and we have all been dealing with the consequences of it ever since.

But today we are poised to finish our work, and though the road may have been difficult, I think Members should look back on this process and commend themselves for what they have accomplished.

Last September, we finalized and passed into law 5 of the 12 funding bills, an accomplishment we had not matched in over 20 years. Those five, which included the two largest bills--Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies--covered approximately 75 percent of all Federal discretionary spending.

Prior to the end of the FY 2018 year, the House also passed four additional spending bills, which we then moved to conference with the Senate.

Indeed, of the seven outstanding spending bills, six of them were negotiated with the Senate and have been ready to be moved for final passage for quite some time. The sticking point has been the final bill on that for Homeland Security, which vexed Members for some time. But though we did not reach a deal on Homeland Security quickly, we did eventually reach a deal.

Today, I am pleased to be standing with my colleagues to bring up seven bipartisan, bicameral, fully negotiated and conferenced spending bills that are ready to be passed and sent to the President's desk for signature.

As we finish the work for fiscal year 2019 and move into our efforts for fiscal year 2020, I want to commend my fellow members of the Appropriations Committee for their hard work.

Thanks to the leadership of people like Ranking Member Kay Granger, Chairwoman Nita Lowey, and Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, and thanks to the hard work of dozens of Members, we are at last ready to send these bills to the President.

I congratulate my friends and colleagues on both sides of the aisle and, indeed, offer those same congratulations to the entire House.

I look forward to working together on fiscal year 2020 in the weeks and months ahead. Perhaps, working together, we can get all the bills passed, conferenced with the Senate, and sent to the President by the end of the fiscal year.

That will certainly be my goal and the goal of every appropriator on both sides of this Chamber and on both sides of the rotunda in the Capitol Building.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of H.R. 1239, the Protecting Women Act of 2019.

This bill provides a straight extension of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, as is it commonly known, through the end of the fiscal year.

Beginning in 1994, VAWA has provided grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute violent crimes against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

Unfortunately, VAWA is scheduled to expire, literally, tomorrow, and my friends on the other side, frankly, are just standing by and watching it happen, even though they control this Chamber.

Republicans fought to include an extension of VAWA in the underlying conference report as we had done in previous continuing resolutions, but we were rebuffed by our other friends on the other side of the aisle, and they have not made any move to schedule a separate vote on this floor to avoid a lapse in this critical program, so Republicans will.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to vote on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), my good friend and fellow member of the Rules Committee, to discuss her bill and this previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend, frankly, for his response on the VAWA issue. And I don't pretend to speak for all Republicans. I will point out to my friend, actually the last time we did a reauthorization, I voted against the Republican bill to bring the Senate Democratic bill to the floor because I thought it was a better bill. It was a stronger bill.

It had Tribal provisions and it had areas we had not addressed previously. I thought those were good changes. It is pretty unusual for me to break with my own team and bring down the Republican bill and pass the Democratic bill, but I was proud to do it because it was a better bill.

I don't think simply having money in place is the same as having the authorizations in place. This is an opportunity, in my view, to just have continuity while we do exactly what my friend suggests. Let's find a way, and come together. I think we will. That has traditionally been a bipartisan bill. I hope we do it. But I don't see a reason why we should have a lapse in authority.

This is something we tried to put, actually, in conference in the base bill, and it would not have prevented my friends from going on and offering a new authorization. It was just simply, let's keep this going.

So to me, the previous question that we will offer should the rule be defeated, will have that opportunity, and I hope my friends avail themselves of that.

In addition to that, I want to thank my friends genuinely for the cooperation in this process on the appropriations bills themselves. As I said, six of these bills were essentially agreed to in December in a bipartisan way between both the House and the Senate.

So we will hear the argument or could hear the argument tonight. All of this is new, and there is a 1,000-plus page bill, and what have you. The reality is, there are probably about 75 pages, I am told from the conferees, of new text here. Most of this is actually something that this House has voted on and passed in December.

Not reopening old issues and settling them where we could and then moving forward is something my friends ought to be proud of. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do. It let us get on to the important business of fiscal year 2020 more quickly and more expeditiously.

And my friends are in the majority, and if they want to make changes there, additions or subtractions, they will be in a position to do that. But I think closing the book here is a good one.

I hope all of us, honestly, as Republicans and Democrats--I have been around here long enough to be in the minority, in the majority, and in the minority again. It tends to move back and forth.

But as my friends have pointed out, these are important funding bills that provide for the continuity of government. And in these negotiations nobody ever gets everything they want. It is not possible, even when one side or the other controls both Chambers and the White House. I have been here when that has happened on our side and on my friend's side. You still never get everything you want in appropriations.

But I think there is going to be a premium placed on cooperation and negotiations going forward. There is no question. We have a Democratic House, we have a Republican Senate, and we have a Republican President.

