[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 99 (Thursday, June 13, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4632-H4637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Kelly of Illinois). Pursuant to House
Resolution 431 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the
Committee of the Whole House on the state
[[Page H4633]]
of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 2740.
Will the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher) kindly take the
chair.
{time} 0912
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for the further consideration of
the bill (H.R. 2740) making appropriations for the Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes,
with Mrs. Fletcher (Acting Chair) in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The Acting CHAIR. When the Committee of the Whole rose on Thursday,
June 13, 2019, a request for a recorded vote on amendment No. 71
printed in House Report 116-109 offered by the gentlewoman from
Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley) had been postponed.
The Chair understands that amendment Nos. 72 and 73 will not be
offered.
{time} 0915
Amendment No. 74 Offered by Ms. Spanberger
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 74
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 51, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $3,000,000)''.
Page 90, line 6, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $3,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman
from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Virginia.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, my amendment to H.R. 2740 increases
funding toward colorectal cancer screening and prevention.
Right now, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer
death in the United States. This year alone, more than 50,000 people
across the country are expected to die from this disease. One out of 20
Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer during their
lifetime.
When I hear these statistics, I think of more than just the numbers.
I think of the families and the lives that are impacted. I think of my
own mother-in-law who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer years ago
and remains cancer-free to this day. I think of my dear friend Peg--a
teacher, an advocate, and a fighter--who, when faced with her own
devastating diagnosis, committed herself to educating others about this
disease and the benefit of screenings.
With so many Americans like Peg and my mother-in-law diagnosed with
colorectal cancer each year, Congress needs to support prevention
efforts. Over the last few years, funding for the groundbreaking
Colorectal Cancer Control Program has remained the same.
This year, I thank the Appropriations Committee for recognizing this
problem. By bringing attention to the increasing rate of colorectal
cancer among younger adults, we are sharing the gift of research and
promoting the spread of 21st-century prevention.
My amendment would strengthen the Appropriations Committee's efforts
by providing $3 million in additional funding for colorectal cancer
research under the Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion Program.
In Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health significantly benefits
from this program and uses these funds to provide early screenings
across the Commonwealth.
If this critical amendment passes, the House would provide a major
increase and much-needed funding for colorectal cancer screening and
control under the CDC. This increased support means more necessary
screenings, more evidence-based interventions, and a path toward more
lives saved, especially among some of our country's most vulnerable
patients.
Studies indicate that as many as 60 percent of colorectal cancer
deaths could be prevented with screening, but the number of colorectal
cancer screenings has remained level since 2010. Clearly, we are
overdue for progress in this fight.
By making a vigorous effort to increase the numbers of screenings, we
will be able to catch abnormal growths before they turn into cancer,
and we can catch colorectal cancer early when treatment is more
effective.
As we fight for additional vital funding for the CRCCP, we are
allowing prevention and education initiatives to reach more Americans.
That gives more families the opportunity to live cancer-free.
We have a rare opportunity to build a coalition in this battle.
Across the country, more than 1,700 organizations have committed to
defeating colorectal cancer as a public health crisis. Together, they
have committed to the goal of 80 percent screened in the coming years.
Congress needs to join this effort, and my amendment can and should
be part of that fight.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment.
I would note that the underlying bill that we are considering today
includes a $2 million increase for a total funding level of $45 million
for colorectal cancer prevention activities at the CDC. Given the
increasing rate of colorectal cancer among younger adults, I am pleased
to support further expansion of CDC's efforts.
As a survivor of ovarian cancer, I thank the gentlewoman for raising
the issue of colorectal cancer and the importance of cancer screenings.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
I know we will have a discussion here, Madam Chair, about where the
dollars are coming from, but I would like to remind the gentleman from
Maryland that, last evening, the minority voted overwhelmingly for a 14
percent cut across the board, which, in fact, would have cut the
general departmental management by 14 percent, so I find this line of
opposition to be somewhat disingenuous.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, here we go again. Obviously, we took a 5-
hour break, but now we are back to not making priorities.
