the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 230 and the nays are 191. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal.

members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 230. the nays 182 with two answering present. the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and their remarks

include extraneous material on the consideration of h.r. 3354, and i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. pursuant to house resolution 500 and rule 18, the chair declares is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 3350 -- 3354. the chair appoints the gentleman from georgia, mr. collins, to preside over the ommittee of the whole. the chair: the house will be in order. the committee will please be in order. please take your conversations off the house floor.

the sooner we're quiet the sooner we can begin. the committee will be in order. please take your conversation off the house floor. he committee will be in order. or it won't. will the members please take your conversation off the house

floor so we can begin debate. the sooner we begin debate the sooner we'll vote later tonight. members, take your conversations off the house floor. he committee will be in order. the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of the bill h.r. 3354 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the department of the interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2018, and or other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from new jersey, mr. frelinghuysen, and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, each will control one hour. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey.

mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the chair: the gentleman is correct and will suspend. will the house please come to order. please, members, take your conversation off the house floor. he committee will be in order. the gentleman may proceed. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i rise today to present h.r. 3354, the make america secure nd prosperous appropriations act. this legislation moves congress one step closer to completing its critical work on our fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills. the head of the end of the fiscal year -- ahead of the end of the fiscal year on september 30. our bill respects the american people, their priorities for our nation and their hard-earned tax dollars. it will help move our great country forward in a more table and pros press future.

this supports domestic and international programs to keep our people safe. it helps our economy grow and thrive and protects us from terrorists and those who want to do us harm. and ensures america has a critical role across the globe, both militarily and diplomatically. most importantly, this bill continues the work started with the national security funding package that passed the house in july, the make america secure act, and prioritizes the safety of the american people, targeting funding towards critical law enforcement programs, securing our borders and our cyber networks, fighting terrorists, combating opioid abuse and stemming the flow of illegal drugs and goods. our funds are directed to programs that provide the greatest national benefit, including those that keep our food and drug supply safe,

supports public health preparedness, fight devastating wildfires, invests in critical infrastructure and otherwise protects and supports our economy and economic freedom. all of these are made responsibly in each of our bills within this package. we found savings, gotten rid of fraud, waste and duplication and increased oversight to ensure no taxpayer dollars misspent. but we still have more work to do. this is the next step in the process but it's not the end. we must also address new needs arising from terrible flooding and damage inflicted by hurricane harvey which is affecting hundreds of thousands of people across texas and louisiana as well as continual government operations until the final appropriations package can be conferenced with the senate and signed into law. . this legislation represents the house priorities and shows the

american people that this chamber is moving forward governing effectively acknowledge r and getting things done here in washington. i would like to thank the members of the appropriations committee and the staff and allows us to consider this bill today, especially the 12 chairs of the subcommittees. the committee drafted and considered and marked up all 12 appropriations bills in under two months, a record-breaking pace. and as a result, we have a final fine package of solid bills on the floor this afternoon. i would like to thank the chairs and ranking members of the committee of the bills we are considering today, as well as ranking member lowey, for her partnership and friendship throughout this process. i would like to extend my personal thanks to our staff on both sides of the aisle for their efforts on these bills.

this package is the product not only of the committee's work, but also of the contribution of all members of this body. while drafting these bills that propose this package we took the missions seriously creating a more representative bill that reflects the will of the american bill. in july, the house took the first responsible step of providing funding for critical national security priorities. with this bill, we complete our work on all 12 of our appropriations bills for the fiscal year. this morning, the house came together on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis that passed desperately needed emergency funding for the victims in texas and louisiana, whose lives were destroyed by hurricane harvey. funding these important responsibilities of the federal government and our constitutional duty to the people we serve. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this bill. and i reserve the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield myself eight minutes. i rise in strong opposition to this bill, which would turn back the clock on american excellence following president trump's lead on divesting from education, ealth climate assistance and infrastructure. the process for this bill has been outrageous and this debate frankly is an utter waste of time. just hours ago, congressional leadership and the president agreed to pass a package including hurricane harvey assistance as well as the debt limit extension and a continuing resolution to keep government running until december 15. we should be working to pass

that measure now so that we can that we can work toward a bipartisan budget agreement instead of wasting days on a bill that undercuts economic growth and priorities and on which families rely and so hyper partisan, it never earn the democratic support to be enacted. breaking from long standing for members to advance amendments, the rules committee required that amendments be submitted 12 days ago during the work period and reported a restrictive rule for relatively few of them so far. the majority denied consideration of many amendments that would address timely high-profile challenges, some of which cuts to the core of our democracy and would have been allowed under an open rule.

in rule. in one of the most egregious examples, the majority blocked n amendment to provide we have a responsibility to pass the dream act now. it is absurd that after years of receiving majority support,

republican leadership has refused to allow a vote. the rules committee should make in order amendments to protect the integrity of our elections and the independence of the special counsel's russia investigation. this bill also fails on the merits. the nondefense bills are below sequestration levels set in law, slashing funding for teaching training, apprenticeship grants to help young students, law enforcement grants that help keep our communities safe, environmental protections that ensure we drink clean water, breathe clean air, highway and transit grants that improve the quality of life for our constituents and a number of scientific and research programs that are important for global competitiveness. this bill is litered with riders with deep-rooted opposition like

cutting funding for planned parenthood. if the majority is serious about governing, loading must-pass spending bills with these policy bills is a sure-fire to fail. turn to the foreign and state operations of the bill, i want ellen, matt with the subcommittee, dean from my david, raig, susan, winey chank, megan and alex with the majority. diplomacy and development efforts are critical to protecting our country's national security and building stronger and more stable communities around the world. that is why cuts in this division are so deeply

troubling. as demonstrated through both the president's unworkable request and the subcommittees unsustainable allocation, the majority does not fully embrace the vital role diplomatic activities add to our national security and economic interests abroad. the positive side, it sustains our unwavering support for our close partner israel as well as jordan. and i do appreciate chairman rogers protecting resources for basic education, water, sanitation, democracy and some vital women's programs which provide communities the foundations for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction. while he rejected the most extreme proposals in the president's budget, the

allocation is insufficient to respond to global challenges. e must reverse dangerous and such such as multi lateral cooperation, international family planning and climate change as well as he we are at risk that will void being filled by those who oppose our values and interest.

