{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://roby.house.gov/press-release/roby-supports-house-appropriations-plan", "Roby Supports House Appropriations Plan", "2014-12-12", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Martha Roby", "R000591", "roby.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-AL) Thursday voted to support a comprehensive Appropriations plan that:\n funds critical government operations,\n\tincludes strong, important, conservative policy provisions, and\n\tallows Congress the best opportunity to reverse President Obama\u2019s unilateral immigration actions when Republicans have dual House and Senate majorities in January.\n The bill funds 11 of the 12 Appropriations titles through the remainder of the Fiscal Year 2015, save for Homeland Security, which is where immigration enforcement funding is contained. The bill includes a temporary funding measure for Homeland Security, allowing Congress to use the \u201cpower of the purse\u201d to rein in President Obama\u2019s immigration actions in the new term.\nIn no way does the bill \u201cfund\u201d amnesty, as some have claimed. To the contrary, the bill puts Congress in the strongest position possible to stop the President\u2019s executive amnesty plans by waiting until Republicans control the Senate and have more votes in the House come January.\nRep. Roby outlined her thoughts on the immigration strategy in the following statement:\n \n\t\u201cI support the Appropriations plan for many reasons, including this important one: this plan puts us in the best position possible to address President Obama\u2019s plans for executive amnesty. \u00a0\n\t\u201cThere is no question about who is for amnesty and who is against it. The question is what is the best strategy for actually reversing the president\u2019s action?\u00a0This plan wisely allows us to focus on defunding\u00a0executive\u00a0amnesty in four weeks when\u00a0Republicans\u00a0have a Senate majority and even more votes in the House.\n\t\u201cI believe that the power of the purse should be used to defund President Obama\u2019s actions. I disagree with those who suggest otherwise.\u00a0\n\t\u201cThe truth is, right now there are the same number of Republican votes in the House and Senate as there were in October 2013, when the government shut down over health care. The brinksmanship tactic didn\u2019t work then and it won\u2019t work now. We won a lot of elections this year, enough to have significant\u00a0majorities in the House and Senate. But, those reinforcements don\u2019t arrive until January.\u00a0\n\t\u201cThe logical conclusion of going \u2018all-in\u2019 to insist on defund language now is that it will be defeated. Everyone knows that, including those who favor such a strategy. Setting aside the possibility of another shutdown, the most that strategy could accomplish is a short term Continuing Resolution. While some view a short term CR as a positive outcome, I do not.\n\t\u201cA short term CR leaves us with the whole range of government spending to work on in January. That means at a time when we should be focused solely on defunding amnesty in the Homeland Security title, Congress would be distracted by moving 11 other major spending bills in short order. Instead of controlling the debate by honing the nation\u2019s attention on President Obama\u2019s unlawful immigration orders, we would offer amnesty supporters and the media the gift of a continued shut down threat.\u00a0\n\t\u201cThe smart move is to pass our 11 appropriations bills along with a short-term CR on Homeland Security, and then take on immigration head on in four weeks when\u00a0Republicans\u00a0control the Senate.\"\n \nThe Appropriations plan contains critical military funding, including specific projects that are Alabama-based, including: \u00a0\n funding for new Lakota Helicopters to enhance the aviation training mission at Fort Rucker, and\n\tfunding for the Navy\u2019s Mobile-built Littoral Combat Ship.\n The bill also contains certain policy previsions Rep. Roby has been pushed for, such as:\n preventing federal authorities from regulating farm ponds and irrigation ditches under the Clean Water Act;\n\tinstilling transparency and accountability for OSHA enforcement activities;\n\taddressing the VA disability claims backlog;\n\trestricting taxpayer dollars being used to fund abortion.\n Below are other significant details of the Appropriations plan broken down by subject area.\nOverall Spending Levels\n Total spending in the omnibus bill is $1.013 trillion;\n\tComplies with spending caps put in place by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 at $521 billion for defense and $492 billion for non-defense;\n\tIn 2010 total federal discretionary spending was $1.399 trillion\n Emerging Threats and Contingencies\n Provides $73.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, including the fight against ISIS;\n\t$5.4 billion in emergency funding to address the Ebola outbreak;\n\t$6.5 billion for disaster aid, such as hurricane and tornado responses;\n Agriculture \n Prevents federal authorities from regulating farm ponds and irrigation ditches under the Clean Water Act.\n Veterans Affairs\n Addresses issues related to the \u201cwait list\u201d scandal at the VA by increasing funding for the VA Office of Inspector General is by $5 million to provide the resources necessary for audits of hospital appointment scheduling and lapses in patient care.\n Military\n Funds a one percent pay raise for military personnel;\n\tProvides $215 million above the President\u2019s request to fully fund cost-of-living allowance shortfall for military retirees;\n IRS\n Slashes funding for the IRS by $345 million, bringing total IRS cuts to $1 billion since 2010\n\tStrictly prohibits the IRS from using funds to target groups based on ideological beliefs.\n School Lunches\n Reins in the Obama Administration\u2019s burdensome regulations on school lunch programs giving flexibility to local schools;\n Environmental Protection Agency\n Slashes funding for the EPA, meaning a total reduction of 21 percent since 2010;\n\tBrings EPA staffing down to its lowest level since 1989;\n\tProhibits the EPA from regulating the lead content in ammunition or fishing tackle;\n Education\n Eliminates funding for the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s \u201cRace to the Top\u201d program.\n Transportation\n Fully funds the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s contract tower program to prevent local airports from shutting down.\n Foreign Affairs\n Increases and maintains U.S. Embassy security around the world;\n\tProhibits funding for the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.\n For the full text of HR 83, The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for FY 2015 bill and bill reports, visit https://appropriations.house.gov/.\nBelow are links to summaries of the 11 Appropriations bills included in the omnibus plan.", 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://roby.house.gov/press-release/roby-supports-house-appropriations-plan"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.545616287738085, "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"}