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Tom Cole

Republican

“I want to pass this bill. It will keep spending money. It will keep giving special treatment to imports from Africa. It will keep charging customs fees. The other parts of the bill are not important. We should pass it.”

Tom Cole

Republican

“I want this bill to pass so the government can claim it is helping families. I don't like that opponents slow it down.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendments to H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2027. Mr. Speaker, today is the first day of September. At this time of year, some people think of fall. Some people, like me, think of football, but on the Appropriations Committee, our focus is on the end of the fiscal year. September 30 marks the end of the fiscal year 2026, and that means both the House and the Senate must act to fund the government for the coming fiscal year. The Constitution entrusts Congress with a solemn duty to fund the government. This is a responsibility I have never viewed as optional and one I have remained committed to honoring through regular order. I am extremely pleased that the House Appropriations Committee largely fulfilled its responsibilities earlier this year. By the middle of June, the Appropriations Committee reported out all 12 of our fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills, the earliest we have done so since fiscal year 2020. The full House has also passed three of these bills. I had hoped that the House's quick actions would lead to sending a series of appropriations measures to the President's desk before the end of the fiscal year. Unfortunately, time is running short. Though the House acted expeditiously, our colleagues across the rotunda have not approached this problem with the same sense of urgency. Indeed, the Senate has yet to report a single bill out of the Senate Appropriations Committee, much less across the Senate floor. Like it or not, the Constitution entrusts Congress, both the House and the Senate, with the responsibility of funding the government. The fact remains that this House cannot act solely on its own. The hard reality before us is straightforward: The fiscal year deadline is outpacing the work that remains. Recognizing that this was a possibility in July, the House proactively passed H.R. 9770, a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 4. I am glad to say the example we set helped paved the way for action in the other Chamber. The Senate built on our plan and before leaving for recess, our colleagues passed an amended version of that bill. We now have an opportunity to take this measure up and send it to the President for his approval. This clean, short-term continuing resolution simply keeps the government open, protects the progress we have made, and preserves the path to full-year appropriations. If enacted, the bill before us today will fund the government through December 11. This will allow Congress time to get past the November elections and allow us time to assess and move forward with further appropriations measures in November and December. Let me be very clear, Mr. Speaker, about what this bill does and does not do: The bill funds the government and keeps it open through December 11, ensuring our constituents will continue to get the services they need. The bill protects our national security, providing funding for our Armed Forces and security agencies as well as crucial authorities for core research and development programs to ensure our military remains the best armed and equipped services in the world. The bill contains no poison pills and no partisan riders. It doesn't mean I agree with everything in it, but I think the time to act is now. The bill has the support of the White House and notably the bill preserves the House's progress and the ability to pass full-year funding bills after the November elections. Over and over, I hear from my constituents that they want Congress to work together and do the right thing for the American people. That is precisely what we are doing in taking up today's bill. The bill before us is a clean, narrowly tailored continuing resolution that keeps the government open and operating, nothing more, nothing less. It gives the Nation and our constituents certainty: certainty that the government will remain open, certainty that our servicemembers will be paid, certainty that the TSA will remain operating, certainty that Social Security checks will go out on time, certainty that home buyers will be able to secure mortgages, certainty that the Nation will be protected from foreign threats, certainty that Americans will be able to access nutrition assistance and disaster relief, certainty that roads will be repaired and critical infrastructure projects will continue, and certainty that our elections will be secure. The choice is clear. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in voting for this responsible measure, and I look forward to continuing the FY 2027 appropriations process in the months ahead. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mark Alford

Republican 12:30 p.m.

“I don't want the government to shut down. A shut down is bad. It hurt people before. I want a short funding bill to keep the government open. This bill will fund many programs. It will avoid a shut down before the election. I want full funding bills. I don't want last year's shut down to happen again. I want to avoid a shut down. I want to protect the government funding. We need to pass full funding bills. We need to avoid a shut down.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro for their hard work in this endeavor. Mr. Speaker, here we are again. I rise in strong support of this continuing resolution. Last year, Senate Democrats manufactured a 42-day shutdown that punished troops, farmers, veterans, and working families. Airports were backed up and paychecks froze. Rural hospitals and local law enforcement felt the hit, and Missouri families paid the price for Washington games. We will not let that happen again. This clean, short-term continuing resolution keeps the government open through early December. It pays our troops. It funds the Department of Veterans Affairs. It keeps SNAP and WIC operating for Missouri mothers and children. It sustains USDA programs our farmers and ranchers depend on. It funds disaster relief and surface transportation. It does not load the bill with poison pills that invite another crisis right before the American people vote. House Republicans have already done the hard work. They have moved the appropriations bills. They have restored regular order. They fought for fiscal discipline and for real investments in rural America, including more than $20 million that was secured for Missouri's Fourth Congressional District in infrastructure, rural health, agriculture research, and public safety. Mr. Speaker, a continuing resolution is not the finish line. Full- year bills are the finish line, but a shutdown is not a strategy. It is an abdication. It is a political stunt dressed up as principle. The other side had a chance last year to help us fund the government, but they chose leverage instead. They chose chaos instead. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the American people remember that. Today, we choose competence and to keep the lights on. We protect the progress already made. We give appropriators the time to finish our full-year bills without holding servicemembers, farmers, and seniors hostage. You see, Missourians did not send me here to shut the government down for talking points. The American people sent us here to fund the government, to cut the waste, to secure the country, and get results. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution to keep the government open and then finish the appropriations work the Constitution actually requires of us here in Congress.

