[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

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                               speech of

                        HON. PEDRO R. PIERLUISI

                             of puerto rico

                    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. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong opposition to 
the Continuing Resolution, which would make devastating cuts to vital 
programs that can help America win the future.
  I recognize the need to reduce our nation's deficit in a thoughtful 
and deliberate manner. But, as a recent editorial stated, ``these are 
the wrong cuts, to the wrong programs, at the wrong time.'' To sharply 
scale back or to eliminate programs that are critical to our nation's 
future in an effort to achieve an arbitrary level of deficit reduction 
is unwise. Although I disagree with many of the cuts included in this 
bill, I will focus my remarks on three programs whose long-term 
benefits far outweigh their short-term costs: the Pell Grant Program, 
COPS funding, and the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving 
Funds.
  Pell Grants give nearly ten million disadvantaged students, who might 
otherwise be unable to afford college, the ability to obtain a 
university education. As the cost of college rises, and economic 
challenges persist, many more families are struggling to pay their 
child's tuition bill. Yet, the legislation we are considering today 
would reduce annual Pell Grant funding for students by nearly $690 on 
average--and by nearly $720 in my district, Puerto Rico. Many students 
who are currently attending college with the help of a Pell Grant, or 
who plan to attend college with the help of a Pell Grant, will be 
unable to do so if this cut is implemented.
  Whatever one's political affiliation, it should be clear that a 
college education opens doors for our young men and women that would 
otherwise remain sealed shut. College graduates earn significantly more 
than those without college degrees and have a broader range of career 
options available to them. And when our students are better educated, 
our economy is more prosperous and our nation is more competitive. Our 
nation will not be able to keep pace with China and other countries if 
we do not increase the number of Americans who graduate from college. 
To decrease Pell Grants in the present environment is not just bitter 
medicine; it is bad medicine.
  Another proposed funding cut that would cost our country dearly in 
the long term is the bill's elimination of the COPS Hiring Program. 
This program puts officers on the streets, protects communities, and 
saves lives. No matter what part of the country you are from, you 
deserve to feel secure in your home. As Attorney General of Puerto Rico 
in the 1990s, I worked with the Clinton Administration to help secure 
passage of the bill that created the COPS program. Since the mid-1990s, 
Puerto Rico has received over $160 million in COPS grants. This funding 
has translated into over 3,500 new police officers in our communities. 
I can attest that programs funded by COPS have been a key ingredient in 
Puerto Rico's fight against crime. If the COPS Hiring Program is 
eliminated and crime increases, it will produce economic and emotional 
costs that far exceed the investment we could make to COPS today. To 
propose the elimination of the COPS Hiring Program--especially at a 
time when states and territories are least able to find the funding 
necessary to safeguard their citizens--is profoundly irresponsible.
  Finally, I have deep concerns about proposed cuts to air and water 
quality improvement programs administered by the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed reductions to the Clean 
Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds will be especially 
difficult to bear on water and wastewater systems across the country. 
Reliable 24-hour delivery of safe drinking water is essential to the 
public health, economic opportunity, and quality of life of my 
constituents and all Americans. The state and tribal grants 
administered by the Environmental Protection Agency through these 
revolving funds are important investments in this infrastructure 
nationwide.
  I am concerned not only with these reductions, but also with 
reductions to the part of the agency that addresses air quality. As a 
result of action late in the 111th Congress, Puerto Rico and the 
territories are--for the first time--eligible for the Diesel Emissions 
Reduction grants program. The program, however, would be sliced in half 
by this bill, limiting its reach and effect toward reducing harmful 
particulate matter emissions. Puerto Rico is challenged with poor air 
quality, and I am concerned with its linkage to asthma and other 
chronic respiratory illnesses. We cannot make progress toward improving 
respiratory health without proper funding for air quality programs.
  Because H.R. 1 proposes cuts to these and many other important 
programs, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill.

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