Today, the Biden-Harris Administration applauded House passage of the bipartisan funding bill, which delivers for the American people through critical investments in a range of bipartisan priorities—from securing historic support for the Ukrainian people, to launching the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, to investing in education, to tackling crime. The legislation will reduce costs for American families and business, support our historic economic recovery, advance equity, and further restore U.S. leadership abroad. The bipartisan funding bill would also end a damaging series of short-term continuing resolutions that for months have undermined the government’s ability to meet pressing challenges.
We are making these historic and necessary investments in a fiscally responsible manner. The deficit dropped last year for the first time since 2015 and is currently on track to drop by more than $1 trillion compared to last year—the largest-ever one-year reduction.
The Senate should send the bipartisan funding bill to the President’s desk for signature without delay. Critical investments in the important legislation include:
- Delivering Historic Assistance to the Ukrainian People. As President Biden and bipartisan members of Congress have made clear, the United States is committed to supporting the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and democracy. The bipartisan funding bill includes $13.6 billion in humanitarian, security, and economic assistance for Ukraine and neighboring countries – augmenting the $1.4 billion in assistance the United States has provided to Ukraine since 2021. These resources will mean additional defense equipment for Ukraine, lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Ukrainian people, and additional support for U.S troop deployments to neighboring countries.
- Launching the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The bipartisan funding bill includes $1 billion to help launch the President’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health—a bold initiative to help speed transformational research to improve the health of all Americans, with an initial focus on cancer and other diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
- Tackling Gun Crime and Other Violent Crime. President Biden has been clear that we need to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities. The bipartisan funding bill bolsters Federal law enforcement capacity with an increase of $554 million over 2021 for Department of Justice law enforcement. This includes $1.5 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to expand its capacity to tackle gun crime. The funding bill also increases the budget for the COPS Office by $126 million for a total of $512 million, and provides $50 million for a new Community Violence Intervention program at DOJ.
- Making Education More Affordable. The bipartisan funding bill includes $17.5 billion for the Title I program – a $1 billion increase over 2021, the largest increase in over a decade — to ensure that schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families have the resources they need to deliver a high-quality education to all of their students. The bill also makes college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $400 above 2021 – the largest increase in the maximum award in over a decade – for millions of low- and middle-income students.
- Tackling Climate Change and Advancing Environmental Justice. The bipartisan funding bill will provide a record $3.2 billion, an increase of $338 million over 2021, for the Department of Energy to build clean energy projects and boost clean energy manufacturing. It also includes $100 million in resources dedicated to advancing environmental justice at the Environmental Protection Agency, and provides an increase of $776 million for the Department of Interior and increases funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prevent wildfires.
###
