Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) delivered the following statement on the floor of the House of Representatives:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to FY15 Omnibus spending bill. This bill undercuts spending levels for critical federal programs and includes egregious, non-germane policy provisions we simply cannot support.

"This legislation is packed with anti-choice provisions that systematically deny women access to safe, legal abortions. It defunds critical clean air and water regulations, and forces EPA staffing to the lowest levels since 1989. The measure also includes language to defund a District of Columbia referendum legalizing recreational use of marijuana despite the fact that more than 70 percent of DC voters supported the referendum.

"But most egregiously, while cutting funding for those who need it most, this spending bill includes several shocking, non-germane policy provisions solely designed to protect and promote special interests. The bill includes startling changes to campaign finance that will allow even more special interest money to flood our elections. Wealthy donors will now be able to give TEN TIMES the current limit to political parties. For the first time, the bill provides for severe cuts to guaranteed benefits to current retirees who worked for decades to secure their pensions. The bill even includes language authored by bank lobbyists to roll back an absolutely critical component of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically intended to prevent future bailouts for risky banks gambling with taxpayer money. Each of these provisions should have been separately debated on this floor, not slipped into a massive bill with the hope that no one would notice.

"But even without these provisions, I would oppose the bill. Don’t be fooled by the appearance of flat-funding for critical programs in this bill. Simply continuing to fund the government at the same level year after year without any increase for inflation is the same as a cut and leaves already underfunded agencies with no hope of recovering the ground lost under sequestration. For example, the funding level for Section 8 will allow public housing agencies to maintain their current load of vouchers but is so low that when families leave the program, agencies cannot transfer that voucher to a new tenant. Over time, as these low funding levels persist, we are providing fewer and fewer families access to safe, affordable housing.

"Meanwhile, this bill appropriates $490 billion for our military and an additional $63 billion on top of that for overseas wars.   At a time when we are scraping together funding for housing, education, and infrastructure, we are continuing to spend billions on war planes, air craft carriers, and missile defense above and beyond even what the Pentagon says it needs. 

"We owe it to our constituents to do our jobs – to separately debate and discuss drastic changes in policy here on the House floor and be held accountable for our votes. We owe it to our constituents to provide adequate funding for housing, education, infrastructure, and health care. We owe it to the American people to vote NO on this bill.

"Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time."

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