[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4731-H4736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2027
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1438, I call up
the bill (H.R. 9770) making continuing appropriations for fiscal year
2027, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration
in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1438, the bill
is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 9770
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are hereby appropriated, out of any money in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and out of
applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts, and funds,
for the several departments, agencies, corporations, and
other organizational units of Government for fiscal year
2027, and for other purposes, namely:
Sec. 101. Such amounts as may be necessary, at a rate for
operations as provided in the applicable appropriations Acts
for fiscal year 2026 and under the authority and conditions
provided in such Acts, for continuing projects or activities
(including the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees)
that are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Act,
that were conducted in fiscal year 2026, and for which
appropriations, funds, or other authority were made available
in the following appropriations Acts:
(1) The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
(division B of Public Law 119-37).
(2) The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2026 (division A of Public Law 119-74).
(3) The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026
(division A of Public Law 119-75).
(4) The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2026 (division B of Public Law 119-74).
(5) The Financial Services and General Government
Appropriations Act, 2026 (division E of Public Law 119-75).
(6) The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act,
2026 (division A of Public Law 119-86).
(7) The Department of the Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (division C of
Public Law 119-74).
(8) The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
(division B of Public Law 119-75).
(9) The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2026
(division C of Public Law 119-37).
(10) The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (division D of
Public Law 119-37).
(11) The National Security, Department of State, and
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (division F of
Public Law 119-75).
(12) The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (division D of
Public Law 119-75).
Sec. 102. (a) No appropriation or funds made available or
authority granted pursuant to section 101 for the Department
of Defense shall be used for:
(1) the new production of items not funded for production
in fiscal year 2026 or prior years;
(2) the increase in production rates above those sustained
with fiscal year 2026 funds; or
(3) the initiation, resumption, or continuation of any
project, activity, operation, or organization (defined as any
project, subproject, activity, budget activity, program
element, and subprogram within a program element, and for any
investment items defined as a P-1 line item in a budget
activity within an appropriation account and an R-1 line item
that includes a program element and subprogram element within
an appropriation account) for which appropriations, funds, or
other authority were not available during fiscal year 2026.
(b) No appropriation or funds made available or authority
granted pursuant to section 101 for the Department of Defense
shall be used to initiate multi-year procurements utilizing
advance procurement funding for economic order quantity
procurement unless specifically appropriated later.
Sec. 103. Appropriations made by section 101 shall be
available to the extent and in the
[[Page H4732]]
manner that would be provided by the pertinent appropriations
Act.
Sec. 104. Except as otherwise provided in section 102, no
appropriation or funds made available or authority granted
pursuant to section 101 shall be used to initiate or resume
any project or activity for which appropriations, funds, or
other authority were not available during fiscal year 2026.
Sec. 105. Appropriations made and authority granted
pursuant to this Act shall cover all obligations or
expenditures incurred for any project or activity during the
period for which funds or authority for such project or
activity are available under this Act.
Sec. 106. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or in
the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2027,
appropriations and funds made available and authority granted
pursuant to this Act shall be available until whichever of
the following first occurs:
(1) The enactment into law of an appropriation for any
project or activity provided for in this Act.
(2) The enactment into law of the applicable appropriations
Act for fiscal year 2027 without any provision for such
project or activity.
(3) December 4, 2026.
Sec. 107. Expenditures made pursuant to this Act shall be
charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or
authorization whenever a bill in which such applicable
appropriation, fund, or authorization is contained is enacted
into law.
Sec. 108. Appropriations made and funds made available by
or authority granted pursuant to this Act may be used without
regard to the time limitations for submission and approval of
apportionments set forth in section 1513 of title 31, United
States Code, but nothing in this Act may be construed to
waive any other provision of law governing the apportionment
of funds.
Sec. 109. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
except section 106, for those programs that would otherwise
have high initial rates of operation or complete distribution
of appropriations at the beginning of fiscal year 2027
because of distributions of funding to States, foreign
countries, grantees, or others, such high initial rates of
operation or complete distribution shall not be made, and no
grants shall be awarded for such programs funded by this Act
that would impinge on final funding prerogatives.
