Moran Praises Omnibus Package, Touts Provisions

Statement

Washington D.C. -- Representative Jim Moran, Northern Virginia Democrat, Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee and senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement on the $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations package passed by Congress.

"This omnibus package represents a strong bipartisan agreement that moves this country and this institution away from budgetary brinksmanship and back closer to regular order. We've alleviated the worst effects of the sequester, secured more funds for life saving medical research at NIH, averted another harmful government shutdown, and protected the EPA," said Rep. Moran.

"Federal employees won't have to work in a climate of uncertain furloughs and pay freezes for at least the next few years. This agreement secures their first pay raise in three years and provides them well deserved financial security," Moran said.

"Since 2010 House Republicans have carefully picked away at environmental protection regulations and the funding the EPA needs to enforce them. The omnibus passed this week rolls back the most detrimental of those efforts and grants the EPA the funding necessary to do its job of protecting public health and the environment, including important research on endocrine disrupting chemicals," Moran added.

Funding Rep. Moran supported for the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Office to organize the federal and state restoration activities authorized in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement was also included.

"The $70 million provided for the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay, including a $10 million grant for watershed restoration and sediment removal is critical to the Bay's resurgence."

Additional funds Rep. Moran requested totaling $25 million was included for the recruitment and retention of women in the Afghan National Security Forces.

"Women make up nearly half the Afghan population, but less than 1 percent of their national security forces. This gender-based security gap is unacceptable. Female crime victims are often prevented from even reporting their attacks, and male troops can't conduct security searches of women, nor even security checks at homes with a woman present," Moran said. "These funds will change lives by providing Afghan women the conditions, training and equipment they need in the Afghan National Security Force."

Language Rep. Moran drafted preventing the re-establishment of horse slaughter plants in the U.S. was included in the spending the spending package.

Moran continued, "I am incredibly proud that a provision banning USDA inspections at horse slaughter plants, effectively prohibiting their operation in the U.S, was included. I have fought hard for the past three years to reinstate this ban and prevent slaughter facilities from operating in the U.S. These incredible companion animals deserve far more compassionate treatment than to be callously slaughtered for human consumption. This achievement could not have been possible without the dedicated support of numerous federal, state and local officials, animal protection organizations, and dedicated citizens across the country."

The National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program, which provides operational grants to major non-profit arts groups in DC, also secured $2 million in funds Rep. Moran requested through the omnibus.

Source