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DeLauro Statement on 2018 Appropriations Bill

March 22, 2018

WASHINGTON, DC (March 22, 2018)Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, today spoke from the House Floor in support of the 2018 government funding bill.

A video of DeLauro's remarks can be found here, and below are her remarks as delivered:

The Omnibus funding bill for 2018 makes important investments in health, education, and job programs. It rejects many of the damaging ideological riders that marked earlier efforts in this appropriations process. And in a time when the Trump Administration is seeking massive cuts in funding, senseless eliminations of critical programs, and the fundamental hollowing out of our federal agencies, we fought to include critical investments in Democratic priorities that boost the middle class.

For health, it's an increase of $3 billion for the National Institutes of Health research, including an increase of more than 50 percent to develop a universal flu vaccine. There's an increase of more than $3 billion for opioids, including funding to support treatment and prevention, prescription drug monitoring programs, behavioral health workforce training programs, and so much more.

We secured increases for our country's youngest children and their families, including an historic increase of $2.4 billion for child care, and $610 million for Head Start. In education, we include public school education formula grants that help students learn and keep them safe, including Title I, Student Support and Academic Enrichment, Afterschool and Special Education. We do not advance the radical agenda of taking money from public schools through private school vouchers. And I am thrilled that we have helped make college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant and other campus-based financial aid.

We achieved an important victory for workers. The deal prohibits employers from pocketing workers' tips, including taking tips to pay managers and supervisors. And workers will have the right to sue to get back their stolen tips regardless of whether they were paid the full minimum wage or not.

We held the line—we kept out poison pill riders that would harm women's access to healthcare, and riders that would negatively impact the Department of Labor's ability to protect workers.

This omnibus ignores shortsighted cuts proposed by the Trump Administration and instead increases funding for priorities that touch people's lives.