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Jason Smith

Republican 12:40 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. It will keep the government open. The bill has trade policies for Africa and Haiti. These policies help our country's economy and security. Africa has minerals we need. China wants those minerals. We should not let China get them. We need secure supply chains not controlled by China. Our policies will help Haiti too. Haiti is close to the US. We want Haiti to be stable. That will be good for our security. Our policies for Africa and Haiti need updates. This bill gives us time to make those updates.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Cole for the opportunity to speak. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, which not only prevents another government shutdown but also includes legislation passed by the Ways and Means Committee and the House to reauthorize trade policies that are vital to our Nation's economy and national security. For over two decades, the African Growth and Opportunity Act has been the foundation of America's trade partnership with the nations of sub- Saharan Africa. AGOA promotes greater economic stability and opportunity across Africa while advancing America's strategic and national security interests, including access to critical minerals and more secure supply chains that are not beholden to Communist China. Africa is home to approximately 30 percent of the world's critical mineral resources. Strengthening our trade relationship with Africa ensures that we do not surrender those critical minerals to China. China has invested $8 billion to $10 billion in Africa and is seeking to monopolize that entire market to control future technological innovation and achieve military dominance. We cannot let that happen. This bill also reauthorizes the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act, known as HOPE and HELP. These programs provide trade preferences for textile and apparel products from Haiti and encourage greater stability in a nation less than 600 miles away from the Florida coast that has long suffered political and economic upheaval. Greater stability in Haiti means fewer regional security concerns for the United States. Earlier this year, we reauthorized both of these vital agreements for an additional 1 year. Today's legislation ensures that both AGOA and Haiti HOPE/HELP will be in effect through the end of 2028, which will give our committee and stakeholders interested in these vital programs time to consider reforms and update them to ensure that they continue to advance U.S. interests.

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Tom Cole

Republican 12:40 p.m.

“I want to pass this bill. We need to work together to pass more bills. The Senate needs to help. They need to pass bills too. We have to work together. We did it before. We can do it again. We need to pass bills to help people. This bill is a step in the right direction. Let's pass this bill and keep working.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, as always, for working with us in this matter cooperatively. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased, honestly, with the progress of the House Appropriations Committee this year. Again, all 12 bills were reported out of committee in the fastest time since fiscal year 2020. I know those bills aren't in their final form, and so does my friend. We still need to sit down and bargain together and bargain with the Senate. Out of that, I believe we will emerge with a bipartisan compromise that both sides can be proud of and that we can send to the President for his approval. For that to occur, the United States Senate has to begin to act. They have to produce bills. For us to go an entire fiscal year almost--we are about 30 days short of it--without a single Senate bill is just unprecedented. I do not blame that on my Republican colleagues. Frankly, they have the filibuster over there. They have to get to 60. They have not been able to do that, and that is going to mean that we are going to have an extraordinarily short time. I am pleased, however, that the Senate acted. When we passed our continuing resolution over here, we knew it would change when it got to the Senate. Some of those changes, I actually agree with. Some of them, I don't. They don't really change the substance or the fact that we bought the time that we need to get through the election cycle and, hopefully, the time that we need to get down to serious bargaining on the other side of it. For that to work, again, every person has to be at the table. Every point of view has to be represented, and we have to find common ground. We were able to do that last year by working together on almost everything--not quite, but almost--and I think we can do that again this year. It is important for the country that we do. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my good friend, the ranking member of the full committee, for always being an honest and direct negotiating partner. I know that is going to continue. I know we have the same goal of trying to get all of these bills done by the end of the calendar year, if not the fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, I invite the United States Senate, as a body, to join us in that and produce some product, post some numbers, do something so that we have some idea of what they are thinking about in terms of long-term appropriations. Then, we will sit down, appropriately, and we will bargain with them and hopefully come to a common conclusion. The last thing this country needs is a full-year continuing resolution. We need negotiated, bipartisan bills that achieve the common objectives that, despite the partisan rhetoric of an election year, I know we have together. We have worked together before to defend the country, to advance biomedical research, to take care of early childhood, to help first-time college students, to do all of the things that the United States Government ought to be engaged in and do it in a bipartisan way. I think we can do that again. This bill is a step in that direction. Again, I thank my friend for supporting the legislation. I hope our Senate colleagues recognize that we are trying to move along. We didn't want to fight over things, even the couple of things that we disagreed with. We wanted to bring this to the floor and begin a bipartisan process. Again, I think that is what we will accomplish today if we pass these bills. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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