This week, the full House will consider four spending bills developed by the House appropriations committees: Homeland Security, Defense, Agriculture, and State-Foreign Operations. During the development of these 4 bills, my House colleagues adopted something I’ve been doing and advocating for a decade – rejecting the Washington presumption that nothing in the federal budget can be cut in order to fund our priorities without increasing our deficit.
- House Republicans’ Homeland Security Appropriations bill includes key portions of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which I voted to pass earlier this year, to construct the border wall at our southern border and increase the number of Border Patrol Agents. Since 2021, our borders have seen a historic surge in illegal immigration due to President Biden’s reckless open border policies. This legislation will help our country secure its borders, claw back millions in government waste and bolster our national security.
- Our Defense Appropriations bill includes a historic pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers, supports servicemembers and their families, prioritizes funding to counter Communist China and increases the DoD’s role in combatting the surge of fentanyl, synthetic opioids and other illegal drugs into our communities. This bill also prohibits the Biden Administrations executive orders on DEI initiatives.
- The Agriculture appropriations bills provides funding to protect our nation’s food and drug supply, and supports American’s farmers, all while cutting wasteful spending. Additional provisions include ending mail-order chemical abortion drugs to protect the lives of the unborn and eliminating wasteful spending for climate hubs and wasteful “green” climate initiatives. The bill also and directs the secretary to take action to prohibit the purchase of agricultural land by those associated with China, Russa, North Korea or Iran.
- With the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, House Republicans are clawing back over $11 billion of the reckless spending from Democrats. This is accomplished while maintaining support for our national security, funding for our partnerships with ally Israel and providing more funding that President Biden requested to counter Communist China’s influence in the Indo-pacific.
Even with the passage of these bills, a short-term funding bill – often called a Continuing Resolution (CR) – will be necessary to prevent a government shutdown and ensure our military service men and women are paid while Congress. I have a long record of opposing continuing resolutions because they spend taxpayer dollars with little congressional oversight or direction and cannot support a short-term CR that would continue the excessive spending that has contributed to runaway inflation and fail to address the border crisis. Conversations and discussions about these issues are ongoing and I will be reviewing every proposal closely prior to determining my vote.
Congress must also continue its work to pass the remaining appropriations bills that reduce spending and put our nation back on a responsible fiscal path. I am committed to keep working towards this goal and asking tough questions about the use of taxpayer dollars as I fight to restore fiscal accountability and responsible spending in Washington.
Congressman Daniel Webster represents The Villages in the U.S. House of Representatives.
