DeLauro Leads House Passage of Bipartisan Schools, Safety, and Security Package

Second, six-bill funding package helps with the cost of living, sides with hardworking Americans, protects women's rights, reinforces America's global leadership, and helps our communities be safe and secure.

The House today passed, 286 to 134, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, a government funding package consisting of the second and final six 2024 regular funding bills.

This package includes the following funding bills: Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and, State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

"Americans struggling with the high cost of living want a government that sides with them and puts their families' needs above politics, big corporations, or billionaires. This bipartisan bill does just that," said Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro. "Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate united to pass all 12 2024 funding bills that support hardworking people, protect women's rights, confront climate change, and help our communities be safe and secure. I am proud that this bill protects hundreds of thousands of teachers' jobs from proposed House Republican cuts to funding for schools. It includes an increase of $1 billion for child care and Head Start to help hard working families access affordable, quality child care. When Democrats and Republicans work together, we can move America forward and invest in the programs that keep us safe and healthy. We must not repeat this year's chaos in the 2025 funding process."

"As the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, I am pleased that Republican leadership has finally decided to join Democrats in putting the country ahead of politics by passing a bipartisan Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations Act that funds our national security priorities," said Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum. "This compromise legislation will provide our U.S. service members with the training and equipment necessary to complete their missions as safely as possible. This bill prioritizes our military families by including a 5.2 percent pay increase and an increase for the Basic Allowance for Housing by 5.4 percent.When the House took up the Republican version of this legislation last summer, I strongly objected to extreme social policy riders advanced by Republicans that had nothing to do with national defense. I successfully fought to remove all of these provisions, including one in particular that would have restricted women service members and their families from accessing the reproductive health care that all Americans deserve. This bill includes minimal Ukraine funding, which Congress has provided annually since Russia's illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. But Speaker Johnson still must bring the Bipartisan National Security Agreement that passed the Senate 70 to 29 to the House Floor for a vote. We must provide Ukraine with the assistance they desperately need to defend their democracy from Russian aggression."

"Although Democrats would have written this legislation differently, this compromise avoids Republicans' most harmful proposals to cut policies and programs that are vital to the American people. I'm pleased that this bill is free of Republicans' poison pill riders and that it establishes funding levels far greater than those proposed earlier in the House bill," said Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Steny Hoyer. "Whether it's strengthening our democracy through Election Security Grants, giving the IRS the resources necessary to collect legally owed taxes, or advancing construction of the FBI's new consolidated headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, this legislation addresses crucial issues facing our nation. This bill is an important step toward keeping our government open and functioning properly For The People. I'm glad that we could put People Over Politics and pass this bill in a bipartisan fashion."

"After tough negotiations, I am very pleased the House was able to pass a bipartisan Homeland Security funding bill that will fund border security, support border law enforcement, and protect our Homeland," said Homeland Security Subcommittee Ranking Member Henry Cuellar. "I am proud this bill contains no new money appropriated for wasteful border wall construction. Instead, this bill invests funding back into our hardworking DHS workforce, including frontline Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers. Specifically, the $125 million included to increase Border Patrol Agent overtime pay will be crucial for the agency to hire and retain qualified individuals to keep our communities safe. In addition, the bill provides robust funding for technology and personnel to combat the deadly fentanyl epidemic, which affects too many Americans. Democrats also fought to secure $650 million for the Shelter and Services Program, which provides crucial funding to nonprofits and NGOs as they assist migrants awaiting the outcome of their immigration proceedings. Overall, these investments will strengthen national security while ensuring our DHS law enforcement partners have the resources they need to do their jobs. Thank you to Ranking Member DeLauro for her leadership and the Appropriations Committee staff for their incredible work in putting this bill together."

"Investing in our legislative branch is investing in the foundation of our democracy. This funding package not only enhances the safety of our campus and bolsters member security but also prioritizes the modernization of our information technology and vital resources essential for Congress to fulfill its duties effectively," said Legislative Branch Subcommittee Ranking Member Adriano Espaillat. "However, it's deeply disheartening to see the Office of Diversity and Inclusion eliminated. We must collectively strive to ensure the mission of this office is upheld in the upcoming fiscal year, working across party lines to ensure inclusivity and representation remain at the forefront of our legislative efforts."

The Subcommittee Ranking Members' remarks on the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, are here.

This compromise legislation funds domestic programs at the toplines set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which were reaffirmed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson earlier this year. Democrats rejected extreme cuts and policies pursued by House Republicans and fought for the priorities of families, workers, and the most vulnerable Americans. Some of the strongest investments and victories for the American people included in this package can be found here. They include:

• $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start.
• $120 million increase in funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health.
• $100 million increase for Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias research.
• Increased funding for Title I, saving 224,000 teachers' jobs House Republicans tried to eliminate and protecting Job Corps and more than 20 K-12 and higher education programs.
• Blocking 10 Republican riders to limit women's reproductive health.
• 12,000 more Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans that assisted the United States.
• $1 billion increase in climate change and resilience activities at the Department of Defense.

The text of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, is available here. A full summary of the appropriations provisions in the bill is available here. Community Project Funding included in all fiscal year 2024 bills is available here.

Individual subcommittee summaries are below:

• Defense: Summary | Explanatory Statement
• Financial Services and General Government: Summary | Explanatory Statement
• Homeland Security: Summary | Explanatory Statement
• Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies: Summary | Explanatory Statement
• Legislative Branch: Summary | Explanatory Statement
• State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: Summary | Explanatory Statement

This second and final package follows the first six appropriations bills signed into law on March 9.

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