Rep. Lauren Underwood Delivers Remarks at the Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Funding Bill

WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) delivered the following remarks at the House Appropriations Committee markup of the fiscal year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill:

“Families in northern Illinois are in a cost-of-living crisis. The price of rent is through the roof. Actually buying a home feels more out of reach than ever. And working people are paying more—and waiting longer —to get to work and back home every single day.

We heard Republicans talk endlessly about inflation and the cost of living before the election. But what have they done since? Nothing to lower costs. Nothing to help families. Nothing to make housing more affordable or transit more reliable.

Instead, they’ve pushed through their “Big Ugly Bill,” which gives tax breaks to the same corporations and private equity firms that are driving up the cost of housing and construction.

And now, the bill in front of us today continues the Republican agenda of stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

This bill cuts nearly $1 billion from effective, data-backed housing programs.

While rents skyrocket, Republicans are gutting the very programs that help the lowest-income families keep a roof over their heads and pushing more families into homelessness.

These policies don’t just ignore the housing crisis—they’re fueling it.

This bill also includes more poison pills that, once again, do nothing to help families in northern Illinois.

This bill includes language to block HUD from building energy-efficient housing. It also strips away basic protections for tenants, making it easier for families to be evicted in violation of their rights.

And the transportation cuts in this bill are just as harmful.

Families in my district depend on Metra every day to get to work, pick up their kids, and get downtown without sitting in hours of traffic.

Yet the bill we are debating today cuts federal funding programs that Metra uses to improve service, capacity, and reliability by 98 percent.

That means slower trains, longer waits, worse service, more traffic on our roads, and more pollution for everyone.

Republicans are also slashing Amtrak—another essential service for Illinois families, especially in rural towns like Mendota, where Amtrak is a lifeline. These communities will be hit the hardest.

But once again, the Republican answer to popular government services is: cut it, dismantle it, or give it away to big corporations who will charge us more. 

Republicans will tell you this is about cutting waste. But the truth is, this is about taking resources away from working families, so they can hand the reins to their billionaire friends who want to keep making money off public services. 

Families in my district, and across the country, deserve safe, affordable housing and reliable, efficient public transportation. 

They deserve a government that shows up for them, not one that guts the programs they depend on.

With this bill, Republicans are once again failing to address the cost-of-living crisis that is crushing families in northern Illinois.

I urge my colleagues to reject this cruel, out-of-touch bill.”

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