leaving the world far different than what we want for our children and grandchildren. it's time for the majority to set aside its most extreme proposals, including the border wall and interior immigration enforcements and work with democrats to write bipartisan legislation that could actually be enacted. i urge a no vote and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i recognize mr. rogers of kentucky for three minutes, my predecessor as full chairman. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. rogers: mr. chairman, i rise today in strong support of the

fiscal of the fiscal year 2018 appropriations measure before us today. he committee, as the chairman i want to highlight, mr. chairman, the funding provided for the department of state and foreign operations. this portion of the bill reduces international diplomatic and development programs by $10 billion, 17% reduction from fiscal 2017. in a tough budget environment, the bill strikes a delicate balance between fiscal responsibility and support for continued u.s. leadership and foreign aid. first and foremost, over $6 billion is allocated for embassy security, which will enable the

state department to safeguard american diplomatic facilities overseas in line with the recommendations of the benghazi accountability review board. second, it contains $8.4 billion for security assistance to support key u.s. allies and partners. the u.s.-israel memorandum of understanding is fully funded at $3.1 billion. the bill maintains foreign military financing for egypt, jordan, tunisia and increases security assistance for ukraine and provides extra support for other countries facing russian aggression. in our own hemisphere, it will help counter transnational criminal organizations and the flow of illegal drugs by supporting our partnerships with colombia, central america and mexico. third, the bill promotes

american values around the world by maintaining funding for key democracy programs. fourth, the bill continues our country's strong tradition on helping the most vulnerable, providing $8.3 billion for global health programs and $5.9 illion for health humanitarian assistance. it protects and preserves life by expanding a mexico city policy prohibiting funding for the u.n. population fund and continuing all pro-life riders carried in prior house bills. and finally at a time when we must remain focused on balancing federal spending, this bill eliminates many programs and improves oversight and management and makes our government more accountable. no funds are provided for president obama's global climate change initiative.

funding for the u.n. is reduced by $900 million and international banks cut by over $800 million. i thank the champlee. funding by the u.n. is reduced and financial banks are cut by over $800 million. this legislation advances both our national security and economic interests and i urge support for the bill. and mr. chairman, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i'm very pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, the ranking member of the subcommittee on commerce, justice and science. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. serrano: thank you, ranking member lowey. i wish we could be here in other

circumstances. the process to consider the t.j.s. portion of this bill as part of an omnibus package is not in keeping of how the appropriations process should work. each bill should be given individual consideration under an open rule. some on the other side are cheering this floor process, which is ironic given the years of opposition of such a lum-together package. i'm not sure what has changed their minds today and at this point, we don't know if members will be allowed to offer amendments that are necessary to improve half of the bill and reign in this out of control administration because the rules committee has not yet provided us with that information. i also wish that the substance of what we are considering this week were better. as the ranking member of t.j.s. subcommittee, i can say the t.j.s. portion of this bill

received an inadequate allocation. the bill includes an approximately 1% cut below physician cat year 20717. this is far below the level needed to adequately fund the program in this bill, which are crucial to economic development, scientific innovation and protecting our nation's sheriffs' constitutional values. . let me mention some areas where both sides agree. i do want to commend chairman culberson for rejecting several of the worst ideas in the trump administration's budget. this includes rebuffing proposals that would have reduced research funding at the national science foundation and eliminated the minority business development agency. this bill also rejects cuts to -- ational efforts in the in nasa and proposed cuts for

the f.b.i. far too many of the president's terrible proposals are given credence by this legislation. the legal services corporation, the manufacturing extension partnership program and the economic development administration all saw significant cuts before the current funding level. the census bureau is greatly underfunded and will be unable to complete the important and necessary work that must be done now to prepare for the 2020 census. a number of other programs are shortchanged including climate change, research programs at n.s.f. and noaa. several national whether service initiatives and a number of d.o.j. grant programs like the cops hiring program and several police reform grant programs. democrats and republicans alike support most if not all of these programs but we simply

cannot fix these problems under this allocation. i am also troubled that this bill allows many of the administration's most disturbing priorities and initiatives related to immigration and civil rights to move forward without the necessary congressional oversight. in the wake of charlottesville and tuesday's daca decision, there are many in this country who are justifiablely questioning the president's -- justifiably questioning the president's tolerance and inclusiveness. the trump administration's budget request for the department of justice raises those questions as well. a proposal to harm immigrants by increasing criminal enforcement is funded in this bill. there is no attempt to limit the department's actions to undermine affirmative action, support voter restriction that and ignore lgbt

protections. many of these have been rejected by the american people but the president and the attorney general continue to give them credibility. democrats and republicans have offered amendments to limit the reach of these drastic policy changes, but at this point it is unclear whether any of these amendments will be made in order. i hope we will have a serious opportunity to make changes to this bill, but that seems unlikely. in its current form, i cannot support this portion of the bill or the bill as a whole. thank you. the chair: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, pleased to recognize the chairman of the subcommittee on appropriations, mr. aderholt of alabama, three minutes. the chair: the gentleman is

recognized for three minutes. mr. aderholt: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, it's my distinct honor to bring the fiscal year 2018 agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration and related agencies bill before you today as part of the make america secure and prosperous appropriations act. i do want to thank chairman frelinghuysen for his commitment to the annual appropriations process. under his steadfast leadership, the house is scheduled to vote on all 2 appropriations bills which is an extraordinary achievement. i'd also like to thank ranking member lowey and ranking member bishop for their cooperative spirit. mr. bishop is the new ranking member for the agriculture subcommittee and i have enjoyed working with him over the past several months as we have moved forward to try to help rural america and rural communities. the ag appropriations bill responsibly targets funds to national programs that provide the most benefit to the

american people and to the united states economy. the bill received bipartisan support throughout the process, even though much of the funding and policies reflect a conservative policy. the overall total for both discretionary and mandatory spending in this bill equals $144.9 billion. that is 4.1 billion dollars above the president's request and $8.6 billion below the f.y. 2017 enacted level. the bill includes $20 billion in discretionary budget authority which is $1.1 billion below f.y. 2017 enacted level when adjusting for the commodities future trading commission. the mandatory funds in this bill support usda's farm production, conservation, crop insurance and nutrition programs. i'd like to thank all the members who submitted requests and gave input as we have moved forward in crafting this legislation.

knowing what programs members are interested in has helped us direct funding to support rural communities across the country and also combat animal and plant pests and disease threats, promote u.s. agriculture exports, support food level safety and medical product level safety, provide u.s. commodities to those in need overseas and address the critical needs of research. we protected our most vulnerable populations in this bill by providing funding for all usda's nutrition programs at levels that ensure all eligible participants will receive the nutrition assistance that they need. we made sure that the farm loan programs will meet estimates of demand during the current economic downturn and several -- in several areas of the economy. furthermore, the bill provides $5.2 billion to the food and drug administration, including the preservation of nearly $2.8 billion in discretionary

resources to assist f.d.a. in protecting and promoting public health. the bill continues the support -- continues to support the food safety activities associated with the food safety modernization act and provides $60 million in new funds to the 21st century cures act. in closing, i'd like to especially thank the staff on the agriculture appropriations committee, my personal staff, the minority staff on the appropriations committee. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. aderholt -- and -- mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds to thank the staff for which we are grateful. mr. aderholt: we are very grateful. again, i appreciate the bipartisan cooperation that went into crafting this bill. it's very important, and i'd ask my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the chairman of the committee reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york.

mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, who is the ranking member of the subcommittee on energy and water. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: i want to thank you, ranking member lowey, for yielding and thank you to all members of the committee for the long hours you dedicated to these bills. certainly our chairman rodney frelinghuysen. the artificially low allocations you were given have resulted in a package that i cannot support, but i want to note your efforts to find compromise where it was possible. though the house passed the energy and water bill as part of july's christmas tree mini bus, i am back down here -- minibus, i am back down here today because the republican majority has harmed the department of energy's funding for the advanced technology vehicles manufacturing loan program, or they call it the

atvm. it's been gutted as a pay-for to cover another shortsighted republican cut to a federal emergency management program. today's rule allowed this boneheaded republican action plotted just weeks ago before mother nature's catastrophic fury hit texas with hurricane harvey. it doesn't look good to the american people when the majority cuts programs that are desperately needed. it doesn't serve america's future if money is pulled from developing engine technologies to increase fuel economy of cars, expand domestic manufacturing and create good-paying american jobs. unless you live under a rock, you know these initiatives are both popular and effective and necessary. 61% of republicans in ohio support the requirement of getting to an average of 40 miles per gallon in new cars by 2025 with 73% of the public overall supporting that. the department of energy's advanced technology vehicle program supported for its

development of the ecoboost engine which is built in ohio at brook park in my own district. advanced vehicle research supported the development of all-electric vehicles from nissan's lease in tennessee and tesla sess model s in california. it supports america's competitiveness in a fiercely competitive and tough global marketplace that is many times not on the level. we should support innovation and collaboration, not eliminate job-creating programs. i'll fight to preserve this program in the final spending package and thus encourage all my colleagues -- might i have an additional 30 seconds? mrs. lowey: you can have a minute. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentlelady. thank you very much, ranking member lowey. thus, i encourage all my colleagues to oppose this sort of backward maneuver and oppose the final bill. in closing, i'd like to say and to acknowledge publicly a very big thank you and congratulations to tonya on her

upcoming retirement from congress. i know she'll have a bright future ahead. after her distinguished and exemplary service with the army corps of engineers, including in iraq, she dedicated over a decade of her brilliant life and mind to the important task of managing the appropriations energy and water subcommittee accounts during my tenure as ranking member as well as her representative peter visclosky before me. tonya's high-minded commitment to democratic principles are unyielding. our committee's losing a trusted and honorable advisor, her expertise and no-nonsense approach served our members, the staff and the american people extraordinarily well. tonya, you will be missed and you can leave with knowing that you made a positive difference for america's future in nuclear readiness, in our energy future security and in vital army corps development from coast to

coast. we thank you. and i yield back my remaining time. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, before i recognize mr. culberson, let me associate myself with the remarks of ms. kaptur. tonya, thank you for your service to our nation. your help to both the republicans and democrats and to the nation, we are indebted to you. good luck to you. mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the commerce, justice, science subcommittee, mr. culberson, who spoke so eloquently this morning, for three minutes. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. culberson: thank you, mr. speaker. first, i want to thank everyone here in the house for their kind words and their prayers and their support this morning for the hurricane harvey relief bill. i want to thank you, in particular, chairman frelinghuysen, for your work, hard work, along with the speaker, to get that legislation passed through the house in record time to get relief to the people of louisiana and texas.

we're praying for the people of puerto rico and florida who are facing this terrible hurricane right now. today, i am pleased to present the fiscal year 2018 commerce, justice, science appropriations bill, and i want to particularly thank my ranking member jose serrano, who's been a good partner to work with and his support when it comes to science and nasa's deeply appreciated and his input has improved the bill significantly. i am also very grateful to chairman frelinghuysen and ranking member lowey for their help in writing this bill and the superb staff work on both sides of the aisle in putting it together. this commerce, justice, science bill provides $54 billion in discretionary funding this year which is $2.6 billion below fiscal year 2017. we have done our best to be good stewards of our constituents' hard-earned and very precious tax dollars. we fund critical programs in this bill while cutting our freezing lower priority programs. one of the main priorities is to fund both federal and local

law enforcement agencies. our bill provides the f.b.i. with $8.8 billion which is a $92 million increase over the budget request. the f.b.i. has done a superb job in protecting this nation against espionage, cybercrime, terrorism and hate crimes. the threats against our security are real and evolving. we have done our best in this bill to make sure that the f.b.i. has the resources it needs to continue to protect this great nation. the commerce, justice bill also provides increases across all other federal law enforcement agencies, mr. chairman, to enhance their capabilities to combat illegal immigration, violent crime and go after human and opioid traffickers. unfortunately, given houston, texas, is the center of human trafficking and our legislation makes sure that all federal agencies have the resources they need to combat these modern human slavers. we've provided funding for 65 new immigration judge teams to reduce the 500,000 case log of

immigration case backlog. . we have $88 million increase for u.s. marshals. a $98 million for the d.e.a. we've also provided strong funding for priorities state and local law enforcement programs that protect women and children and help support our local police officers. i especially am grateful and want to say a special thank you to all the first responders who saved so many lives in houston and across southeast texas and southwest louisiana. our first responders have been absolutely magnificent in helping protect the people of texas and i know they'll be there for the people of puerto rico and florida. our legislation includes $527 million to fight human trafficking and protect women against violence. we've provided $72.5 million to help protect missing and exploited children. we've provided $500 million for the program to help local law enforcement agencies and $220 million to help reimburse state

and local agencies for housing criminal aliens. thank you very much, mr. chairman. the bill also provides $19.9 billion for nasa which is a $218 million increase. and the bill advances space exploration and ensures america will remain the world leader in space exploration and technology. the bill provides -- makes sure that the human space flight program is fully funded and that we will have americans launched back into space on american-built rockets as soon as humanly possible. the bill does not adopt the proposed cut to the national science foundation and we have continued to fund basic scientific research. we've included numerous oversight provisions, mr. chairman, to protect hard-earned taxpayer dollars and we've also continued provisions included in previous year bills to protect our second amendment rights. i yield back the balance of my time and want to thank the chairman for the time and urge all members to support the bill. chad: the gentleman's time has

expired. the gentleman from new jersey -- chad: the gentleman's time has expired -- the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey yields. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield to mr. hoyer. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. initially i want to say that i hope that very soon in a bipartisan way we'll bring a daca bill to this floor. let me quote what president trump said last night. trump said that he wanted to, quote, legalize daca, further action muddled with the administration saying what it would do. he said, we need to come together and do this and we really have no choice. now, leaning, i want to speak about this -- ladies and gentlemen, i want to speak about this bill. as the chairman knows, and as the ranking member knows, i served on the appropriations

