Congressman Cleaver Votes to Prevent Government Shutdown, Invest in Schools, Health, and Safety for Missouri Communities

"While I find it deeply concerning that over half of House Republicans voted to shut the government down and kneecap America's economic recovery, House Democrats once again carried this government funding package over the finish line to prevent a setback for American families and workers," said Congressman Cleaver. "While I have never seen an appropriations package that I found perfect, today's package is a fair compromise that will increase investments in critical programs like Head Start, fund essential research into cancer and Alzheimer's, protect funding for education programs that serve underserved communities, and reject additional attacks on women's reproductive freedoms, among other important victories for Missourians."

While House Republicans had worked for nearly a year to force draconian cuts in everything from education to homeland security, threatening to shut the government down if their extreme ideological agenda wasn't enacted, House Democrats held firm and protected critical services for American families and workers. Instead, this government funding package includes many Cleaver-supported provisions, including:

• $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start;
• $120 million increase in funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health;
• $100 million increase for Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias research;
• Rejecting Republican cuts, including saving 224,000 teachers' jobs and protecting Job Corps and more than 20 K-12 and higher education programs that House Republicans tried to eliminate through cuts to the Department of Education;
• Blocking 10 Republican riders to limit women's reproductive health;
• 12,000 more Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans that assisted the United States in Afghanistan; and
• $1 billion increase in climate change and resilience activities at the Department of Defense.

This legislative package includes the following funding bills: Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

A package containing the other six other appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024 was passed by the House earlier this month and signed into law by President Biden on March 9, ensuring the government is fully funded through 2024.

A detailed summary of today's government funding package is available here.