[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 26 (Thursday, February 17, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E258-E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, as Ranking Member of the 
Homeland Security

[[Page E259]]

Appropriations Subcommittee, rise to discuss the impact this bill will 
have on our Nation's security.
  I am talking, in part, about its impact on the efforts directly 
managed by the Department of Homeland Security. But I am also talking 
about our security in a broader sense: about what makes us strong, 
secure, and prosperous as a Nation.
  As for the bill's Homeland Security title, I want to commend Chairman 
Aderholt for doing what he could to shield several critical programs 
from the ill-advised cuts throughout this bill. Our border security, 
disaster relief, immigration enforcement, and transportation security 
efforts--for the most part--are protected.
  Unfortunately, these investments offer little consolation when we 
look at other areas of the DHS budget. This bill would severely cut 
federal support for state and local first responders, which is 
particularly troubling when we consider the fiscal restraints that 
state and local governments are facing right now.
  The elimination of firefighter grants is especially galling. That cut 
is guaranteed to result in thousands of firefighter layoffs across the 
United States.
  But while I am concerned about the problems with the homeland 
security section of this bill, I know that these cuts pale in 
comparison to other critical domestic services and investments.
  And that is exactly my point: the strength and security of our 
country are about so much more than how much we spend on weapons 
systems or how thoroughly we police the border. They are about the 
investments we make in our people, in our Nation's ability to recover 
from the current economic downturn and compete in the global economy.
  By this measure, this Republican proposal would dangerously weaken 
our security by undermining the things that make us strong--from 
education to scientific research to infrastructure--in an effort to 
achieve an arbitrary level of cuts dictated by the most extreme 
elements of the Republican Conference.
  As an illustration, look no further than my own congressional 
district, the Research Triangle of North Carolina. In just a few 
decades, the Triangle has become one of the leading centers of 
research, education, and innovation in the world--an engine of economic 
growth whose impact extends well beyond state lines.
  But now my Republican colleagues are threatening to undermine the 
very basis of our economic success
  This bill would gut higher education by slashing the maximum Pell 
Grant award by 17 percent. In my district, over 27,000 students receive 
Pell Grants--over 249,000 students in North Carolina overall.
  We cannot possibly ``out-educate'' our competitors by denying a 
college education to thousands of American students and allowing the 
most disadvantaged children to fall even further behind.
  Nor can we ``out-build'' our competitors by slashing funding for 
high-speed rail, clean energy technologies, and other investments in 
the infrastructure that will be necessary to sustain the industries of 
the 21st Century--as this Republican proposal would do. Cuts to 
transportation and infrastructure in this bill would directly result in 
the loss of over 20,000 jobs in North Carolina alone.
  Indeed, the enactment of this measure could sound the final death 
knell for any hope that the United States will become the global market 
leader in ``green'' technologies. Instead, we will only fall further 
behind as China and other countries develop the energy sources that 
will fuel our economy as the price of oil soars.
  Finally, this Republican plan would eviscerate our investments in 
scientific research--in the source of so much of our economic success, 
especially in the Research Triangle.
  It would cut cancer research and other NIH funding by nearly $1.6 
billion. It would cut National Science Foundation research and 
education by over $800 million. And it would cut $400 million from 
agricultural research that keeps our farmers competitive in the global 
market.
  These are just a few of the dozens of initiatives which have built 
the foundation for our Nation's economic prosperity--and, by extension, 
our Nation's security. To take a wrecking ball to this foundation at a 
time when we are struggling to recover from a financial crisis and 
compete again in the modern global economy would be both reckless and 
reprehensible.
  We shouldn't even be calling this bill a Continuing Resolution. The 
``CR'' could more accurately stand for ``Continuing the Recession'', or 
``Choking the Recovery''--because that's exactly what this bill will 
do.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this dangerous measure.

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