Includes emergency funds for Ukraine, US defense & $35 million for Eastern Kentucky projects

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers (KY-05) voted for the comprehensive bipartisan federal funding package (H.R. 2471) for the remainder of fiscal year 2022, avoiding a government shutdown and empowering American military forces. The bill includes $13.6 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine military operations and humanitarian aid, $782 billion for U.S. national defense, and investments to address our national crises: including border control, the opioid epidemic, skyrocketing inflation, protecting the sanctity of life and much more.

"Despite unnecessary delays, I am thankful that this Congress is working together to provide necessary funding for the United States to continue operating as a global powerhouse. Following President Biden's disasterous and deadly military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Vladimir Putin's on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is critically important that this Congress send a signal to the rest of the world that the United States stands by its allies and partners, and this bill is a key factor in doing so," said Congressman Rogers, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. 

Congressman Rogers also secured $35 million exclusively for critical projects in southern and eastern Kentucky for improved access to clean water, flood control along the Kentucky River, and economic development in Kentucky's Appalachian region, including $10 million in earmarks for community projects and $25 million for Kentucky's Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization (AMLER). AMLER is now a full-scale grant program spurred by the AML Pilot that Congressman Rogers designed in 2016 with support from Senator Mitch McConnell to boost coal-producing communities hardest-hit by the Obama/Biden Administration's War on Coal. Since 2016, the AMLER/AML Pilot programs have invested $575 million across six states, fueling 63 projects in 23 Kentucky counties.

"When all of Kentucky's AMLER projects are complete, we will have nearly 3,000 new jobs spread across our rural Appalachian region where they are needed the most. Some of the projects have moved quickly, while others require more strategic planning and work, but the end result is a stronger region with a brighter future, including more specialized healthcare options, newly connected trails and tourism activities, more access to clean water and sewer lines, and more job opportunities," said Congressman Rogers. 

Congressman Rogers' earmarks will be utilized for ten community projects in southern and eastern Kentucky, including Clay, Lee, Leslie, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin, Rowan and Pike Counties. Additional counties will be impacted by the earmarks for Operation UNITE's drug abuse prevention programs and Eastern Kentucky PRIDE's septic system grant program. 

The bill now moves on for consideration by the U.S. Senate.