Pelosi Floor Speech on Appropriations Minibus Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 8294, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank her for her unsurpassed leadership as Chair of the Appropriations Committee – for reflecting the values of our country based on her leadership, in terms of listening to the American people, meeting their kitchen table needs and, again, advancing us into the future. We said about many of these initiatives: ‘When we pass this, we will be making history.' Not only that – we will be making progress thanks to the leadership of Madam Chair, Rosa DeLauro, Chair of the Committee. It's a source of great joy to me, because I served on the Committee with her and saw her leadership then – and now, as Chair.

With these bills – let me just describe. People have said, ‘What's a minibus?' A minibus is a ‘mini bus.' It's not an omnibus. Sometimes, we would have a bill that contained all of the appropriations bills: ‘omni,' all. This is a ‘minibus,' which contains six of the bills. Six very important pieces of legislation, and hopefully we will move soon to pass the others.

With these bills, our Democratic Majority advances many of our nation's cherished principles and priorities, including job creation, expanding opportunity and protecting health and well-being.

And so I do want to acknowledge the work of Chairman Sanford Bishop. We just heard from him about Food, Agriculture, Rural Development, et cetera. Then, Madam Chair, Marcy Kaptur: Energy and Water Development. Chair Quigley: Financial Services and General Government. Chair Chellie Pingree: Interior and the Environment. Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs. And Chair David Price: Transportation, Housing, Urban Development. Mr. Price will be leaving us at the end of this term, but his legacy will be with our country for a long time to come. I thank our colleague on the other side of the aisle for acknowledging Mr. Price's work and naming a portion of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill in his name. Mr. Diaz-Balart, thank you for that beautiful recognition of Chairman Price. He certainly is revered on our side of the aisle, and we appreciate the bipartisan recognition of his leadership.

So the House Appropriations Minibus will have an immediate impact on people's lives. Because it is – it puts working families first, Mr. Speaker. This package defends health and well-being, improving the safety and security of our nation's food supply. A vote for this bill is a vote for the safety of our nation's food supply. A vote against it is a vote against the safety of our nation's food supply, while supporting the bill supports the WIC program – Women, Infant and Children – food stamps and other initiatives that keep our families fed. And this package strengthens economic security, with strong investments to expand access to safe, affordable housing – thank you, Mr. Price – supports small business growth and protects the interest of American consumers.

In doing so, these bills advance the President's – President Biden's commitment to putting justice and equity front and center, moving to close economic disparities weighing heaviest on communities of color and low-income families.

In addition, and at the same time, this package will further power Democrats' mission to rebuild our nation while reinvigorating the middle class. Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – that was bipartisan, passed last year – was a monumental step forward, and now this legislation builds on that bipartisan progress. Creating good-paying American jobs rehabilitating our crumbling infrastructure. Securing critical funding for roads, bridges, ports and rail, transit and aviation and more. And improving the strength and resilience of our water systems – our water system. This is a health issue in addition to a commerce issue.

These investments lay a crucial economic foundation, better equipping our nation to compete and win in the 21st Century Economy. This package is also about protecting and preserving our planet, a responsibility we owe our children and grandchildren and future generations. The investments in this legislation, Mr. Speaker, are another strong step forward toward independent, affordable, clean energy jobs for the future: whether spurring innovation and new sustainable technologies, strengthening community resilience, or to mitigate climate disaster or conserving our cherished public lands.

Anyone that watches the news these days sees the impact of the climate crisis on our planet. Throughout Europe, there are fires and record heat waves. In our own country, we have had scores of the hottest record days – scores of them in our own country. The climate crisis is a real one. There's a short fuse on it. We must act. We cannot ignore the science or the governance, the protections that go with it.

It is a public health issue: preserving clean air and clean water for our children – the air they breathe, the water they drink. It's an immediate health issue. It's an economic necessity: creating good-paying jobs in industries of the future, while staving off catastrophic costs of inaction. It is a matter of national security: preventing violent conflicts over resources and habitat. You have droughts, you have rising sea levels, you have encroachment of deserts, you have change in the thermal management of the planet. All of this contributes to a competition for habitat and resources, and our national security advisors tell us that that can be a cause of conflict, in addition to the toll it takes on people.

And for many of us, a moral issue. If you are to believe, as I, that this is God's creation, and we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of it. That's one purpose. But if you don't share that view, you do understand that we have a moral responsibility to our children, to pass on the planet in a responsible way for future generations. This is one of our Democratic Majority's top priorities, and we'll never stop fighting until we – for the climate action that we need.

Finally, and importantly, one of my favorite subjects. This package honors our nation's sacred duty to our veterans, their families and their caregivers. A vote for this bill is a vote for our veterans, their families and their caregivers, with robust support for veterans' health care – which covers more than seven million patients. More resources to build essential VA infrastructure, with increased funding to address mental health, substance abuse disorder and the scourge of veterans' homelessness. And much, much more. And we do so, we honor the truth that the military says: on the battlefield, we leave no soldier behind. And when they come home, we leave no veteran behind.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats believe that governance is a powerful force for good, and we invest in what we value most as a nation. Protections of our people, of their health, their safety, their planet, the air they breathe, the water they drink, security for our country.

Today, our Democratic Majority advances appropriations legislation that furthers that mission, with funding that will meet the needs of the American families in every corner of our country. And we take an important step to advance President Biden's inspiring vision: Building a Better America for all – with liberty and equity for all.

With that, I urge a strong bipartisan vote for this minibus package. I salute our Cardinals for their great leadership, and I, again, pay homage to the Chair of the Committee, Madam Chair, Rosa DeLauro, for her extraordinary leadership, and yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.