DeLauro Leads Passage of Government Funding Legislation, Critical Support for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, DC – House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), led House Democrats in passing H.R. 2471, consisting of all 12 fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills and supplemental funding to support Ukraine. The bill's transformative investments will help working families in Connecticut and across the country with the cost of living, create American jobs, and support small businesses.

"This package makes historic investments in the middle class and people who are living paycheck to paycheck," said Chair DeLauro. "They deserve a government that, instead of catering to the wealthy and big corporations, bends over backward to support them. By providing a 6.7 percent increase for non-defense funding – the largest increase in four years – that is exactly what we are doing. After years of stalled investments, we are helping working families with the cost of living. We are helping students pay for the high cost of education and giving hard-working families a better chance to own their homes. We are putting Americans back to work by creating jobs here in Connecticut and across the country, helping small businesses, supporting job training, rebuilding our infrastructure, and unlocking the full funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.For the first time in a long time, I believe we show just how government can work for working people once again."

"Like many around the world, I have been watching in horror as civilians—including children, the ill, and expectant mothers—are being targeted by Russia's unprovoked and utterly inhumane attacks," Chair DeLauro continued. "That is why we are here tonight to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I was deeply moved by our meeting with President Zelensky over the weekend. I am proud this bill responds to Russia's unprovoked war of aggression and vicious invasion of Ukraine with $13.6 billion in emergency assistance to support the people of Ukraine and their neighbors. Through sanctions enforcement and humanitarian, defense, and economic assistance we are supporting Ukraine and its people as they continue this battle for democracy and freedom."

Among the many investments Chair DeLauro secured for Connecticut, this spending bill:

• Invests in Connecticut's infrastructure with a total of $2.3 billion for Amtrak, including $874.5 million for Northeast Corridor Grants, an increase of $331 million over last year.
  
• Creates high-paying jobs, with $1.5 billion for 11 CH-53K helicopters, $8.5 billion for the continued development and modernization of 85 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, $744 million for 14 HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters, and funding for a total of 33 UH/HH-60M Blackhawk helicopters.
  
• Supports our region's submarine industrial base with $4.2 billion for Virginia class submarine construction and $2.1 billion for advanced procurement funding, $3.3 billion in funding for Columbia class submarine construction, and $1.8 billion in advanced procurement funding.
  
• Includes up to $50 million for the Clean Cities program nationwide, which will provide funding to organizations like the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition to further the use of alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles.
  
• Includes record funding of $31.4 million for the Environmental Protection Agency's Long Island Sound Geographic Program to promote conservation and watershed management activities that protect and restore the environmentally and economically vital resources of the Sound along Connecticut's coast.
  
• Provides the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) with an additional $834 million to extend the WIC Benefit Bump nationwide that will increase the number of healthy fruits and vegetables in the WIC Food Package. This package fights hunger and increases nutrition security for more than 35,000 children and infants enrolled in the WIC Program across Connecticut.
  
• Keeps our families safer after the horror of the shooting more than nine years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary that left 26 innocent people dead, forever changing our state. This bill contains $25 million for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health to research gun violence.
  
• Creates hundreds of jobs throughout the state by providing $50 million to initiate the construction of a National Coast Guard Museum in Southeastern Connecticut. The museum will stimulate our economy, bringing an estimated $20 million per year into the region.
  
• Provides energy assistance to Connecticut families, as families throughout Connecticut struggle with the high cost of living. The spending package funds the nationwide Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) with $3.8 billion, an increase of $50 million over last year, that will be used to help keep Connecticut families cool in the summer and warm throughout the winter.
  
• Restores the Federal Courthouse in Hartford, Connecticut, with $138 million in federal investments.
  
• Funds Crumbling Foundations Research with $2 million to support the National Institute of Standards and Technology's ongoing efforts to study the effects of pyrrhotite on concrete aggregate that is impacting homeowners across Connecticut.
  
• Provides $10 billion nationwide for Community Planning and Development, an increase of $1.75 billion over last year, including $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants. This also includes $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program which has helped preserve approximately 1.33 million affordable homes.
  
• Provides $415 million for the United States Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, an increase of $55 million, including $5 million to continue a radon testing and mitigation demonstration program for public housing and $25 million to initiate a new demonstration program to conduct inspections for lead in housing choice voucher units.
  
• Includes an additional $1 billion forHousing for the Elderly to build approximately 2,200 new affordable housing units across the country for low-income seniors and $352 million for Housing for Persons with Disabilities to construct approximately 1,800 new affordable housing units for persons with disabilities.
  
• Provides $20 million for competitive grants to nonprofit or governmental entities to provide legal assistance at no cost to eligible low-income tenants at risk of or subject to eviction.

In addition to her role as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, DeLauro chairs the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. From Early Head Start to Social Security, these investments touch individuals and families throughout their lives. This portion of the spending bill:

• Includes a historic increase for Title I grants of $1 billion above last year to $17.5 billion. This is the cornerstone of all federal K-12 programs to help address disparities in resources across school districts. This is the largest increase in more than a decade.
  
• Includes $6,895 for the maximum Pell Grant, an increase of $400 above the FY 2021 enacted level. This is the largest increase to Pell Grants since the 2009 Recovery Act.
  
• Supports the National Institutes of Health's efforts to develop a universal flu vaccine with $245 million in research funding, $25 million more than what was provided last year.
  
• Provides approximately $213 billion for programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an increase of $15.3 billion above the enacted level for 2021. These federal investments will help advance lifesaving medical research and scientific breakthroughs with $45 billion for the National Institutes of Health and $1 billion for President Biden's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
  
• Strengthens our nation's public health infrastructure with $2 billion to respond to our nation's mental health crisis and $8.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also combats substance use disorders by providing $3.9 billion for treatment and helps address maternal health disparities with $1 billion for maternal and child health.
  
• Invests in early childhood programs with an increase of $289 million for Head Start, an increase of $254 million for child care, and an increase of $15 million for Preschool Development Grants above the fiscal year 2021 enacted spending levels. For our children to thrive, we must support them at this vulnerable time of crucial development, especially when the spread of COVID-19 either disrupted their lives or exposed them to hardship, poverty, hunger, or trauma.

• Includes $14.5 billion for Special Education, an increase of $448 million.
  
• Includes continued support and robust increases for a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Initiative to support SEL and "whole child" approaches to education.
  
• Provides $885 million, $96 million more than last year's funding, for HBCUs and MSIs.
  
• Includes $50 million to continue and expand Strengthening Community College Training Grants to help meet local and regional labor market demand for a skilled workforce by providing training to workers in in-demand industries at community colleges and four-year partners.
  
• Helps working people find good-paying jobs with $9.8 billion for the Employment Training Administration and robust funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Grants and Registered Apprenticeships.

In addition to this funding, DeLauro secured more than $13.6 million for local projects. DeLauro's statement and background on the Community Project Funding included for Connecticut's 3rd Congressional District can be found here.

A full summary of the 12 regular appropriations bills is here. A summary of the Ukraine supplemental is here and a one-page fact sheet is here. DeLauro's remarks in support of this spending package are here.