Media Center

Wednesday, December 19, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the final version of the FY2008 federal budget by a vote of 272 to 142. This appropriations bill would fund all agencies of the federal government at a level of $933 billion, with the exception of the Department of Defense, and thus avoid the possibility of a government shutdown caused by President Bush’s threat to veto a larger bill. The President is expected to sign the bill into law sometime in the next several days.

Congressman Scott stated, “It is unfortunate that the President once again decided to ignore the needs of his own people, and instead use the power of his position to strong-arm the U.S. Congress into doing his will. However, even with his constant political posturing and the lower than desired overall funding level for this bill, Democrats were able to restore some of the President’s harmful cuts to domestic programs. We even managed to increase spending on many programs that have been ignored in the past. For example we were able to enact the largest increase in funding for veteran’s healthcare in the nation’s history; a valuable investment in improving the lives of those who fought for our country. So while this bill is not ideal by any means, it does represent a return to focusing on the needs of the American people.”

The omnibus appropriations bill as passed by the House contains an additional $3.7 billion in funding dedicated to veteran’s healthcare. The bill also increases funding for No Child Left Behind by $1.1 billion; $1.4 billion was added for low-income housing assistance; over $65 million in new funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services program and $1.2 billion in additional border security funding to hire 3,000 new border patrol agents. The bill also contains funding for several important local priorities such as:

$326,000 for Grady Health System to upgrade its medical record keeping
$250, 000 for a community center in Riverdale
$500, 000 to widen Lee Road Bridge on I-20 in Douglasville
$125, 000 for youth counseling in Fulton County

Congressman Scott added, “I’m saddened that this bill continues to fund the misguided war in Iraq. Rest assured that I will continue to work toward putting an end to this terrible conflict as soon as possible. However, passage of this bill was extremely important. It contained vital funding for projects that will improve the lives of folks here at home in Georgia. Just as importantly however, it will set the tone for future investments in domestic priorities aimed at improving the lives of all Americans.” 

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