Slaughter on President Obama’s Budget Proposal
WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter released the following statement on the release of President Barack Obama’s final budget. Included in the proposal are several of Congresswoman Slaughter’s local and national priorities, including funding for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). The budget makes unprecedented investments in research and development that will benefit the Rochester region while including $2.9 trillion of deficit reduction over ten years.
“This budget is a bold investment in our nation’s future. Strong investments in research and job creation will help all of our nation’s communities, but particularly Rochester. What’s more, I’m proud to have made Rochester-area projects a priority for the president’s budget, including the laser lab and NTID,” said Congresswoman Slaughter. “One area of disagreement is the president’s funding for antibiotic resistance. While this budget makes efforts to fund data collection, we need a robust investment that recognizes the staggering need to combat this growing public health crisis. We have already reached the post-antibiotic era, and we need an all-in approach. Additionally, the president has again requested a lower level for funding of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and I’ll fight to make certain the program receives full funding, just as I did last year. Ensuring the health of the Great Lakes is essential to our national wellbeing.”
Further investments include: lead poisoning prevention; research funding; cancer research funding; and early childhood education funding, all priorities which Congresswoman Slaughter has long championed.
The President’s Budget makes the following investments:
National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID): The budget provides $70,016,000 for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, reflecting the same level of funding from fiscal year 2016.
Laser Lab (LLE): The National Nuclear Security Administration, which funds the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, was funded at $412,817,000, an increase over 2016’s $383,666,000 level.
Antibiotic Resistance: The budget includes $1.1 billion across the federal government to prevent, detect, and control illness and death related to infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and to support research on innovative ways to reduce or manage resistance.
Great Lakes: The budget includes $250 million for funding of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the same request as the 2016 fiscal year. In response to this request, Congresswoman Slaughter fought for an increase to $300 million, which she intends to call for in 2017 appropriations.
Lead Poisoning Prevention: The budget contains $110 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Developments’ Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Control with $25 million for the Healthy Homes Program. The Center for Disease Control was provided with $167,825,000 for environmental health initiatives, programs which Congresswoman Slaughter has long supported.
Early Childhood Education: The budget includes $9.6 billion for Head Start, an increase of $434 million over 2016 enacted levels. Within this total, the budget provides an additional $292 million in Fiscal Year 2017 to increase the number of children attending Head Start in a full school-day and -year program, which research shows is more effective than programs of shorter duration and also helps meet the needs of working parents.
Research Funding: The budget provides $14.6 billion, an increase of over $900 million over the 2016 enacted level, for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which invest in basic research – the type of R&D that is most likely to have spillover impacts to multiple endeavors and in which the private sector typically underinvests.
Cancer Research Funding: During his 2016 State of the Union Address, President Obama called on Vice President Biden to lead a new, national “Moonshot” initiative to eliminate cancer as we know it. The budget supports this effort with a $1 billion initiative to provide the funding necessary for researchers to accelerate the development of new cancer detection and treatments. This includes $195 million in new cancer activities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Fiscal Year 2016, $755 million in mandatory funds in the 2017 budget for new cancer-related research activities at both NIH and the Food and Drug Administration, and support from other agencies such as the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Congresswoman Slaughter has long supported smart investments in Rochester’s economy, protecting our environment and keeping early childhood education funding at appropriate levels. She led the successful effort to bring the $600 million photonics manufacturing institute to Rochester, which is expected to create thousands of jobs. Her longstanding support for the LLE has led to the infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars into the region.