WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congress passed a bipartisan $1.1 trillion consolidated appropriations bill to help strengthen our economy, keep the government working, and make critical investments in America’s future.  The measure cleared the U.S. Senate this evening by a vote of 72-26, and was approved 359-67 by the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who serves as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment, was a key backer of several provisions in the bill designed to generate jobs and economic opportunities, upgrade our infrastructure, invest in education, provide social services and health care, protect the environment, and help strengthen our national defense.

“After years of significant reductions in spending, this legislation makes critical investments in growing our economy, creating jobs, and improving our infrastructure.  The bill includes federal funds to boost education, transportation, and economic and community development projects in Rhode Island.  While I don’t support everything in the bill, I commend Chairwoman Mikulski for her leadership and hard work to reverse the harmful cuts in the sequester and bring people together to get this done,” said Reed.

The compromise spending package will fund the federal government through September 30, when the 2014 fiscal year ends.  The bill provides $1.012 trillion to operate the federal government, including $572 billion to support defense spending.  The bill also provides $85.2 billion to fund the U.S. military’s  Overseas Contingency Operations in Afghanistan, and $6.2 billion to help fund disaster relief.  It will also help reverse the cuts for disabled veterans and survivors by exempting medically retired personnel and survivor benefit plan recipients from having their cost-of-living benefits temporarily reduced.

Reed helped ensure the agreement includes key national investments in several other priorities, including:

Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies: $51.6 billion, an increase of $4.55 billion above the fiscal year 2013 post-sequester enacted level.

Senator Reed is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS).

  • $27.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Justice to help fight crime and terrorism, protect communities and families, and provide critical grant funding to for local law enforcement initiatives.  This includes funding for key operational grant programs that benefit Rhode Island, such as $376 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants; $417 million for Violence Against Women Act programs; $255 million for juvenile justice and mentoring grants; and $120 million for research and evaluation initiatives on the best prevention and intervention strategies. 
  • $7.17 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), an increase of $288 million above the fiscal year 2013 sequester level, to help spark innovation and provide 780 more competitive grants in fiscal year 2014. 
  • $850 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is $81 million above the fiscal year 2013 sequester level.  NIST funding helps provide technical resources to promote the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and aspiring start-ups.  NIST’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) will help manufacturers accelerate development and adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies for making new, globally competitive products. 
  • $247 million for Economic Development Assistance programs, including $10 million for the Regional Innovation Program.  This level of funding should allow EDA to help more than 100 communities plan regional strategies for long-term growth, leverage billions in private investment, and generate thousands of jobs. 
  • $652 million for DOJ’s cybersecurity programs to prevent attacks and respond to cybercrime, and catch and prosecute the criminals behind the keyboard.
  • $75 million to help alleviate the economic impacts associated with declared commercial fishery failures, fishery resources disasters, and state and federal regulations.
  • $1.25 billion to help reduce gun violence and help keep our homes, schools, and neighborhoods safe.  The bill provides $128 million to the FBI, an increase of $60 million, to run instant background checks. It will give ATF an additional $70 million for a total of $975 million for criminal enforcement, investigations, and inspections tools to enforce gun laws, trace firearms found at crime scenes, and keep illegal guns away from traffickers and criminals. 
  • $3 billion to improve weather prediction and test next generation of weather radars.
  • $470 million to help promote U.S. exports and international trade and protect American companies doing business abroad.

Defense: $572 billion in base and overseas contingency operation funding.  The base budget appropriation is $486.6 billion.  The defense bill also contains $85.2 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) of the Department of Defense. 

Senator Reed is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

  • A one percent pay raise to members of the Armed Forces and the Department of Defense civilian workforce.  This is the first pay raise for Department of Defense civilians in four years.
  • $5.8 billion for the Virginia-class submarine program, including two submarines in 2014, and advance procurement funding for two ships planned in 2015.  The bill supports the upcoming ten boat, five year multi-year contract currently being negotiated by the Navy and Electric Boat.  It also provides $1 billion to continue development of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement, and fully funds the development of the Virginia Payload Module ($59 million), with some oversight provisions.
  • Full support of the Navy’s shipbuilding plan by providing for new construction of eight ships, as requested, and ensuring that construction schedules will remain intact.  Under a full-year CR, new aircraft carrier construction and renovations would be delayed, funding would be provided for the construction of the wrong types of ships, and there would be a $700 million shortfall for the construction of new ships.  Under the agreement, each of these problems is corrected.
  • $2.4 billion to continue operation and begin modernization of nine Navy ships which had been proposed for retirement due to budget constraints.
  • $1 billion for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account to ensure Guard and Reserve units have the critical, dual-use equipment necessary for both homeland security and overseas missions.
  • Adds $175 million for the Rapid Innovation Program and $75 million for the Industrial Base Innovation Fund.  These competitive programs promote the development of new technologies and timely fielding of critical equipment, serving the immediate needs of our troops and sustaining the American technological advantage.
  • Will help ease the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims backlog by accelerating the transfer of DoD health care records.
  • $25 million for DoD to implement the Special Victims’ Counsel Program across all Services to provide victims of sexual assault with legal assistance and support.
  • Restores $25 million to STARBASE, a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education program.
  • $24.5 million for the expansion of the Marine Security Guards program to increase security at embassies abroad and $92 million to increase Marine Corps rapid response forces.

