Allred Votes to Secure Health Care Funding and Other Priorities that Help North Texas

June 19, 2019
Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), released the following statement after the House passed a funding package that includes four appropriations bills: Labor-HHS-Education; Energy and Water Development; State-Foreign Operations; and Defense. 

“This bill makes key investments in health care and education, as well as clean energy research that will help drive our economy forward,” said Allred. “I thank Chairwoman Lowey for her leadership on this spending package and her attention to funding critical health care research programs. By working together, Congress took a step forward on many priorities important to the American people and I urge my colleagues to keep working together so we can deliver results for the people who sent us here.”

Specifically, Allred urged House budget writers for robust funding for health research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bill contains a total of $41.1 billion for NIH, an increase of $2 billion above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $6.9 billion above the President’s request. This total includes; $2.4 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, $3.2 billion for HIV/AIDS research and $195 million for the Cancer Moonshot research initiative.

“Investments in NIH make it possible to conduct groundbreaking research, confront medical challenges, and improve health outcomes,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey said. “Thanks to the advocacy of Congressman Allred and his colleagues, we’ve increased funding for NIH by $2 billion in our fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills, ensuring the agency remains the global leader in biomedical research and continues to develop new treatments and cures. I look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Allred to support key priorities for his district and to make robust investments that will make American communities safer and stronger and give every person a better chance at a better life.” 

The bill includes:

  • Labor-HHS-Education:  Provides robust funding for life-saving NIH research; provides even more funding than requested for the new initiative to reduce HIV transmission by 90 percent in 10 years; for the first time in more than 20 years, provides funding for research on the gun violence epidemic and how to save lives; makes historic investments in early childhood initiatives; strengthens K-12 education; expands student aid; and invests in apprenticeships, workforce training and other pathways to good-paying jobs.
  • Energy and Water Development:  Makes bold, future-focused investments in the clean energy economy.  It secures robust funding for initiatives to modernize and secure America’s electricity grid and provides strong funding for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) programs.  It also invests in infrastructure to bolster the economy with significant funding for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. 
  • State-Foreign Operations: Invests in urgently-needed humanitarian assistance for refugees and displaced persons; supports anti-terrorism, nonproliferation, and peacekeeping initiatives; invests in global health and education initiatives; supports women’s reproductive rights and family planning programs; and strengthens our commitment to the Green Climate Fund and the Paris Agreement.
     
  • Defense:  Provides strong funding for active-duty and reserve military personnel, including a military pay raise of 3.1 percent, funding for sexual assault prevention and response efforts, and robust funding for defense health care programs for our troops, their families, and retirees.  It also includes such key provisions as:
    • Prohibits any funding in the bill to be used for the President’s border wall;
    • Repeals the 2001 AUMF 240 days after the bill’s enactment;
    • Ends U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen; and
    • States nothing in the bill may be construed to authorize the use of force against Iran.

For a comprehensive fact sheet of this spending package click here.

 

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Issues: 
Energy and Environment, National Security and Foreign Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure, Education, Health care