Washington, February 9, 2018 -

The U.S. House approved legislation to lift the statutory budget caps and increase funding for national defense, provide emergency disaster aid funding, lift the debt ceiling, extend certain health care and tax authorizations, and maintain government operations until March 23, 2018. This legislation is the result of an agreement reached last night between House and Senate leaders.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen commented on the bill:

“This legislation will help our nation move forward – without the threat of shutdown or default, and with greater budget certainty. This bill represents an agreement, reached on a bipartisan basis by House and Senate leaders, on overall spending ‘caps’ for both Fiscal Year 2018 and Fiscal Year 2019. This will enable work to proceed on all 12 annual Appropriations bills each year – the only responsible way to fund government programs and services.

“In addition, especially important in this agreement is the substantial increase in funds for national defense. Our nation faces multiple security challenges and increasingly aggressive – not to mention, well-equipped – adversaries. We must be prepared to meet them, and we must take care of the men and women in uniform, who do the work of freedom.

“I look forward to working with our Senate counterparts to quickly negotiate and complete all 12 full-year Appropriations bills ahead of the March 23 deadline.”

#####