committee for 23 years. i've taken leave of absence because i'm one of the leaders on our side of the aisle. for most of those years we worked in a bipartisan fashion. this is a partisan bill. sad. and it is not regular order at all. regular order is doing one bill after another until you've passed the 12 bills. in fact, i don't think i've ever seen this process done in this fashion. when i was the majority leader, the first year we passed all 12 bills individually, discretely, separately and sent them to the senate. before the august break. hal rogers said of the president's budget, while we have a responsibility to reduce our federal deficit, i am disappointed that many of the reductions and eliminations proposed in the president's skinny budget are draconian,

and counterproductive. i think the same could be applied to the budget that is before us. the omnibus appropriation package the house is considering this week is, as all of us here recognize, all of us recognize, the chairman i have great respect for. and i'm not going to ask him publicly whether he thinks the senate's going to adopt any one of these bills. but i know his answer. may i have one additional minute? let me say to my colleagues, this is not the way to do it. john mccain gave a twelling speech on the floor of the -- compelling speech on the floor of the united states senate as he was challenged with a brain tumor. thinking deeply about what we ought to do and he said, we need to act together. we need to be bipartisan. we need to do the people's work in a way they expect us to do

it -- together. mr. chairman thrk bill is not going to get -- mr. chairman, this bill is not going to get a democratic vote. that's sad. it's sad that the house -- for the house, it's sad for the country and it's sad for the people who will be shortchanged by this bill. i urge my colleagues to vote no . and i urge the majority party to return to the table as surely we will, to work in a bipartisan fashion to construct bills that we can all be proud of. there will be compromises. we won't get all that we want. but they will be bills that the american people can be proud of and that this house can be proud of. et us return to the bipartisan and respect for one another

that so long prevailed in the appropriations committee. how sad we have fallen to this place. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the homeland security subcommittee on appropriations, mr. carter, judge carter of texas, for three minutes. as i learned this morning, a true son of houston whorks eloquence we heard -- houston, whose eloquence we heard and compassion this morning. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. carter: thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to thank mr. frelinghuysen and mrs. lowey for all that we've worked together on this bill. the whole bill's a good bill, it deserves this house's support. i'm here to present the department of homeland security appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018, which in turn deserves your support. this is a good bill that is essentially for the security of our nation.

it's not only -- it only funds vital security -- it not only funds vital security and law enforcement capabilities, it also restores funding for critical federal assistance grant programs and disaster relief. and importantly, it provides an oversight essential to ensure the department's actions are in accordance with congressional intent. let's look at it. for c.b.p., $1.6 billion. for 74 mile of border wall cruck that was previously -- construction that was previously included in the make america secure propings act passed in july -- appropriations act passed in july. in addition to the funding for the wall construction, this bill will fund additional border patrol agents and virtually all of the technology , infrastructure and assets needed for the security of our borders. for i.c.e. this bill funds $44 -- 44,000

deteng beds, 10,000 more -- deteng beds, 10,000 more -- detention beds, 10,000 more beds than in 2014. this bill will ensure i.c.e.'s ability to enforce immigration laws and conduct investigations into human trafficking, child exploitation and transnational crime. for t.s.a., although the bill does not include the proposed increase in aviation security fees, it fully funds required transportation security screeners. for the coast guard. all major acquisition programs are funded at the required level. the polar icebreaker, the offshore patrol cutter, and the fast response cutter. for fema, the bill fully funds the request for disaster ssistance, restores nearly $940 million to the federal

assistance for first responders grants, and education, training and exercises. additionally, the bill fully funds all cybersecurity acquisition requirements at the requested levels, it full requesty funds the secret -- fully funds the secret service, fully funds e-verify. in conclusion, my colleagues this bill strengthens the security of our nation, is also a powerful message that if you break our nation's laws and cross the border illegally, you , ll suffer the consequences apprehension and a guaranteed stay in detention. thank you, mr. chairman. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i'm very pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. price, the ranking member of the committee on transportation, housing and

urban development. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for five minute. -- minutes. mr. price: mr. chairman, i thank ranking member for yielding and thank her and our chairman for the good work. i must rise, though, in opposition to the fiscal 2018 transportation, housing and urban development appropriations bill and the republican omnibus bill. i want to stress, mr. chairman, however, that i am heart ed as i imagine -- heartened as i imagine every member of this body is heartened by the bipartisan cooperation we have been able to muster to reach out to our neighbors in texas and louisiana who have sbon devastated. and it's the -- who have been so devastated. and it's the same kind of solidarity and cooperation i know we will muster, whatever the verdict is after irma reaches our shores. and we anticipate that with a great deal of concern and app

reheng. we do have a history -- apprehension. we do have a history in this body of pulling together when it matters for our neighbors, whenever disasters strike. the kind of cooperation is absolutely essential to who we are as a country and who we are as an institution. and i want to urge that we bring that same spirit of cooperation, that same understanding of the historic cooperation that has characterized appropriations. after all, this is the power of the purse. this is our main institutional power. and history shows it works best when it's exercised cooperatively. it doesn't matter who the president is or what the party division is. this is the power of the purse of the people's house. and we need to work in a cooperative fashion to make sure that power is just as effectively and responsibly exercised as it possibly can be

. and while this exercise, this eight-bill exercise today, i believe is a deeply flawed process, we need to overcome this. and i believe eventually we will. with a bipartisan budget agreement such as we've had the last four years, that will let us write cooperatively appropriations bills that address our country's needs. but that's not where we are today, mr. chairman. i do want to give the chairman our subcommittee credit for an open and collaborative process. but he and the subcommittee have simply been dealt an inadequate hand. we simply can't do what needs to be done with this allocation. in the case of the t h.u.d. bill, it includes only -- t hud bill, it includes over -- provides $1.1 it

billion less compared to the enacted level. we've got to do better than this. we've got to do right by our country's infrastructure investments. one of the most egregious omissions in this bill is funding for the tiger program. a so-called tiger program. this is a program that has addressed infrastructure needs to across our country. estimates are that we're addressing only 5% of the meritorious projects put forward under tiger. i can tell you one we are funding. i visited it last week. union station in raleigh, north carolina. a beautiful multimodele facility that's going to facilitate passenger rail, transit, buses, intermodele transportation. and it's going to revitalize the downtown district. that's an ideal use of tiger

funds. communities all over this country need that sort of investment. and yet this bill zeros that program out completely. it also cuts new starts for transit. so-called capital investment grants. cuts them by $659 million. now, i do give the chairman credit for including bill language to ensure that the f.d.a. continues to rate and review projects for the new starts pipeline. but this funding level will mean that only a few of those projects can actually be funded . our our cities want to institute transit programs. they've gone through all the stages to do this responsibly, and we need to keep faith with those communities by improving on this aspect of our bill. over at h.u.d., the choice neighborhoods program, that was formerly called hope six,

