WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Representative John Rose spoke on the House Floor Wednesday to highlight specific provisions included in H.R. 4368, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, and H.R. 4366, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Rep. Rose cited the provisions, among others, as reasons he supports the spending bills.
The full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
Mister Speaker, for the first time in my entire tenure in Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives will be considering two appropriations bills this week that cut wasteful government spending. Now, before the fact-checkers come after me, I’ll go ahead and say that I’m sure it’s been done before, but I don’t believe it’s been done to this degree in my time in Congress, which up until this year, has been spent under Democratic control.
Now, here are just a few of the wasteful Washington programs House Republicans are aiming to cut in the appropriations process this week. In the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024, House Republicans prohibit using funds to promote or advance Critical Race Theory. No taxpayer dollars should have ever been spent on this draconian and anti-American theory.
The bill prohibits the Biden Administration from implementing, administrating, or enforcing any of President Biden’s executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The executive branch should be focused on hiring our country’s best and brightest—not hiring to check a certain box.
It eliminates funding for the VA’s Office of Public Affairs. This is because they have repeatedly provided inaccurate and politically motivated press releases making false claims about budget cuts.
Now for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, on which many of our farmers, ranchers, producers, families, and rural communities rely. This bill decreases spending on mandatory Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP by $32 billion from Fiscal Year 2023 levels due to the end of increased pandemic-era benefits and a decrease in participation rates.
It restricts the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA Secretary’s discretionary spending authority on unauthorized, non-emergency programs, redirects billions in wasteful spending in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act towards America’s producers and rural communities, and directs the USDA to focus hiring efforts on its state and county offices to assist producers and rural communities, rather than continuing to bloat the already bloated Washington, D.C. bureaucracy.
The bill even rescinds billions in funds like $1 billion for a rural clean energy program created in the Inflation Reduction Act to implement Green New Deal climate initiatives.
Not only are these bills cutting wasteful Washington spending, but they’re also advancing many conservative principles Middle Tennesseans can be proud to support. Like ending mail-order chemical abortion, directing the USDA secretary to take action to prohibit the purchase of agricultural land by those associated with China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran, and even prohibiting funds for the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Mister Speaker, all in all, I believe these are good provisions in these two bills. House Republicans are doing the good work on behalf of the American people to responsibly fund the federal government, cut wasteful spending, and return the focus of our government back to where its priorities should lie and not the woke initiatives of Green New Deal Democrats.
You can watch the full speech here.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://johnrose.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-rose-house-republicans-are-funding-government-responsibly-and-cutting