Washington , DC– Following House passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) announced today that California ’s 9th Congressional District received more than $38 million in funding in the appropriations package.    

Among the appropriations, the Port of Oakland would receive $27.5 million in funding for its ongoing 50-foot dredging project. The Port would also receive an additional $7.098 million for its maintenance dredging.   The Port’s dredging projects are the underpinning for the largest maritime expansion in the history of the Port of Oakland .  

The City of Oakland would receive $750,000 for the Integration Transportation Management Center (TMC) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The Integrated TMC/EOC will enable staff to monitor key City streets and key security locations and to adjust traffic signals to respond to incidents and traffic congestion. The City would also receive a $100,000 Community Oriented Police (COPS) grant from the Department of Justic.

The Alameda County Public Works Department would receive $1.2 million from the Department of Transportation for streetscape/sidewalk improvements in Cherryland and Castro Valley and another $121,250 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for additional sidewalk improvements in Cherryland and Ashland .

The Ed Roberts Campus (ERC), the planned one-stop service center for people with disabilities, would receive $1 million for construction. Located at Berkeley ’s Ashby BART station transportation hub, the ERC’s unique universal design provides the disability community with unprecedented access to organizations, services and opportunities.  

The Chabot Space and Science Center would receive $500,000 from NASA for its education programs.  

Education projects in the omnibus spending measure include $320,000 for the Oakland Unified School District for the purchase, implementation and maintenance of a district-wide student information system, and $320,000 for Mills College ’s Institute for Civic Leadership, and $100,000 for Holy Names University for construction of its science facility.

The bill also provides $250,000 for Project Avary, which provides support programs for children whose parents are imprisoned or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.

  “I am very pleased that we could obtain this money for such important projects. Unfortunately, I was unable to support the entire bill because of the last minute provisions slipped into the bill and the inadequate funding levels provided for critical programs such as No Child Left Behind, most programs in HUD, and environmental protection programs.”

The bill decimates the Department of Housing and Urban Development by slashing its programs by three to four percent below last years levels, except for Section 8, which faired slightly better. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) overall by $9.6 billion, provides only $999 million for after-school programs, $1 billion less than was promised by NCLB, and freezes maximum Pell Grant, despite the steep rise in college tuition. The bill also fails to provide needed increases in funding for HIV/AIDS programs, cuts funding for environmental protection programs by $292 million.  

 The bill also strips important amendments passed by the House of Representatives, including the Lee amendment, which would have eliminated Bush-instituted restrictions on travel to Cuba for educational purposes; the Obey amendment that would have prohibited enforcement of the Administration’s final overtime regulation that went into effect in August 2004 and will cut the pay and lengthen the hours for at least 6 million workers; and the amendment to stop the construction of new logging roads in the Tongass National Forest.

The must-pass measure also includes an anti-choice provision that would allow health insurance companies, hospitals, HMO, and other corporations to impose policies barring any physician or other health care provider from performing abortions or even from offering referrals.

Speaking on the House floor, Congresswoman Lee said, “Once again this is an effort to turn back the clock on women’s rights. This is a dangerous time for women around this country. The neo-conservative agenda is on the march. And we must fight back.”

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