DeLauro Votes to Rebuild Our Economy, Keep Americans Safe
Praises inclusion of funding projects for 3rd Congressional District in Omnibus bill
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT -3) today applauded the passage of the 2010 fiscal year Consolidated Omnibus Appropriations Act, H.R. 3288, and its continued focus on funding America's priorities, rebuilding and strengthening our economy, and keeping our country safe.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act will create jobs immediately while investing in our local communities and workforce for the long term by increasing funding for health, education, and infrastructure. It will invest $1.4 billion in training and support services for American workers impacted by the mass layoffs and plant closures that have become all too common over recent years. It will also provide additional lending funds for small businesses having trouble borrowing the capital they need.
Congresswoman DeLauro praised the inclusion of funding for projects in the third Congressional District, and released the following statement:
"Today we made a strong investment in our future, supporting programs that will create new jobs and support existing growth across the country and at home in Connecticut. This legislation will provide short term help for those that have been hardest hit during these turbulent economic times, as well as building on our long term plan to grow our economy for years to come," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "This bill will help to create jobs by funding health, education, and infrastructure priorities, will support workers who have lost their jobs through training and support services, and will provide assistance to small businesses in order to sustain economic growth. It makes a real commitment to getting our economy back on track."
This includes critical funding for:
• Dislocated Workers: $1.4 billion for training and supportive services to the thousands of Dislocated Workers.
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance: $5.1 billion, which is the fully authorized funding level – the same as 2009.
• Even Start: $66 million to continue to integrate early childhood education with family literacy – despite the Senate's and the Administration's proposal to eliminate the program.
• Head Start. Provides $7.2 billion, $122 million above 2009, to sustain high-quality, comprehensive early childhood services.
• After School Centers. Provides $1.2 billion, $35 million above 2009, for tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment activities for approximately 1.6 million children, nearly 50,000 more students than in 2009.
• Pell Grants. This bill maintains the discretionary portion of the maximum Pell Grant at $4,860, which, combined with a mandatory supplement of $690, will support a $5,550 maximum Pell Grant in FY 2010.
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): $31.8 billion – $692 million above 2009.
• WISEWOMAN: $20.7 million – a $1 million increase over 2009.
• National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection: $214.8 million – a $8.8 million increase over 2009.
• Volunteerism: $1.1 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service – a $260 million increase over 2009 – to implement the new Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act – including $2 million to launch ‘Summer of Service.'
• Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): $791.6 million to support local law enforcement agencies with hiring, technology, training, body armor, and sex-offender management grants.
• Office on Violence Against Women (OVW): $418.5 million, $29.5 million above 2009, to prevent and prosecute violence against women and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and includes $15 million for sexual assault victims services.
• Office of Justice Programs: $2.28 billion for grants to state and local organizations to fight and prevent crime, including $519 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, $45 million for drug courts, (and) $494 million for programs for at-risk youth and missing, exploited or abused children, and $45 million for the Regional Information Sharing System
• Science Education: $1.2 billion, $113 million above 2009, to support an effort to combat the decline in U.S. student interest and performance in math and science fields. The federal investment is intended to promote all aspects of STEM education from kindergarten through graduate school, with a particular emphasis placed on inquiry-based, hands-on approaches.
• Global Climate Change Research: $2 billion, $75 million above 2009, to study and respond to global climate change, one of the greatest challenges facing our country.
• Highway Infrastructure: $41.8 billion to improve and repair our nation's aging highway infrastructure, including $41.1 billion for the Federal-aid highway program and an additional $650 million for highway investments.
• Federal Transit Administration: $10.73 billion, $602 million above 2009.
• Amtrak: $1.6 billion, $81.7, $74.6 million above 2009, to support the national passenger rail system.
• High Speed/Intercity Passenger Rail Grants: $2.5 billion to provide grants to states or Amtrak for high speed/intercity passenger rail to create a 21st Century passenger rail system that reduces congestion and environmental impacts.
• Housing Counseling and Foreclosure Prevention: $375.5 million for various housing counseling assistance to provide services for homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments.
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): $4.45 billion, $550 million above 2009, to fund community and economic development projects in 1,180 localities.
• Section 8 Tenant Based Vouchers and Project Based Vouchers: $18.2 billion, $1.2 billion above 2009,for tenant based vouchers to support 2.1 million individuals and families and $8.5 billion, $1.4 billion above 2009, for project based vouchers to provide affordable housing to 1.3 million low-income families and individuals, two-thirds of whom are elderly or disabled.
• HOPE VI: $200 million, $130 million above 2009, to fund competitive grants to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods through the demolition of severely distressed public housing.
• Special Inspector General for TARP: $23 million, to allow the Inspector General to continue oversight and investigations related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): $118 million, $13 million above 2009, to continue implementing the landmark bi-partisan consumer protection legislation enacted in 2008 in response to massive product recalls, including children's toys from China.
• Small Business Administration: $824 million, $212 million above 2009, including $25 million in new microlending and $22 million in related microloan technical assistance.
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): $53 billion in discretionary funding and $56.6 billion for mandatory VA programs, $23.3 billion for military construction and family housing, and $1.4 billion for military construction projects in support of the war in Afghanistan. The bill for the first time includes advance appropriations for the VA to ensure a stable and uninterrupted source of funding for medical care for veterans.
• Veterans Health Administration (VHA): $45.1 billion, $4.1billion above 2009, for veterans medical care. The VHA estimates that it will treat more than 6.1 million patients in 2010, including more than 419,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan (56,000 more than 2009).