Energy and Water Development: $34 billion

  • $5.467 billion, an increase of $748 million above the fiscal year 2013 post sequester enacted level, for the Army Corps of Engineers. 
  • $1.9 billion for Energy and Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs, $182 million above fiscal year 2013, to advance biomass, electric vehicle, and energy efficient advanced manufacturing technologies.  This includes $174 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program and $50 million for the State Energy Program.

Financial Services and General Government: $21.851 billion

  • $929 million for the Small Business Administration (SBA). The bill also provides $196 million for entrepreneurial development grants that provide technical assistance, training, and business planning guidance for starting and growing small businesses.
  • $1.35 billion for the Securities and Exchange Commission and $210 million for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  The bill maintains the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of Financial Research as independent funded agencies.
  • $298 million for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to detect and eliminate illegal collusion, combat consumer fraud, prevent anti-competitive mergers, fight identity theft, and promote consumer privacy.
  • $226 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) to leverage private sector investment in community development projects like affordable housing, retail development, and lending to small businesses, filling some of the gap left by private sector investment after the financial crisis.
  • $192 million to support SBA’s disaster lending to businesses of all sizes, homeowners, and renters recovering after major disasters, such as Superstorm Sandy.

Homeland Security: $46.6 billion, an increase of $1.14 billion above the post-sequestration funding level for fiscal year 2013.

  • $10.2 billion for the Coast Guard.
  • $6.22 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund, which supports the estimated costs associated with an average disaster year as well as the costs of recovery from previous major disasters such as Sandy and Irene.
  • $5.614 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  • $4.9 billion for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
  • $2.5 billion for FEMA’s first responder grants, $39 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level, including: $1.5 billion for State and Local grants, $680 million for Assistance to Firefighter Grants, and $350 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants. Additionally, the bill includes a House amendment that was included in the Senate bill to delay for one year delay rate increases for properties newly mapped into a flood zone. 
  • $792 million for cybersecurity protection of federal networks and incident response, which is $35.5 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level.
  • $1.58 billion for the Secret Service, and the bill expands the amount of cyber training provided by the Secret Service to state and local law enforcement officials.

Interior & Environment: $30 billion, an increase of $1.786 billion above the post-sequestration funding level for fiscal year 2013.

Senator Reed is Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment.

  • $10.4 billion for the U.S. Department of the Interior.  Included in this funding are expenses for the National Park Service ($2.5 billion), the Fish and Wildlife Service ($1.4 billion), and the Bureau of Land Management ($1.1 billion).  The Forest Service is funded at $5.4 billion.
  • $8.2 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an increase of $299 million over the FY 13 post-sequestration level.  Included in the funding for EPA is $1.4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $907 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which help create jobs and provide clean water to communities throughout the country by supporting water infrastructure modernization projects. 
  • $6.9 billion for American Indian and Alaska Native Programs to help improve the quality and accessibility of education, health care, and law enforcement programs.
  • $3.9 billion for firefighting and hazardous fuels reduction activities on federal lands, including the President’s request to meet the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior ten-year average of fire suppression costs and $629 million provided in the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (P.L. 113-46) for fire transfer reimbursements in fiscal year 2013.
  • $805 million for Smithsonian Institution programs and facilities construction, an increase of $32 million above the post-sequestration level. 
  • $146 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support arts and humanities programs, a total of $16 million above the post-sequester level.
  • $306 million to the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service for the purchase and protection of lands through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.  For the land acquisition and state grant programs through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Senate prevailed over the House, which had included $0 in its subcommittee mark.
  • $472 million for the operations of national wildlife refuges, an increase of $20 million above the FY 2013 sequestered level.
  • $55 million to continue the federal funding commitment for construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.  An additional $15 million has been included to expand staff for curatorial work and other programmatic and operational activities required for the museum’s opening in 2015.
  • $18.289 million for Heritage Area programs and extends the authorization for two years through 2015.  The Blackstone area funds will be restored to the FY 2012 level of $650,000.
  • $9.5 million for the Beaches Protection grants program, a 2% increase above post-sequester.
  • $1.054 billion for categorical grants to states. This is a 2% increase above sequestration. Within this amount air quality grants receive $228 million, water pollution control grants receive $231 million and nonpoint source grants receive $159 million.
  • The proposed elimination of the Environmental Education grants program was rejected and $8.7 million is included in the bill, which is an increase of $776,000 over sequestration.
  • $25 million for the National Estuary Program, restoring it to pre-sequestered levels.  Individual amounts for the 28 estuaries will be set by EPA, but the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program should be around its historic level of $600,000.
  • $2 million for the Southern New England Estuaries Geographic Program.  This is the first year of funding for this program, which will provide grants to RI/MA stakeholders to work on watershed restoration projects.
  • The bill includes language applying a “Buy America” preference to iron and steel products used in projects that utilize the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.
  • $90 million for Brownfields projects to help clean up contaminated land, create jobs, and protect public health.

