December 23, 2022

REP. CORREA STATEMENT ON VOTING TO FUND GOVERNMENT, DELIVER FOR WORKING FAMILIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Representative Lou Correa (CA-46) released the below statement after voting to pass Fiscal Year 2023 government funding legislation:

“Today, I voted to pass annual government funding legislation and send it immediately to President Biden’s desk,” said Rep. Correa. “This legislation delivers historic investments in American families and workers, and especially for California’s 46th congressional district. I am proud to have helped shepherd it across the finish line.” 

“After a long night of negotiations and conversation with House and Senate Members, I am relieved that an extension of Trump's immoral, and unjust, Title 42 policy was not included in this legislation—as a result of the relentless, and proactive, advocacy of me and my colleagues. Yet, I remain disappointed that protections for our nation’s DREAMERs didn’t make it into the final bill text, which I made clear in my testimony to the House Rules Committee yesterday evening—pleading for my colleagues to take long overdue action to protect DREAMERs.”

“I will continue to push until we fulfill our promise to every immigrant in this country—and deliver after three decades of inaction. As we enter the 118th Congress, I will continue to work with and remind my colleagues that nearly 80% of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. This issue is about keeping America strong.”

You can watch a full clip of Rep. Correa’s remarks to the House Rules Committee here. 

Background: This omnibus package includes a significant increase in non-defense discretionary funding—larger than the boost won in last March’s government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2022. This funding was a top Democratic priority and will go toward supporting critical social programs that invest in our families, workers and communities.

Key Democratic victories on health care include:

  • Ensuring permanent, mandatory and continuous coverage for the 40 million children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

  • Record Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and permanent enhanced Medicaid funding for all other territories, helping expand affordable, quality care to more Americans.

  • Historic funding for the critical Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting initiative, which improves health outcomes for pregnant people and young families who live in underserved communities.

  • Strong guardrails to prevent disruption to families’ health coverage, as states resume Medicaid recertifications next year.

  • New investments in mental health services, which will improve access to medication-assisted treatment, expand our mental health workforce and increase coverage of mental health services.

  • Improving diversity in FDA clinical trials and providing FDA regulation of cosmetics.

  • Passing the PREVENT Pandemics Act, which uses lessons learned from COVID-19 to improve our preparedness for future public health emergencies.

  • To honor our sacred duty to our veterans, Democrats secured a $21 billion increase for veterans’ health care. This will include supporting the VA as it implements the landmark PACT Act.

Additional key Democratic victories include:

  • Creating a nationwide permanent Summer EBT Program so that 29 million kids can get healthy, nutritious meals throughout the summer.

  • For the first time in more than a decade, more funding for the National Labor Relations Board, which helps defend the right to organize.

  • Emergency disaster support to help victims of hurricanes and wildfires throughout our country, to address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, and $1 billion for Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.

  • Reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which will help thwart future attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power like we saw on January 6th.

  • Critical Community Project Funding, to support vital projects that meet the needs of our families in our districts.

This legislation also includes robust defense funding, which will increase pay for our heroic troops and meet the basic needs of our military families. This includes another consequential round of security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as the United States continues to support their fight for Democracy.

You can find a full list of provisions included in Fiscal Year 2023 government funding legislation here.