Sec. 110. This Act shall be implemented so that only the
most limited funding action of that permitted in the Act
shall be taken in order to provide for continuation of
projects and activities.
Sec. 111. (a) For entitlements and other mandatory payments
whose budget authority was provided in appropriations Acts
for fiscal year 2026, and for activities under the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008, activities shall be continued at the
rate to maintain program levels under current law, under the
authority and conditions provided in the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026, to be continued
through the date specified in section 106(3).
(b) Notwithstanding section 106, obligations for mandatory
payments due on or about the first day of any month that
begins after October 2026 but not later than 30 days after
the date specified in section 106(3) may continue to be made,
and funds shall be available for such payments.
Sec. 112. Amounts made available under section 101 for
civilian personnel compensation and benefits in each
department and agency may be apportioned up to the rate for
operations necessary to avoid furloughs within such
department or agency, consistent with the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026, except that such
authority provided under this section shall not be used until
after the department or agency has taken all necessary
actions to reduce or defer non-personnel-related
administrative expenses.
Sec. 113. Funds appropriated by this Act may be obligated
and expended notwithstanding section 10 of Public Law 91-672
(22 U.S.C. 2412), section 15 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2680), section 313 of the
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and
1995 (22 U.S.C. 6212), and section 504(a)(1) of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3094(a)(1)).
Sec. 114. (a)(1) For each amount incorporated by reference
in this Act that was previously designated by the Congress as
an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(a)(i)
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, each provision of law designating each such amount as
an emergency requirement pursuant to such section shall not
apply.
(2) Each amount incorporated by reference in this Act that
was designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, or pursuant to
section 4001(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 14 (117th Congress), the
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022, and
to legislation establishing fiscal year 2026 budget
enforcement in the House of Representatives, is designated by
the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
4001(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 14 (117th Congress), the
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022, and
to legislation establishing fiscal year 2027 budget
enforcement in the House of Representatives.
(b) Each amount incorporated by reference in this Act that
was previously designated by the Congress as being for
disaster relief pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is
designated by the Congress as being for disaster relief
pursuant to a concurrent resolution on the budget.
(c) Each amount incorporated by reference in this Act that
was previously designated in division B of Public Law 117-
159, division J of Public Law 117-58, or in section 443(b) of
division G of Public Law 117-328 by the Congress as an
emergency requirement pursuant to a concurrent resolution on
the budget shall continue to be treated as an amount
specified in section 103(b) of division A of Public Law 118-
5.
Sec. 115. (a) Rescissions or cancellations of discretionary
budget authority that continue pursuant to section 101 in
Treasury Appropriations Fund Symbols (TAFS)--
(1) to which other appropriations are not provided by this
Act, but for which there is a current applicable TAFS that
does receive an appropriation in this Act; or
(2) which are no-year TAFS and receive other appropriations
in this Act,
may be continued instead by reducing the rate for operations
otherwise provided by section 101 for such current applicable
TAFS, as long as doing so does not impinge on the final
funding prerogatives of the Congress.
(b) Rescissions or cancellations described in subsection
(a) shall continue in an amount equal to the lesser of--
(1) the amount specified for rescission or cancellation in
the applicable appropriations Act referenced in section 101
of this Act; or
(2) the amount of balances available, as of October 1,
2026, from the funds specified for rescission or cancellation
in the applicable appropriations Act referenced in section
101 of this Act.
(c) No later than November 20, 2026, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall provide to the
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
and the Senate a comprehensive list of the rescissions or
cancellations that will continue pursuant to section 101:
Provided, That the information in such comprehensive list
shall be periodically updated to reflect any subsequent
changes in the amount of balances available, as of October 1,
2026, from the funds specified for rescission or cancellation
in the applicable appropriations Act referenced in section
101, and such updates shall be transmitted to the Committees
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Senate upon request.
Sec. 116. Amounts made available by section 101 for
``Domestic Food Programs--Food and Nutrition Service--Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC)'' may be apportioned at the rate for
operations necessary to maintain participation.
