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WASHINGTON – Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., today issued the following statement regarding passage of the bipartisan “omnibus” spending bill to appropriate funds for the federal government:

“While an omnibus spending bill is not ideal, it allows changes to policy that a continuing resolution simply cannot. For example, this legislation includes provisions to help meet the goal of ending the disability claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs by the end of 2015. It also prevents the Army Corps of Engineers from regulating farm ponds and irrigation ditches under the Clean Water Act. 

“Additionally this bill will allow Congress to focus immediately on addressing the pressing issues facing our nation, including stopping President Obama from implementing his executive amnesty, when we return in January with Republican majorities in the House and Senate. 

“The appropriations process is an important tool for holding the vast federal bureaucracy accountable to Congress, and it’s my sincere hope that next year the Senate will return to regular order, including hearings, oversight and the elimination of wasteful spending on ineffective programs, as the House has been doing for the past four years.” 

H.R. 83, Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 219 to 206. The bill abides by the 2013 bipartisan budget agreement, and overall discretionary spending has been reduced by $165 billion since FY 2010 as a result.

The House passed seven appropriations bills this year. The Democratic-led Senate passed no appropriations bills.  

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U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx is currently serving her fifth term as the representative of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary. Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.