Newhouse Votes to Approve Bipartisan Funding Bills, Avoid Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) voted to approve spending legislation for Fiscal Year 2020. H.R. 1158 and H.R. 1865 contain the language of all 12 Appropriations bills and provide funding to avoid a government shutdown ahead of the deadline on December 20, 2019. The final bills were negotiated by leadership in both the Democrat-led House and the Republican-led Senate. Rep. Newhouse released the following statement:

"Today, I voted to provide certainty to the men and women of our military, numerous agencies, and national security efforts that rely on federal funding," said Rep. Newhouse. "I worked with my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee to ensure our region's priorities were realized in this legislation, and I am glad to see conservative wins included to maintain pro-life protections, rebuild our military, and secure our nation's border – a priority of President Trump's and the majority of Americans."

Rep. Newhouse continued, "While I am proud to support these priorities for Central Washington, I continue to be disappointed with the ever-increasing spending practices in our nation's capital and frustrated by the last-minute negotiating of this critical legislation. The passage of the FY20 spending bills is important to avoid a government shutdown or another Continuing Resolution, which would be detrimental to our military and national security, as well as the cleanup efforts at the Hanford Site."

Legislation highlights and priorities for Central Washington are listed below:

Funding to rebuild our military and support national security:

• Provides a 3.1% pay raise for American troops and their families

• Provides $1.375 billion in new funding for the border wall and removes restrictions on the President's ability to use funds for immigration and border enforcement activities

Funding for Hanford cleanup:

• Provides $912 million for the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office
• Provides $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy Office of River Protection

Supports scientific research initiatives at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory:

• Provides $750 million for the Department of Energy Office of Science Biological Environmental Research program
• Provides $156 million for the Department of Energy Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response program

Funding for agricultural research:

• Language included in support of continued hops research at the Agricultural Research Service
• Language and a $2 million increase included related to the Wildlife Smoke Taint Research on Wine Grapes at the Agricultural Research Service
• Provides $186.5 million for Specialty Crop Pests within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
• Continues to provide $80 million in mandatory funds for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Continues to provide $85 million in mandatory funds for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program within the Agricultural Marketing Service

Supports wildfire prevention:

• Provides $445 million for the U.S. Forest Service National Forest System for Hazardous Fuels
• Includes language to preserve the North Cascades Smokejumper Base in Winthrop, Washington

Increases efficiency of the H-2A program:

• Provides $6.5 million for the Department of Labor Foreign Labor Certification program and includes report language to streamline and modernize the H-2A program

Funding for rural communities affected by federal land:

• Provides full funding for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for FY20
• Provides a two-year reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools

Supports international trade opportunities for U.S. businesses:

• Provides a seven-year reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank