LaMalfa supports bill to avert shutdown, send aid to disaster victims
Congressman Doug LaMalfa issued the following statement after voting to temporarily extend government funding through December 3, 2021, thereby preventing the government from shutting down at midnight tonight. Additionally, this measure contained $28.6 billion in emergency assistance for victims of 2020 and 2021 disasters.
“Extending the President Trump-negotiated budget that is currently in place is the best possible scenario in this hyper-spending atmosphere we have in D.C.,” said LaMalfa. “Extending the current budget means we keep protections for the unborn and the Second Amendment, and funding the construction of the border wall. If anything, the last few months has proven we need more border security desperately. I am also happy to see that needed disaster relief was included and that this bill was decoupled from a currently unsupportable debt ceiling increase. Our nation has seen significant disasters over the past year from fires and hurricanes to major droughts. The included disaster relief funds combined with continuing the previous Trump plan with a more restrained budget is making the best of our current situation. Frankly, we should just use this budget for the next four years.”
This “continuing resolution” would extend the bipartisan spending caps agreed to between Congress and President Trump in December 2020. This agreement included $1.4 billion for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and bans on taxpayer-funded abortions and anti-Second Amendment policies.
The attached disaster package would provide $28.6 billion in additional spending, including the following notable provisions:
- $10 billion for U.S. Department of Agriculture programs to cover crop losses in 2020 or 2021;
- $6 billion for flood and storm risk reduction projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
- $5 billion for Community Development Block Grant, Disaster Relief;
- Adequate funding for the Small Business Administration to issue $6.2 billion in disaster loans;
- $1.77 billion for the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service for expenses related to disasters from 2019 to 2021; and,
- $2.6 billion to repair highways and bridges damaged in 2020 or 2021 disasters.