The bottom line is, now we are up to $27 million out of this basket
of money that the Secretary has to manage a Department that is actually
increasing in size and increasing in complexity.
This is a very worthy cause, and there is no question in anyone's
mind, I hope, that colon cancer screening, for instance, is essential.
Every American who falls within the guidelines should be encouraged to
undergo the screening, but we have to set priorities.
If we are going to increase further the funding into that program--
because as we heard from the subcommittee chair, we have already
increased the funding--if we are going to increase it further, we have
to look somewhere to decrease funding. That is not a magical pot of
money that is endless. Literally, it is true that, sooner or later, the
Secretary is going to have to take out loans to pay salaries in his
Department because we will have drained the entire amount.
Again, since the last vote series, which we had 1 a.m. eastern time--
it is now 9:20 eastern time--since then, we have drained that fund by
$27 million. A lot of it transferred for good projects, but that is not
the way we should be doing business here.
When families in my district have a priority, they set a new
priority. They say this family needs this a lot right now. They look
into their budget and ask what they are not going to spend on. That is
what we ought to be doing.
If this is so essential, Madam Chair, I would suggest some other
program, not a magical pot of money that some people believe has no
bottom.
Again, the Secretary has to run an increasingly complex Department.
The bottom line is that we have now drained, if all the amendments pass
[[Page H4634]]
that we have discussed since 1 a.m., $27 million out of the fund. This
is not the way we ought to do business.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I have trouble with that argument from
my colleague across the aisle when, last night, he voted for a 14
percent cut across the board to this pot of money, which he refers to
as a ``magical'' pot of money.
I think it is incredibly important that when we are looking at
priorities, priorities such as prevention, priorities such as early
detection related to such a disease that kills so many Americans, where
prevention and early screenings are vital to survival levels, it is
incredibly important that we prioritize screenings and invest. This
amendment stipulates $3 million toward this vital, vital effort.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, we are showing the American people right now
that we live in fantasy land.
The bottom line is, the amendment that I and many of my colleagues
voted for last night merely restores this bill to the current state of
law. It makes it comply with the Budget Control Act. I didn't vote for
the Budget Control Act, but it is the law of the land.
We can pretend it is not. That is the difference between us and the
people in my district. They don't have Monopoly money to play with.
They can't pretend that the law isn't the law. They can't pretend that
they can invent money in their families. They have to follow the laws.
They have to follow their budgets. But I guess that is just not true.
This is why Congress has a 9 percent approval rating. The people
watching us today, the millions of people watching us--there are maybe
several hundred thousand watching us today--are watching promises being
made that can't be kept, promises being made that take money out of not
this generation but the next generation and the generation following.
Again, this is a worthy cause. But the bottom line is, last year,
when the majority was in the minority, every single member in the
Appropriations Committee voted against funding this program when it
left the committee, every single majority member when they were in the
minority.
I get how this game is being played. I get it. We have to restore
fiscal discipline, the same fiscal discipline every family in our
districts has. If you set a priority and you decide this is necessary
to spend on, you find something that is not necessary to spend on.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I would like to note, for the Record,
that I am new to Congress, elected in November, so I was not here last
year or last Congress during the tax bill cycle. Given that my
colleague across the aisle was, I find the lectures about fiscal
discipline to be very challenging to take when we are discussing
Monopoly money, fantasy land money, and taking money from the next
generation.
I know a great deal about the challenges that ride on the fact that
we have increased our debt year after year, and I find it very
difficult to listen to lectures about this from a colleague who, in
fact, voted to balloon the deficit.
This is about prevention and screening. This is about the health of
Americans. This is about being proactive in our spending.
Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, parliamentary inquiry.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. HARRIS. Is any time remaining on the other side because the
gentlewoman moved to reserve her time?
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland controls the only time
remaining.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I am a physician. I have taken care of
people for 35 years. I am not sure I should be lectured, Madam Chair,
on the proper way to take care of people in this country with regard to
their health.
I understand the attraction of maybe bringing a tax bill into this. I
am not sure why the proponents can't leave this as a discussion of
funding health.
