Evergreen Reporter

Washington, D.C. – On July 13, the Senate Appropriations Committee met and approved the fiscal year 2024 Legislative Branch; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; and Financial Services and General Government appropriations bills.

“We have a job to do. So here in the Senate, we are moving ahead,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We are making clear the Senate is focused on writing serious bills that can actually be signed into law, and doing the most we possibly can for the people back home. And the three bills we are voting on today provide much needed investments in our nation.”

“We are going to keep the ball rolling with the rest of our appropriations bills too,” continued Chair Murray. “Because we all want to continue our return to regular order. There’s absolutely no need for chaos or shutdowns. And no one wants to see a damaging CR that would slash critical programs across the board. So I hope we can continue this progress with a full slate of bipartisan funding bills that make the investments our country needs to succeed—and that we can continue discussing how we lessen the damage of the caps on our defense spending and cuts to our non-defense spending.”

“This process is never easy—and was never going to be easy this year—but we are moving forward, and I’m grateful to all of my colleagues for putting in the work to get us here,” concluded Chair Murray.

Chair Murray also announced that on Thursday, July 20, the full Committee will convene again to markup the fiscal year 2024 Energy and Water Development; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bills.

Chair Murray’s full opening remarks are available HERE.

In a 29-0 vote, the Committee approved the Legislative Branch Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill.

The Legislative Branch fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill provides $6.761 billion in funding for the operations of the United States Senate, the United States Capitol Police, the Library of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, the Copyright Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Office of the Attending Physician.

The bill:

• Protects our nation’s Capitol and supports the Capitol Police officers who keep members, staff, and visitors safe, including by:
• Delivering the funding necessary to protect the Capitol complex.
• Providing key resources for the U.S. Capitol Police to recruit, train, and retain officers.
• Delivers the resources needed to carry out the work of the American people by sustaining funding for Senate offices, committees, and nonpartisan legislative branch agencies—like the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service, and Congressional Budget Office—to write and pass legislation, conduct oversight, and deliver for constituents.

“Working under difficult fiscal constraints, we managed to advance a bipartisan bill that will strengthen institutions of democracy and boost the legislative branch’s capacity to better serve the public. This bill delivers funding, staffing levels, and infrastructure needed to ensure the safety of the U.S. Capitol complex and keep it accessible and open to the public,” said Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee. “In addition to upgrading Congress’ physical security and cyber defenses, it also maintains the capacity of important legislative branch agencies, such as the non-partisan watchdog Government Accountability Office, which helps enhance transparency and accountability throughout the federal government to save taxpayers money. It also makes needed investments to modernize the people’s public library—the Library of Congress. And it prioritizes operations at places like the Congressional Budget Office, the Joint Economic Committee, and Government Publishing Office, which are crucial to providing lawmakers with trusted information and keeping the American public well-informed.”

“This bill ensures there’s the necessary resources so that we can deliver for our constituents and carry out our responsibilities as legislators—and it invests in the brave Capitol Police officers who keep everyone in the Capitol safe,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This bill will help more working class moms and parents be able to work here in Congress by creating a pathway to make child care more affordable for staff and updating lactating rooms for nursing mothers. And I am glad that this strong, bipartisan bill provides resources to support the nonpartisan legislative expertise and oversight we all rely on to craft strong laws.”

A full summary of the bill is available HERE.

Chair Reed’s remarks on the bill are available HERE.

Final bill text, report, and adopted amendments will be available online later today HERE.

In a 28-1 vote, the Committee approved the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill.

The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill provides a total of $71.734 billion in discretionary funding.

The bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that affect the lives of all Americans. The bill provides $37.956 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to keep Americans safe in their communities, uphold the rule of law, and invest in lifesaving DOJ grant programs. The Department of Commerce receives $11.1 billion to promote and support American businesses and exports, spur economic development nationwide, maintain current-generation and build next-generation weather satellites that let Americans know about severe weather, create cybersecurity standards, promote economic development nationwide, enable sustainable management of ocean resources, conduct periodic censuses, and more. To continue promoting American competitiveness through scientific discovery, the bill provides $9.5 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $25 billion to explore the solar system, understand climate change, promote innovation and sustainability in aeronautics, and protect our planet.

The bill:

• Keeps our communities safe, including by:
• Providing necessary funding for our federal law enforcement personnel to keep Americans safe—and supporting state and local law enforcement with new resources to hire over 1,400 additional officers nationwide.
• Delivering a significant increase in funding for the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to prevent violence against women and better support survivors.
• Investing $611.5 million in dedicated grant funding to respond to the substance use disorder crisis.
• Advances cutting-edge research and invests in American competitiveness, including by:
• Delivering $11 billion to implement the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
• Providing $1.45 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—including a $68 million (or 7 percent) increase in funding for NIST’s measurement labs and research to propel breakthroughs in cutting-edge fields like carbon dioxide removal, artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and cybersecurity.
• Strengthens American manufacturing, keeps supply chains running smoothly, and spurs economic development, including by:
• Providing $175 million for the NIST Manufacturing Extension Program to improve competitiveness of domestic manufacturers and strengthen domestic supply chains.
• Delivering $466 million for community economic development through the Economic Development Administration (EDA)—including a $41 million investment in EDA’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program to provide planning grants to create geographically-distributed regional technology hubs.
• Propels climate research and science and strengthens our resiliency, including by:
• Providing $224 million for climate research at NOAA and a $200 million increase to maintain current generation and build next generation weather satellites to keep Americans informed of severe weather.
• Continues America’s leadership in space with increased investment in NASA’s Exploration budget to once again send Americans to the Moon.

