[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 191 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1114-E1115]
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, 2024

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 14, 2023

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5894, 
the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act. The bill before us today is unprecedented in many 
unfortunate ways. This bill makes devastating cuts across some of our 
most vital government agencies; it decimates education spending, 
abandons low-income workers and college students, stifles medical 
innovation, and harms women's health.
  This bill was pulled from consideration on the House Floor because 
Republicans do not have the support within their own Conference to pass 
this legislation. It is another example in a long line of 
Appropriations failures by House Republican leadership, where there has 
been no effort to find middle ground and find a bipartisan path 
forward.
  Let me begin with House Republicans' unilateral decision to skip the 
full committee markup for this bill and for the Commerce, Justice, 
Science Appropriations Act. House Democrats were denied the opportunity 
to debate, amend, and mark up H.R. 5894 in committee. This bill is so 
deeply unpopular that Republican appropriators did not want to go on 
the record in committee in support of its deep cuts to our nation's 
education, workforce development, and public health funding.
  Not only have House Republicans deviated from the longstanding 
committee process, but they have taken the unheard-of step of adding 
partisan riders to the bill and report in advance of consideration on 
the House Floor. Democratic appropriators had no say in their 
inclusion--in fact, we only saw these changes once they had been made 
public. The report is not amendable on the House Floor, so there was no 
recourse in challenging any of these new alterations beyond demanding 
they be removed in the conference process with the Senate.
  Now let's talk about some of the policy decisions within H.R. 5894, 
starting with the astounding 28 percent cut to the Department of 
Education. This bill decimates support for children in K-12 elementary 
schools and early childhood education; including an 80 percent cut to 
Title I that is meant to help the most vulnerable students and school 
districts in our country.
  I have heard from my constituents--teachers, principals, 
paraprofessionals, parents, and students--that we are facing a crisis 
in our classrooms. This bill does not address the teacher shortage or 
the extensive learning loss occurring in our schools post-COVID; and 
this bill does not help make college more affordable.
  Instead, this bill makes devastating cuts to the bedrock of American 
education, leaves our teachers out in the cold without sufficient 
resources, and eliminates opportunities for students to access need-
based financial aid for their postsecondary education. This bill also 
eliminates all funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 
including their educational programming for young children, Ready To 
Learn.
  In addition to education spending cuts, House Republicans have also 
taken aim at workforce development. This bill eliminates funding for 
the Federal Work Study, Youth Job Training, and Adult Job Training 
programs, effectively denying job and employment training services to 
420,000 Americans who face barriers to finding a good-paying job. House 
Republicans also cut $313 million from worker protection agencies like 
OSHA, putting hardworking Americans at risk at home in Minnesota and 
across the country.
  This bill hurts the National Institutes of Health by cutting $2.8 
billion from their topline budget, which will stymy medical innovation. 
It makes a $139 million cut to the National Institute of Mental Health 
at a time when our country is facing a mental health crisis. The bill 
also contains major cuts to the National Cancer Institute, hurting our 
research and treatment capabilities for those with cancer here in 
America and around the world.
  Unsurprisingly, this bill also takes aim at women's health by cutting 
programs that support maternal and child health, eliminating programs 
that provide access to health services and contraception, and adding 
numerous poison pill riders that further strip a women's right to make 
medical decisions about her own

[[Page E1115]]

body with her doctor. H.R. 5894 prohibits funding to Planned 
Parenthood, eliminates funding for Title X Family Planning, and makes a 
$35 million cut to the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant.
  Supporting our children and families is the bare minimum of what our 
government should do for its people. This bill fails at every level to 
do so. Instead of reevaluating their extreme funding bills and working 
together with Democrats to create legislation that will improve 
American lives, House Republicans are distracted by their own chaos and 
are intent on placating the most extreme in their caucus. For these 
reasons and more, I must oppose H.R. 5894 and I urge my colleagues to 
do the same.

                          ____________________