DeLauro Remarks at the Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill Conference Committee
WASHINGTON, DC (September 13, 2018) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today delivered the following remarks at a conference committee meeting on the FY2019 Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery:
This meeting is an important step to get the 2019 bill completed.
At this point, it is appropriate to name some of the critical increases. They include: an increase of $2 billion for NIH research; An increase of $200 million for Head Start, including $50 million for Early Head Start; An increase of $50 million for the Child Care and Development Block Grant; An increase for afterschool programs and the maximum Pell Grant; And, increases across the CDC and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
I am very pleased to say the bill eliminates two longstanding prohibitions on using education funding for transportation to address increasingly racially-segregated schools.
Meanwhile, this bill takes action against the President's manufactured crisis at the border.
The family separation crisis is child abuse. According to reports, more than 400 children are still in HHS custody. Many parents may have been deported. They may never be reunited.
This bill maintains the bipartisan amendments that House Democrats introduced to condemn this policy, demand a reunification plan, and ensure the Administration upholds the highest standards of care and privacy.
We will continue to pursue cost estimates as well as the costs related to the unaccompanied children.
All that said, I am disappointed we could not reach an agreement on guns for teachers. We missed an opportunity to say once and for all: ESSA's authors never intended for federal dollars to arm teachers, which, as I understand, is current law.
So, we will continue to raise this issue until the DeVos Department of Education upholds the will of Congress.
Finally, I am glad the bill is free from harmful riders.
It does not overturn the Flores Settlement, sabotage the Affordable Care Act or undermine women's health funding.
It is not a perfect bill, but I congratulate my colleagues on reaching a bipartisan compromise. The president will have to sign it into law or shut down the government since it contains the CR.
I support the bill and I look forward to seeing it enacted on time.