Sec. 117. Section 260 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of
1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636i) and section 942 of the Livestock
Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (7 U.S.C. 1635 note; Public
Law 106-78) shall be applied by substituting the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act for ``September 30,
2026''.
Sec. 118. Amounts made available by section 101 for
``Small Business Administration--Business Loans Program
Account'' may be apportioned up to the rate for operations
necessary to accommodate increased demand for commitments for
general business loans authorized under paragraphs (1)
through (35) of section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(a)), for commitments to guarantee trust
certificates authorized by section 5(g) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 634(g)), for commitments to guarantee loans
under section 503 of the Small Business Investment Act of
1958 (15 U.S.C. 697), and for commitments to guarantee
debentures under section 303(b) of the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 683(b)).
Sec. 119. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
except section 106, the District of Columbia may expend local
funds made available under the heading ``District of
Columbia--District of Columbia Funds'' for such programs and
activities under the Fiscal Year 2026 District of Columbia
Appropriations Act, 2026 (title IV of Division E of Public
Law 119-75) at the rate set forth in the Fiscal Year 2027
Local Budget Act of 2026 (Bill 26-0659) as modified as of the
date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 120. (a) Notwithstanding section 101, section 747 of
title VII of division E of Public Law 119-75 shall be applied
by--
(1) substituting ``2026'' for ``2025'' each place it
appears;
(2) substituting ``2027'' for ``2026'' each place it
appears;
(3) substituting ``2028'' for ``2027''; and
(4) substituting ``section 747 of division E of Public Law
119-75'' for ``section 747 of division B of Public Law 118-
47, as continued in effect and modified by section 1605 of
title VI of division A of Public Law 119-4 (as continued in
effect and modified by division A of Public Law 119-37)''
each place it appears.
Sec. 121. (a) Sections 1309(a) and 1319 of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a) and 4026)
shall be applied by substituting the date specified in
section 106(3) of this Act for ``September 30, 2026''
(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), this section shall become
effective immediately upon enactment of this Act.
(2) If this Act is enacted after September 30, 2026, this
section shall be applied as if it were in effect on September
30, 2026.
Sec. 122. Amounts made available by section 101 to the
Department of Homeland Security under the heading ``Federal
Emergency Management Agency--Disaster Relief Fund'' may be
apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to carry
out response
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and recovery activities under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
Sec. 123. (a) In addition to amounts otherwise provided by
section 101, amounts are provided for ``Department of Health
and Human Services--Indian Health Service--Indian Health
Services'' at a rate for operations of $75,774,000, for an
additional amount for costs of staffing and operating
facilities that were opened, renovated, or expanded in fiscal
years 2022, 2026, and 2027, and such amounts may be
apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to staff
and operate such facilities.
(b) In addition to amounts otherwise provided by section
101, amounts are provided for ``Department of Health and
Human Services--Indian Health Service--Indian Health
Facilities'' at a rate for operations of $8,296,000, for an
additional amount for costs of staffing and operating
facilities that were opened, renovated, or expanded in fiscal
years 2022, 2026, and 2027, and such amounts may be
apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to staff
and operate such facilities.
Sec. 124. During the period covered by this Act, section
1701 of title VII of division B of Public Law 117-43, as
amended, shall be applied by substituting ``calendar years
2021 through 2026'' for ``2021 or 2022 or 2023 or 2024'' each
place it appears.
Sec. 125. Amounts made available by section 101 for
``Department of the Interior--Department-Wide Programs--
Wildland Fire Management'' and ``Department of Agriculture--
Forest Service--Wildland Fire Management'' may be apportioned
up to the rate for operations necessary for wildfire
suppression activities.
Sec. 126. Activities authorized by part A of title IV
(other than under section 403(c) or 418) and section 1108(b)
of the Social Security Act shall continue through the date
specified in section 106(3), in the manner authorized for
fiscal year 2026, and out of any money in the Treasury of the
United States not otherwise appropriated, there are hereby
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for such purpose.
Sec. 127. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
there is appropriated--
(1) for payment to Alfredia Scott, widow of David A. Scott,
late a Representative from the State of Georgia, $174,000;
and
(2) for payment to the heirs at law of Lindsey O. Graham,
late a Senator from South Carolina, $174,000.