The bottom line is, this is an important subject, no question about
it.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BUDD. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Virginia
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 75 Offered by Mr. Delgado
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 75
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
Mr. DELGADO. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 90, line 6, after the dollar amount $474,169,000,
insert ``(reduced by $1,000,000)''.
Page 51, line 1, after the dollar amount $592,622,000,
insert ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Delgado) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
Mr. DELGADO. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, upstate New York and communities across the country are
experiencing an unprecedented increase in Lyme disease and tick-borne
diseases. At all 14 of the townhalls that I have held in my district
this term, folks asked me what Congress is doing about Lyme disease.
Today, I am offering an amendment to better understand and prevent
this disease. The amendment adds $1 million in critical CDC funding for
the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease.
This package of appropriations bills makes critical investments in
our priorities. But as temperatures rise and families spend more time
outside, we must invest more in treating and preventing Lyme.
Lyme disease is a devastating disease that can often go undetected as
it travels through ticks, tiny bugs that reside in dense forests and
rural areas, areas found all across my district in upstate New York.
While most Lyme disease patients who are diagnosed and treated early
can fully recover, 10 to 20 percent of patients suffer from persistent
symptoms, which, for some, are chronic and disabling.
These numbers are even more startling as we consider that, over the
last 25 years, Lyme disease has increased by over 300 percent in the
northeastern States. In 2017, there were 3,502 confirmed cases of tick-
borne Lyme in New York State alone.
Madam Chair, I have 5-year-old twin boys. Whenever I do bath time, I
have to check for ticks. There have been a few scary moments where I
have actually had to pull ticks off my little boys. It is a frightening
experience.
Parents, myself included, are sending their children into their
backyard or local park with fears that they can return with a chronic
lifelong and potentially disabling disease.
{time} 0930
But this is just not a medical or moral issue. Lyme disease is
costing our economy. How much money are the American people spending on
this disease as we still know so little about it?
Studies indicate that Lyme disease costs approximately $1.3 billion
each year in direct medical costs alone in the United States. The
American people are spending $1.3 billion on the symptoms of a disease
rather than investing in medical research to treat and prevent it.
This figure doesn't even address the opportunity cost of failing to
act to address Lyme disease in our communities. How will our local
economy attract tourists when people can get sick? What is the cost of
keeping children cooped up inside rather than enjoying the outdoors for
fear of tick-borne illnesses?
[[Page H4635]]
Upstate New Yorkers and communities struggling with tick populations
need medical solutions now to stop this disease in its tracks. Prompt
diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases are crucial to prevent
long-term complications.
Today, available diagnostic tests can be inaccurate and complex to
interpret, especially during the earliest stage of infection when
treatment is most effective. My amendment offers trying to better
understand the disease and allowing for research to develop a more
effective treatment of the disease.
Unlike in other infectious disease settings, tests to directly
measure the presence of the infecting organism are not available for
Lyme disease. This leaves physicians without the tools needed to
diagnose; and without an accurate diagnosis, it is challenging for
physicians to provide early treatment.
The disease requires specialized treatments, which requires real
investments in research to better manage and prevent the disease. Madam
Chair, the time to invest is now. Indeed, the National Science
Foundation has declared that Lyme disease is an emerging global
pandemic due to climate change.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DELGADO. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
rise in support of his amendment.
I commend the gentleman's efforts to highlight Lyme disease, which,
unfortunately, has spread to many States due to climate change. The
geographic area in which ticks can survive is increasing as milder
winters result in fewer disease-carrying ticks dying during the winter.
I am proud that our bill includes a $1 million increase, for a total
funding level of $13 million for the CDC to intensify efforts to
develop better diagnostics and to bolster critical prevention and
surveillance networks. This amendment would provide an additional $1
million increase.
Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for offering this amendment, and I
urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
I might also add that, last evening, the fiscal year 2020 House bill
we spoke about provides $193 million for the Secretary of HHS'
administrative budget. Yet, last night, Republicans, including my
colleague, voted to cut that budget by 14 percent, which would have cut
the Secretary's budget by $27 million.
