Rep. Carson Votes for Omnibus Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. André Carson voted with many of his colleagues in the U.S House of Representatives to adopt, by a vote of 316 to 113, the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill. This measure funds the government for the remainder of FY 2016.

"Today I voted to avert a disastrous government shutdown and to make vital investments in the future of America's working families," Carson said. "While the bill is not perfect, it is a bipartisan compromise that moves our country towards a more prosperous future."

The bill's investments in priorities include the following:

• Overall Education: The bill restores the $2.5 billion cut in education that the GOP had proposed and also makes critical additional investments of $1.4 billion above 2015, in such areas as Title I that serves 24 million at-risk students.
• Early Learning: Investing in Head Start produces results – and this bill invests nearly $400 million more than the House GOP bill and nearly $600 million more than 2015 in this vital initiative. The bill also provides $250 million for Preschool Development Grants, assisting 18 states across the country.
• Medical Research: Medical research at NIH has been underfunded for the last several years. This bill provides $900 million more than the House GOP bill and $2 billion more than 2015 for this life-saving research.
• Infrastructure: The popular TIGER grants are being used across the country to repair infrastructure and contribute to economic growth, this bill restores the funding to the 2015 level of $500 million.
• Law Enforcement: The bill provides $187 million for COPS hiring grants, $7 million above the 2015 level and $187 million above the House GOP bill, which had eliminated the hiring grants. The bill also provides $80 million for the Community Policing Initiative, including $22.5 million for body-worn cameras and $15 million for Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grants, an increase over the House bill.
• Renewable Energy: Provides a major boost to renewable energy by extending the wind Production Tax Credit for five years (through 2019), and extending the solar Investment Tax Credit for five years (through 2021), while phasing both credits down somewhat over time. Extending the solar tax credit is estimated to create 61,000 jobs in 2017 alone. It is also estimated that the wind industry will grow to over 100,000 jobs over four years with the renewed wind tax credit.
• Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy R&D: Provides an 8 percent increase over 2015 for R&D activities in the pursuit of new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.

The measure also does not include numerous ideological riders that would have had damaging impacts on America's women, consumers, workers, and children such as:

• Limiting women's access to the full range of comprehensive health care services, by defunding Planned Parenthood.
• Gutting the Dodd-Frank provisions that hold big Wall Street banks accountable.
• Undermining the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, jeopardizing the health of our children and working families.
• Preventing additional action on climate change to reduce damaging carbon emissions.
• Blocking protections that allow workers to form unions and help them save for retirement.