Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) released the following statement the House passed the final version of legislation to provide Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations to the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor and Education. The bill also also extends the authorization for the Violence Against Women Act and provides funds for other federal agencies for which appropriations bills have yet to be enacted.

“These appropriation measures include the largest pay raise in almost a decade to troops serving at Fairchild, additional resources for the National Institutes of Health to fund Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome research, and an increase in the maximum Pell grant award. This legislation also includes provisions to help communities, like Airway Heights and Spokane, impacted by chemical contamination near military bases. These are important priorities and wins for Eastern Washington that I worked for and I’m pleased they are headed to the president’s desk for his signature.”

NOTE: This bill has important priorities for Cathy and wins for Eastern Washington including:

• A 2.6 percent pay raise for our troops, including those serving at Fairchild Air Force Base.
• $194 million for helping communities impacted by chemical contamination near military bases.
• An extension of the Violence Against Women Act.
• Increasing the maximum Pell grant award to $6,195 for the 2019-2020 award year.
• $1.5 billion for grants to support school safety activities, including mental health services, bullying prevention, and professional development for personnel in crisis management.
• $1.4 billion to help first-generation college students succeed in college.
• $39 billion–$2 billion more than last year–for NIH research to cure cancer and other diseases.
• $6.6 billion to fight and end the opioid abuse epidemic.