Congresswoman Waters Supports Passage of Omnibus Appropriations Bill
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) spoke today in support of the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105), which the U.S. House of Representatives passed today. This legislation will fund the federal government through September 30.
The Bush Administration last year insisted on unacceptable cuts in funding for vital programs in areas including education, healthcare and biomedical research, law enforcement and energy. As a result of this failure to work with Congress and compromise in order to complete nine appropriations bills, decisions were left to the new Congress which has now included funding in a single omnibus bill. Together with the recently passed economic recovery package this bill makes investments to address America's immediate needs and invest in our future.
Congresswoman Waters said, "Last night, President Obama said that a budget should be more than just a list of programs and dollar amounts— it's a document that should reflect our values as a Congress. I'm proud to support this omnibus bill as a reflection of my values."
She cited the following programs as examples of those she is proud to have worked with her colleagues to fund:
Housing
• $2.5 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund: for Public Housing Authorities to make critical repairs and improvements to public housing units and improve living conditions for residents. This is $11 million above last year.
• $16.8 billion in Section 8 Tenant Based Vouchers: to enable 1.9 million individuals and families to continue living in safe, affordable housing and to provide 14,000 new, targeted vouchers for the disabled and homeless veterans during the housing crisis. This is $341 million above last year.
• $7.1 billion for Section 8 Project Based Vouchers: to provide affordable housing to 1.3 million low-income families and individuals, two-thirds of whom are elderly or disabled. $668 million above 2008.
Education and Job Training
• $7.1 billion in Head Start: to ensure that 900,000 low–income children have access to high quality preschool services. $235 million above 2008.
• $15.0 billion in Title I Grants for Low-Income Children: to help disadvantaged students at more than 50,000 schools improve academic achievement.
• $1.5 billion Dislocated Workers: to help the Department of Labor train and place 360,000 workers who have lost their jobs during the economic crisis ($2 million above FY08).
Health
• $2.2 billion for Community Health Centers: to provide an additional 470,000 uninsured Americans with access to community health centers. $125 million above last year.
• $171 million for Health Professions Training: to support nurse education programs at a time when our country faces a nursing shortage, $15 million above 2008.
• $2 million for the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, a doubling of funding from last year.
International Aid
• $5.5 billion for international HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs including $600 million for multilateral programs through the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
• $251 million for Haiti, including humanitarian aid, economic development, and military aid.
Congresswoman Waters added, "Particularly in this time of economic crisis, it's vital that we continue to invest in our economy to keep our country strong."
The House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) has prepared an overview of the omnibus bill – presented below – which includes links to fact sheets on each of the nine appropriations bills included:
• Energy Security: Increases funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts to increase the production of clean, efficient, American energy key to our long term economic security.
• Scientific Research: Makes strong investments into cutting edge science so that our nation will maintain its preeminence in the global economy.
• Healthcare Access and Affordability: Improves access to quality, affordable healthcare.
• Education to Promote Opportunity: Promotes our future economic strength by investing in K-12 education and helping families send their kids to college.
• Workers: Helps American workers in the tough economy train for and find good jobs in safe workplaces.
• Safe and Healthy America: Protects Americans by investing in programs to ensure clean air and water and the safety of our food, medicine and consumer products.
• A Critical Look: The bill cuts and eliminates programs that haven't performed the way they should, and includes strict accountability measures to ensure American tax dollars are spent wisely. It invests in oversight efforts carried out by the Inspectors General and the Government Accountability Office.
• Regulation for an Economy in Chaos: Strengthens regulatory agencies that had been neglected, to beef up their efforts during the economic crisis.
Searchable bill text and explanatory statements and earmark certifications letters are available here: https://appropriations.house.gov/FY2009_consolidated.shtml
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