Majority News Releases
SUMMARY: FY2019 MilCon-VA Appropriations Bill Approved by Senate Committee
Washington, D.C. -The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year 2019 funding legislation that provides $207.1 billion in total funding, including $98 billion in discretionary funding, $5.3 billion more than fiscal year 2018 enacted and $956.7 million more than the President's budget request level. In addition to the fiscal year 2019 funding, the bill provides $75.6 billion in fiscal year 2020 advance funding for veterans health care, equal to the President's budget request, and… Continue Reading
06.07.18
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On the FY 2019 THUD Appropriations Bill and MilCon VA Appropriations Bill
The Committee has two bills before it today-the FY 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Bill, and the FY 2019 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Bill. Both are the product of hard work and bipartisan cooperation by each of the subcommittees, and I urge members to support them. First, I want to thank Chairman Collins and Ranking Member Reed for producing a good, bipartisan bill free of poison pill riders. The Transportation, Ho… Continue Reading
06.06.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) REAX To Trump Administration Opposing New Funding For The VA MISSION Act
We do our veterans no favors by promising care without backing it up with resources, and the administration saying that providing new funding to care for our veterans is "anathema to responsible spending" is shameful. Signing a bill then opposing the resources to fund it is no different than writing a rubber check. If the bill the President is signing is important to veterans - I believe that it is, and even the President will say that it is - then it needs to be funded to make it real. To tr… Continue Reading
06.05.18
SUMMARY: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY2019 Transportation, HUD Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2018) - The fiscal year 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Senate Appropriations bill provides a total of $71.417 billion in discretionary budget authority - $1.117 billion more than fiscal year 2018 and $23.421 billion more than the budget request. Additional resources are provided to prevent and end homelessness among veterans, youth, and victims of domestic violence, as well as to maintain existing rental housing assist… Continue Reading
06.05.18
SUMMARY -- FY2019 MilCon-VA Appropriations Bill Approved by Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
Washington, D.C. -The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs approved fiscal year 2019 funding legislation that provides $207.1 billion in total funding, including $98 billion in discretionary funding, $5.3 billion more than fiscal year 2018 enacted and $956.7 million more than the President's budget request level. In addition to the fiscal year 2019 funding, the bill provides $75.6 billion in fiscal year 2020 advance funding for veterans health c… Continue Reading
05.25.18
Summary Of The Energy And Water Development Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that totals $43.8 billion in discretionary budget authority, which is $566 million more than the fiscal year 2018 level and $7.2 billion above the President's requested level. Non-defense activities see an increase of $474 million, emphasizing the importance of funding the nation's infrastructure, scientific research, and technology development priorities. Defense activiti… Continue Reading
05.24.18
SUMMARY: Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies FY19 Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. - The fiscal year 2019 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill provides a total discretionary funding level of $23.235 billion, which is $225 million more than the fiscal year 2018 level and $6.13 billion more than the President's request. The bill does not contain poison pill riders. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Su… Continue Reading
05.24.18
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), On 302(b) Allocations, the FY2019 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill, And The FY 2019 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
I want to welcome Senator Shelby as the new Chairman of this Committee. Chairman Shelby and I have served side-by-side in the Senate since 1987, and we have worked together on the Appropriations Committee for more than two decades. We share a commitment to returning to regular order and working in a bipartisan way to achieve that goal. The allocation Chairman Shelby has offered gets us started on the right path. I thank the Chairman for working in a bipartisan manner to reach this agreemen… Continue Reading
05.22.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats Call On President Trump To Not Claw Back Vital Funds To Combat Ebola And Other Infectious Diseases
WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, May 22, 2018) -- In a letter led by Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), committee Democrats are urging President Trump to not claw back vital funding intended to combat the Ebola virus and other deadly infectious diseases around the world. Millions of Americans are traveling, studying, and working overseas. And outbreaks of dangerous diseases are only one airplane flight away from reaching the United States and other nations. In ear… Continue Reading
05.22.18
SUMMARY: Senate Subcommittee Approves FY2019 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development approved fiscal year 2019 funding legislation that totals $43.8 billion in discretionary budget authority, which is $566 million more than the fiscal year 2018 level and $7.2 billion above the President's requested level. Non-defense activities see an increase of $474 million, emphasizing the importance of funding the nation's infrastructure, scientific research, and technology development priorities… Continue Reading
05.22.18
