McCollum Statement on FY2017 Omnibus Bill

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.), Ranking Member of the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement on the fiscal year 2017 omnibus bill:

"Last night, Congress reached a $1.07 trillion bipartisan agreement to fund our federal government through September 30, 2017. While Republican political game playing delayed this bill for seven months, it is nevertheless a win for Minnesotans and Americans. Because Democrats stood strong, the omnibus bill does not include President Donald Trump's dangerous spending cuts and immoral, wasteful border wall. That is a victory for the values we all share.

"As the lead Democrat on the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, I am particularly pleased that we secured adequate funding for the Environmental Protection Agency while stripping from the bill many Republican provisions that aimed to erode environmental safeguards. I am also proud that we funded the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, organizations that President Trump wants to eliminate.

"In the next few months, Congress will assemble a budget for the next fiscal year that begins on October 1. I will fight for a budget that looks like this bipartisan compromise, instead of President Trump's dystopian vision of an America weaker at home and isolated in the world."