So the argument that is being made is a fantasy and really somewhat
disingenuous.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New York's time is expired.
The gentleman from Maryland is recognized.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, what is disingenuous is trying to make an
argument that somehow this bill falls within current statute.
The Budget Control Act is the controlling statutory authority, and
this bill is 14 percent above the Budget Control Act.
Now, most people might think a move to restore the congressional
action to lawfulness is actually a good thing. In fact, maybe Americans
watching who have to live by a budget in their households actually
wonder why we can't do it here. They look at a trillion-dollar deficit
and they say: Wait a minute. I can't do that in my household. Why does
Congress do it to the country?
The gentlewoman from Connecticut, the gentleman from New York, they
share something in common with Maryland: We are where Lyme disease is
endemic. No question about it, it is a problem.
My problem is not with CDC dealing with Lyme disease. With this
amendment, we are now up to $28 million taken from the same source.
This pretend bottomless fund that all we have to do is we can draw all
we need out of this fund is not the way budgeting works. It is not the
way budgeting works in any family. It is not the way budgeting should
work here on Capitol Hill.
And, again, I remind my colleagues, people look at how Congress
operates in wonder--not awe, wonder. They figure: Why can't Congress
run the country like I have to run my household?
It is because we don't choose priorities here. We say this is
important, and it is, but we fail to do what all the families in
America do when they decide something is more important. They choose
something that is less important and forgo spending money on that.
So that is the deficit in this amendment. This amendment is a worthy
cause. Lyme disease is a terrible disease, as the gentleman from New
York knows. We are not even sure how to diagnose it. Chronic Lyme
disease is an enigma to scientists and to medicine. It should be a
priority. But coupled with that priority is finding something else that
is of lower priority and deciding not to spend as much there and to
spend more here.
So that is why, reluctantly, I urge the body, if they pass the other
amendments that we have chosen--that is, considered since 1 a.m., the
last time we met--this would make $28 million out of that mythical
bottomless fund that all these good ideas are funded from.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Delgado).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BUDD. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 76 Offered by Mr. Crow
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 76
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
Mr. CROW. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 121, line 23, after the first dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $5,000,000) (increased by $5,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentleman
from Colorado (Mr. Crow) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.
Mr. CROW. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment supporting an
additional $5 million appropriation for Project SERV.
Project SERV and programs like it provide mental health resources to
students and extend critical support in the wake of tragedies, such as
school shootings like the one that took place at STEM School in my
district.
By increasing funding, we can increase our ability to address the
mental health among our precious population: our children.
The underlying bill doubles the amount of funding for Project SERV to
$10 million. Moreover, additional funding was provided in the disaster
supplemental that I was proud to vote for in May.
I thank the chairman, ranking member, and the members of the
committee for their hard work to ensure that this program is properly
funded.
With my amendment, I hope that we can continue to scale Project SERV
and mental health programs like it so that we can ensure that every
student gets the help that they deserve.
In the time since the STEM School shooting in my district, I have had
the privilege to meet with several students and their families. Their
courage and thoughtfulness is unparalleled.
We discussed and reflected on ways that we in this body can help
students, in a bipartisan manner, to cope with crisis: What can we do?
How do we restart the learning process? How do we prevent future
tragedies?
The common denominators were expanding mental health curriculum in
schools; grief counseling; helping students, teachers, administrators,
and their families recover. It was something that we came together and
found
[[Page H4636]]
some bipartisan consensus on in the discussions that I have had.
Experts can attest shootings and other school tragedies take a
terrible toll on our students, causing sleep disorders, anxiety, and
even PTS. We need programs like Project SERV. We need to ensure that
our children have access to mental health services they need in order
to recover, in order to focus on their studies, in order to make sure
tragedies like this never happen again. And we need to scale this
program and those like it to make sure that this happens at a much
larger and national scale.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I
yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
rise in support of this amendment and the Project School Emergency
Response to Violence, Project SERV, program.
The program provides counseling and referral to mental health
services, as well as other education-related services, to school
districts, colleges, and universities in which the learning environment
has been disrupted by a violent or traumatic crisis.
