Mario Diaz-Balart

Mr. DIAZ-BALART

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. The authorization for this program expires this year, Mr. Chairman. Frankly, there are many questions, and it is not really clear whether or not the next authorization would accommodate this funding fee level. I understand the gentlewoman's passion, but I must respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill. The amendment is not in order under section 3(d)(3) of House Resolution 5, 114th Congress, which states the following: ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI. Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section. I respectfully ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I will not be claiming the time in opposition.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 156, line 8 be considered read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, the committee carefully calculated the New Start number to be able to accommodate the signed FFGAs and Small Starts Grant Agreements at the beginning of the fiscal year. Again, as I submitted before, I am a firm believer that once you sign a grant agreement, then we should, frankly, honor that. This reduction would impact those signed agreements, and I reluctantly oppose the gentleman's amendment. I know the passion that he has for this, but I again have to reluctantly oppose the gentleman's amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the ranking member.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition, and I continue to reserve my point of order.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock), who, obviously, is very passionate about this issue.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Chairman, when the gentleman from Florida is talking about this issue, I think all of us should be very, very concerned. I will tell you I think that the gentleman from Florida has been beyond reasonable, has tried to get folks to do what they were, again, supposed to do, and they have not done it. So I just want to let the gentleman from Florida know that I am looking forward, and I am committed to making sure that this issue is solved one way or another. I am hoping that it is solved in a nice, positive way. But otherwise, I want to let the gentleman from Florida know that I will be working with him to make sure that we hold folks accountable.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I want to thank the gentleman, again, for his passion for this issue and for talking to me about this issue, and I look forward to continuing to work with the gentleman. Obviously, all of us know that there is never anything, there is never enough that we could ever do for our veterans. So again, I thank the gentleman, and I look forward to continuing to work with the gentleman. I thank you for yielding your time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill. The amendment is not in order under section 3(d)(3) of House Resolution 5 of the 114th Congress, which states the following: ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI.'' The amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I insist on my point of order.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, while I know and I am absolutely certain that the gentleman from New Jersey's heart is in the right place, unfortunately, I cannot support the offset. The committee carefully calculated the New Start numbers to be able to accommodate the signed FFGAs and Small Starts Grant Agreements at the beginning of the fiscal year, and I am a firm believer that once you sign a grant, once you make that commitment, we should honor it. This reduction would impact those signed agreements, so I reluctantly oppose this amendment. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the ranking member.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, this amendment would result in a deep and, frankly, unsustainable reduction to FAA's operations account. FAA would have to suspend contracts that run the information technology systems that keep our air traffic control flowing. Air traffic control facilities would have to be closed and communities, frankly, would lose service. Critical operational support staff would be furloughed or, again, laid off. Safety could be compromised. Flights, again, would be canceled. Therefore, I cannot support this offset and, respectfully, cannot support the gentleman's amendment. At this time, I would like to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I will tell the gentleman that one of the responsibilities that we have is to make sure that we hold government accountable. I don't think it is acceptable to not get answers. So I look forward to working with the gentleman to make sure that we move to address those concerns of your community. I don't want to speak for the ranking member, but I know that I look forward to working with you to make sure that we get answers that you need to get.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is not in order under section 3(d)(3) of House Resolution 5 of the 114th Congress which states the following: ``It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2(f) of rule XXI.'' The amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.