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Washington, D.C., January 31st - Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, issued the following statement regarding the year-long continuing resolution (H.J. Res. 20) that will fund the operations of the federal government for FY 2007. The legislation is necessary because the 109th Congress chose not to finish all 12 appropriations bills before the end of session.
"Republicans ended last year on a low note, failing to enact must-pass legislation to keep the federal government running through 2008," said Moran. "The new Democratic majority has been forced to clean up this Republican mess by passing a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government at last year's levels while providing a boost in veterans' health care, education and housing."
H.J. Res. 20 funds the government at the FY 2006 level (adjusted for increased pay costs) and is free of earmarks. It provides additional funding for critical needs, including meeting new needs in Veterans Healthcare and Defense Health Programs; making significant investments in public housing; increasing funding for scientific and medical research; and increasing the Labor, Health and Education bill to keep up with inflation. The measure does not spend any more than Republicans proposed in last year's appropriations bills.
In order to pay for the funding increases in veterans' health care, education and housing, House Democrats shifted more than $3 billion in funding from authorized Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) funds. Part of these funds would have gone towards Army efforts to move workers out of leased office space in Northern Virginia.
Moran went on to say, "If the military wants their BRAC plans to move as scheduled they must put in place adequate transportation infrastructure plans at Ft. Belvoir. We will continue to look for ways to hold the Army's feet to the fire on this issue as the 2011 implementation date approaches."
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations called for the vacating of four million square feet of office space in Northern Virginia, (approximately 3.8 million of which resides in Arlington) currently occupied by roughly 21,000 defense employees. The BRAC plan is for the affected defense agencies to backfill current military bases throughout the country. Fort Belvoir is set to gain 22,000 new personnel through BRAC. Under current law, the BRAC moves must be completed by September 15, 2011.
Below is a list of additional funding included in the CR for bipartisan, high priority needs:
- Veterans' health care would receive $3.6 billion above the fiscal 2006 level -- to provide service for an anticipated increase of at least 325,000 patients and to meet rising health care costs
- Funds to double the number of intelligence analysts at the FBI since 9/11. It would also invest in state and local law enforcement programs, including the COPS program.
- Increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $260, to $4,310 for the first increase in four years to help more than 5.3 million college students.
- The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and global HIV/AIDS funding.
- Deliver new funding for 6,700 schools that failed to meet the standards set by No Child Left Behind and increase funding for Head Start.
- Finance the construction of 300 new or expanded health centers that will serve 1.2 million new patients.
- Provide housing assistance for 227,000 individuals and families through a $1.4 billion increase for Section 8 housing programs.
- The federal highway program would get a $3.5 billion increase from fiscal 2006 - an increase that was specified under the 2005 highway law (PL 109-59).
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