[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 66 (Thursday, May 10, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E759-E760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 8, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5326) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, 
     Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2013, and for other purposes:

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Chair, I rise in reluctant opposition to H.R. 5326, 
the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill for FY2013.
  This spending bill provides funding for essential agencies, including 
the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Census Bureau, 
Economic Development Administration, FBI, Drug Enforcement agency, U.S. 
Attorneys and Marshalls, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.
  I recognize that Chairman Wolf had a difficult task because of the 
sharply reduced allocations included in the Ryan Budget, which I 
opposed. The bipartisan agreement represented by the Budget Control Act 
of 2011 already made sharp cuts to spending levels. The decision by 
this Republican-led Congress to break that agreement to make even 
deeper cuts on the programs Americans rely on will make it very 
difficult to come up with a final spending agreement with the Senate. 
The Obama Administration has issued a Statement of Administration 
Policy expressing strong opposition to H.R. 5326.
  This bill underfunds programs that are critical to Hawaii, including 
programs that support fisheries and ocean stewardship programs. It 
includes a $20 million cut to the Legal Services Corporation, denying 
legal aid to tens of thousands in underserved communities, as well as 
many military families. Funding for the Community Oriented Policing 
Services, COPS, program in the bill is well below the administration's 
request. Fortunately, we were successful in passing an amendment to 
increase funding for COPS by $126 million (equivalent to the FY 2012 
level), but many other amendments to this bill have made it even worse. 
For instance, amendments were adopted that would: Prevent use of 
Department of Justice funds in the legal defense of the Affordable Care 
Act; Prohibit funding to implement the National Ocean Policy; Eliminate 
funding for science-based climate change education efforts that will 
help prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, 
and mathematics; Prohibit funding of Census Bureau collection of 
detailed housing, economic, and demographic statistics.

[[Page E760]]

  I expect this bill will pass today. I only hope that it can be 
improved in conference with the Senate so I can vote for the final 
spending agreement.

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