[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 149 (Thursday, September 14, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

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                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 14, 2017

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, on September 14, I was unavoidably 
detained off the House floor and was not present for Roll Call 528, the 
vote on final passage of H.R. 3354. Had I been present, I would have 
voted ``No.'' As our nation comes together to help those affected by 
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, I am saddened that members of Congress were 
not given the opportunity to come together to provide all of the people 
of our country the support they need to meet the many challenges they 
face and to invest in their future. This eight bill spending package 
was considered under a restrictive process that severely limited the 
ability of members to influence the bill. I could not in good 
conscience vote for this bill because it is based on the devastating 
House Republican budget, meaning that it underfunds and makes 
significant cuts to many of my constituents' key priorities such as job 
training, education, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, economic 
development, Pell Grants, housing affordability, after-school programs, 
and law enforcement. It attacks women's health by cutting family 
planning and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants and defunding Planned 
Parenthood, and it includes many poison pill policy riders that will 
undermine the Affordable Care Act, undo many important Dodd-Frank Wall 
Street reforms, and prevent the EPA from keeping our air and water 
clean. As the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, I 
find it inexplicable that as we work to recover from Hurricanes Harvey 
and Irma and see new storms on the horizon, the bill slashes funding 
for programs that build resilience and can be used for prevention and 
recovery and it weakens efforts to understand and address climate 
change, a driving factor of more frequent and severe storms. I 
repeatedly tried to shift funding in the bill for immigration 
enforcement activities to more pressing homeland security needs, but I 
was rebuffed on party line votes. Instead of this short-sighted bill 
that would be disastrous for all Americans, I call on Republicans to 
join Democrats to enact spending bills that grow the economy, create 
jobs, and truly keep our nation secure.

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