that's transformed dozens of housing public developments into thriving mixed income communities, receives over $20 million in this bill compared to $137 million in the fiscal 2017 bill. now, i recognize this is a placeholder amount, and i look forward to improving this number moving forward. additionally, the community housing development block grant -- may i have one additional minute? thank you. i thank my colleague for yielding. the community development block grant and home programs are each cut by $100 million in this bill. despite calls, bipartisan calls from local elected officials across the country to preserve these funding streams. we're in the midst of a housing crisis nationally. only one in four people eligible for federal rental assistance can receive it. we have a huge public housing capital backlog. our infrastructure continues to

crumble, resulting in decaying highways, bridgeways, congested roads. we should be increasing our commitment to meet these needs, not shortchanging them, and we've done this for far too long already. we've returned again and again to appropriations, especially domestic appropriations, to bear the whole brunt of deficit reduction. the results are a disaster for our economy. we are not addressing the main drivers of the deficit, and yet we're doing untold damage to critical national investments. strongly object, also, to several policy riders in this bill. they unnecessarily attack high-speed rail. they roll back transportation safety. they harm labor rights. no amendments, no amount of amendments offered today can fix this bill. i remain hopeful that we can get that budget agreement. in the meantime, i urge my colleagues to reject this omnibus bill.

the chair: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee, interior subcommittee, mr. calvert of california, for four minutes. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. calvert: mr. chairman, it's my distinct honor to bring to the house floor the fiscal year 2018 interior, environment and related agencies appropriation bill. before i go into details of the bill, i'd like to commend chairman frelinghuysen for his commit scombrment to the -- commitment to the appropriations process. under his leadership, the committee has moved its bills through the full committee and is bringing all 12 fiscal year 2018 bills to the house floor. as reported by the appropriations committee, the fiscal year 2018 interior, environment bill is funded at $31.456 billion, which is $824 million below fiscal year 2017, enacted level and $3.4 million above the budget request. this legislation makes a concerted effort to prioritize

critical needs within our allocation while also addressing specific interests and concerns brought to our attention through more than 5,000 individual member requests. in the interest of time, i won't outline all programs and activities in this bill but would like to point out a few highlight. the committee has provided robust wildfire funding in this bill. fire suppression accounts are fully funded at the 10-year average level, and the bill increases funding for hazardous fuel reduction. the bill funds the payments in lieu of taxes, pilt program, at the fiscal year 2017 enacted level. rural counties in 49 of the 50 states rely on these funds to make up for lost tax revenue. overall, funding for e.p.a. is reduced by $534 million or 6.5% from last year. this legislation provides $5 billion worth of investment in water infrastructure through funding in the program and the clean water and drinking aurora revolving loan funds.

this provides increase of cleanup of superfund and brown field sites. these programs help create jobs, spur economic development in communities across the country. the bill provides $2.9 billion for the national park service. increases the construction account by $10 million. and maintains increases provided last year to address long standing park operation and deferred maintenance needs. we've also addressed a number of concerns with the fish and wildlife accounts. this bill restores corps programs, popular grant programs to the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and combat international wildlife trafficking and fights invasive muscles and asian carp, species recovered but not yet delisted. the bill provides $275 million for land and water conservation fund, programs that ep joy bipartisan support. the -- enjoy bipartisan support. the west coast, inside home

state of california in particular, is counting on the expertise to make earthquake warning system operational. this provides $10.2 million for this public safety program that will save millions of -- protect millions of lives and protect critical infrastructure. this bill also makes critical investments in indian country. a top priority of the committee. it honors our commitment to native americans with particular emphasis on indian health, law enforcement, education and water settlements. in closing, i'd like to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle who worked long hours on this legislation, on the minority side, i'd like to thank rita, jocelyn, rebecca. on the majority side i'd like to thank darren ben gentleman jackie, etsy, jason, christian and dave, our chief clerk, from the committee staff as well as on my personal staff, ian foley, rebecca,

trisha and dave for a job well done. lastly, i'd like thoo my good friend -- i'd like to thank my good friend, betty, for addressing critical needs in the bill. we are never disagreeable with each other and continue to work well with each other. mr. chairman, this is a good bill. i urge its adoption. thank you and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i yield five minutes to the gentlelady from connecticut, ms. delauro, the outstanding ranking member of the subcommittee on labor, health and human services. the chair: the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: thanks. i rise in opposition to this bill, and while i am glad to see the labor, health and human services, education bill on the floor, this is the first time it's been considered with amendments since the 2010 appropriations cycle. but even with that i cannot

support the underlying bill. i will be blunt. this process is a sham. the combined omnibus would violate the budget control act tax. it triggers a sequester of $72 billion from the department of defense. i am troubled to see the labor-hhs once again bearing the brunt of republican budget cuts. the overall cuts to nondefense discretionary spending is $8 billion. and the labor-hhs bill is cut by more than $5 billion. this cut, by the way, is completely unnecessary because the allocations that we approve are approximately $5 billion below what they've said we need for nondefense spending, which is allowed under the budget control act. we have the resources available, and yet the majority refuses to allocate them to the

essential programs funding through this bill. i will also note that when adjusting for inflation, the labor-hhs bill is approximately $30 billion below what it was in 2010. instead of moving this bill, we ought to be negotiating a bipartisan budget deal to lift the sequestration caps on both defense and nondefense programs. then, we could begin working in a bipartisan basis to draft a reasonable labor-hhs bill that adequately funds the programs that support the middle class. the biggest economic challenge of our time is that too many people are in jobs that just don't pay them enough to live on. the programs in this bill provide opportunities for hardworking americans to improve themselves and for our economy to grow. we need a country that works for the middle class and the vulnerable, not just the wealthy and those with the most lobbyists. right now we grow jobs but not

income. the federal government has long played a key role in american workers learn and grow through work force development and connecting businesses with talent. but the programs that help grow our economy, educate our students, protect our women and seniors cannot operate if the labor-hhs bill is starved of funding which is why i oppose the underlying bill. i admit that there are few bright spots. i strongly support the increases for n.i.h. research, emergency preparedness, special education, the trio and gearup program. unfortunately, the modest increase in this bill are far outweighed by disamating cuts to programs that ought to be seeing increases. the bill fails our students, fundamentally anti-teacher, fails to make new investments in title 1, eliminates $2 billion for supporting effective instruction grants. what that is is teacher training. this bill's approach to women's health pushes a dangerous and harmful ideological agenda,