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee (Labor-H): $156.8 billion

Senator Reed is a member of the Senate Labor-H Subcommittee.

  • $29.9 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $1 billion above the fiscal year 2013 level.
  • $22.8 billion for Pell Grants.  The bill maintains the base funding for the Pell Grant program, ensuring that the maximum grant will increase with inflation to $5,730.  The bill also restores funding for Federal Work Study (an increase of nearly $50 million) and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants ( an increase of more than $36.9 million).
  • $3.425 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a $169 million increase.  This will allow states to provide home energy assistance to approximately 415,000 additional low-income households this winter and coming summer, increase assistance to the approximately 7.7 million households currently receiving such assistance, or some combination of the two.
  • $14.4 billion for Title I funding. These funds help schools, particularly those with concentrations of economically disadvantaged students, meet high academic achievement standards.  This increase of $625 million will support services to an estimated 1 million additional students.   Roughly 90 percent of the nation’s school districts receive title I funding.  
  • $11.47 billion for IDEA/Special Education, an increase of more than $516 million.
  • $8.6 billion for Head Start, a $1.025 billion increase, which will support comprehensive early childhood services for approximately 90,000 additional children and their families.
  • $3.6 billion for Community Health Centers, a $700 million increase, to provide comprehensive, quality health care services to medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations.
  • $2.6 billion, an increase of $121 million, for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) grants to states to provide job training skills and assistance to low-skilled adults, dislocated workers, and low-income youth with barriers to employment.
  • $1.7 billion for Job Corps to help young Americans receive education, job training, and employment assistance.
  • $1.088 billion for mental health programs, an increase of $173 million.
  • $1.149 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, an increase of $58 million, to support additional learning time programs in communities throughout our nation.
  • $838 million, an increase of $42 million, to help low-income and first generation college students plan, prepare for, and succeed in college through the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.
  • $588 for immunizations, an increase of nearly $60 million from FY2013.
  • $270 million for Veterans Employment and Training, an increase of $19 million, to expand employment services to transitioning servicemembers, veterans with disabilities, and their spouses and caregivers.
  • $180.5 million for the Library Services Technology Act, including $155 million in grants to states.
  • $77.5 Million for YouthBuild, which helps young people get a second chance at earning their General Education Development (GED) diploma while learning valuable occupational and life management skills.
  • $40.6 million for the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant program to continue this partnership program between colleges of education and high need school districts. 
  • $25 million for Innovative Approaches to Literacy, Senator Reed’s initiative to support school libraries and literacy programs that ensure that children have access to books in the home.  This funding will allow for a new grant competition.
  • $15 million for the Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up from $2 million in FY2013.

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA): $157.99 billion

Senator Reed is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.

  • $43.6 billion for VA medical services.
  • $9.8 billion for military construction projects, including $12.4 million for renovations to Hewitt Hall at the Naval War College in Newport, as well as $6 million to build a C-130J Flight Simulator Training Facility at Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown.  This project will construct a flight simulator facility to train aircrews to fly the eight C-130J aircraft assigned to this installation.
  • $1.5 billion to fund construction, operation, and maintenance of military family housing.
  • $1.39 billion for the VA for programs specifically targeted to eliminate veteran homelessness, including $278 million to support the joint HUD-VA Supportive Housing program.
  • $665.8 million for construction or alteration of Guard and Reserve facilities.
  • To ensure that the VA has all the necessary resources to achieve timely and accurate processing of current and future disability claims, the agreement fully funds the President’s budget request for claims processing operations (an increase of $294 million over fiscal year 2013), and provides an additional $42.9 million for critical unmet needs.  The agreement also incorporates the Senate-proposed 10-Point Action Plan to give the VA additional tools to address the claims backlog and to strengthen training, oversight, and accountability.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD): $50.856 billion.  The total level of funding in the agreement, which includes both budget authority and limitations on obligations related to trust fund programs, is $104.33 billion. 

Senator Reed is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

  • $41 billion for the Federal-aid Highway program, honoring the funding level authorized in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). 
  • $12.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
  • $9.9 billion for Section 8 project-based rental assistance (PBRA). 
  • $3.03 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program.
  • $2.1 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants.  This represents an increase of $172 million above the sequester level. 
  • $1.943 billion for the transit “New Starts” program.
  • $1.39 billion for Amtrak, $47 million more than under sequester. 
  • $1 billion in HOME block grant for creating affordable housing for low-income households.
  • $600 million for TIGER grants to support significant transportation projects in a wide variety of modes, including highways and bridges, public transportation, passenger and freight railroads, and port infrastructure. 
  • $75 million for HUD-Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) to provide housing for 10,000 homeless veterans. 

Now that the bill has been approved by Congress, it will be sent to the President to be signed into law.