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House Passes Legislation Advancing Michigan's Priorities

July 27, 2017

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Make America Secure Appropriations Act to fund the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers for next year.

The legislation advances many of the Michigan priorities Congressman John Moolenaar outlined in a recent op-ed sent to district newspapers.

The legislation increases defense spending by $68 billion over last year. It also includes a 2.4 percent raise in pay for American troops and increases funding for military family health care.

At the Veterans Administration, the legislation provides record funding for the department to care for the nation's veterans and expedites processing of the unacceptable nationwide backlog of veterans' disability claims.

For the Army Corps of Engineers, the legislation advances Congressman Moolenaar's efforts to get the Corps to release the Brandon Road Lock report to stop Asian carp. It also instructs the Corps to conduct a modern study of the Soo Locks which fully reflects the true value of the goods that pass through the waterway.

Finally, the legislation includes $97.2 million in funding for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beam research at Michigan State University.

Congressman Moolenaar voted for the legislation and made the following statement:

"I am proud to support the legislation passed by the House today. It supports critical priorities for our state including a pay raise for our troops, funding for our veterans, modernizing the Soo Locks and important scientific research at Michigan State that will bring more than one thousand good-paying jobs to mid Michigan.

"For our Great Lakes, the legislation holds the Army Corps of Engineers accountable and calls for the Corps to release the Brandon Road report on Asian carp that Michigan taxpayers have already paid for. I hope the Senate will pass this legislation so the Corps will release the report if it does not choose to do so before then."