[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 201 (Friday, December 23, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        SUPPORTING FY23 OMNIBUS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 23, 2022

  Ms. McCollum. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023.
  I want to thank Chair DeLauro for her tireless work to finish this 
legislation--she deserves great credit.
  As Chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I marked up the 
House Defense bill to President Biden's original request of $761.7 
billion.
  I felt his number was an appropriate level of funding for our 
national security.
  While I agree that we must make adjustments based on inflation and 
other global events, I am disappointed in the Senate's insistence on 
increasing defense spending at the expense of domestic priorities.
  We must realize that our national security is not defined by defense 
dollars alone--we damage our national security when we don't adequately 
address the needs of the American people: in education, health care, 
and other critical investments here at home.
  Turning to the Defense bill--for Fiscal Year 2023 we provide $797.7 
billion, $69.3 billion above the 2022 enacted level.
  We know that all Americans are struggling with higher prices--and 
that includes our men and women in uniform--so we have prioritized 
investing in our most important national security asset, our service 
members and their families.
  This Defense bill puts people first--by including:
  A 4.6 percent pay raise for our service members;
  And an increase of 11 percent to the Basic Allowance for Housing, and 
the Basic Allowance for Subsistence--which will help offset the cost of 
rising rent and food prices.
  I am very proud that this bill also invests in:
  Confronting the climate crisis--with more than $2 billion in clean 
energy programs and funding to add resilience to DoD installations from 
the impacts of climate change.
  Over $39 billion for Defense Health and medical research, including 
over $582 million for cancer research.
  And $1.6 billion in Environmental Restoration programs, including 
over $250 million for PFOS remediation and disposal research.
  This bill also continues our commitment to helping the Ukrainian 
people defend their democracy against Russian aggression by providing 
robust funding for the Ukraine Security Initiative and other NATO 
allies and partners in Europe.
  The time has come for Congress to finish our work, pass this omnibus, 
and fund the entire federal government.

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