Thank you, Chairman Graves, Chairman Frelinghuysen, and Ranking Member Quigley, for your work on this bill.
The Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Services bill is inadequate at best and negligent at worst. It is outrageous that this Republican raw deal does not include a dime for direct assistance to state governments for election security, yet yesterday we approved subcommittee allocations in which the largest non-defense increase will presumably pave the way to fund President Trump’s boondoggle of a border wall. Our committee should focus on the threat right in front of our noses and secure our elections system, not waste billions of dollars on one of the President’s campaign promises that will not make us safer.
Additionally, this bill would undercut important investments in economic development by cutting $60 million from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
As in previous years, inadequate funding is only part of the story. Poison pill riders continue the Republican Majority’s assault on consumers, women’s reproductive healthcare, and the District of Columbia.
The bill has some moderately bright spots, like level funding for Small Business loans and important programs to combat the opioid crisis, such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking and Drug Free Communities programs. However, I must remind my colleagues that level funding does not equate to sufficient funding.
I am pleased by report language directing USPS to issue a report on the adequacy of personnel levels, the use of temporary employees, and consolidation of distribution centers. Inconsistent mail delivery has reached epidemic proportions, particularly in my district. This is unacceptable and USPS must do better.
Democrats will engage in an appropriations process that invests wisely in essential programs, not an ideologically driven process that only serves to highlight our divisions. Sadly, this bill fails this basic test.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
