Dear Representative:
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I am writing to express our support for the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations Minibus (H.R. 2740), including the Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, State and Foreign Operations and Energy and Water Development appropriations bills, which is scheduled for floor consideration this week.
The Labor-HHS portion of the Minibus recognizes the importance of investing in workers, worker protections, health, and education, and it wisely rejects the deep spending cuts and elimination of essential programs that the administration and previous House Republican budgets have proposed. Specifically, the Labor-HHS portion of the Minibus increases funding for all three major departments and for most programs and activities. Overall discretionary spending for the Health and Human Services Department and the Labor Department would increase by 10%, while the Education Department would see an increase of 6%.
We strongly support the Appropriations Committee’s effort to provide adequate funding in the FY 2020 appropriations process, and there is no better example of this effort than the Minibus (H.R. 2740). We urge you to support H.R. 2740 and ask that you vote against any “poison pill” amendments that would undermine the efforts of the Appropriations Committee.
Sincerely.
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs