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Senator Coons statement on passage of omnibus spending bill

Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, released the following statement after the Senate voted 68-29 to pass the omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2023:

“President Biden and Congress have made historic progress for Americans this past year. We’ve made substantial investments in the fight against climate change, taken big steps to bring good-paying advanced manufacturing jobs back to America, and stood up for veterans’ health care, keeping our sacred promise to those who served our country. Now, with the passage of the bipartisan spending bill, we’re providing needed funding for those priorities.

“This bill also secures funding for projects across Delaware, with over $90 million in federal support that our Delaware congressional delegation specifically secured to support health care providers, expand affordable housing, protect our state’s waterways and lands, and boost Delaware’s workforce and businesses. Investment in the First State and the people who call it home will always be my most important priority, and this omnibus will improve the lives of Delawareans from Wilmington to Seaford and every point in between.

“This omnibus demonstrates our support for democracy and the rule of law across the world by providing $45 billion in assistance for Ukraine as it fights back against Russia’s brutal invasion, including $14.5 billion I secured as Chair of the SFOPS Subcommittee. It also protects the rule of law at home by including legislation that reforms the Electoral Count Act and safeguards our elections. I am pleased to have worked with a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues to include this bill as part of the larger omnibus. 

“I know this bill is far from perfect. It leaves out crucial legislation like the Afghan Adjustment Act, which I will keep fighting for in the weeks and months to come. However, the omnibus will lock in the gains we’ve made over the course of the past year. I’m proud to have supported it, and I urge my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass this legislation and send it to President Biden for his signature.”

Other important provisions in the FY 2023 omnibus that will directly support Delaware jobs and key community priorities include:

  • $51 million for Manufacturing USA, a 209% year-on-year increase, which includes $10 million for the Newark-based National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL).
  • $500 million for a new Regional Technology Hubs program that will provide grants for technology development, job creation, and innovation capacity across the country. The program is based on Senator Coons’ Innovation Centers Acceleration Act.
  • $200 million for a new Recompete Pilot Program that will target clusters of Economic Development Agency grants to highly distressed communities, based on Senator Coons’RECOMPETE Act.
  • $41 million for the Victims of Child Abuse Act, which is the only dedicated source of funding for Children’s Advocacy Centers nationwide.
  • $4.4 billion for state and local law enforcement agencies, including:
    • $231 for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants, non-obligated grants for agencies, an increase of 15% year-on-year.
    • $324 million for the COPS Hiring Program to help agencies train and hire officers, a 32% year-on-year increase.
    • $770 million for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which provide critical resources for law enforcement and crime prevention programs in Delaware. The funding is nearly a $100 million year-on-year increase. 
  • $5 million in new funding to implement Senator Coons’ Fostering Leadership and Inclusion by Growing HBCU Training (FLIGHT) Act, which provides new resources for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students at HBCUs, with a special emphasis on flight training.
  • $18 million for the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and Center for Clean Hydrogen at the University of Delaware, which will create clean manufacturing jobs in Delaware and enable new research to lower the cost of clean hydrogen production. 
  • Funding to support a new intelligent wireless technologies center between the University of Delaware and Delaware State University, building off the joint electrical and computer engineering program between the two universities.
  • $460 million for the Department of Energy’s Carbon Management Technologies Programs, which will aid in implementing Senator Coons’ SCALE Act that promotes carbon transport and storage. 
  • $3 million for the Truman Foundation, a 20% year-on-year increase.
  • $17 million for the Small Business Administration’s SCORE program, which provides mentoring and training for entrepreneurs in Delaware and across the country. In 2021, SCORE aided more than 3,000 new businesses nationwide.
  • $715,000 for the Delaware River Basin Commission, part of full funding for all Delaware Army Corps of Engineering projects.
  • $40 million for the National Estuary Program, which will benefit both the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and the Center for Inland Bays.
  • $1.3 billion for AmeriCorps, a 14% year-on-year increase. This is roughly three times as large as any increase the program has received since 2009. The funds will help avert program cuts and increase living allowances for AmeriCorps members around the country. Senator Coons is a Co-Chair of the National Service Congressional Caucus. 
  • $75 million in funds for an expanded access ALS grant program at the National Institutes of Health, up from $25 million last year. The money will fund Senator Coons’ ACT for ALS Act, which was enacted last year and will provide those living with ALS more opportunities to obtain treatment options for this deadly disease.
  • $21 million for the American History and Civics National Activities grant program for civics education, a year-on-year increase of 321%. The funds will be distributed in line with priorities laid out in Senator Coons’ Civics Secures Democracy Act.
  • $50 million in new funding for research infrastructure grants for HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions such as Delaware State University. This funding comes in addition to a 15% year-on-year increase for existing funding streams that will be at $1 billion for the coming fiscal year. Senator Coons is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus.
  • $16 million to fund construction projects at the Delaware Army National Guard Readiness Center.
  • $2.4 billion for Amtrak, including a 44% year-on-year increase in Northeast Corridor Grants, ensuring that one of the major transportation links between Wilmington and other mid-Atlantic cities can thrive. 
  • The sole appropriator in Delaware’s congressional delegation, Senator Coons worked with Senator Tom Carper and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (both D-Del.) to help secure funding for 50 congressionally directed spending projects in the First State, totaling $90,960,000. A full list of these projects will be forthcoming in a separate press release.

 

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