Underwood-Backed Funding Package Creates Jobs, Gets People Back to Work, and Invests in Priorities like Public Health, Gun Violence Prevention, Infrastructure, Climate and Clean Energy; Includes Resources for Critical Community Projects

Press Release

This week, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) supported the passage of the House Fiscal Year 2022 funding bills (H.R. 4373, H.R. 4502, H.R. 4346). The legislation makes significant investments in priorities that will help create jobs, get Americans back to work, and support families. The legislation invests in infrastructure, climate change, gun violence prevention, veterans, and public health. The legislation will also improve quality-of-life for residents of Illinois' 14th District through funding for local projects secured by Underwood, a new Member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations. These local projects would improve water infrastructure and access to safe drinking water, support foster youth and their families, improve local health systems, and expand access to affordable higher education.

"During my first year serving on the Appropriations Committee, I was proud to secure investments in programs that will create jobs and improve the quality of life here in the 14th District of Illinois and across the country. These investments will create jobs and get people back to work while addressing today's urgent national needs like climate change, public health, and gun violence prevention," said Underwood.

Information on the ten projects for the 14th District championed by Underwood can be found here.

In addition, for a funding community projects in the 14th District, the House Fiscal Year 2022 funding bills would:

Make historic increases in funding for education and health care, worker protections, and environmental justice;
Create tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs rebuilding our nation's crumbling infrastructure;
Bolster the nation's public health infrastructure and capacity;
Make critical investments in clean energy and science initiatives to combat the climate crisis;
Strengthen the capacity to recruit and retain a talented and diverse workforce;
Promote democracy by funding to support key allies and partners of the United States around the globe;
·Combat the climate crisis by investing over $14 billion in clean energy and science, which will create tens of thousands of good-paying green jobs;
Strengthen public health through investments to rebuild global public health infrastructure to both support the health of local communities and prevent future pandemics;
Defend human rights by supporting women's rights, including reproductive health and family planning, as well as promoting full equality for LGBTQ communities and people with disabilities;
Delivering foreign assistance through robust economic and humanitarian assistance for key allies, developing nations and underserved communities around the world to help meet their urgent needs, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic; and
Supporting veterans with investments in veterans' health care, including women's health care and mental health, combating veterans' homelessness, creating economic opportunities and rebuilding military infrastructure.
Each fiscal year, which runs from October through September, Congress must pass legislation to fund the federal government and all of the vital programs it administers. The legislation -- which will fund the Legislative Branch; the Department of State, USAID and other related agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies--now goes to the Senate for consideration.

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