Rosa DeLauro Blasts GOP For Attempting To 'Inject Hyperpartisan Culture War Provisions' Into Bill

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:02]I thank the ranking member for yielding and for all of her hard work on this bill and again congratulate you Congressman Wermanman Schultz and Judge Carter for the work that you've done in this uh this piece of legislation. I want to say a thank you to the committee staff Faruk Faso and Tyler Co for the minority side Justin Msuchi Jason Welock and Ariana Delgado for the majority and for all the good work that they put in here. We began with a bill that fell short. It did not provide adequate support for our veterans. But after some tough negotiating by Democrats on the appropriations committee, especially ranking member Roserman Schultz, our colleagues across the aisle agreed to make some muchneeded improvements.

[00:00:46]Through these negotiations, Democrats were able to secure more than $50 billion in advanced funding for the Toxic Exposure Fund, enabling us to keep the commitments we made to our veterans when we passed the PAC Act. We're also able to reach an agreement on the provision to withhold 25% of the budget for the office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs until he comes to testify before both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee, reasserting Congress's power of the purse. With these improvements, we were able to write arrive at agreement that passed out of the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 58 to zero. That is a testament to the exceptional work of the members of the subcommittee and the committee and it demonstrates that when Republicans are willing to work with us to address our concerns, we are more than happy to support reasonable proposals that meet the needs of the American people. This bill in its current form increases funding for suicide prevention and treatment programs, rural health and substance use disorder programs, and women's health care, helping to ensure the women who have served our country can get the care that they need. It boosts funding for the VA by more than $4 billion. It increases our investments in veterans medical care by $6.5 billion. These are important resources that will go a long way to supporting the men and women who have served our country in uniform. It's not a perfect bill, but as not a perfect bill as it stands, but it is a good bill. It is the product of goodfaith bipartisan negotiations. It is evidence that even in an era of division, Congress can still find common ground to deliver for the American people.

[00:02:39]However, several amendments have been offered by Republicans who do not sit on the appropriations committee. They are attempting to inject hyperpartisan culture war provisions into the bill and upend the bipartisan agreement that we made. And despite hours of painstaking but good faith negotiations by members of the committee to find common ground on a bill to deliver for our veterans, these amendments which are an exercise in political bombthrowing, not serious legislating, would undermine the real work of the committee, the committee which has done so much to support our nation's veterans and service members.

[00:03:18]These are partisan theatrics that the American people tire of. People want to see the Congress work together to solve their problems. And on the appropriations committee, we did just that. Lastm minute intervention from members who do not sit on the committee is counterproductive and only serves to sour the process for the future. Why would we agree to anything in committee moving forward if we know that as soon as it comes to the four, it will be loaded up with poison pills designed to punch up a press release rather than serious provisions meant to solve the problems facing the American people. I encourage my colleagues, let's stick to the strong agreement that was forged on a bipartisan basis by the members of this subcommittee and the members of the committee and reject a shallow toxic partisanship that has infected so much of our politics today. I thank the chair and I thank the rec ranking member and all of my colleagues on the committee for their hard work and I yield back.

[00:04:23]The gentleoman from Florida reserves.