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WASHINGTON - Today, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released the second package of final Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 will be considered in the House in the coming days. House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger released the following statement on the package:
Good morning. I want to thank you all for being here today to discuss the Department of Agriculture’s fiscal year 2025 budget request. Secretary Vilsack, I want to welcome you, and I look forward to hearing more about your priorities for the coming year, as well as having a discussion on other important issues under the jurisdiction of this Subcommittee.
USDA’s fiscal year 2025 budget request totals $25.1 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion, or almost 10%, over last year’s levels. As we review the request, we need to have an honest discussion about USDA’s priorities and where our constituents’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars make the greatest impact.
USDA’s most significant increase is for the WIC nutrition program. The budget requests a total of $7.73 billion for the program, which is an additional $700 million above the recently enacted FY 2024 level.
Mr. speaker, I rise today in support of this appropriations package.
I want to start by thanking all of the members and staff who were involved in this process.
Two weeks ago, I talked about the changes house republicans made in how we fund the government.
We made targeted cuts to wasteful programs.
This package is proof of that.
I also mentioned that we increased defense funding – the world around us is becoming more dangerous.
I am proud to say that this bill strengthens our national security and funds critical defense efforts.
These efforts include:
• Countering china,
• Developing next-generation weapons,
• And investing in the quality-of-life of our service members.
Overall, the defense bill is increased by $27 billion above last year.
This package also includes other key priorities:
Good Morning, Mr. Secretary. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for our first budget hearing of the year. We are looking forward to hearing your testimony.
I know the discussion this morning will focus on the facts and figures related to funding for public health, biomedical research, and services for children and families. Those are all important issues, but I want to also raise another important, but difficult topic today. That is the issue of human trafficking.
Tragically, human trafficking is not limited to a few isolated places in border towns or big cities. In my home region of North Alabama, parts of my district have seen nearly a 200 percent increase in the number of unaccompanied migrant children placed with sponsors over the past few years.