Sec. 128. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
adjustment shall be made under section 601(a) of the
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501)
(relating to cost of living adjustments for Members of
Congress) during the period covered by this Act.
This Act may be cited as the ``Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2027''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Appropriations, or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) and the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).
General Leave
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9770, the Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2027.
This Congress has a constitutional duty to fund the government. If
Article I teaches us anything, it is that governing means doing the
work, not waiting for a crisis. It is a responsibility I have never
viewed as optional and one I have remained committed to honoring
through regular order.
Over the last year, Mr. Speaker, the House Committee on
Appropriations has acted to fulfill our fiscal year 2027
responsibilities. Previous partisan shutdowns and political headwinds
never deterred us from doing our work. In fact, we refused to let
political dysfunction become an excuse for inaction.
So, line by line, bill by bill, we delivered all 12 regular
appropriations bills out of committee. This was accomplished before the
end of June, the earliest date on record since fiscal year 2020. We
have also passed three of these bills across this very floor with
bipartisan support. I am deeply proud of the engagement, discipline,
and focus of our cardinals and appropriators and the support of our
colleagues in this Chamber.
While I wish I could say the same momentum and determination is being
exercised on the other side of the Capitol, it is not. Senate Democrats
won't even allow markups to progress. It is impossible to negotiate
full-year funding when circumstances make clear that one side is
willing to bring the process to a standstill before it can even leave
committee.
The hard reality before us is straightforward. The fiscal year
deadline is outpacing the work that remains.
Our Conference refuses to let the obstruction and inaction of Senate
Democrats trigger another manufactured shutdown at the end of
September.
That is why we are acting before a funding lapse crisis, not in
response to it.
This clean, short-term continuing resolution simply keeps the
government open, protects the progress we have made, and preserves the
path to full-year appropriations.
For anyone questioning this legislation, the facts are simple:
It extends the government funding deadline to December 4, denying any
party the opportunity to manufacture leverage before elections.
It contains no poison pills or partisan riders.
It prevents harmful disruptions to our national security and the
vital programs our constituents rely on.
And it preserves the House's progress toward completing full-year
fiscal 2027 appropriations.
You see, it is never too early to do the right thing.
In fact, after Senate Democrats forced the two longest government
shutdowns in American history and abandoned previously negotiated
funding agreements more than once, we have every reason to act early
and every responsibility to do so.
The House will make clear to the Nation where we stand, and it is on
the side of stability, certainty, and the American people.
Additionally, supporting this bill does not limit, hinder, or halt
any work on the full-year appropriations for any of the 12 bills.
The choice is clear: Either Members will vote to keep the government
working or they will vote to risk another unnecessary shutdown.
I know which option my constituents expect. I know which option gives
families relying on nutrition assistance or disaster relief the
certainty they need. I know which options our troops, veterans, TSA
agents, and government employees deserve. I know which option I will
choose.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this responsible
measure, and I look forward to continuing the fiscal year 2027
appropriations process in the coming months.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, for those of you who may not know and have not been
following this process closely, I would like to bring you up to speed
on how we came to consider this piece of legislation before us today.
On Friday afternoon, after everyone had gone home for the weekend,
Republicans released a bill to extend government funding from September
30 through December 4. Republicans introduced the measure with no
bipartisan negotiation, little advanced notice, and without any
information from the government agencies as to what funding they will
actually require to continue their operations for the duration of the
bill.
The final Homeland Security bill that passed unopposed in April was
bipartisan, and it was by a voice vote. And it was in that direction
because it included a provision to remove all of the funding for the
Border Patrol.
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Chair Cole's bill does not continue that agreement. That prohibition
is removed by this continuing resolution, which would allow Homeland
Security Secretary Mullin to transfer billions of dollars to the Border
Patrol.
We assumed that the removal of this language was a mistake--no harm,
no foul--so before the bill was introduced, we reached out to our
colleagues across the aisle, informed them of the error, and shared
language to fix it. Yet, they refused to do so.
