SUMMARY: FISCAL YEAR 2017 CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS BILL

WASHINGTON (MONDAY, May 1, 2017) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Monday released a summary of the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill that totals $1.070 trillion in discretionary spending in compliance with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The bill funds the government through September 2017.

In addition, it includes $8.2 billion of disaster relief and emergency funding related to natural disasters; $77.0 billion for Defense Overseas Contingency Operations, including a $15 billion supplemental, half of what President Trump requested; $16.5 billion for foreign assistance Overseas Contingency Operations, and $1.96 billion for program integrity.

Leahy said: "I am glad that we were able to reach a bipartisan agreement to keep the government of the American people open for business and avoid the devastating consequences of a government shutdown. I am especially glad this agreement does not include a single penny for the construction of a misguided wall along our southern border. A wall the President promised Mexico would pay for, and a wall that would be nothing more than a bumper sticker monstrosity.

"This bipartisan agreement eliminates more than 160 poison pill riders that would have been devastating to the environment, put restrictions on consumer financial protections and attacked the Affordable Care Act. Such riders have no place in a must pass spending bill.

"This is a good agreement for the American people, and I want to thank Chairman Cochran for his leadership."

The bipartisan negotiations produced many positive outcomes for the American people, including increased funding for the National Institutes of Health, secured full year Pell grants and made investments in infrastructure and combatting the opioid crisis. The agreement also contains $990 million for emergency famine relief, including $300 million for Food For Peace for famine relief in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria. The agreement rejects the President's proposal to cut non-defense programs by $15 billion and provides $1.5 billion for border security, half of the President's request.

A summary of the consolidated appropriations bill is available HERE: http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/download/summaries_fy17-omni

Read this original document at: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/minority/summary-fiscal-year-2017-consolidated-appropriations-bill