Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the omnibus government funding bill the Senate passed today to keep the government open:

“As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I’m proud of the work we did to finalize the remaining funding bills. This omnibus bill keeps the entire federal government open and makes key investments in California, including full funding for all of our major mass-transit projects.

“The bill also strikes the right balance on border security, providing funding for proven measures without wasting limited resources on a massive border wall.

 “While I’m proud of what’s in the omnibus, Congress still has work to finish several items not included in the final bill. Chief among those is disaster funding for California wildfire victims and an extension of the Violence Against Women Act. I also plan to keep fighting to ensure that federal contractors hurt by the last shutdown receive the back pay they deserve.

“These last few months reminded us why government shutdowns should never be used as negotiating tactic. Hopefully, with long-term funding now in place, we can begin to restore public confidence that the government will always be open and ready to serve.”

Key provisions for California

• Full funding requested for California transit projects, including $100 million for Caltrain Electrification in the Bay Area, $100 million for the Regional Connector and up to $300 million for the Westside Purple Line Extension in Los Angeles, and $100 million for the Mid-Coast Corridor in San Diego.
  
  
• $191 million to renovate and expand the Calexico West Port of Entry, including a new pedestrian processing facility and additional north and southbound inspection lanes.
  
  
• $15 million for EPA’s Border Water Infrastructure Grant Program to prevent sewage from flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border into the United States.
  
  
• $21.1 million to continue to develop and improve ShakeAlert, the West Coast earthquake early warning system that has already gone live in Los Angeles.
  
  
• $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants to provide critical funding to state and local governments for infrastructure investments and to combat homelessness. The bill also includes an additional $80 million for grants to address youth homelessness.
  
  
• $1 million for a new West Coast atmospheric river storm monitoring program to improve storm forecasting and drought preparation.
  
  
• $8.5 million to combat citrus greening in California’s $3 billion citrus industry, which is the largest in the United States.
  
  
• Enacts Senator Feinstein’s legislation to ensure women receive breast density information on their mammography reports. This information is critical to patients because dense breast tissue can hide cancer on a mammogram.

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