Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Committee's Member Day Hearing.
Thank you all for joining us. Welcome to this full Appropriations Committee Member Day hearing. Before we get started, I want to note that due to the number of Members participating, which is very exciting and demonstrates the centrality of the appropriations process, we will not be asking questions.
I cannot stress enough the importance of input from our colleagues, on and off the Committee, in shaping these bills. The Constitution vests the Congress with the power of the purse, and the Appropriations Committee exercises that power through our 12 annual appropriations bills. But every Member, no matter their party or their seniority, has a role in ensuring government funding meets the needs of their districts.
In addition to the funding requests we receive every year, this year the Appropriations Committee is accepting Community Project Funding requests, allowing Members to submit proposals to fund a small universe of worthy projects with strong demonstrations of community support.
I am pleased to report that 331 Members have already submitted over 3,000 community project funding requests. The Appropriations Committee has also received over 73,000 programmatic and language requests.
As we speak, the Committee is carefully examining all of these requests.
And Members will continue to have opportunities to work on appropriations bills as we move through subcommittee and full committee markups and the floor amendment process.
Today, as we provide yet another opportunity for you to make your pitches to the Committee, I look forward to listening and learning. I encourage you to be forthright. Please: tell us what your communities need.
I appreciate your attendance and thank you for your participation. I look forward to a robust dialogue as we work through these requests together. As Members of Congress, we are entrusted with the responsibility to speak up on behalf of our constituents. We owe it to them, and to the American people, to ensure no voice goes unheard.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