eliminates funding for title 10 family planning. it also eliminates the teen pregnancy prevention program. it includes ideological riders that blocks funding for planned parenthood, effectively block lifesaving research that uses stem cells from fetal tissue. the bill cuts access to the mental health block grants, the substance abuse prevention program. it cuts nurses' training, backup prevention and completely eliminates the minority hiv-aids initiative. it hurts workers by eliminating the employment service which helps nearly six million unemployed workers, including veterans, find jobs in 2015. it eliminates grants, expanding the highly effective registered apresentishship model that connects job seekers with good-paying jobs, that employers are desperate to fill. it cuts funding for other job training programs, job corps, dislocated worker programs. why? why would we eliminate programs

that for so long have been about economic opportunity and a ladder to the middle class? there are the riders which i mentioned. this blocks funding for the affordable care act. it continues to prehibt funding for gun violence prevention which has had a chilling effect on gun violence research. it prohibits the department of labor from ensuring that financial advisors act in the best interest of their clients. and this week we expect to see several more harmful riders added to the bill. at full committee markup, we propose more than 40 amendments to strengthen and improve the bill but the majority rejected all of them. i urge my colleagues to oppose this minibus because the funding in this bill fails to meet our country's needs, and it breaks our promises to women, to seniors, to students and to our work force. before i yield back and while i am opposed and strongly opposed to this bill, i do want to say a thank you to the committee staff, majority and minority,

to the ranking member and the chair of the committee and the chair of the subcommittee. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the chair: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, chairman calvert, for the purpose of a colloquy. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. calvert: mr. chairman, i yield to the gentleman from north carolina for the purpose of a colloquy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, chairman calvert. i'd like to begin by expressing my appreciation to chairman frelinghuysen and interior subcommittee chairman calvert for their strong leadership and good work on this legislation and thank them for this opportunity to speak today. i rise today to advocate on behalf of the u.s. national forest and their upkeep. specifically through the capital improvement and maintenance program. this program provides funding to pave or national forest roads, such as those in the forest located in my district. mr. hudson: each year the u.s. forest service is given funding to maintain roadways across our

nation. while they do their best to sustain roadways and trail access points, they can only do so much with the resources they're given. these roadways are an integral part of ensuring critical public access to u.s. forest lands. unfortunately, many of our national forest roadways have become severely eroded, from travel, age and the elements. the erosion has created problems for those who visit the national forest as well as those who access these roads to travel to and from their homes. first responders have also not been able to reach residents in emergencies due to road conditions in recent years, causing major safety risks for people who live along these roads. and i emphasize this is more than just headache for these residents. it's a real safety issue. i've seen these roads firsthand after storms and there's no way fire trucks and ambulances can access these roads in their current condition. i believe it's completely unacceptable. i've been advocating on behalf of the national forest since my first term in congress and

continue to engage with local stakeholders on this issue. i appreciate chairman calvert's attention on this issue and his support for the capital improvements maintenance program. mr. chairman, i look forward to working together to find a long-term solution to this issue. mr. calvert: mr. chairman, reclaiming my time. i thank you for drawing the hews steanings to the maintenance needs of the forest service. i will be pleased to work with him and anyone else as we move through frment y. 2018 spending process and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. . mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman rom -- oh. oh. to the distinguished gentleman from indiana, mr. visclosky, the ranking member of the subcommittee on defense. the chair: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. visa visa mr. chairman, i ask unanimous -- mr. visclosky: mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to revise

and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection -- the chair: without objection. mr. visclosky: i would like to extend my gratitude to chairman frelinghuysen, ranking member lowey, and all of our staff for their very hard work on crafting the transportation portion of the underlying bill. i am pleased that in comparison to the president's budget this bill includes $500 million increase in the capital investment grant program. this program provides critical funding to transit projects throughout our nation. while this funding increase is encouraging, it is my hope that a higher number can be agreed to in conference. the senate appropriations committee has approved a funding level of $2.1 billion and i strongly believe that the chairs and ranking members have demonstrated a commitment to provide robust funding for transportation investments to grow jobs and to grow our economy. i am particularly grateful for the inclusion of report language that protects those in the queue for ci -- c.i.g.

projects and that the senate proachingses committee has also -- appropriations committee has also approved similar language. i was alarmed that the president's budget sought to eliminate funding for projects it had not yet received full funding grant agreements. i would emphasize, 23 states currently have c.i.g. projects and this language would undermine the millions of dollars in years worth of human capital these communities have invested. these projects are an investment in our national economy. these projects connect people in our communities to educational job opportunities, and allow businesses to grow and thrive. it is absolutely critical that we prioritize these investments in transportation infrastructure. and i would yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the labor, health and human services subcommittee, mr. cole of oklahoma, for three minutes.

the chair: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for three minutes. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to begin by thanking the chairman of the full committee, the ranking member of the full committee, and certainly the ranking member of the subcommittee and staff for tremendous assistance they provided in putting together this rather large and complex piece of legislation. it's fair to note for the record that the allocation we received, $156 billion, is $5 billion less than we had last year. while our lower allocation this year forced to us make difficult decisions, i want to remind my colleagues that the cuts we're making today amount to barely $3% of what we spent last year and is essentially what we spent in fiscal year 2016. the bill before us today focuses on key national priorities, investing in biomedical research, to find curious for diseases like -- cures for diseases like alzheimer's and cancer, ensuring our country's fully prepared and able to protect our citizens from disease, outbreaks or bioterrorism. continuing to support early

childhood education, particularly for those at risk, helping first generation college students prepare for, access and complete a postsecondary education, and continuing to support people with -- living with disabilities. the bill also preserves funding for popular programs like career and technical education, support for historically black colleges and universities, programs to help native americans, the americorps program, liheap and the corporation for public broadcasting. the national institutes of health, our nation's premier biomedical research agency, is funded at $1.1 billion above last year. n.i. shmplet working to find -- n.i.h. is working to find curious for alzheimer's disease, cancer and -- cures for alzheimer's, cancer and finding medical treatment through precision medical techniques. we need to continue to build upon the increase provided in the omnibus last year and i view this proposal as the floor, not a ceiling, for biomedical research funding and i'm hopeful that this number can increase as the process moves forward. biodefense and preparedness

programs, including new funding to prevent pandemic flu from occurring, are increased across the bill. we're all aware of the terrible toll that prescription drugs and opioid abuse are taking on our nation. i'm proud to say this bill includes another $500 million to continue comprehensive grant programs, to enable states, localities and tribes to develop anti-opioid initiatives focused on prevention, education, treatment and recovery. head start received a $22 million increase in the bill. preschool programs are continuing to d 250 million. the child care programs receive a $4 million increase. special education programs for students with disabilities are increased by $24u7b million. which will help local -- $200 million. which will help local school districts ease the financial burden of providing specialized educational services. trio and gear-up which help disadvantaged students prepare for and reach college receive increases over last year. the bill also includes $500