Instead, they chose to introduce a bill that would allow Secretary
Mullin
[[Page H4734]]
to transfer billions more taxpayer dollars to the Border Patrol without
implementing any of the protections that Democrats have sought since
the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good earlier this year, a
clear line in the sand that Democrats have drawn for months.
The American people support these protections, protections like
mandating the use of body-worn cameras, not just taking the money for
them and then refusing to turn them on; prohibiting operations at
sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and houses of worship;
requiring agents to get a warrant from a judge before kicking in
someone's door; allowing independent investigations into misconduct;
ending racial profiling; and taking off the masks.
The need for these protections is as urgent as ever. In recent weeks,
immigration agents have shot and killed residents in Maine and in
Texas, neither of whom were targets of enforcement operations. We
cannot in good conscience allow billions of dollars to flow to these
agencies without major reforms to keep our constituents safe from
further violence.
I want to say clearly and plainly that Democrats do not want a
government shutdown. There would be no need for one. There are still 2
months before the funding deadline. There is no need to rush through an
incomplete extension. We ought to take the time to gather the
information we need to get it right the first time.
I might add that yesterday afternoon we received a list of the
programs that have been compiled by the Federal agencies detailing the
additional provisions the agencies believe are necessary to sustain
their operations through December 4.
Mr. Speaker, we received this late yesterday afternoon. There are
over 50 programs listed by the agencies to take some action so they can
be protected during a continuing resolution, and many of these
provisions are not included in the bill that we are considering today.
I asked my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to look through
the list. There may be something in your community, in your district,
that is very important to you, and it is not in this bill which you are
going to potentially vote for today.
Among these efforts, there are changes to support wildfire
suppression operations. They provide public housing agencies with
funding to maintain housing assistance for tens of thousands of
households, and they continue programs that provide utility assistance
for rural communities.
If you ask people today what are the highest costs they are paying
for today in an affordability crisis, it is the cost of utilities. That
assistance is not in this bill.
It is no surprise that the measure that we are considering failed to
include these provisions. After all, the bill was introduced 3 days
before we had this information, but that is the problem. Rushing this
bill to the floor haphazardly without carefully considering the various
needs that must be met is no way to govern, and it is irresponsible.
This resolution was dropped on us on Friday afternoon without any
bipartisan negotiation. Had we been consulted, there are several
provisions we would have pushed for to strengthen the measure and to
protect congressional prerogatives, including the reversal of a
proposed Federal rule from the Office of Management and Budget that
allows political appointees--political appointees in the Trump
administration to unilaterally block or terminate grant funding if they
deemed it not sufficiently in line with the President's policy
priorities.
If we had taken the time to negotiate this measure, we could be here
touting a bipartisan agreement with a plan to fully fund the government
for the next fiscal year before the end of this Congress. Instead, we
are scrambling--scrambling to jam through a one-sided, stopgap measure
2 days before everyone leaves for the August recess.
At minimum, I cannot support this bill without the inclusion of the
technical language regarding the Border Patrol that was agreed upon in
April. Beyond that, the decision to pursue this path without any
bipartisan negotiations gives me serious reservations moving forward.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack), my very good friend, and chairman
of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related
Agencies Subcommittee of the full Appropriations Committee.
Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Cole, for giving me
this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 9770, the Continuing
Appropriations Act of 2027, in hopes that it is not necessary. If we
were to complete our work as the Framers had intended and outlined for
us, we wouldn't be standing here today.
This is an insurance policy. This ensures that, assuming we don't
finish our work by the end of September, by the end of this fiscal
year, our government will be held harmless. Who could argue an
insurance policy that holds a government harmless when we begin a new
fiscal year?
Under the leadership of Mr. Cole, the House Appropriations Committee,
as you just heard, has advanced all 12 bills out of committee. We have
done our job well before the end of the fiscal year. Three of
these full-year funding bills have already cleared the floor and are
ready for action in the Senate.
That is sizeable progress toward our goal of restoring regular order
in this appropriations process. I am exceedingly proud of the work my
colleagues and I have done in crafting responsible bills that rightsize
the discretionary side of our budget, but I am also pragmatic.
