Chairman Rogers Praises Passage of First Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations Bills

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers today applauded the passage of the Conference Report on the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science, and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bills – also known as the “Mini-bus” (House Report 112-284). The report passed on a vote of 298-121.

The conference report reduces base discretionary spending by $757 million below last year, funds a variety of federal programs and agencies, including the food and drug safety, federal law enforcement, scientific research, and infrastructure, and provides much-needed disaster recovery assistance. In addition, the legislation includes a Continuing Resolution that will keep the government operating until December 16.

“This bill keeps us on track to reduce discretionary spending for the second year in a row – an historic achievement that breaks the trend of ballooning federal spending. The legislation also makes significant strides to rein in excessive government regulations that put unnecessary drag on our economic recovery and job growth,” Chairman Rogers said. “After difficult but successful negotiations with our Senate counterparts, we were able to produce this compromise bill - the first appropriations conference report in two years. This legislation represents the kind of hard but necessary decisions that will help get our government on a more sustainable financial path, and will put us one step forward as we work to complete the remaining funding bills for the year.”