{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congress-approves-government-spending-bill", "Congress approves government spending bill", "2022-12-23", "2022", "2022-12", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", "degette", "https://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congress today approved a $1.7 trillion spending bill that will fund the federal government through September and provide millions of dollars in direct funding to help address Denver\u2019s homelessness crisis.\n\nThe legislation includes more than $24.2 million requested by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) to fund 14 projects in the Denver area, most of which are aimed at providing more housing and essential services to those experiencing homelessness in the Mile High city.\n\n\u201cThis is a big, big deal for our community,\u201d DeGette said after the legislation was approved. \u201cThese projects will make more housing and essential services available to those who need it in our area. While no one project, alone, will solve the crisis we face, each one of these projects will play a key role in strengthening the overall web of support we\u2019re able to offer to those experiencing homelessness in our community.\u201d\n\nAmong the funding DeGette secured for the Denver area is $4 million to help fund the construction of 74 new apartments for low-income single parents in Denver\u2019s Warren Village; $4 million to help fund the purchase of the now-abandoned Clarion Hotel in North Denver and convert it into more housing for those experiencing homelessness; and $1 million for Habitat for Humanity to build several new homes in Denver\u2019s Villa Park.\n\nThe measure also includes $2.2 million DeGette requested for Denver Health to provide essential oral health services in some of Denver\u2019s most underserved communities; $1.2 million she sought to help the Food Bank of the Rockies purchase additional coolers to store and distribute more food to those in need; and $1 million she pushed for to help construct a new youth mental-health treatment center to help low-income children in the North Denver area.\n\nIn addition to funding these critical projects, the spending bill \u2013 which is now headed to President Biden\u2019s desk to be signed into law \u2013 includes several other measures DeGette had introduced \u2013 including legislation she led to establish a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the National Institutes of Health to accelerate the search for new cures and treatments for some of the world\u2019s most difficult diseases.\n\nThe new agency \u2013 known as ARPA-H \u2013 is modeled largely after the Department of Defense\u2019s highly successful DARPA program, which has been responsible for developing some of the most consequential technologies of our time \u2013 including the Internet, GPS and self-driving cars.\n\nLike DARPA, ARPA-H will bring together some of the nation\u2019s greatest minds and give them access to the federal government\u2019s virtually limitless resources to make the impossible, possible \u2013 and help shape the future of biomedical research.\n\nUnlike other federal agencies, ARPA-H will be run by a relatively small number of program managers who will each be given a high degree of autonomy to choose which high-risk, high-reward projects to pursue. While the agency\u2019s primary focus will be to accelerate the research and development of innovative new treatments and cures for some of the deadliest diseases, it will also be tasked with developing breakthrough technologies that would otherwise die in the commercial market.\n\nPrevious efforts to apply the DARPA model to biomedical research have proven successful \u2013 including in the rapid development of Moderna\u2019s highly-effective COVID-19 vaccine. Further developing the mRNA technology used as the basis of that vaccine to prevent cancer is one of the projects that advocates for the new agency say it could pursue.\n\nThe legislation also includes several provisions DeGette introduced to improve our nation\u2019s preparedness for future pandemics, including:\n\nRequiring that the federal government create a national strategy to prepare for, and respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies. Under the provision led by DeGette, federal officials will be required to use lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to improve testing, data sharing, vaccine administration and the overall readiness of medical supplies throughout the country.\n\nStrengthening the nation\u2019s Strategic National Stockpile to ensure it has the items and equipment needed to respond to future health emergencies. The measure, led by DeGette, will, among other things, require federal officials to conduct more regular maintenance and inspections of the national stockpile and authorizes officials to remove and replace any items that are less than one year from their expiration date. It will also create a new pilot program to boost domestic manufacturing of some of the most critical supplies \u2013 including personal protective equipment and the supplies needed to administer vaccines \u2013 to reduce America\u2019s dependence on foreign manufacturers during future pandemics.\n\nIn addition to the 14 Denver-area projects to be funded under the bill, DeGette also secured funding for several key programs aimed at protecting the environment and preserving public lands, including:\n\n$25 million for the Every Kid Outdoor Act, which provides more than one million fourth-grade children free access to any national park for an entire year. The funding will also be used to launch a targeted program to provide transportation for children with disabilities and those living in underserved communities to visit parks in their area.\n\n$34 million for the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Threatened and Endangered Species Program to continue its efforts to help recover 330 endangered species that live on BLM-administered lands.\n\n$21.4 million for Colorado River Compliance Activities to restore critical habitats, enhance stream flows, and manage fish populations.\n\n$108 million to support the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s environmental justice activities to help underserved communities overburdened by disproportionate levels of pollution.\n\n$61.6 million for the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s National Conservation Lands System that manages more than 37 million acres of national monuments, national conservation areas and wilderness throughout the country.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congress-approves-government-spending-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8796569891273975, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}