I am aware of the political realities that lie before us right now,
and the very fact is that we have a job to do, and time is running out
on us. Too often, Mr. Speaker, we wait until the eleventh hour to
create some kind of a process by which we can avoid a real catastrophe,
gambling with the functions of government that people depend on.
H.R. 9770 is a clean solution to extend government funding until
December 4, ensuring zero disruptions to the operations of programs
like SNAP, like WIC, the National Flood Insurance Program, disaster
relief fund, and scores of other programs.
It is no secret that I am not a fan of CRs. No self-respecting
appropriator would ever embrace a CR. My preference has always been to
fulfill our Article I responsibility before the deadline, following
through on the job that the American people sent us to Washington to
do. Passing this CR is a much better alternative than to threaten the
government shutdown at the expense of the American people.
This CR does not prevent us from continuing our work on full-year
fiscal year 2027 appropriations. Instead, it provides a runway to work
with our Senate counterparts and iron out a final agreement, all while
preventing the abyss of uncertainty created by a lapse in
appropriations.
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Mr. Speaker, for 43 days, a stalemate in Congress caused an
unnecessary and costly government shutdown as political games took
priority over our constitutional responsibility. The shutdown impacted
many services and programs that our constituents count on. It crippled
biomedical research, upended infrastructure projects, and risked our
national security.
As chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies Subcommittee, I can speak directly to the impact it
had on agencies within our jurisdiction. Prior to the shutdown, the FAA
was already falling short of its controller staffing targets. The
shutdown exacerbated that problem.
Without the promise of a paycheck, many of these air traffic
controllers opted to take other employment opportunities instead of
doing the job that the American people needed them to do. The results
were canceled or delayed flights and ground stops at airports across
the Nation.
By the end of the shutdown, Mr. Speaker, 6 million people had been
affected, not to mention the estimated costs incurred by the U.S.
travel sector of $150 million a day.
This is just one of many examples of the catastrophic consequences of
a government shutdown. What we are doing
[[Page H4735]]
today is offering this insurance policy to see that that doesn't happen
again.
We have a binary choice later today on this bill. You are either
going to vote for continuing the appropriations that fund the
discretionary side of government till December 4, or you will be in the
column voting to shut the government down. I think it is a pretty
simple, no-brainer kind of vote.
I encourage my colleagues--including my friend, the ranking member,
Ms. DeLauro from Connecticut--to vote ``yes'' on this bill.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I might add, with all this concern about the folks who
were out of work, who were waiting in long lines, about our folks in
the Coast Guard and others, it was my proposal that said: Let's fund
those agencies. Since there is difficulty about ICE and about Border
Patrol, let's fund the agencies and move forward.
It took Republicans 79 days to decide that that was the good fix,
and, therefore, we could pay those people. They kept them dangling in
the wind for those 79 days, all because they would like to continue to
fund rogue agencies that are lawless, that are putting at risk people
in our communities--and more than at risk with, most recently, two
people killed, one in Maine and one in Texas.
The Homeland bill passed--I am going to mention it again--unopposed
in April, a voice vote, because it included the provision to remove all
funding for the Border Patrol.
This continuing resolution doesn't continue that agreement. As I
said, we viewed that there was an error that was made because it would
allow Homeland Security Secretary Mullin to transfer billions of
dollars to the Border Patrol, the same agency responsible for harassing
and killing American citizens.
Again, what we tried to do was to reach out to our colleagues on the
other side of the aisle in good faith. We crafted the language,
informed them of the error, and shared the language to fix it. They
have refused to do so and continue to refuse to do so.
One has to ask the question: Why? Who wants to shut down a
government? I certainly don't. Democrats do not want a government
shutdown. If I had my way, we would be able to fund the government on a
bipartisan basis through the appropriations process, one bill at a
time.
Unfortunately, it seems increasingly likely that, at some point, a
continuing resolution will be necessary. That does not mean we must
rush through an incomplete, hastily constructed, one-sided stopgap
measure that fails to adequately meet the government's funding needs.
