Senator Murray: “We cannot skimp on keeping people safe—and this bill maintains and builds on our investments to do just that.”
Legislation also includes significant new funding for Office on Violence Against Women
ICYMI: Chair Murray’s Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup
ICYMI: Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Legislative Branch, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Financial Services Bills
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), voted to advance the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill for fiscal year 2024, which Senator Murray played a key role in writing. The bill funds the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as a host of critical agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which keep America on the cutting edge when it comes to research and innovation. Among other things, the legislation Senator Murray helped write invests in keeping our communities safe—including by providing significant new funding for the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women—propelling cutting-edge research, strengthening American manufacturing and keeping our supply chains running, advancing climate research, and continuing America’s leadership in space.
Murray also secured more than $30 million in the draft legislation in Congressionally Directed Spending requests for 13 projects across Washington state to support scientific research, community violence prevention, mental health services, and more. This does not include funding for national programs that will later be allocated on a competitive or formula-specific basis. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 28-1 to advance the legislation, where it now awaits full consideration by the Senate.
“I can’t overstate how important this bill is to our economy,” Senator Murray said at today’s committee markup. “Investments to strengthen our businesses and communities by connecting them to the high-speed internet they need to do just about anything in the 21st Century, strengthening our trade partnerships across the world, and keeping supply chains running smoothly; investments in NOAA to restore salmon—which are not just a cornerstone of our economy in Washington state, but a way of life; investments to maintain our global leadership in science and innovation—from research and development to keep us on top of the technologies of tomorrow to continuing our legacy of leadership in space by strengthening the Artemis missions to send Americans to the Moon.”
“And then there are investments in law enforcement to protect families from drug trafficking that is bringing deadly fentanyl into our communities, domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, or white supremacy and the uptick in hate crimes and violent attacks. And to protect our civil rights as well, including the all-important right to vote,” Murray continued. “We cannot skimp on keeping people safe—and this bill maintains and builds on our investments to do just that.”
In the draft legislation, Murray secured more than $30 million in Congressionally Directed Spending requests for 13 important projects throughout Washington state:
- $552,000 for Choose Freedom’s Community Violence Prevention Program to support staffing and programming for gun violence prevention and reentry programs.
- $500,000 for the City of Tacoma Municipal Court to establish a municipal mental health therapeutic court.
- $2.135 million for Evergreen State College in Olympia to acquire new laboratory equipment.
- $1.847 million for Gonzaga University to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for the Bollier Center for Integrated Science and Engineering Facility.
- $1.5 million for the Grant County District Court to make critical courthouse security upgrades.
- $982,000 for the Spokane Municipal Court to support the staffing and programming of a municipal mental health therapeutic court.
- $450,000 for the Stevens County District Court to expand their adult therapeutic court program.
- $5 million for the University of Washington to purchase new engineering and lab equipment.
- $2.8 million for the University of Washington to acquire new research instruments for their Molecular Analysis Facility.
- $2.5 million for the University of Washington Tacoma to procure equipment for new laboratories as part of its Milgard Engineering Labs Buildout project.
- $7.642 million for Washington State University to design, construct, and purchase equipment for a new nuclear hot cell facility.
- $2.5 million for Washington State University to upgrade a transmission electron microscope.
- $2.425 million for Western Washington University to construct an Advanced Technology Laboratory and purchase research equipment.
Murray also helped secure a $32 million increase above the Fiscal Year 2023 enacted level for the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women—the highest funding level ever—to prevent violence against women and better support survivors, especially Native women on Tribal lands, a longtime priority and focus of Senator Murray’s. The draft legislation also includes important funding to help reduce the backlog of rape kits at law enforcement agencies, and it funds a new grant program Senator Murray established to increase access to sexual assault nurse exams and help survivors get the care they need.
More information on the bill is available HERE.
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