DELAURO VOTES IN SUPPORT OF HOUSE SPENDING MEASURE

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L.DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human ServicesAppropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement todayafter the passage by the House of Representatives of the ConferenceReport on H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

"I voted to support this budget, whichfunds the government at a level consistent with this year's budgetrequirements without many of the damaging cuts and extraneousideological riders that marked earlier efforts. Make no mistake: thereare real cuts here, including hard cuts to vital programs like the LowIncome Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Still, I believe thislegislation has been improved.

In terms of Labor, Health and HumanServices, and Education, the agreement restores $2.9 billion in cuts.These funds are key investments in job creation, education and thehealth and the well-being of families that will lead us to recovery.

One of the hardest issues for thisconference has been Pell grants, the foundation of federal student aidto college students. Yes, the costs of the program have risen rapidly,but the most important reason for those increases seems to be the stateof the economy, which has led to both increased financial need and to anumber of people who have lost their jobs going back to school to getnew skills. We need a well educated workforce and society, and studentaid should be one of our highest priorities. The agreement maintains the maximum grant amount of $5,550. For too many students I have met, even$100 cut would have derailed their prospects for higher education. Atthe same time we have made some targeted cost-saving changes to theprogram that should eliminate the funding shortfall for this year andperhaps next year as well.

For the thirteen million Americanslooking for work, investments in job training and re-employment services are key. They help responsible people succeed, and I am pleased thatthis agreement restores the three-quarters of the cuts to job trainingprograms proposed in the chairman's original bill, which was neverconsidered before the committee.

Health care is no longer shortchanged.With an aging population and a nursing shortage before us, we need tomake wise investments in people. The programs that help to train primary care doctors, nurses and other health care providers, cut by over 60percent in the Majority's bill, are now only cut by 6 percent. Fundingfor vital mental health services, once cut by 17 percent, are now onlycut by 3 percent.

This agreement also retains keyinvestments in implementing the Affordable Care Act. A great deal ofwhat would have been blocked from implementation or de-funded are justcommon sense measures, such as new rules prohibiting insurers fromdenying coverage for children for pre-existing health conditions, orrestrictions on annual limits on amounts covered under insurance plansso that coverage doesn't run out when people get sick, or steps towardsestablishing health insurance exchanges to make the market work betterfor individuals and small businesses. Now, with this conferenceagreement, those and other activities can go forward to help addresswhat are very real national problems of health care coverage andaffordability.

I am also glad to see the NationalInstitutes of Health receive a funding increase of $299 million and anew national Center for Advancing Translational Science as proposed byDirector Francis Collins is established. NIH can now keep fundinglife-saving research and pushing the frontiers of medical knowledge.

Perhaps no other investments we make areas important as the ones we make in our children. This agreementincludes a $60 million increase for the childcare and development blockgrant, providing desperately needed aid to working parents for safe andreliable childcare. It provides a $424 million increase for head start,allowing our kids to continue a path to academic success. $60 millionincrease to Title 1, supporting schools serving low-income children and$100 million increase to IDEA, supporting students with special needs.

I was also pleased to see that thevirtual elimination of the Corporation for National and CommunityService, proposed in the majority's draft, has been rolled back.Instead of ending Americorps, this agreement includes sufficient funding to maintain current AmeriCorps membership, and $45 million to continuethe successful Social Innovation Fund. These programs take on some ofthe toughest and most pressing community challenges out there. They give all Americans, young and old, a chance to make a difference. I am veryglad to see them restored.

Finally, our approach to this conferencereport was not an academic exercise or just to fit pieces into a puzzle. We were guided by the impact of this bill on people's lives. I verymuch appreciate the spirit of cooperation and compromise among allinvolved."