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 House of Representatives:
The subcommittee will come to order.
Good Morning, today we gather to discuss the fiscal year 2020 budget request for the House of Representatives. To begin, I would like to welcome the Officers and Officials of the House to our subcommittee hearing. Testifying before us are the Honorable Cheryl Johnson, our new Clerk of the House; the Honorable Paul Irving, Sergeant at Arms; and the Honorable Phil Kiko, Chief Administrative Officer. Ms. Johnson welcome back to the House and congratulations on your new assignment.
Ms. Johnson you have joined a talented team of Officers and Officials that work hard each day to ensure we have the tools we need to legislate. These incredible teams provide unmatched support in providing safety, security, administrative, technical, consulting and legislative solutions to all Members and their staff. Congratulations again and I look forward to working with you during this legislative year.
Before we start with the testimonies, I would like to take time to thank all the Officers, Officials and their staffs for their extraordinary work over the past year and especially during the massive transition to the 116th Congress. The transition of a Congress affects everyone in the House. Each transition brings its own unique challenges and even more so when there is a change in Majority. This transition was one of the largest and I applaud each of your teams’ efforts in making the 116th Congressional transition seamless, quick, and manageable.
Now let’s get started with the work of this subcommittee. The fiscal year 2020 budget request for the House of Representatives is 1.4 billion dollars. This request will allow us Members an opportunity to retain and hire the best and the brightest. The work we do here is important and it requires a “certain set of skills" to negotiate legislation that will move our country forward. This request also includes funding that will help us to maintain and grow our physical and cyber security postures, two areas that remain a top priority for this Committee. Later this morning we will hear from the Capitol Police. Lastly, this request includes funding for the newly established offices of Diversity and Inclusion and Whistleblower Ombudsman. Overall, this request stands to provide the House of Representatives the resources necessary for us to represent our constituents by affecting policy and implementing laws that will address our country’s critical needs.
With that in mind, I look forward to each of your testimonies today. At this time, I will yield to my colleague, Ranking Member, Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
