[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 6, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this continuing 
resolution and want to thank the Chairman, Mr. Obey, for his leadership 
and that of his staff. Indeed, in the last few weeks alone, I think we 
have seen more leadership and more courage than we saw at any time in 
the last 6 years. You made hard choices--unpopular choices. But you 
took the first steps toward restoring fiscal discipline and order to a 
process that for too long had been broken.
  And so, Mr. Obey, I want to thank you--for reminding us that our 
first obligation is not to the special interests, but to the American 
people. To the business of governing responsibly. I am honored to call 
you my Chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is only being considered for one reason and 
one reason alone--and that is because when the Republican majority left 
town last year they did so without passing a single domestic 
appropriations bill. No funding for health care. No funding for our 
veterans or our seniors. That is what the taxpayers' hard-earned 
dollars got them last year--nothing.
  And so, I would say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--
you had your chance to make this an open, transparent, functioning 
process. You had your opportunity to crack down on earmarks and special 
interests. You had that opportunity last year--for the last 6 years. 
And you squandered it and left a mess.
  This bill is but the first few steps Democrats are taking toward 
cleaning up the mess left by the previous majority. It is by no means a 
perfect process. We are under no illusions. But by suspending this 
institution's broken earmark process, we have an opportunity to look 
toward next year with some optimism. Indeed, we used this opportunity 
to strengthen our capacity to respond to the needs of the public and 
restore funding to a few key priorities that had for too long been 
neglected by the previous majority.
  This is true in area after area--first and foremost, with respect to 
our troops. Under this bill, men and women wounded in action in Iraq 
and Afghanistan will receive the health care they need, as will 325,000 
additional veterans. We have restored some funding for Head Start and 
early childhood education, for special education and for Pell Grants 
which will help 5.3 million students pay for college. And by providing 
an additional $125 million for the President's underfunded, undermanned 
No Child Left Behind program, we can begin to help 6,700 underachieving 
schools turn around. So, too, are we restoring funding to the National 
Institutes of Health, which the previous majority cut for the first 
time in 36 years. This bill supports an additional 500 research project 
grants, 1,500 first-time investigators, and expands funding for high 
risk and high impact research--the future of medicine.
  As the chair of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, I am 
pleased we were able to hold the line on rural development programs 
which provide assistance for rural utilities systems, business 
development, community facilities and housing--programs that otherwise 
would have seen draconian cuts under the President's FY07 request. We 
provide $65 million to help us counter the avian flu threat. And having 
been alarmed by breakdowns in our food safety and drug safety processes 
these last few years--from Vioxx to spinach--I am pleased we were able 
to provide some increases in this bill to help us begin to restore 
public confidence in these areas--at the USDA and FDA.
  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, with this bill, we are sending the same message 
to the American people about their Congress. And so, I want to again 
commend my friend and chairman, Mr. Obey, for doing remarkable work 
under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. It is time to put 
the public interest before the special interests. And with this bill, 
we take the first steps necessary to doing that. It is about time.

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