Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., praised the Senate’s approval of funding for vaccines, rural education, quality health care, education initiatives, and medical research.

The Senate passed H.R. 3010, the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2006 by a vote of 94-3 yesterday.

“These funds will not only help Americans maintain their physical health, they are an investment in our country’s intellectual health and well-being,” said Enzi, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The bill provides about $65 billion in discretionary funds for the Department of Health and Human Services with a portion going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and Community Health Centers. Enzi is pleased the funds will be used to provide health care services to underserved and uninsured Americans, help medical research agencies find cures for diseases and to prevent and control infectious viruses. The bill also provides funding for the Department of Education federal Pell grant programs and rural education, as well as reading programs designed to help children read by the end of third grade. Funds for the Department of Labor are also included in the bill.

The bill is now ready to go to a Senate-House conference committee where the two chambers will work out the differences between the Senate and House bills. On June 24, the House passed its version of H.R. 3010 by a vote of 250-151.