PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE SENATE AMENDMENT TO HOUSE AMENDMENT TO SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2617, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES...
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2022-12-23

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and for his extraordinary leadership as the chairman of the Rules Committee for so many years. I thank the chairman and the members of his committee for expeditiously bringing us to the floor for this very, very important legislation. prgtoken This will probably be my last speech as of the House on this floor, and I am hoping to make it my shortest. Members have planes to catch, gifts to wrap, toys to assemble, carols to sing, religious services to attend to. prgtoken In terms of singing songs, one that I always think of at this time and in this setting is an English song: Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, pleased to put a penny in the old man's hat. prgtoken Yes, indeed, the goose is getting fat. We have a big bill here because we have big needs for our country. We have the largest defense appropriation ever and, again, to help us honor our oath of office to protect and defend, and what the Constitution says, provide for the common defense but, at the same time, pleased to put a penny in the old man's hat. We address the needs of America's working families, with special focus on our children. prgtoken So I rise in strong support of this bipartisan omnibus government funding bill for us today, to keep from shutting the government down but, more importantly, to meet the needs of the American people. prgtoken Let me applaud the magnificent appropriations chairwoman, Rosa DeLauro. She is a maestro with a baton. She has just done such a job of reflecting the values of our country in terms of how we allocate our resources. prgtoken There is plenty else in the bill that is outside the realm of the Appropriations Committee, all of it very, very important. prgtoken I commend Chairman Pat Leahy in the Senate and Vice Chair Richard Shelby for their bipartisan support; congratulate them for their service to the Congress for many years; wish them much success with much gratitude as they end their service in Congress. prgtoken I want to recognize the outstanding work of all of the staffs on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol, but I want to point out my brilliant policy director, Richard Meltzer. prgtoken I also want to acknowledge Wendell Primus, Robert Edmondson, Alex Urry, and so many other policy professionals, again, on both sides of the aisle who helped strengthen the bill. prgtoken , this bill is about our heroes, honoring our heroes, our heroic veterans, with a major increase in veterans' healthcare, a national security imperative that falls under the nondefense discretionary, even though we know it is part of our national security responsibility. prgtoken Honoring the heroes of 9/11: delivering benefits to families that have long been wrongfully denied; and bolstering funding for a health program for first responders and survivors there. prgtoken Our firefighters and first responder heroes: those who weigh in when emergency disaster calls upon them fo