To strengthen this critical program, the underlying bill increases
the set-aside within the School Safety National Activities program by
$5 million over the 2019 enacted level.
I appreciate that the amendment is drawing attention to this
important program, and I am happy to support it.
Mr. CROW. Madam Chair, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the
balance of my time.
Madam Chair, we have an obligation to take care of our students,
teachers, and school administrators after horrific tragedies. We must
ensure that they can grieve, heal, return to school, and focus on
learning and moving forward with their lives, all the while feeling
safe doing so.
I look forward to working with the distinguished chairwoman,
appropriators, and members of the authorizing committee to support
Project SERV and programs like it in the months and years ahead.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BUDD. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Colorado
will be postponed.
Amendment No. 77 Offered by Ms. Houlahan
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 77
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 117, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $1,000,000) (reduced by $1,000,000)''.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman
from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) and a Member opposed each will control
5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to
H.R. 2740, which advocates for funding for the Department of
Education's comprehensive literacy development grants.
The LEARN Program provides competitive grants to States to help local
educational agencies develop comprehensive literacy plans to ensure
high-quality instruction and evidence-based intervention strategies for
all students from birth through grade 12.
This program is the only Federal funding stream to support these
statewide efforts. This funding allows local school districts to
support high-quality professional development for teachers, teacher
leaders, principals, and specialized instructional support personnel to
improve literacy instruction for struggling readers and writers,
including English language learners and students with disabilities.
The state of literacy in our country is alarming. Before coming to
Congress, I taught high school chemistry, and what I found was that
most of my high school students couldn't read above a third or fourth
grade level.
How could my students learn chemistry if they couldn't read? How
could they expect to, later in life, be able to pursue a quality and
rewarding life?
It was a wake-up call for me, and I spent the next 4 years, as a
consequence, building a nonprofit that focused on early childhood
literacy in our most disadvantaged communities.
According to the National Institute of Literacy, approximately 32
million adults in the U.S. cannot read. The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development found that half of U.S. adults cannot read
a book written at an eighth grade level.
The fight for a more literate America is crucial, and we must
acknowledge that low literacy more dramatically affects communities of
color.
On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, in
the 12th grade reading level assessments, 46 percent of White students
scored at or above proficient, while only 25 percent of Latino and 17
percent of Black students scored proficient. In essence, the fight for
literacy is a fight for a fairer country, for a more level playing
field.
How can we expect young Americans from every race, gender, and
socioeconomic background to be ready for our workforce?
{time} 0945
How can we be living up to the notion that every American deserves a
shot at the American Dream if we are not aggressively fighting to
ensure that they have the most fundamental ability to read.
Our inaction is costing us all. The National Council for Adult
Learning estimates that low literacy costs our country $225 billion
each year in nonproductivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax
revenue due to unemployment.
The American Journal of Public Health found that in excess of $230
billion a year in healthcare costs is linked to low adult literacy. Our
inaction on literacy is costing us nearly $500 billion a year. I
believe, and I am sure that many of my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle believe, that every American child deserves his or her shot at
the American Dream, at the ability to get a quality education, and to
make a living wage to support themselves and their families.
We are denying millions of people their shot and their promise in
this country by refusing to more aggressively advocate for and fund
programs that do the critical work of increasing our literacy levels.
I am thankful that my amendment is being considered. I think it is an
important first step in the long overdue fight for a more literate and,
by extension, a more fair America. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chairwoman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chairwoman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
I rise in support of this amendment and of Comprehensive Literacy
Development grants, which help States and school districts provide
evidence-based literacy instruction for disadvantaged students from
birth through grade 12.
Literacy is a mark of a civilized society, and it is one of the most
important predictors of a student's success. To further advance
literacy skills for students across the country, the underlying bill
provides $195 million for Comprehensive Literacy Development grants, a
$5 million increase over the fiscal year 2019 enacted level.
