Congressman Serrano Announces Inclusion of Important Provisions in the CJS Appropriations Bill

Washington, DC –Congressman Serrano, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Subcommittee today released the following statement highlighting a number of important provisions included and adequately funded in the final bill:

“This is a budget represents numerous accomplishments that Democrats can be content with.  As the Ranking Member of the CJS Subcommittee, there are many good things to applaud and highlight in the final CJS bill. First and foremost, we successfully included a provision to reimburse New York City for the costs of protecting President Trump and his family between Election Day and Inauguration Day. This is an important victory for fairness. New York City should not be forced to bear the unprecedented costs and divert resources from elsewhere to protect the President and his family.

“In the area of commerce and small businesses, we successfully included an increase in funding for the Minority Business Development Administration, which President Trump wanted to cut significantly. In the area of justice, we preserved funding for the Legal Services Corporation and rejected efforts to eliminate this important program. We also increased funding in the Department of Justice for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and appropriated significant funding at the agency to support the Second Chance Act, improve community-police relations, and focus on the federal firearms background check system. Additionally, we were able to remove a number of controversial gun riders which would have impeded law enforcement safety efforts.

“Lastly, in the area of science, we successfully increased funding for NASA programs, and preserved funding for climate change research at the NOAA, an area that the current administration is targeting. We also successfully established a dedicated funding stream within the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide Hispanic Serving Institutions with funding to increase the number of Latinos in STEM fields.

“These are all programs that will have a positive impact on our nation.”

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