In Honor Of 115th Congress House Committee On Appropriations
Mr. Speaker, for the past two years, it has been my immense honor to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations. This esteemed committee is charged with the ``power of the purse'' under the Constitution, and I did not take…
Mr. Speaker, for the past two years, it has been my immense honor to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations.
This esteemed committee is charged with the ``power of the purse'' under the Constitution, and I did not take this responsibility lightly. In leading this committee, I had a singular focus on ``getting our work done.''
I am proud to say that in Fiscal Year 2019, we achieved something that hasn't been done in over two decades--passing five Appropriations bills ahead of the end of the fiscal year.
This is not a remarkable feat nor one that deserves applause. But it is historic, and it signifies that we were able to do what the American people sent us here to do: govern responsibly. This was a critical step in returning to the regular federal funding process.
These bills, which fund 75 percent of the federal government, included full funding for the Department of Defense and critical national security programs.
My deepest devotion has always been to our men and women in uniform, all volunteers--to ensure they have the resources they need to fight and succeed in our missions. For their service and sacrifice, they must know they have the full support of the government behind them. I am proud to say we achieved that, providing stability and predictability where there had been none for many years. And we were able to provide historic levels of funding for the care of our veterans who have served our nation.
Prior to this year, we laid the groundwork for this relative success. In Fiscal Year 2018, we passed all 12 bills in record time through ``regular order,'' and three Disaster Supplemental Appropriations bills, historic in scope, to help our fellow citizens in their times of need.
It is the duty of Congress to help communities and families recover in times of great tragedy and emergencies, and the Appropriations Committee was consistently able to respond quickly and get resources into the hands of many communities, states, and regions of our nation.
We achieved this all through an open and transparent process. Over the past two years, we held 160 oversight and budget hearings, received and considered tens of thousands of requests from members, and brought many bills to the floor under an open amendment process. Of this, the committee should be very proud.
One of the hallmarks of the committee is the collegiality and bipartisan spirit in which our members work. Although we did not agree on everything, we all have great respect for the committee and our Constitutional duty to fund the government. Working in this manner best serves our districts, our states, and our country.
I owe a debt of gratitude to my colleagues on the Committee, especially the Subcommittee Chairs and Ranking Members, for their work over the past two years. They have fought ferociously for their priorities, and their intentions have always been to make this nation a better place to live and work:
The Ranking Member of the full committee and the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and incoming Chairwoman, Mrs. Lowey of New York.
The Chairwoman of the Defense Subcommittee and incoming full committee Ranking Member, Ms. Granger of Texas.
The Ranking Member of the Defense Subcommittee, Mr. Visclosky of Indiana.
The Chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee, Mr. Aderholt of Alabama.
The Ranking Member of the Agriculture Subcommittee, Mr. Bishop of Georgia.
The Chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee, Mr. Culberson of Texas.
The Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee, Mr. Serrano of New York.
The Chairman of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Mr. Simpson of Idaho.
The Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Ms. Kaptur of Ohio.
The Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee, Mr. Graves of Georgia.
The Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee, Mr. Quigley of Illinois.
The Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, Mr. Yoder of Kansas.
The Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, Ms. Roybal- Allard of California.
The Chairman of the Interior Subcommittee, Mr. Calvert of California.
The Ranking Member of the Interior Subcommittee, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota.
The Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, Mr. Cole of Oklahoma.
The Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, Ms. DeLauro of Connecticut.
The Chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, Mr. Fortenberry of Nebraska.
The Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, Mr. Ryan of Ohio.
The Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, Mr. Carter of Texas.
The Ranking Member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, Ms. Wasserman Schultz of Florida.
The Chairman of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee and Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky.
The Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, Mr. Diaz-Balart of Florida, and
The Ranking Member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, Mr. Price of North Carolina.
And the 27 other members who served the House Appropriations Committee in the 115th Congress with honor and dedication.
The committee would not have achieved all we did without the work of our faithful staff. These men and women spent countless hours-- sacrificing time with their families, including holidays--preparing for many public hearings and shepherding our legislation to the House floor and to passage. I cannot thank them enough for their time, energy, and professional expertise:
From our front office
Nancy Fox, Staff Director; Maureen Holohan, Shannon O'Keefe, Jennifer Hing, Jason Gray, Marta Hernandez, Tammy Hughes, Rachel Kahler, Parker Van de Water, Tom Doelp, and the late Stephen Sepp.
The Majority's subcommittee professional staff
Tom O'Brien, Andrew Cooper, Justin Masucci, John Martens, Jeff Ashford, Leslie Albright, Colin Samples, Taylor Kelly, Jennifer Miller, Walter Hearne, Brooke Boyer, BG Wright, Allison Deters, Sherry Young, Matt Bower.
Jackie Ripke, Hayden Milberg, Bill Adkins, Barry Walker, Angie Giancarlo, Loraine Heckenberg, Perry Yates, Amy Murphy, Dena Baron, Ariana Sarar, Marybeth Nassif, Brad Allen, Donna Shahbaz, Kris Mallard, Laura Cylke, Robert Joachim.
Dave Roth, Darren Benjamin, Betsy Bina, Jaclyn Kilroy, Kristin Richmond, Susan Ross, Jennifer Cama, Justin Gibbons, Karyn Richman, Lori Bias, Jennifer Panone, Tim Monahan, Sue Quantius, Sarah Young, Kiya Batmanglidj.
Tracey Russell, Craig Higgins, Susan Adams, David Bortnick, Winnie Chang, Dean Koulouris, Clelia Alvarado, Doug Disrud, Cheryle Tucker, Carl Barrick, Jennifer Hollrah, Matt Anderson.
And in the minority
Shalanda Young, Staff Director; Chris Bigelow; Bob Bonner, Martha Foley, Steve Marchese, Joe Carlile, Matt Washington, Matthew Smith, Darek Newby, Erin Kolodjeski, Becky Leggieri, David Reich.
Angela Ohm, Stephen Steigleder, Lisa Molyneux, Rita Culp, Jocelyn Hunn, Robin Juliano, Adam Berg, Jennifer Chartrand, Jaime Shimek, Evan Hollander, Jeri Sparling, Tom Tucker.
I salute each and every member of the Professional Staff of the House Appropriations Committee--who are truly the unsung heroes of Congress.
My father, a former Member of Congress himself, reminded me often that as Members of Congress, we are temporary stewards of the public trust. I have sincerely endeavored to earn that trust every day. I thank my colleagues for placing their confidence in me as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. I thank my personal office staff in Morristown, NJ, and Washington, D.C., and most importantly, I thank my constituents and my home state for the honor of a lifetime serving as the Representative from New Jersey's 11th Congressional District.