I might add that the Trump administration cut this program, literacy,
and they also cut the innovative approaches to literacy, again, which
we have increased by $2 million. It may mean that they don't understand
that literacy is a mark of a civilized society. I appreciate that the
amendment is drawing attention to the importance of this program, and I
am happy to support it.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chairwoman, the Trump administration followed the
[[Page H4637]]
law. I know that for Congress here, we don't really like to follow the
law. We think we make it for everybody else, and we don't have to
follow it. In fact, the bill we are discussing today doesn't follow the
Budget Control Act. It pretends that the law doesn't exist.
Now, the Trump administration did the appropriate thing and said: You
know what? The law does exist. The reason why we get into trouble, and
why America looks at what Congress does, the profligate spending that
we have, the trillion-dollar deficits, and the $22 trillion debt is
because in some cases like this, we just don't follow the law. The
President says: No, we should return to the law.
If the Congress thinks we ought to spend more, then pass a bill that
changes the Budget Control Act. But, Madam Chairwoman, I would suggest
that if the President had not followed the law, the complaint would be:
The President is not following the law. You are damned if you do. You
are damned if you don't.
The President follows the Budget Control Act, submits a budget
consistent with that, and then gets blamed by the majority for
following the law, not playing make-believe budgets.
Madam Chairwoman, our families can't do make-believe budgets. They
have a certain amount of money and they have to stay within that
budget. But I guess we are Congress. We are different. We can make
believe.
This is why we have a 9 percent approval rating, because Americans
look at what we do here in Congress and say: This isn't the real world.
This education is important. There is no question about it, but we
have to place priorities. I reluctantly oppose the amendment, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Chairwoman, I am nearly speechless with the
conversation that I have just heard where we are talking about the most
fundamental of things that we need, the equipment that we need to be
functioning in our society, that skill of literacy, that we are
thinking somehow that this is a checkbook balance situation rather than
an investment in a child, an investment in a family, an investment in a
future.
If we are talking about the need to imagine, we have to give people
the skills so that they may imagine. Imagine the life that they will be
able to have when they are able to read a street sign; when they are
able to read to their child; when they are able to read their driver's
test. These are things that we should not deny anyone. These are
fundamental things that we absolutely have to provide to every single
citizen in our economy.
If we are not providing education and literacy, what good is this
Nation? I will conclude by saying that I came here to Congress and I
stand on this floor, the daughter of a refugee from Poland. He came
here with nothing as a 5 year old. He came here with no literacy
skills, and a generation later, I am standing here in front of you
because my father had the opportunity to learn to read.
My father had the opportunity to pursue the American Dream, and 70
years later, I stand here in front of you because that is the promise
that our Nation makes to all of us and the investment that our Nation
makes in every one of us.
I very much appreciate the opportunity to speak about something that
I am deeply passionate about. I am confident that the vast majority of
our Nation is deeply passionate about this, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chairwoman, may I inquire how much time I have
remaining?
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland has 3 minutes
remaining.
Mr. HARRIS. Madam Chairwoman, I won't take 3 minutes. We obviously
have a lot of work to do this morning and did a lot of work last night.
Part of the American Dream--and my parents as well came to this
country--and it is amazing that the children of immigrants can sit on
this floor, but they came to this country because there is a rule of
law in this country.
The law right now says, under the Budget Control Act, that we should
be spending much less than this bill suggests overall. The Trump
administration proposed spending within the law. Now, that law is not a
Trump administration law. That law was actually signed by the last
President with the majority controlling the Senate. It was a bipartisan
agreement, the Budget Control Act.
But again, we pretend that it just doesn't exist. This is part of the
problem. Americans look at us and say: Wait a minute. You expect us to
live by the law? In fact, you insist that we live by the law, and now
talk about imagination, this is really imaginary because we are
presenting a proposal here today that spends tens and tens of billions
of dollars more than the law says we are authorized to spend. That is
astounding.
No wonder we have a 9 percent approval rating. I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).
The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BUDD. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from
Pennsylvania will be postponed.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I move that the committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Pascrell) having assumed the chair, Mrs. Fletcher, Acting Chair of the
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2740)
making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes, had come to no
resolution thereon.
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