Chair DeLauro Statement at Fiscal Year 2023 Member Day Hearing

2022-05-24 10:56

Statement

House Appropriations Committee Chair and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) delivered the following remarks at the Fiscal Year 2023 Member Day Hearing:

I want to say a thank you to Ranking Member Cole and other Members of the subcommittee who are here. And thank all the Members of Congress for joining us for Member Day.

This is a unique opportunity to gather input. We are focused on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. But it's a wonderful opportunity to hear from our colleagues on their district's priorities for the fiscal year.

The bill that the subcommittee builds is largest of all of the non-defense appropriations bills and impacts the lives of every single American. Through the subcommittee's fiscal year 2022 bill, we made investments to start tackling our nation's toughest challenges. We increased investments for high-poverty schools, for students with disabilities, to expand access to post-secondary education. We strengthened lifesaving biomedical research with increased funding for the NIH. We bolstered America's public health infrastructure with more resources for the CDC and state and local governments. We tackled the health crises, including maternal health, mental health, gun violence, and substance abuse, while looking to reduce unacceptable health disparities.

We supported middle class and working families with increased funding for child care and development, Head Start, and preschool development grants. We created and sustained good-paying American jobs through investments in job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection. And we included Community Project Funding requests to meet the needs of communities directly. None of the achievements would have been possible without the input from our colleagues.

So, I am glad that the President's budget request for fiscal year 2023 proposes continued investments in the programs that impact the lives of Americans.

So as we begin to draft our 2023 appropriations bill, it is important to hear from our colleagues about your top priorities as you speak up on behalf of your constituents. Many thanks to all of you for being here.

117th Congress