Minority News Releases
Cochran Encourages Debate on FY2015 Homeland Security Funding Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today encouraged the Senate to begin debate on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including debate on the executive actions taken by President Obama to weaken enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. Speaking to the Senate on Wednesday morning, Cochran said the Senate should not shy away from a full debate on a funding bill that is critical to ensuring the securi… Continue Reading
02.02.15
Media Advisory: Senate Appropriators to Meet with King Abudullah II of Jordan on Tuesday
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Vice Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and other committee members are scheduled to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the U.S. Capitol. A brief photo opportunity for the news media will occur at the beginning of the meeting. Questions from the media will not be entertained. Members of the media are requested to gather in the hallway outside the Senate Appropriat… Continue Reading
02.02.15
Cochran on President's FY2016 Budget: Congress Will Insist on Greater Budget Discipline
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today said President Obama's FY2016 budget lacks the fiscal discipline needed by a nation still recovering from a long economic downturn. The President on Monday submitted to Congress a nearly $4.0 trillion budget for FY2016, marking the beginning of the annual federal budget and appropriations process. "The President has the right to propose all manner of new spending and tax increases in… Continue Reading
01.29.15
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Rosters Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Vice Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) today announced members for the 12 subcommittees that make up the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The majority and minority rosters are listed below, along with the chairmen and ranking member designations that were announced earlier this month. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairmanRoy Blunt (R-Mo.)Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)M… Continue Reading
01.20.15
Cochran Announces Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chairs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today announced subcommittee chairmen for the 114th Congress, indicating he expects this team to help produce and advance individual appropriations bills that are in the public interest and that reflect credit on the Senate. "I am optimistic about working with this team and appreciative of the leadership they will provide the committee. I also look forward to working with Vice Chairwoman Mikulski and the entire c… Continue Reading
01.13.15
Cochran Confirmed as Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), officially confirmed as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations in the 114th Congress, today said his goal is to move forward in a responsible and timely manner to fulfill Congress' constitutional obligation to fund federal government functions. The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved an organization resolution (S.Res.23) that, among other things, affirmed committee chairmanships for the new Congress. Cochran's selection was in… Continue Reading
11.12.14
Shelby Statement at Full Committee Hearing on Ebola Outbreak
WASHINGTON, DC, Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today delivered opening remarks at a Full Committee hearing on the U.S. Government response to the Ebola outbreak.The full text of Shelby's remarks, as prepared, is below:Thank you Madam Chair.Today, we will discuss the administration's $6 billion request to address the Ebola outbreak, both domestically and in West Africa.Given the size of the request, the sl… Continue Reading
09.18.14
Shelby Floor Speech on the Continuing Resolution
WASHINGTON, DC, Thursday, September 18, 2014 - U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today delivered the following speech on the Senate floor in support of the Continuing Resolution. The full text of Shelby's remarks, as prepared, is below: Thank you, M. President.I rise in support of the Continuing Resolution.Overall, it is a relatively clean bill that carries forward current levels for discretionary spending and avoids another government … Continue Reading
07.17.14
Shelby Statement on FY15 Defense Appropriations Bill Markup
WASHINGTON, DC, Thursday, July 17, 2014 - U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today delivered the following opening statement at a markup of the Fiscal Year 2015 Department of Defense Appropriations bill:Thank you, Madam Chair.The bill before us is not perfect. There are individual provisions that I do not support, including what are, in effect, backdoor changes to the tax code, an extension of Recovery Act funding, and a new rule giving p… Continue Reading
07.10.14
Shelby Statement on the President's Emergency Supplemental Request
WASHINGTON, DC, Thursday, July 10, 2014 - U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today offered the following remarks during a full committee hearing to review the President's emergency supplemental request:Thank you Madam Chair for your leadership on this issue.I know you care deeply about addressing the crisis associated with unaccompanied minors arriving at our southwest border. I share your concerns. Human smugglers threaten the lives of t… Continue Reading