SUMMARY: Senate Subcommittee Approves FY2019 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. - The fiscal year 2019 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill provides a total discretionary funding level of $23.235 billion, which is $225 million more than the fiscal year 2018 level and $6.13 billion more than the President's request. The bill does not contain poison pill riders. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Su… Continue Reading
05.16.18
Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Leahy Statement On FY 19 Funding Request Hearing With EPA Administrator Pruitt
Thank you Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Udall. This is an important hearing to review the budget request for the Environmental Protection Agency. With this reckless and unrealistic budget, the Trump administration continues to show its clear contempt for bedrock environmental safeguards and for the work of the EPA to monitor, protect, and conserve our environment and the health of all Americans. Attacks on the core mission and role of the EPA are attacks on human health. The work of … Continue Reading
05.15.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Floor Statement On President Trump’s Rescission Proposal
Mr. President, three months ago, Republicans and Democrats came together and reached a bipartisan budget agreement. We reached an agreement to lift the budget caps, provide relief from sequestration and make responsible, new investments in the American people over the next two years. The President signed this agreement into law. Now the President proposed and House Republicans have drawn up a proposal to claw back vital funding for children's health care, rural communities, infrastructure pr… Continue Reading
05.10.18
Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy Statement On The FY 19 Funding Request For The U.S. Department Of The Interior
Thank you, Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Udall. Secretary Zinke, we expressed our concerns to you last year when the President proposed to eliminate or reduce critical programs in the FY18 budget. You reportedly said to your own staff that you were "not happy" about the budget proposed by the White House, which proposed a 12 percent overall cut to the Interior Department. Now, you are in charge and have requested a 19 percent reduction compared to the FY18 enacted level, taking an axe… Continue Reading
05.08.18
Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy’s Statement On President Trump’s Rescissions Package
Earlier this year, Congress worked together to pass a bipartisan budget agreement to provide relief to the American people from sequestration and help us responsibly fund the federal government. We are now focused on moving forward on a bipartisan track to complete the fiscal year 2019 Appropriations bills based on that agreement. President Trump's effort to reduce spending on the backs of children, families, and the most vulnerable among us doesn't help us achieve these goals, especially in t… Continue Reading
05.08.18
Opening Statement of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing to “Review the Fiscal Year 2019 Funding Request and Budget Justification for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security”
Secretary Nielsen - you are here to defend the Department of Homeland Security's budget request. This budget request is a reflection of the Trump administration's priorities for your agency. And it is those priorities that I want to discuss with you today, and whether they are supported by the facts. Within days of taking office, the President attempted to make good on his Muslim ban pledge by ordering a travel ban on citizens of certain Muslim majority countries. He did this despite a consen… Continue Reading
04.10.18
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.): Statement On New Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
I want to commend Senator Shelby as the new Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Shelby and I have served side-by-side in the Senate since 1987. Marcelle and I count Dick and Annette as dear friends. I have enjoyed working with Senator Shelby on the Appropriations Committee for more than two decades. As a senator, he hews to the tested values that keep this chamber running, and he has always remained true to his word. These are qualities he shares with Senator Cochran, … Continue Reading
03.23.18
Comment Of Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The President’s Veto Threat For the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Which Cleared Congress Early This Morning
"Now the President threatens to abandon $700 billion for the troops, and health care for 7 million veterans, for his misbegotten border wall that he said Mexico would pay for. That is NOT Making America Great Again. "I have this message for President Trump: Mr. President, you terminated protections for DACA recipients, you cynically held them hostage for your costly boondoggle of a wall, and you have undercut every bipartisan attempt to fix the mess you created. You can fix this. Or at th… Continue Reading
03.23.18
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Passage Of The Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
[WASHINGTON (Friday, March 23, 2018) - Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) early Friday morning released the following statement on passage of the fiscal year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 65 to 32. Leahy earlier released a summary of the bill and paid tribute to Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) who is retiring in April. Leahy's full statement on the bill from the Senate Floor Thursday afternoon can be found here.] By lifting the spending caps set in pl… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Statement On The Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act
After months of intense negotiations, tough choices, and good-faith compromises, we have reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government for this fiscal year, make renewed investments in the American people, and protect our national security. The Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill provides $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending, including $700 billion for defense programs to support our men and women in uniform, and $600 billion for non-defense programs that will help us inves… Continue Reading