• Mental Health: $4.6 billion, $300 million above 2009, for mental health care to treat the psychological wounds of returning combat veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Assistance for Homeless Vets: $3.2 billion, $421 million above 2009, for healthcare and support services for homeless veterans; including $26 million for a Presidential Initiative to combat homelessness, $150 million for the homeless grants and per diem program, $20 million for supportive services for low income veterans and families, and $21 million to hire additional personnel for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program.
The fiscal year 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Bill included funding for the following initiatives benefitting the 3rd Congressional District:
Labor, Health and Human Services, EducationCaroline's Room Fund/Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, $300,000: for the construction of 25 family support and counseling rooms in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units of hospitals across the country.
CT Technical High School System, $250,000: to align the manufacturing curriculum with the needs of the changing industry and workforce at Vinal Technical High School.
CT Technical High School System, $350,000: to provide the support to Eli Whitney Technical High School's Manufacturing Technology Program.
Griffin Hospital, $350,000: for the expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department.
Helen Keller International, $1.2 million: for their Child Sight school-based program run by chapters in Connecticut and across the country, which provides vision screening and free prescription eyeglasses for children who live in urban and rural poverty.
Leadership, Education & Athletics in Partnership, Inc. (LEAP), $300,000: to support its after-school and mentorship program.
National Center for Electronically Mediated Learning, Inc. - P.E.B.B.L.E.S. Project, $150,000: for the continuation of an innovative technology program to deliver educational connection to children who are hospitalized due to medically debilitating diseases and thus, unable to attend school.
National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, $200,000: to continue the National Energy Assistance Survey to document the experiences of low income families coping with high energy prices for the winter heating and summer cooling seasons and allow NEADA to include an additional sampling to do a separate report on the effectiveness of LIHEAP on low income families in Connecticut.
New Haven Reads Community Book Bank, Inc., $200,000: to expand their after-school tutoring program.
University of New Haven, $350,000: to purchase equipment to support the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science Learning Center. The learning center will be open to students, as well as the public, dedicated to forensic science and crime scene investigation.
Southern Connecticut State University/CT State University System, $300,000: to create an Autism Center for Excellence that would serve as a resource center for teachers, parents and community service providers.
Community Health Center's Inc. (Middletown, CT) $225,000: for residency training for nurse practitioners.
St. Mary's Hospital (Waterbury, CT) $325,000: for facilities and equipment.
Connecticut Council of Family Services Agencies, (Wethersfield, CT) $200, 000: Family Development Network.
Voices of September 11th, (New Canaan, CT) $100,00: to continue the 9/11 Living Memorial.
Yale New Haven Health System, (New Haven, CT) $150,000: for public health preparedness.
Commerce, Justice, ScienceChildren and Families Exposed to Violence and Trauma project, $500,000: to support innovative multidisciplinary intervention programs, including both law enforcement and mental health service providers, serving children and families exposed to violence and trauma in and around New Haven, Connecticut.West Haven Two-Way Public Safety Radio System Replacement project, $300,000: to replace existing obsolete radio system for Police and Fire with microwave technology system to foster interoperability between police, fire, emergency management and city government as well as coverage and capability for real-time communications with regional communities.
City of New Haven Prisoner Re-entry Project, $500,000: to develop and implement a comprehensive prisoner reentry plan in New Haven, Connecticut, supporting three major programming goals in the areas of Employment, Assets/Needs Assessment; and Programming for End of Sentence Ex-offenders.
Regional Crime Scene Response Team project, $200,000: to create a regional Crime Scene Response Team to effectively and efficiently process crime scenes and solve crimes.
New Haven Court Team for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers, $300,000: to continue the development of the specialized New Haven Court Team for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers in Child Welfare, to ensure the best possible care and decisions for infants and toddlers involved in the child welfare system.
NCJFCJ Judicial Training, Research and Technical Assistance Project, $600,000: to give Connecticut courts and juvenile justice system professionals information, education, training, statistics, and research to better serve the needs of children and families.
Ecosystem Vitality Through Habitat Restoration Southern New England and Long Island Waters Seagrass Research project, $200,000: to support a comprehensive regional seagrass research initiative to help prevent further loss and restore critical habitat.
Immersion Presents After School Program, $300,000: to support the Immersion Presents After School Program, which offers high-quality academic programs in science and technology for at-risk youth to over 500,000 children across the country.
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related AgenciesAnsonia Riverwalk (Ansonia, CT): $800,000.Naugatuck River Greenway (Waterbury, CT): $974,000.
New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Rail Line Improvements (Statewide): $3.896 million.
Route 8 Corridor Transit Oriented Development and Alternative Modes Study (Derby, CT): $300,000.
Waterbury Intermodal Transportation Center (Waterbury, CT): $500,000.
West Haven Rail Passenger Station (West Haven, CT): $974,000.
Central Connecticut Coast YMCA (New Haven, CT): $500,000 for construction of a community recreational facility.
North End Action Team (Middletown, CT): $194,800 for foreclosure prevention assistance.
Phase III Downtown Revitalization (East Haven, CT): $500,000 for streetscaping, replacing sidewalks and curbing, and installation of energy efficient lighting.
Redevelopment (Waterbury, CT): $487,000 for the redevelopment of Brownfields and blighted properties.
Financial Services and General GovernmentCommunity Economic Development Fund Small Business Institute (Meriden, CT): $250,000 for training and technical assistance.
University of Connecticut Farmington Technology Incubation Center (Storrs, CT): $150,000
Women's Business Development Center (Stamford, CT): $200,000 for entrepreneurial small business training and assistance.
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related AgenciesAir National Guard CNAF Beddown-Upgrade Facilities. Bradley International Airport (Windsor Locks, CT): $9 million.