Everything that we are going to accomplish in the next 18 months for the American people will have to be a compromise where we work together. I actually think this is a good first step in starting that process. I think my friends are to be commended in doing that.

We won't get every vote for this underlying legislation on our side. I doubt my friends will get every vote on their side, but we will have a pretty substantial bipartisan majority in favor of moving forward, fully funding the government and, hopefully, that sets the example for what we do in fiscal year 2020.

Again, I look forward to working with my friends going forward. I look forward to beginning that process here tonight by working together to pass a bill the Senate has already passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion and that the President has said he will sign, and I assume that he certainly will.

As difficult as this road has been, Madam Speaker, I think this is actually a hopeful moment for this Chamber and maybe the beginning of good habits of negotiation, compromise, and cooperation, because we are certainly going to need those habits going forward.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, and, again, I thank him quite sincerely for his work. We have had the opportunity to work together now in the Rules Committee for a little while. We hadn't had that opportunity previously. He is always a thoughtful and an interesting voice in that body and certainly here on the floor.

While we will disagree over the rule and might well disagree over the previous question, on the underlying legislation, I suspect my friend and I will be voting on the same side tonight.

That is something I hope that the American people take note of. We will have lots of Democrats and lots of Republicans voting on the same side. Yes, we have our differences about how we got here or what we would have liked. But at the end of the day, we have come together and given the American people what they deserve, and that is a fully funded, operational government, and we have resolved our differences in conference.

I, too, want to join my friends in congratulating the chair of the conference committee, Chair Lowey; congratulating our ranking member, Kay Granger; and congratulating their counterparts, Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy for the work they did in working through these knotty issues and bringing us together.

Yes, I wish it happened more quickly, but they are not the only players. I think all four of them worked in good faith and served our Chambers well in their deliberations.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I urge support for the underlying measure. While the process of finalizing full-year funding for fiscal year 2019 may have taken longer than we expected, today's measure will complete the process. I expect the House will pass these seven bills today, and I expect that the President will sign them in the very near future.

I applaud and commend my colleagues for their hard work and hope that we will carry this spirit of bipartisanship with us as we move forward into the fiscal year 2020 appropriations process.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Cole for yielding me the time.

Madam Speaker, if the previous question is defeated, we will amend the rule to bring an extension of the Violence Against Women Act, which I have titled the Protecting Women Act of 2019.

Without action, the Violence Against Women Act will expire tomorrow at midnight. Madam Speaker, I am a survivor of domestic violence, and as a survivor of domestic violence, I am calling on all of my colleagues to reauthorize this critical bill that helps women and children who have experienced the trauma and pain of abuse and who need our support.

While we may not agree on every provision of the current Violence Against Women Act, I think we can all agree on the overall importance of this law and the programs and services it provides.

Since the Violence Against Women Act was first signed into law in 1994, it has played a vital role in supporting American women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and trafficking, and improving our response to these crimes while we work to prevent them altogether.

Progress has been made, but there is more work to do. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three women and one in six men experience some form of contact sexual violence during their lifetime.

I am confident that every Member of this body believes those statistics are unacceptable. I know that we agree that we must end domestic violence and care for victims left in its wake. We need to enhance awareness, work for prevention, and ensure those harmed physically and mentally have access to the resources and support they need.

A clean extension of the Violence Against Women Act through the end of the fiscal year ensures that the law and the programs it supports remain in place.

It ensures there isn't a lapse in services for those in need while we discuss ways that we can strengthen and improve it together.

As a co-chairwoman of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, I want a bill that every woman in this Chamber can support. I know that my co-chair of the Caucus, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, has also told me she wants a Violence Against Women Act that every woman in this Chamber can support.

That is why, if the previous question is defeated, Republicans will seek a vote on a clean extension of the last Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. This will give us time, Republicans and Democrats, to work toward a bipartisan solution that helps women and girls, protects religious liberties, and protects women and children.

I hope all my colleagues will recognize the importance of acting now to prevent a lapse in authorization and defeat the previous question so that we can work to protect the vulnerable from these heinous crimes.

Madam Speaker, since the 116th Congress took office this January, I have voted five times to open up the Federal Government. And today I rise in support of the conference report. I want to congratulate the conferees, and specifically, Chairman Lowey, Ranking Member Granger, and the other conferees for their hard work, for coming together, and spending so much time to ensure that we have a bill moving forward that opens up our government.

This is a bipartisan statement about who we are as a country. This was a fight to reclaim the country that welcomed me as a little girl from Guatemala, to make sure that this country welcomes other children who come here fleeing violence and poverty.

This bill will prevent another stupid, costly government shutdown, and it is time that we give our Federal workers some certainty, move past this crisis, and get down to the business of governing.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure.