{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1335", "Moore Expresses Concern Over Abuse Allegations at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake School", "2015-12-23", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Gwen Moore", "M001160", "gwenmoore.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Cristina Marcos\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe House early Friday passed the third 2015 appropriations bill that would fund the Departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as federal science programs.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tPassed in a 321-87 vote, the bill would provide $51.2 billion in funding through September 2015, a reduction of nearly $400 million below the current spending level.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe legislation was considered under an open rule, which allowed members to offer an unlimited number of amendments. In total, the House considered more than 80 amendments over the course of two days.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tImmigration entered the fray during debate of the wide-ranging measure. Late Wednesday, the House gave voice vote approval to an amendment from Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) that would boost funding for the Justice Department's Executive Office of Immigration Review, which handles immigration court proceedings.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tEarlier Thursday, the House adopted, 218-193, an amendment offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) that would provide $5 million for the Justice Department to investigate the Obama administration's release of illegal immigrants facing deportation who are also criminals. King said the current policy amounted to \"de facto amnesty.\"\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tConsideration of the measure further included heated debates over drug policy. Shortly before final passage, the House adopted 219-189 an amendment from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) that would prohibit the Justice Department from allowing states to implement their own medical marijuana laws. And earlier Thursday evening, the House rejected an amendment from Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), whose state has legalized marijuana, that would cut funding to the Drug Enforcement Administration by $35 million. About $2 billion is allocated for the DEA in the legislation.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe controversy over the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals' mishandling of wait times for medical care also made its way into the Commerce-Justice-Science bill. At nearly midnight Wednesday, the House gave voice vote approval to an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) that would provide the Justice Department $1 million to conduct a criminal investigation into the VA.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe legislation would also provide $17.9 billion for NASA, which is $250 million above the current spending level. Additionally, it includes $7.4 billion for the National Science Foundation, which is $232 million more than the 2014 level.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tRep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the retiring chairman of the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee, warned that the increased science funding should only be used for \"scientifically meritorious\" research grants.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\"With increased funding comes increased responsibility,\" Wolf said. \"No funny grants is what I'm trying to say.\"\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tPassing all 12 of them before the end of September, the end of the current fiscal year, will be tough, especially in an election year.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tBut House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) nonetheless said his panel would try to pass as many of the individual appropriations bills as possible.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\"We're moving at a very fast clip on the committee that should allow us to complete our appropriations work for the 2015 fiscal year on time. And I promise my committee will do everything it can to make that a reality,\" Rogers said.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tThe Senate, meanwhile, has yet to pass any 2015 appropriations bills.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\tTo view this article online, please click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1335"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1416799388825893, "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"}