million for the student support and academic enrichment program. these funds can be used flexibly by school districts across the country, whether the need is in the area of coubling, computer science -- and arch programs. pell grants are maintained at a maximum of $5,920. mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman another minute. mr. cole: thank you, mr. chairman. i also note that the initial allocation at the beginning of the congressional funding is always -- i look forward to working with our counterparts in the senate, my friends across the aisle, to see if there's additional areas where we can cooperate. finally i want to note that the bill protects human life by continuing long standing prohibitions against federal tax dollars being used to pay for abortions. and including new provisions to ensure no tax dollars are used for research on human fetal tissue obtained by an abortion. this bill represents a balanced approach that will benefit every american and maintain the appropriate stewardship of taxpayer dollars that we've been entrusted with as members

of congress. so, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i am very pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from california, ms. roybal-allard, who is the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee of appropriations. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. roybal-allard: mr. chairman, the f.y. department of homeland security funding bill addresses many bipartisan priorities, including maintaining funding for first responder and anti-terrorism grants, and the emergency food and shelter program. it provides increases above the request for the office of civil rights and civil liberties, for nonprofit security grants, new coast guard assets and i.c.e. child ex employeetation -- exploitation investigations. it also restores funding for science and technology centers

of excellence. bill restores funding for flood mapping grants, which the administration proposed to eliminate. and funding for pre-disaster mitigation grants, for which the administration proposed a 60% cut. these grants support precisely the kinds of programs that help communities mitigate and prepare for the impacts of natural disasters like hurricane harvey and we should be investing in them. even more. the bill also provides the president's request for the disaster relief fund. we will, however, need to appropriate more money beyond that approved by the house earlier today in order to address the damage caused by harvey and potentially irma. while there is much in this bill democrats can support, unfortunately for several reasons we cannot support this bill. for example, we cannot support the bill's $705 million

increase for interior immigration enforcement. this includes an increase of 4,676 detention beds, which is 10,000 above fiscal year 2016. or the hiring of 1,000 additional i.c.e. officers and agents. the administration says it's more agress -- its more aggressive enforcement approach is critical to national security and public safety. but in fact i.c.e. is now arresting people with no criminal infranks, who have lived, worked -- infractionses, who have lived, worked and paid taxeses in this country for years and even decades. these arrests are not required for national security or public safety. and they have tragic consequences for families and communities all over this country. the trauma being inflicted on them cannot be overstated.

mr. speaker, we are dealing with a moral question, as much as a legal one. i.c.e. has the discretion to enforce our immigration laws fairly and justly. and congress has the discretion to prioritize how we spend taxpayer dollars. instead of overly aggressive immigration enforcement, we should be investing more in real security vulnerabilities. these include cybersecurity, human trafficking investigations, coast guard vessels and aircraft, flood mapping and pre-disaster mitigation. we should invest in more custom officers, we should restore funding for research in laboratory facilities at the science and technology directorate. and for t.s.a.'s law enforcement officer reimbursement program. unfortunately we are not doing any of this.

however, before concluding, i want to take a moment to talk about the trump administration's announcement yesterday on ending the daca program. an amendment i offered in committee to clarify the basic authority of d.h.s. to continue the program failed on a party line vote. it would have given congress time to enact a more formal authorization and given dreamers the peace of mind of knowing they would not have to go back into the shadows. with the administration's announcement yesterday, that peace of mind has been cruelly snatched away. we shouldn't wait six months to fix this problem. the majority should bring my bipartisan, bicameral bill, the dream act, to the floor as soon as possible. so dreamers can continue to contribute to this country, free of the fear of being

deported to -- or being deported from the only home they know. in closing, mr. chairman, i want to extend my appreciation for the efforts of the subcommittee chairman, chairman carter, and his staff, who work with the minority throughout the bill. consistent with prior years, chairman carter has carried out his responsibilities honorably, fairly and collaboratively. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the transportation and housing and urban development subcommittee on appropriations, mr. diaz-balart about a lart of florida. -- mr. diaz-balart of florida. the chair: the gentleman from florida is recognized for three minutes. mr. diaz-balart: mr. chairman, before i begin, i want to thank the chairman, our members, our colleagues, the leadership for

being so understanding. i tomorrow will be heading back to south florida to be there in case this horrible storm does head our way. again, everybody has been incredibly supportive and has shown great solidarity and i'm compete exeedingly grateful for. that -- and i'm exceedingly grateful for that. i rise today to express the strongest possible support for this bill. i need to applaud the leadership of chairman frelinghuysen in making it possible to consider it on the floor today. i'd like to highlight some of the vital issues in this bill. the transportation, housing and urban development division provides $56.5 billion in discretionary budget authority. that's $1.1 billion below fiscal year 2017 enabilitied level. but the $8.6 billion above the budget request. we have targeted transportation and housing funding to essential investments in safety and infrastructure and the assistance for our most vulnerable citizens. the elderly, the disabled and, yes, america's hero, our veterans. we also have to prioritize, by reducing our eliminating

nonessential programs and scaling back administrative accounts. for the department of transportation, the bill includes $17.8 billion in discretionary appropriations. and $76.7 billion in total resources. that includes support for the fast act obligation limitations. for the federal aviation administration, that's funded at $16.6 billion. we provide this increase to keep advancing nextgen programs , with over $1 billion, and to continue to have, again, operate the safest, the most complex, the most advanced air traffic control system in the world. the bill reflects fast act priorities for highways and rail and transit. it includes $45 billion in road and bridge funding from the highway trust fund, which is almost $1 billion, $1 billion, above fiscal year 2017 levels. this fund willing provide much-needed -- funding will provide much-needed improsms to

america's highways and bridges. it provides $2.2 billion to the federal railroad administration to continue our commitment to rail safety. and to make critical, critical infrastructure investments. this includes fast act rail infrastructure investments to address the state of good repair backlog which we really need to address. as a reflection of tough choices, mr. chairman, our funding level for transit capital investment grants is $600 million below the 2017 level. but we have, and this is important, but we have included funding and direction to keep upcoming projects in the pipeline. . for us hog program, we continue -- for our housing program, we continue the assistance to our most vulnerable population. it includes $4.3 billion for the housing and urban development. it includes increases increases to keep pace with inflation. almost $1 billion for direct rental assistance to maintain,

again, housing for those who are currently served. homeless assistance remains a top priority in this bill. we included funding at the enacted level, and well above the budget request. mr. frelinghuysen: i yield an additional minute. mr. diaz-balart: the bill restores -- thank you, mr. chairman. it restores a number of community programs that members, frankly from both sides of the aisle, made sure that we were aware of. the bill restores a number of community development programs that were proposed for elimination in the budget request, including cbgp and home. we listened to members from both sides of the aisle and we made sure that was a priority in this bill. these programs, again, support decisionmaking at the local level where it should be. before i close, i want to thank the hardworking and talented staff that helped put this together, the subcommittee staff. i was going to read their names. again, i know i am running out of time. but i think this is the best

