For Immediate Release
March 3, 2024
Contact: Athina Lawson
WASHINGTON — Speaker Johnson released the following statement on the first six appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024:
“Even with divided government and a historically small House majority, House Republicans have worked hard to successfully move the policy and spending priorities of the federal government away from the previous Pelosi-Schumer FY23 appropriations, and American taxpayers will benefit from it.
“House Republicans secured key conservative policy victories, rejected left-wing proposals, and imposed sharp cuts to agencies and programs critical to the President Biden’s agenda.
“This legislation forbids the Department of Justice from targeting parents exercising their right to free speech before school boards, while it blocks the Biden Administration from stripping Second Amendment rights from veterans. It imposes deep cuts to the EPA, ATF, and FBI, which under the Biden Administration have threatened our freedoms and our economy, while it fully funds veterans’ health care.”
Highlights from FY24 Appropriations Legislation:
- Key Policy Provisions:
- Prevents the Department of Veterans Affairs from attacking Second Amendment rights by sending information on those seeking assistance with their benefits to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) system, without a judge’s consent.
- Prohibits the Department of Justice from targeting or investigating parents who exercise their right to free speech at local school board meetings.
- Strengthens tracking and review of foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land.
- Prevents the sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.
- Cuts endangered species listing activities at U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
- Key Changes To Funding:
- 10% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- 7% cut to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
- 6% cut to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
- Fully funds veterans’ health care and benefits.
- Increases funds to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), including increased funds for efforts to combat fentanyl.
The bill text and explanatory statements released are FY24 funding measures for the Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
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