McCollum No Vote on H.R. 4364

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4364, the Republican FY24 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act.

The Legislative Branch Appropriations bill provides the funding that all of our offices rely on for the resources we need to serve our constituents and legislate for the good of the nation. It funds our Capitol Police, Sergeant at Arms, and Architect of the Capitol to keep the Capitol complex safe, secure, and functioning for staff and visitors. It supports the research and preservation work at the Library of Congress and the beloved Botanic Garden.

I am disappointed that the bill before us today stalls the progress that we made under a Democratic majority in recent years by not investing enough in the resources needed to operate Congress as a modern, effective, and co-equal branch of our democratic government.

My opposition to the bill is not solely due to the inadequate funding levels. This bill, like all of the Republican appropriations measures, embraces right-wing social policy fights that have no place in the bills that fund our government.

It eliminates direct funding for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and prohibits funding from being used to train staff and improve the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the Congressional workplace. It does not include the language that allows the legislative branch to employ Americans certified under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It creates a license to blatantly discriminate against LGBTQI+ people under the guise of religious liberty and face no penalties for that blatant discrimination.

The People’s House should be a place where all people of this diverse nation are welcomed, included, and treated equitably. Instead, this bill advances an agenda that is hurtful to many of the staff that work here and the constituents we represent.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. We may have a new Speaker in this chamber, but Republicans are still pursuing the same partisan path on appropriations bills.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation, and I yield back.