WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins released this statement following passage of a bill that would fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014.
The final vote was 72-26.
"The two-year budget agreement negotiated by Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Paul Ryan provided the framework for the bill the Senate passed tonight, allowing the Appropriations Committees to begin our work of developing bills that will responsibly fund the government.
"Since passage of the budget agreement, members of the Appropriations Committee have worked tirelessly to craft a true compromise. While I would have preferred these bills to have been brought to the floor individually so that they could be amended, passage of this bill to responsibly fund the government is a noteworthy achievement.
"As the Ranking Member for the Transportation and Housing subcommittee, I worked with Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) to negotiate a bipartisan Transportation and Housing bill. While this bill makes prudent spending reductions-it is $3.2 billion below the original Senate bill and nearly $1 billion below the FY 2013 enacted level-it continues to invest in important transportation and housing programs, including:
"First, the TIGER program, which supports transportation infrastructure and economic development in our local communities, is funded at $600 million. Given the current state of our nation's highways and bridges with so many being structurally deficient, we included additional resources to help eliminate some of the backlog of vital construction projects. I am a strong supporter of the TIGER program and am pleased to have secured more than $65 million over the past several years for important projects in Maine including: improvements at the Ports of Eastport, Searsport, and Portland; Martin Memorial Bridge Replacement in Rumford; Richmond-Dresden Bridge Replacement; Memorial Bridge Replacement in Kittery; and the preservation of 230 miles of rail in Northern Maine.
"Second, while the overall funding level for the FAA is reduced by $167 million from the FY 2013 enacted level, we worked to provide sufficient funding to ensure air traffic controller and safety inspector staffing losses are made whole. The bill also fully funds the Contract Tower program to prevent Administration officials from arbitrarily closing towers as they attempted to do last year.
"The bill includes more than $3 billion for Community Development Block Grants that are often used for economic development projects. Further, the bill includes program reforms for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will streamline program requirements, increase oversight, and reduce costs to the taxpayer.
"I am proud that the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development bill strikes the right balance between fiscal responsibility and meeting our nation's housing and infrastructure needs.
"The other divisions of the bill are equally important-from national security, to energy, to health and human services.
"For our military and our nation's security, I particularly appreciate that this bill includes $100 million for the procurement of the fifth DDG-51 from Bath Iron Works, which Senator King and I advocated. This funding will allow the Navy to send a tenth DDG-51 to sea that is capable of performing many roles and missions in support of our national defense. Not only will it add stability to the workforce at Bath Iron Works in Maine, but it also will result in significant savings for the taxpayers. The multi-year, 10-ship procurement will save approximately $1.5 billion - that's the equivalent of an extra destroyer at no cost.
"I am also grateful to see the $11.5 million in military construction funding that will go toward the consolidation of structural shops and improve the efficiency of operations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. While the Department of Defense has delayed or cancelled $4.1 billion in military construction projects during the next five budget years, this project was accelerated to 2014 due to efforts by members of the Maine and New Hampshire delegations to increase investments to address long overdue modernization needs at PNSY.
"For our veterans, I am pleased that this bill restores the full cost-of-living increase for disabled military retirees and for survivor benefits, rectifying provisions in the recently-passed budget agreement that unfairly singled out current retirees. Unfortunately, this will not protect all military retirees from a decreased cost-of-living adjustment on their pensions. We must continue to work on behalf of our retired service members and their families to ensure that they receive the full benefits they have been promised and have earned by their service to this country. Congress should act quickly to pass legislation I have cosponsored that completely restores the COLA for all military retirees.
"This bill also provides several million dollars in additional funding for medical research, including for Alzheimer's Disease research, treatment, and caregiver programs. This is an important initial step toward the goal of doubling funding for Alzheimer's research and eventually reaching the level of $2 billion over five years, as recommended by the Alzheimer's Advisory Council. We must continue our efforts in 2015 to increase Alzheimer's research given the tremendous human and economic price of this devastating disease. We are spending $142 billion annually in Medicare and Medicaid costs on caring for people with Alzheimer's.
"This funding bill addresses the needs of our nation's farmers and growers, providing critical support for research, and making important nutrition and food security investments during difficult economic times. In particular, I am pleased that the agreement expects USDA to amend its arbitrary decision to exclude the fresh white potato, the only fresh vegetable or fruit to be excluded, from the Women, Infants and Children, or WIC program. Fresh white potatoes are a healthy, affordable, and delicious food choice, and it only makes common sense to include this nutritious vegetable in the WIC package.
"This bill also makes important commitments to our energy infrastructure and provides robust funding for the Department of Energy wind program. This program funds the offshore wind demonstration projects which have the potential to create thousands of new jobs. Federal seed money is helping overcome barriers to the development and implementation of new and innovative technologies, such as deepwater offshore wind, which can position the U.S. as a global leader in this promising clean energy field.
"To help address the high cost of residential energy, particularly for those living in northern, rural states like Maine, funding is provided in this bill for the weatherization program. This program plays an important role in permanently reducing home energy costs for low-income families and seniors and training a skilled workforce.
"Moreover, for our most vulnerable families and seniors, the increased funding for LIHEAP will help ensure that recipients do not have to choose between paying their energy bills and paying for other necessities such as food or medicine. LIHEAP continues to be an indispensable lifeline for many Americans during these challenging economic times and exceptionally cold winter.
"Helping to meet the water infrastructure needs of smaller states and regions is another vital piece of our national infrastructure. I'm pleased that this bill includes funding for the operation and maintenance of Army Corps projects at "small, remote, or subsistence harbors." Ports and harbors are the economic lifeblood for many rural communities, a fact not fully accounted for under the Corps' budget metrics, which tend to favor larger ports.
"The bill also continues to support our nation's fisheries, which are so important to the economies of our coastal communities, particularly in Maine. In September 2012, the Commerce Department declared a disaster in the Northeast groundfish industry. A vital $75 million is included in this bill to help fishermen in Maine and in other areas of the country who have had their livelihoods affected by fisheries disasters in recent years. This funding could be used to provide both immediate economic relief to Maine and the region's struggling groundfish industry, and to make targeted investments that will allow the fleet to survive and become more sustainable in the years ahead.
"The American people are weary of watching a Congress that can't work. We saw the result of this dysfunction when the government shutdown in October. We simply must avoid another shutdown and put our nation back on sound financial footing. That is why I urged my colleagues to support the compromises the Appropriations Committees worked so hard to achieve in this bill."