[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 143 (Thursday, October 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1401-E1402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TSA OFFICE OF INSPECTION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 30, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stop the government 
from shutting down.
  What we are doing today is budgeting or appropriating but a desperate 
Hail Mary to save thousands of jobs and prevent another waste of $24 
billion in lost economic productivity like we saw the last time House 
Republicans succeeded in shutting down the government.
  Today I will vote for H.R. 719 even though it goes against sound 
fiscal practice by including the budget gimmickry known as 
sequestration, a fiscal bludgeon that makes across the board cuts in 
funding for the valuable services depended upon by American children, 
seniors, workers, veterans, students, and small businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 719, ``Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 
2016,'' which extends current Fiscal Year 2015 government funding for 
nearly all agencies through December 11, 2015, at a rate equal to an 
annual level of $1.017 trillion, a level consistent with the combined 
top-line post-sequester discretionary spending caps for Fiscal Year 
2016 set by the Budget Control Act.
  H.R. 719 also provides funding for Overseas Contingency Operations, 
which are exempt from the BCA caps, at a rate of $74.8 billion, an 
amount roughly equal to a continuation of the Fiscal Year 2015 level.
  Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that we have again been placed in the 
position of having to fund the government through the device of a 
continuing resolution rather than through the normal appropriations 
process of considering and voting on the twelve separate spending bills 
reported by the Committee on Appropriations.
  Although the House considered and passed several of the annual 
spending bills, none of them received consideration in the Senate 
because of the refusal of the House leadership to reach agreement with 
the Senate on an appropriate framework for all appropriations bills 
that does not harm our economy or require draconian cuts to middle-
class priorities.
  Without such an agreement, House Republican appropriation bills will 
result in:
  1. hundreds of thousands of low-income children losing access to Head 
Start programs,
  2. tens of thousands of children with disabilities losing federal 
funding for their special education teachers and aides,
  3. thousands of federal agents who will not be able to secure the 
border, enforce drug laws, combat violent crime or apprehend fugitives; 
and
  4. thousands of scientists without medical grants to conduct research 
to find new treatments and cures for diseases like breast cancer and 
Alzheimer's.
  As a result of the failure to reach a budget agreement, we now find 
ourselves facing the Hobson's choice of rejecting the Continuing 
Resolution now pending which likely will result in a cessation of 
government operations or approving the Continuing Resolution and 
continuing adherence to the draconian spending limits imposed by the 
Budget Control Act of 2011.
  Faced with this dilemma, I reluctantly will vote for H.R. 719 because 
in the circumstances it would be irresponsible to do otherwise.
  H.R. 719 is not perfect--far from it--but it is a modest and positive 
step toward preventing Republicans from shutting down the government 
again and manufacturing crises that only harm our economy, destroy 
jobs, and weaken our middle class.
  The government shutdown of 2013, which was manufactured by the 
Republican majority lasted 16 days and cost taxpayers $24 billion.
  The cost to federal employees and the people they serve cannot be 
calculated.
  Mr. Speaker, as with any compromise there are some things in the 
agreement that I support and some things that I strongly oppose.
  For example, I support the provisions in the Continuing Resolution 
ensuring that funding for appropriated entitlements continue at a rate 
maintaining program levels under current law.
  I also support the provisions allowing the State Department, USAID, 
BBG, and related agencies to expend funds in the absence of an 
authorization, and authorizing continuation of certain intelligence 
activities.
  I support the provisions in H.R. 719 that provide $700 million in 
emergency funding for government efforts to fight wildfires in Western 
states and that give the VA budget flexibility to finish construction 
of a facility in Denver.
  Finally, I am very pleased that House Republicans have jettisoned any 
serious efforts to shut down the government over the obsession with 
defunding Planned Parenthood and opposition to women's reproductive 
rights.
  On the other hand, I am very disappointed that the Continuing 
Resolution again misses the opportunity to reauthorize two critical 
programs: the Export-Import Bank and the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund.
  The Export-Import Bank provides critical financing assistance--at no 
cost to taxpayers--to small, medium, and large-sized U.S. businesses, 
helping them to create jobs at home and sell products overseas.

[[Page E1402]]

  The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a bipartisan, popular, 50-
year program that uses royalties from federal oil and gas leases for 
land acquisition and parks across the country.
  The LWCF program supports more than 6 million U.S. jobs connected 
with outdoor recreation at no cost to taxpayers.
  Without action by Congress, LWCF will expire on September 30, 
authorization for the Ex-Im Bank expired June 30, 2015, and has been 
hurting U.S. exporters and workers daily ever since.
  I also strongly disapprove of the rescission of $1.7 billion from the 
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the across the board 
reduction in funding levels for most programs and activities from their 
FY 2015 levels by 0.21%.
  Nevertheless, the agreement allows Congress to keep the federal 
government open to serve the American people and gives the Congress and 
the Administration ten weeks to reach agreement on a fair and balanced 
budget that provides the funds for the investments in human capital and 
physical infrastructure needed to maintain American competitiveness in 
the global economy of the 21st century.
  And one of the most important things we can do is end the draconian 
sequestration that has been in effect since 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, to illustrate how strongly I feel about the need to end 
sequestration, let me chronicle the severity of the suffering and pain 
inflicted by sequestration on the most vulnerable residents of Texas 
and the constituents that I serve.
  Head Start and Early Head Start services were eliminated or severely 
impacted with approximately 4,800 children being impacted throughout 
the state of Texas.
  Families in my district who rely on Federal Government programs like 
Head Start are hurting.
  The pain did not start with the 2013 shutdown, but with sequestration 
which hit Head Start programs for 3 to 4 year olds in the Houston area 
hard: $5,341 million cut; 109 Employees cut; 699 Slots for children 
cut.
  Head Start and Early Head Start Programs were further stressed by the 
federal government shutdown.
  My support of Head Start and Early Head Start is based on what I have 
seen and heard about programs like the AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start 
program serving parents and children in the 18th Congressional 
District.
  The AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start is a program serving low income 
families in my Houston Texas District.
  I have visited with AVANCE-Houston administrators many times to get 
an update on how low-income families with infants and toddlers and 
pregnant women served by the program were doing.
  The AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start's mission is simple: AVANCE-
Houston works for healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, 
enhances the development of very young children, and promotes healthy 
family functioning.
  AVANCE-Houston serves nearly 1,800 children city wide; each of these 
families and their children are suffering the effects of the 
sequestration.
  Sequestration has cost AVANCE-Houston over $842,518 Head Start and 
Early Head Start in lost funding and put on hold the head start on the 
future our children deserve.
  As I stated, Mr. Speaker, this Continuing Resolution is not perfect 
and it only funds the government until December 11, 2015, but it is 
better than the alternative we faced in 2013 when House Republicans 
shut down the government for 16 days and cost our economy $24 billion 
in lost economic productivity.
  For that reason, I will vote for H.R. 719 and renew my call that all 
members of the House and Senate work together and with the President to 
reach agreement on an appropriate budget framework that ends 
sequestration but does not harm our economy or require draconian cuts 
to middle-class priorities.

                          ____________________