Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21) issued the following statement after voting for the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending bill:

“Thanks to Democratic leadership, we’re making bold investments in our children, middle class families and veterans by increasing funding for child care, infrastructure, national security, medical research, and the opioid crisis. The omnibus includes key South Florida priorities like overtime reimbursement for local law enforcement protecting the President at Mar-a-Lago and a new federal courthouse for South Florida. It also includes provisions to combat gun violence that are good but not enough—I will keep fighting for smart, common sense gun safety legislation.”

Some highlights of the spending bill include:

• $41 million in overtime reimbursement for local sheriff and police departments for protecting the President at his secondary residences
• $190 million to begin construction on a new federal courthouse for South Florida
• $2.8 billion to combat the opioid crisis
• $2.5 million to keep young athletes safe from sexual harassment and assault
• $2.37 billion increase for Child Care Development Block Grants
• $15 million increase for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• $7 billion increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs
• $3.1 billion for security assistance to Israel
• $610 million increase for Head Start
• $380 million to protect our elections from cyberattacks

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