Chair Roybal-Allard Statement on President Biden's FY2022 Discretionary Funding Request

Press Release

Today, after President Joe Biden unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding budget, U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, issued the following statement:

"The budget request for the Department of Homeland Security makes clear that investments by the Biden Administration will be better targeted toward actual threats to the American people and consistent with the nation's humanitarian values and legal obligations to migrants. At the same time, it is not clear that the proposal provides enough resources for the Department as a whole, including much-needed support for recapitalizing Coast Guard assets or providing enough of an increase for cybersecurity to address the current risk environment. I look forward to seeing the details of the full budget request in the coming weeks."

Among other priorities, President Biden's budget blueprint invests in:

Ensuring healthier communities by addressing health issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic with $1.6 billion for mental health -- double last year's funding -- and $200 million for maternal health.
Improving education by providing historic education funding, including a $20 billion increase for high-poverty schools.
Helping more families afford quality child care with a $1.5 billion increase in funding.
Boosting public health and medical research by strengthening the nation's public health infrastructure with a record $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $6.5 billion for ARPA-H -- a new lifesaving medical research initiative -- and $10.7 billion for opioid prevention and treatment.
Helping to solve the nation's housing crisis by expanding vital Housing Choice Vouchers to 200,000 more families and expanding Homeless Assistance Grants to support more than 100,000 additional households.
Addressing the root causes of migration from Central America by providing $861 million as a first step towards a four-year commitment to invest in Central America as part of a comprehensive strategy to address root causes of migration.
Fostering safer communities by providing $209 million civil rights enforcement, $1 billion for gender-based violence prevention, and $2.1 billion for gun violence prevention.
Protecting workers' wages, benefits, and rights with an increase of $304 million, 17 percent more than last year, for worker protection agencies.
Reducing backlogs in asylum cases by investing $345 million for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to adjudicate naturalization and asylum cases of those who have been waiting for years.
Taking action against climate change with a whole-of-government approach that will help protect our environment for future generations, with a $14 billion increase in funding over last year.
Strengthening the nutrition assistance safety net to combat rising rates of hunger and nutrition insecurity and expanding local food systems with nearly $4 billion in new investments.
Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure with increased funding for roads, bridges, transit systems, and water systems.

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