Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), Chair of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request for the United States Capitol Police:
I now call to order the hearing on the United States Capitol Police.
Thank you Chief Verderosa, Assistant Chief Steven Sund, Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Richard Braddock, General Counsel Gretchen DeMar and members of the Capitol Police Executive Team for joining us today to discuss the United States Capitol Police fiscal year 2020 budget request.
The Capitol Police is an essential agency of the Legislative Branch. Chief, your team is charged with keeping Congress - it’s Members, employees, visitors, and facilities both here and within our districts safe and protected from harm’s way. The men and women of the Capitol Police put their lives on the line each day to ensure Congress is able to operate efficiently. You do your jobs so that we can do ours in a safe, secure but open environment. Thank you Chief and all the officers and civilians of the Capitol Police that work tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of the Capitol complex.
The Capitol Police budget request for fiscal year 2020 is 463 million dollars. A 1.5 percent or 7 million dollars increase over the fiscal year 2019 enacted total. We appreciate your efforts to develop a request with a plan to maintain operational effectiveness while also considering the fiscal constraints that we often face within the Federal Government. Providing adequate resources to keep our Capitol complex physically safe remains this committee’s top priority.
That being said, Chief, thank you and the department again for your service. I look forward to your testimony today. Earlier today we heard from the House Officers including two, the SAA and the CAO, which you have partnered with on a few important initiatives that I hope you will mention. And with that, I would like to yield to my colleague from the State of Washington, Ranking Member, Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
