DeLauro Statement Supporting Fiscal Year 2014 Government Funding Bill

Bipartisan Legislation Will Prevent another Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today in support of the legislation before the House of Representatives funding the U.S. government for fiscal year 2014. DeLauro is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. A video of DeLauro’s remarks can be viewed here.

“While I will vote for this budget despite having major reservations, I want to say a few words about how Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education programs are handled here. Keep in mind that of the 12 subcommittees, the Labor-HHS Subcommittee never marked up a bill. After Defense, Labor-HHS has the largest portfolio, and we deal with the lives of every day Americans.

“The allocation for Labor HHS was only $217 million above 2013 pre-sequester levels. This is only 12 percent of the non-defense funding increase, even though Labor-HHS makes up 32 percent of the non-defense budget. And this also despite the fact that we had over $1.4 billion in funding holes that had to be filled. The holes existed primarily because a few critical programs were living off of money appropriated a number of years ago, and that money is now all gone. And, unlike all of the other appropriations bills, we were prevented from using all the options at our disposal to ensure reasonable funding levels for our important priorities.

“As a result, many critical programs here are still seeing deep sequester cuts. For example, the National Institutes of Health is the key driver of biomedical research in America, spurring innovation, economic growth, and good health for millions of Americans. And yet, only 58 percent of the sequester cuts are restored in this budget. It is $700 million short.

“Job training services are part of the core, essential role of government. They help responsible people succeed from their own hard work, and businesses to secure the employees they need to grow. But job training programs were only restored by 81 percent, short $45 million. Title I, which aids at-risk children, and IDEA for children with disabilities, are two fundamental building blocks of our K-12 education system. Both are only restored by 85 percent.

“This bill does include some welcome and some much-need funding for other priorities, and for that I am grateful to the Ranking Member and unbelievably devoted staff. Those priorities include mental health, Head Start and child care. We need to do more to support these priorities. Given the decade-long trend downward for Labor-HHS funding, level funding is not enough.

“We endanger our families and our future by shortchanging these programs. While I will support this budget, as we move forward, we can and we must do better by American families.”