October 31, 2023

Warren, Hirono, Markey, Merkley, Sanders, and Welch Urge Equal Funding for Domestic Priorities in Supplemental Appropriations Bill

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Mitch Leader McConnell (R-Ky.) urging the inclusion of equal funding for key domestic priorities in any supplemental appropriations bill. The United States Senate is currently preparing an emergency supplemental appropriations bill to respond to funding requests from the Biden administration related to the ongoing humanitarian and military crises in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and elsewhere, as well as domestic needs such as child care, broadband access, and tackling the opioid epidemic.

“The supplemental cannot just be about responding to emergencies abroad,” the senators wrote. “In America today, working families, the children, the elderly, the sick and the poor are struggling to deal with major crises at home that demand our immediate attention. How can we tell our constituents who are struggling to pay for the basic necessities of life that Congress can immediately provide tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding to deal with emergencies abroad, but we somehow cannot afford to respond to the severe economic pain that they are feeling at home?”

The senators highlighted the following emergencies at home that should be addressed in the supplemental:

  • Our child care system is in a state of emergency. As a result of the child care funding cliff, 3.2 million kids in our country are in danger of losing the child care they currently have, over 70,000 child care programs will likely shut down, and over 230,000 child care workers could lose their jobs. Congress must provide adequate funding in the supplemental to make sure that every working family in America has access to affordable and high-quality child care.
  • Our primary health care system is in a state of emergency. In America today, it has been estimated that 68,000 people die each year because they cannot afford to go to a doctor when they get sick. Moreover, tens of millions of Americans are unable to access the primary care, dental care and behavioral health care that they desperately need. The massive shortage of primary care doctors, nurses and dentists in our country is a major reason why life expectancy in America is in decline and is at its lowest level since the mid-1990s. We must address the crisis of lack of access to health care in the supplemental.
  • The lack of affordable housing in America is an emergency. In America today, evictions and foreclosures are skyrocketing as the price of rent and monthly mortgage payments become increasingly unaffordable. Nearly 600,000 Americans are homeless on any given night and some 18 million families are paying over half of their limited incomes on housing. The supplemental must include funding to address the affordable housing crisis in America.
  • The opioid crisis in America is an emergency. Last year, more than 105,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses - up more than 60 percent from five years ago. The supplemental must not only include funding to prevent fentanyl from coming into our country, it must also provide emergency funding to address the severe shortage of addiction specialists and behavioral health professionals in America.
  • Food insecurity in America is an emergency. In America today, 34 million Americans including some 9 million children are food insecure.  That should not be happening in the richest country in the history of the world.  At a minimum, President Biden’s full Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) must be included in the emergency supplemental to prevent pregnant mothers and babies from being put on waiting lists for their urgent nutritional needs.
  • Natural disasters impacting our communities are an emergency. This year, the United States broke the record for the number of disasters causing over $1 billion in damages, a figure that is expected to increase due to global climate change. The federal government has a responsibility to help communities, businesses, and farmers recover from these disasters and rebuild sustainably and resiliently to mitigate the impacts of future disasters—that means substantial investments in emergency relief programs through federal agencies outside of FEMA, like the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program.  

“We have a responsibility to act boldly to respond to ALL of the major emergencies we face – both at home and abroad,” the senators wrote.

Senator Warren is committed to providing swift action to bring federal relief funding to Americans. This includes aiding farmers and communities impacted by disaster or fighting to ensure that every child has access to affordable, high-quality early education and care: 

  • In September 2023, chairing a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked witnesses about the potential consequences of the looming child care funding cliff for the American economy. Witnesses spoke to the importance of solving this funding crisis and investing in child care to ensure parents can join or stay in the workforce, businesses can hire the workers they need, and children can experience the long-term benefits of high quality early education and care.
  • In August 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden, thanking his administration for its support for New England communities that suffered catastrophic flooding in July 2023, and requesting that President Biden continue to address the ongoing needs of these communities in any upcoming disaster supplemental appropriations request to Congress. 
  • In August 2023, with federal pandemic relief funding for child chare set to expire in September, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) published an op-ed in CNN urging the Biden Administration and Congress to authorize emergency child care funding in a supplemental spending package along with disaster relief and aid for Ukraine.  
  • In August 2023, Senator Warren , Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.), all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, urging him to invest in further improving the Department of Defense’s (DoD) critical child care program to ensure all of the nations’ military families have access to the affordable, high-quality care they need.
  • On August 1, 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.) applauded the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) declaration of county disaster designations for seven counties in Western Massachusetts.
  • On July 19, 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representatives McGovern and Neal sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux, urging them to designate flood-stricken communities in Western Massachusetts as disaster areas and provide emergency assistance to support local recovery efforts. 
  • On July 15, 2023, Senator Warren and Representative McGovern visited farms impacted by floods to assess damage, and called for federal support for recovery. 
  • In March 2023, chairing a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, Senator Warren asked Gil Cisneros, then the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, about how DoD’s can help increase supply in its excellent child care programs and improve pay to better hire and retain child care workers.
  • In February 2023, Senator Warren, along with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and over three dozen lawmakers, unveiled new legislation that would expand access to affordable child care to every American family, offer high-quality early education to every child, and create good jobs for our early educators. The Child Care for Every Community Act takes inspiration from DoD’s child care model.

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