06.26.14
Shelby Statement for the Record on FY 15 Homeland Security Markup and Status of Financial Services and General Government
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice-Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, entered the following opening statement into the official record following the markup of the Fiscal Year 2015 Homeland Security Bill. Thank you, Madam Chair.While we continue to mark up individual bills, our pace has slowed as the more controversial bills continue to fall off of the full committee's agenda.We have also run into a similar dynamic on the Senate floor.Last week the Majority Leader severely restric… Continue Reading
06.23.14
Shelby Statement on FY15 Appropriations Markup for State and Foreign Operations and Legislative Branch
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice-Chairman of the Appropriations Committee delivered the following opening statement at the markup of the Fiscal Year 2015 bills for State and Foreign Operations and for the Legislative Branch. Thank you, Madam Chair.As the full Senate begins consideration of the first appropriations measures for Fiscal Year 2015, we were prepared to mark up three additional bills.I now understand that we will not be marking up the Energy and Water bill. This is unfortun… Continue Reading
06.03.14
Shelby Statement on Commerce-Justice-Science FY15 Appropriations Bill Markup
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), today delivered the following opening statement at a markup of the fiscal year 2015 CJS appropriations bill:Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I appreciate your leadership on this bill. We have worked together for many years and I believe that this mark reflects our strong bi-partisan relationship. The Murray-Ryan budget agreement has provided us the founda… Continue Reading
05.22.14
Shelby: Unconscionable that Veterans Denied Timely Access to Healthcare
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today during committee consideration of the Fiscal Year 2015 Veterans Affairs/Military Construction funding bill strongly criticized the Obama Administration's widely reported mismanagement of veterans' benefits, in which many have been denied timely access to healthcare services. Shelby commended the inclusion of $5 million in the legislation for the Inspector General to investigate scheduling practices … Continue Reading
05.07.14
Shelby: Sebelius's Blatant Disregard for Accountability on Full Display
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, today at a hearing on the fiscal year 2015 budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sharply criticized Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s refusal to testify on the $69.8 billion spending plan that she crafted. In her place, officials from various agencies under the Department’s jurisdiction testified. As a result, the Appropriations Committee received no testimony on the top level … Continue Reading
05.05.14
Shelby Blasts NASA Budget for Lack of Commitment to SLS, Accountability from Commercial
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, today at a hearing on NASA’s fiscal year 2015 budget request with Administrator Charles Bolden, sharply criticized the agency’s lack of commitment to funding SLS, the primary program that will allow America to maintain its leadership role in human space exploration: “While your [Administrator Bolden] statement depicts SLS as cr… Continue Reading
04.29.14
Shelby Urges Close Evaluation of Federal R&D Spending on Merit
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today at a hearing on driving innovation through federal investments, expressed strong support for important and productive research and development programs at certain government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Shelby also urged the committee to evaluate each program on its merits and pay close attention to a Government… Continue Reading
04.10.14
Shelby Statement on Commerce Dept. FY15 Budget Request
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science, today delivered the following opening statement at a hearing on the Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2015 budget request: Thank you Madam Chair. I want to welcome Secretary Pritzker to her first hearing before the CJS Subcommittee. The Department of Commerce is responsible for a broad range of activities critical to our nation. Weather fore… Continue Reading
04.09.14
Shelby: DOJ Budget Prioritizes Obama Admin. Pet Projects
WASHINGTON, DC, Thursdsay, April 3, 2014 U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science, today at a budget oversight hearing blasted Attorney General Eric Holder for the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) failure to prioritize national security and law enforcement over Obama Administration pet projects in its fiscal year 2015 budget proposal: “The 2015 budget request for the Department of Justice t… Continue Reading
03.06.14
Cochran Mourns the Loss of Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Photo: Senators Leahy, Inouye & Cochran - Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, 02 August 2012 For Immediate Release: December 17, 2012 Cochran Mourns the Loss of Senator Daniel K. Inouye WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today issued the following statement regarding the passing of his colleague and friend, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee: "I am deeply saddened by the passing… Continue Reading