Agencies only came up with their needs yesterday afternoon, over 50
of these needs. I admonish my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle: Read it carefully because something that may affect your
community and something you care deeply about, and seeing that agency
move forward during a period of a continuing resolution, may be in
here, but not on what you will vote on this afternoon.
I am disappointed that the apparent error in this measure--which,
again, allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to transfer billions
of dollars, in direct contravention of the agreement--has not been
corrected. I would much rather be standing before you to tout a
bipartisan agreement that, in fact, moves us forward through the
appropriations process on a bipartisan basis.
It is a partisan path that my colleagues have taken us on here,
without all the information necessary to draft an adequate funding
extension and without consulting anyone else on their proposal. This is
a go-it-alone approach. You know what? That is not a way to govern. We
know that, especially those of us who sit on the Committee on
Appropriations. It is not a go-it-alone approach.
My colleagues have to engage. They have to be involved in a
negotiation, which is what we were involved in in April, and we came to
a conclusion. That is what we should be doing now: engaging in a
negotiation, coming to a conclusion, and fixing what is an error in the
drafting of the language of the continuing resolution.
Don't hold us up and pass a bill that doesn't meet the needs of the
American people.
I strongly urge my colleagues to take the time. Let's get it right
the first time. Let's come to the table. Let's negotiate an agreement
we can all support. Let's work together to fully fund the government
for fiscal year 2027. That is what we can do. There isn't any question
in my mind that we can do that.
All of these obstacles that you want to put forward with arguments
about who wants to shut the government down, let's get real: Fix the
error that was made. Fix the error that was placed in that bill. We
said no money for Border Patrol unless there would be the protections.
There is an open door to Border Patrol, and there are no protections.
I believe the American people have sent us here to do the work on
their behalf, to make sure that we address the issues that we care
about. We can do that, and it wouldn't take very long. I don't know
what the reluctance is to fix the error that would be made and set us
on a path to be able to pass bipartisan bills and a continuing
resolution that we can all support. It is what I am committed to doing.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage a ``no'' vote on this legislation in its
current form. I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1620
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I want to begin by complimenting my good friend, the ranking member
of the full Appropriations Committee. She has bargained with us
throughout this process in good faith, and it has been a pleasure to
work with her.
I have often been quoted, and I will say it here on the House floor,
you can trust Rosa DeLauro. When she gives you her word, she keeps her
word. We have no complaint at all with our friends on the other side of
the aisle in the House and certainly not with our distinguished ranking
member.
I will tell you, we have not seen that same sort of good faith from
the Senate of the United States, particularly the Senate Democrats.
Quite frankly, they came to a bill agreement last year when we were
trying to get the first three bills out--which we succeeded working
together in doing--that, gosh, let's just keep working. What we want is
a clean continuing resolution and a short date.
We gave them both those things. Instead, they then added new demands
unrelated to the subject at hand, demands that, frankly, we did not
agree with, did not accept. What did we get? We got a 79-day full
shutdown, as my friend pointed out. We don't think that is acceptable.
We want to continue the process.
Second, we negotiated again earlier this year. Again, we thought we
had an agreement. We made concessions to our friends on the other side,
concessions which we thought really weren't concessions. They were
helpful suggestions from the Democrats. Let's add more training for our
men and women in ICE, you know, Department of Homeland Security. Let's
have some additional training. Let's have some additional funding.
Those were all things we agreed to, and then once again we got another
shutdown.
Frankly, we just want to make assurance. I have no doubt we can
negotiate differences, including some of the concerns my friend raised
today, in the time we have between now and September 30. What we don't
want is a government shutdown used and perverted for political purposes
5 weeks before an election. We think that is a risk that we are running
in dealing with the Senate.
While we have worked productively, we have gotten bills out on both a
partisan and a bipartisan basis, we haven't seen that in the Senate.
Honestly, they haven't passed a single appropriations bill yet. They
have refused to sit down and negotiate in good faith in the Senate.
I would say our friends in the House have negotiated in good faith.
We actually did backflips last year to give our friends in the House
the measures that needed to get passed in the form that they asked to
pass them. They kept their word. We passed all those bills.