“The bipartisan fiscal year 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill will help keep our communities and nation secure, further United States leadership in science and innovation, and assist in the growth and prosperity of American businesses. As Chair of the CJS Subcommittee, I have worked to ensure this bill gives our communities the tools they need to build a safe and prosperous future,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. “These resources focus on critically important needs like combatting violent crime and gun violence, supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and tackling the nation’s substance use disorder epidemic. In addition to physical security, the 2024 CJS Appropriations bill addresses economic security across our country. This bill makes critical investments that will directly foster economic growth, accelerate exports of American products, enhance safety through accurate weather prediction, and promote innovation throughout the economy. This legislation also prioritizes many other important policies necessary for America’s future success, including investments in climate resilience, environmental restoration, and space exploration. As we look ahead, I’m confident that the investments made through this appropriations bill will benefit Americans and the shared security interests of our allies and partners, and we must continue to look for ways to make the necessary and smart investments to further bolster our economic and national security. I urge Congress to swiftly consider this legislation and send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”

“For Americans in every corner of the country to thrive, we’ve got to have a strong, competitive economy and safe communities for families to raise their kids. Despite working with some really tight constraints, this bill ensures we continue to invest in strengthening our economy, propelling cutting-edge scientific research, and creating safer communities,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This strong, bipartisan bill will help keep our supply chains running smoothly, spur economic development in states across the country, send Americans to the Moon again, and make sure we keep our foot on the gas when it comes to research into technologies of the future like AI, quantum computing, clean energy, and more. It will also help protect families from threats like crime, drug trafficking, cyberattacks, and domestic terrorism. And I am proud that this bill boosts funding to prevent violence against women and fully funds the Sexual Assault Nurse Exams program I worked to establish to help ensure survivors can seek justice.”

A full summary of the bill is available HERE.

Chair Shaheen’s remarks on the bill are available HERE.

Final bill text, report, and adopted amendments will be available online later today HERE.

In a 29-0 vote, the Committee approved the Financial Services and General Government Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill.

The Financial Services and General Government fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill provides $16.95 billion to fund the operations of the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, the federal judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, and more than two dozen independent federal agencies. The bill’s $16.95 billion total reflects the rescission of $10 billion from funds provided to the Internal Revenue Service in the Inflation Reduction Act—a rescission that was agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The total funding provided in the bill, including funds offset by fees, rescissions, and rent, totals $41.2 billion.

The bill:

• Supports small businesses, strengthens our economy, and protects Americans’ bank accounts, including by:
• Ensuring the Treasury Department has the resources it needs to carry out its wide-ranging responsibilities protecting and strengthening our economy, regulating Wall Street and enforcing federal finance and tax laws, enforcing our sanctions against bad actors, and more.
• Providing $1.219 for the Small Business Administration to help small businesses across America thrive.
• Funding implementation of SECURE 2.0, a new law to help people track down retirement accounts from past employers they are missing.
• Delivering critical resources to independent agencies like the Federal Communications Commission to help connect Americans to high-speed internet and the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers from fraud.
• Helps ensure we have a capable and responsive federal government to address pressing challenges, support effective coordination across government, and ensure federal dollars go where they are meant to, including by:
• Providing additional funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy to coordinate the whole-of-government response to the opioid and substance use disorder crises.
• Funding the new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response to ensure we have a team in place, ready to go 24/7 in order to guide an all-of-government response to new and emerging public health threats.
• Extending funding for the Pandemic Recovery Accountability Committee to continue its critical work overseeing and detecting fraud reported across a host of relief programs.

“Our federal funding bills should provide investments in key priorities for our constituents and our country. While today’s bill does not go as far in funding some of these investments as I would hope, it is a solid, bipartisan product that ensures the many agencies the FSGG Subcommittee oversees are able to continue their vital work,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chair of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. “From strengthening our economy, to supporting our nation’s small businesses and community-based lenders, to building out our broadband infrastructure, to providing necessary funding to replace the crumbling FBI headquarters—I’m glad we could come together on a bipartisan basis to put forward these crucial investments.”

“We cannot have a strong economy unless our economy works for working families, and this bill keeps us moving in the right direction by supporting our small businesses, protecting American consumers, and working to protect people’s nest eggs. I’m glad we were able to sustain critical funding so that Treasury and so many essential independent agencies can continue carrying out their work to strengthen our economy and look out for the little guy,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Importantly, this bill also invests in a capable, responsive, and accountable federal government that delivers for the American people—with new resources to tackle the opioid epidemic, funding for a new ‘mission control’ office in the White House I established to coordinate our federal response to public health threats, and more.”

A full summary of the bill is available HERE.

Chair Van Hollen’s remarks on the bill are available HERE.

Final bill text, report, and adopted amendments will be available online later today HERE.

Original source can be found here.