This bill will harm not just government agencies, private contractors, and federal employees - it will harm the American people.
Thank you Chairman Crenshaw. This has been our first year working together on this subcommittee, and I wanted to thank you for your efforts to work with our side, and to find common ground where we can. Although we disagree from time to time, we are able to do it in a collegial manner.
Unfortunately, today is one of those days where the Chairman and I must disagree. The Financial Services and General Government bill received an unbelievably inadequate allocation level that has tied the hands of Chairman Crenshaw. This bill is $4.3 billion below fiscal year 2013, a 20 percent cut. In fact, this allocation is actually $3.3 billion below the current sequestration level, and almost $7 billion below the President's request.
These numbers are simply not sustainable for large parts of our government. Rather than allowing the Appropriations Committee to do its job, the Ryan budget and the lack of a solution for sequestration have hamstrung this Committee. Some people seem to believe that we can balance the budget entirely through discretionary spending cuts, and this allocation reflects that wrongheaded view. For too long, this Committee has sat silently while others limit our ability to do our jobs. That needs to end, or we will continue to mark up bills that have no chance of becoming law.
As is to be expected at this funding level, many agencies are grossly underfunded. For example, the General Services Administration sustains a $2.4 billion cut from the current sequestration level. Among other things, the GSA is essentially our government's landlord, superintendent, and developer all rolled into one. These cuts will have a significant impact on our economy and on job creation, because many private sector contractors depend upon business from the federal government. At this funding level, we are missing a significant opportunity to create construction jobs and reduce government leasing costs.
The SEC is funded at a level of $1.371 billion, which is more than $300 million below the President's request. The SEC has new mandates and missions as a result of both Dodd-Frank financial reform and the JOBS Act, but this committee's funding levels have not kept pace with these additional responsibilities. We have seen the result of insufficient SEC enforcement funding in the past - and I am concerned that we a just asking for a future crisis at this funding level.
The Election Assistance Commission is eliminated in this bill. Even though Republicans in the Senate continue to deny confirmation votes on nominated EAC commissioners, the EAC still provides vital data and assistance to help states and localities purchase voting equipment and in modernize election administration. Instead of cutting the EAC's funding we should be giving this agency the resources it needs to do its job.
I am also concerned by some of the Committee's actions with regard to the District of Columbia. The DC Tuition Assistance Grant program has been cut in half, which will greatly impact the ability of District residents to attend college. Additionally, the report includes language attempting to undermine the District's vote on local budget autonomy.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Internal Revenue Service, which sustains an extreme 30 percent cut from the President's budget request. We all know that the IRS has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. We also know that their inappropriate targeting efforts affected liberal and conservative groups alike. I share the majority's outrage over these improper practices, but a multi-billion dollar cut to the agency will do nothing to solve these problems. Rather than attempting to fund training and reform programs, the majority has chosen to lay off thousands of IRS employees - almost all of whom had absolutely nothing to do with this issue. This funding level is something that will make tax cheats everywhere smile.
On top of these wholesale budget reductions, this bill is hindered by a plague of unnecessary and harmful riders. Let me name just a few of the more egregious. Within the Department of the Treasury, the bill includes a rider attempting to roll back our nation's 'people-to-people' Cuba travel policy, as well as a rider preventing IRS implementation of the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act. The bill also includes riders attempting to limit the President's power to issue signing statements and to create executive orders. The bill attempts to undermine the ongoing Dodd-Frank implementation effort by requiring a biased report of the costs of implementation. And the bill includes two controversial abortion riders: one that prohibits plans offered through the Affordable Care Act from offering coverage for abortion services, and one that continues to prevent the District of Columbia from using its own funds to pay for abortion services. I find both of these riders to be highly objectionable, and I am troubled that we continue to restrict how the District uses its own funds in this regard.
Very few, if any, of these riders are likely to survive in the end. As in past years, they simply serve political ends, and are a huge impediment to reaching reasonable agreement in the appropriations process.
I know the Chairman has been put in a difficult spot by the Ryan budget and the 302(b) allocation levels. But this bill will harm not just government agencies, private contractors, and federal employees - it will harm the American people. Unfortunately, this is not a bill that I, or anyone on my side, can support.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