In the Senate, frankly, we did not get that kind of response. We gave
them those things. Instead, we got a shutdown; a shutdown that,
frankly, was inexplicable. We want to avoid that. We have presented
here today a bill
[[Page H4736]]
that should be noncontroversial. It simply extends funding through
December 4.
It does not have any poison pills in it. There is nothing in the bill
that my friends object to. If they want to put additional things in the
bill, fine, we can talk about that, but let's just assure that funding
is going to go on no matter what. That is all this clean continuing
resolution does.
Look, I have been around here long enough to know that tensions rise
as you move toward an election. I have been around here long enough to
see Members on both sides of the aisle try to leverage a shutdown to
extract additional concessions. We want to avoid that.
We want to continue to both move bills across this floor. Obviously,
we have moved ours out of committee. We want to give the Senate time to
do the same thing. Count me as skeptical that they are going to do much
before the election.
We want to make sure between when we leave here on September 30 and
that election, and sometime beyond that, December 4, that the
government continues to function, and we are available to negotiate at
any time.
We, as my friends on the House side have done, have kept our word in
those negotiations. They have been in good faith. All this does is make
sure that we do not have a shutdown come September 30, nor do we have a
wild effort by either individual Members or either party to demand
things in exchange for keeping the government open.
The government will be open until the election is over. I actually
think that is a concession and a favor to everybody. It is a favor to
the American people to make sure that they are not inconvenienced and
endangered by a government shutdown.
If we have to wait until after the election until our friends in the
Senate want to sit down and work, then we will wait until after the
election. We don't have to wait through a shutdown. We don't have to
create the temptation for individual Members to exploit an artificial
deadline of the end of the fiscal year.
We just need to keep working, as we have, productively. That is all
this bill does. There are no poison pills in it. There is no increase
in funding. There is no other extraneous legislation attached to it. It
is a clean, simple CR to avoid a shutdown before a scheduled election
and to give us enough time after that election to sit down, either
resolve our differences--which is what I hope we can do--or if we need
additional time, we will look at that then.
If there are other matters along the way, we are happy to sit down
and talk about those. We just want to take the possibility of a
government shutdown off the table.
Some people may think that is being cautious. Those people would
probably not be aware that we went through the longest full government
shutdown in American history triggered by our friends in the United
States Senate, the Democrats in the United States Senate.
Some people might think that, you know, again, we run the risk of our
borders. We had to resort to extraordinary measures to continue to fund
the Border Patrol. Why anybody is mad at the Border Patrol, I will
never know. All they have done is their job. We have had no known
illegal entries in the United States in over a year. That is something
to be proud of. Why the Border Patrol is mixed up in this, I will never
know, but I am happy to talk to my friends about it on the other side.
Let's do the prudent thing, as my friend, Mr. Womack, said. Let's
take out an insurance policy. Let's remove the option of a government
shutdown, and let's continue to work in good faith. We have done that
in this House. That is why all 12 bills are out of committee.
I commend my friends on the other side. They made their points. They
made their arguments. They supported a couple of those bills, others
they might not. The point is, they worked in good faith. That has not
happened in the United States Senate.
We have had two shutdowns triggered by people that historically
condemn any shutdown. Their argument has always in the past been: Let's
keep the government open while we negotiate. That is all this CR does.
It ensures no artificial deadline, and it ensures we will get the
election in the rearview mirror without shutting down the government as
we move into an election.
We think this is a prudent thing to do. I hope some of my friends on
the other side will accept that view and vote accordingly. If not, we
will try to do this on our own, but we would prefer to do it in
cooperation with our friends. Again, that is all we are trying to do.
I would urge, Mr. Speaker, that my colleagues support this bill, that
we make sure there is no government shutdown come the end of the fiscal
year, and that we make sure we can conduct our elections in November
without the threat of a shutdown leading into those elections. Then we
would prudently try to resolve our differences on the other side of the
election.
It is pretty simple stuff. Again, we are willing to talk about other
matters that our friends want to bring up. We just want to take the
option of a shutdown off the table. It is that simple. I urge my
colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Moran). All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1438, the previous question is ordered
on the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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