The Senate passed a six-measure spending bundle for President Joe Biden’s signature Friday night, clearing half of the dozen annual funding measures after months of partisan grappling. The final vote was 75 to 22. On Saturday, Biden signed the $460 billion package. Both Oklahoma Senators voted aye.
Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement Friday night after he supported H.R. 4366, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 which includes funding for the following six-bills: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; Transportation, House and Urban Development, and Related Agencies:
“Six months ago Congress ignored its responsibility to pass the twelve appropriations bills on time, finally six of the twelve have passed. Since September 30, 2023, our nation has operated under ‘Continuing Resolutions’ that prevent ending wasteful spending from the previous year. This bill holds domestic spending flat and starts the long long process of getting our fiscal house in order. There are many areas of this bill where I disagree, but there are also multiple areas of agreement. In the end, holding spending below the rate of inflation, stopping out of date programs and avoiding the chaos of yet another government shutdown is better for the nation.
“Our nation also has a debt and deficit issue that we need to control. We need to have transparency in our budget process for Members of Congress to stop waste, duplication, and fraud within federal spending. I will continue to push my bill to prevent government shutdowns to end this cycle of chaos.”
Notable Wins for Oklahoma:
For Interior, Energy and Agriculture
- Cuts funding for Biden’s Environmental Justice budget;
- Adds the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to combat purchases of Oklahoma ag land from foreign adversaries;
- Prohibits selling crude oil and our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China;
- Provides relief from overly restrictive nutrition standards to schools feeding our children;
- Provides funding for domestic critical mineral production, and;
- Reemphasizes the importance of local, voluntary conservation efforts for species like the Lesser Prairie-Chicken and Northern Long-Eared Bat.
For Military Construction and Veterans
- Provides critical funding for military construction projects across Oklahoma to advance our nation’s defense, improve readiness, and increase quality of life for the warfighter;
- Ensures unclaimed Veterans’ burials are honored without unnecessary and burdensome fees;
- Improves care for our nation’s heroes by directing the VA to study the prevalence of stomach cancer in Veterans, and;
- Ensures Veterans are receiving the highest quality of care by identifying gaps in benefits and services delivered.
For Commerce and Justice
- Protects life in the womb by prohibiting federal taxpayers from funding abortion;
- Protects faith-based programming;
- Requires reporting on targeted attacks on crisis pregnancy centers;
- Continues Lankford’s work to stop the use of contraband cellphones in prisons, and;
- Includes funding to expand training capacity at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.