staff anywhere in congress. i also want to thank my personal staff, chief of staff, miguel mendoza who is deputy chief of staff, as well. from the minority staff, dzhokhar lyle and angela and so many -- joe carlisle and angela and so many others. i would be remiss if i did not particularly thank mr. price, the ranking member. he has been great to work with. we work cooperatively. i ask for your favorable support of this bill, and i yield back the remaining part of my time. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i am very pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop, the ranking member of the subcommittee on agriculture. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes. mr. bishop: mr. chairman, i first would like to thank the gentlelady for yielding me time. let me just say, i believe we are missing out on the

opportunity to effectively do our jobs. as elected members of congress, we're here to fight for what is right, what is fair and what is just. we are presented with the administration's budget. it is congress that's charged to serve as the first line of defense of the needs of the american people. and the agriculture bill before us, as part of this omnibus, is our attempt to do just that. however, the progress made in the agriculture bill will end here because we do not have a budget resolution to conference, and it's been tangled with very other contentious bills. that's most unfortunate. in light of the draconian budget requests presented by the president, congressman aderholt and i, along with our agriculture subcommittee colleagues, worked diligently to protect as much of our country's agriculture and food

and drug safety systems as we could. in order to inflict the least amount of damage, the funding reductions were spread across several programs, but let me be clear. the communities that make up this great nation need these programs to be robustly funded in order to keep us competitive in the global marketplace. the united states of america will not continue to be the nation that produces the safest, most abundant, highest quality, most economical food and fiber anywhere in the industrialized world if sufficient resources are not made available by this congress. ile we were able to maintain mcgovern-dole at the 2017 level, the food for peace program was reduced. this bill provides $830.4 million for research and education activities, which

includes approximately $161 million in funding to assist for f.y. 2017 for land grant institutions. these funds will assist in increasing minority representation and participation in the multidisciplinary agriculture community in fields such as agriculture research, agribusiness as well as farming and ranching. at the same time, the commodities future trade commission was deprived of the $2 million of funds that it needs to protect u.s. customers from ney various activity. -- nefarious activity. unprecedented language was put c the bill to allow the cft chairman to -- whether or not it established collective bargaining agreements. and unfortunately the amendment i submitted to strike that provision was not made in order

by the house rules committee. funding for the food and drug administration remains flat, which is in stark contrast to the trump budget that sought to cut it by more than $900 million, and still funding for this agency that oversees the safety of our food, drugs and medical devices, will not grow despite our significant dependence on their activities and the increasing workload each and every year. f.d.a. is being forced to do more with less resources, and that limits its ability to adequately protect the health, safety and welfare of the american people. nutrition, mandatory funding for snap and child nutrition were funded consistent with the current estimates. that's good. additionally, school kitchen grants are funded at $25 million which the trump administration requested be

zeroed out. i thank the committee for this. now, we just voted for a bill to provide aid for the victims of hurricane harvey just as the potential impact of hirm -- hurricane irma looms over us. instead of being proact of to ensure our citizens that will be impacted by impended natural disasters are protected, we are going to the floor with a package inadequately funds or federal agencies and does not completely meet the needs of the citizens of this great nation. this approach to funding our government for f.y. 2018 all but guarantees a short-term if not a full-year continuing resolution. but just like every year, democratic votes will be needed to enact an appropriations law. working together on a bipartisan basis will be absolutely necessary for it to move forward. mr. chairman, we still have a lot of work to do to discharge

our obligations to the american people. regretfully -- will the gentlelady yield 30 seconds? mrs. lowey: yes. mr. bishop: regretfully, this bill falls short. i'd like to thank mr. aderholt for his work as chairman of the subcommittee, chairman frelinghuysen and both of them for conducting the appropriations committee markup fairly and collegiately. and mrs. lowey, the full committee ranking member, for her aspiring leadership. let me thank the staffs on the majority and minority sides for all of their cooperation. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i am pleased to recognize the chairman of the financial services subcommittee on appropriations, mr. graves of georgia, for three minutes. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. mr. graves: thank you, mr.

chairman. i want to thank chairman frelinghuysen for his support and his team for bringing us to this point today and this week to do what many thought couldn't be done and that's getting all 12 of our appropriations bills done in a timely fashion. but today's a privilege for me to present the financial services and general government act and this wouldn't be possible without congressman quigley and his team and i appreciate their work as we've been through many months of effort together. but i believe this is the prosperous part of making america secure and pros press act because this bill includes many of the reforms found in the choice act which we passed earlier this spring which eliminated many of the dodd-frank regulations, reining in those rogue agencies that we heard so much about. while allowing the economy and markets to begin working for american families and will also restore the financial freedoms

that help americans earn a living and achieve their american dream of which we have all been hearing about over these last weeks in august. but this bill also invests in small businesses and invests in the small businesses through the s.b.a. by $1 billion, nearly $1 billion of new investment to the small business administration with significant funding for small business loans and particularly to those veterans of ours who are out there working hard and starting their own businesses. but this bill also carries the entire financial institution bankruptcy act, which passed this house earlier this year as well on a bipartisan vote. but i.r.s. funding again is kept at a 2009 level. actually a little bit below that. but allowing targeted investments in consumer service and cybersecurity. but this bill maintains our commitment to the i.r.s. oversight that we have been working on so hard over the last couple years by prohibiting the harmful regulations that we've seen from them that have impacted

our 501-c-4 organizations. it prohibits them from targeting these groups based on their political beliefs or their exercising of their first amendment rights but it also allows for many of the other protections for taxpayers that we have been longing to do. to combat the opioid crisis, we include more than $360 million to aid federal drug control programs like drug courts and drug-free communities. but it's also important to note that we carry the pro-life provisions that have been something -- a pattern and a custom and a privilege that this house has done for so many years over the past, but we've added to that. we expanded by including the harris amendment that prohibits funding for being provided through multistate plans that cover abortion, and we also included a provision that repeals the district of columbia's assisted suicide measure. now, this bill comes in at about $20 billion, and that is a big number, but let me point

out that is over 6% less, that's a 6% cut just from last year. so we're making a difference. now when crafting this bill, i took my direction straight from the members of this house, republican and democrat. this is the result oyr iert,inres oyo nstute birsa faio--onitntin paisason n, ny tugdesis re mae, but th sro fcu -- . engys: yldhe gtmaanhemite . av: a y, . chrman. noan myou dcion vebe mde aro tisil bu ts e wl th trg oc ofincl reomorllmeca. no beev ts llil ma ari pspro aai soantoha cirn elghs, a t sucoite ci, e ll comieeta, tiri afan rki mbe, hi whlee h bn ea t rwi. t 'smpta f -to thnkyubmmte ty veee roh loof ha wk thmemr cirn,ndth'vne reoborngitmend thmay rd -may wkes.

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