April 10, 2021 - Washington - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Friday released the following statement on President Biden’s outline of his budget request:

“President Biden’s budget aligns with our country’s values. It’s refreshing to see a budget outline that invests in the American people, our communities and our economy to build a stronger future.

“I’m particularly pleased that the president increased funding for ending the coronavirus pandemic, helping people get back to work, fighting climate change and expanding opportunity through education. I’m also pleased that the budget includes funding to end the epidemic of gun violence, fight wildfires and address homelessness, which are major priorities for California.

“This budget outline provides a strong foundation for this administration going forward. It highlights the fact that President Biden’s priorities are in the right place, and I’m proud to support it.”

Key priorities

• Invests $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve our country’s ability to confront public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  
• Combats gun violence in our communities with $2.1 billion to address the public health crisis and $100 million for the new DOJ/CDC Community Violence Intervention programs.
  
  
• Includes $1 billion in funding for Violence Against Women Act programs, nearly double the previous year.
  
  
• Provides an additional $14 billion to reduce emissions and address climate change with a whole-government approach.
  
  
• Invests in affordable housing and fighting homelessness, including $30.4 billion for Housing Choice Vouchers, which will expand access to 200,000 additional families and $3.5 billion, a nearly 17 percent increase, for Homeless Assistance Grants.
  
  
• Helps fix our broken immigration system by providing $861 million to address the root causes of migration from Central America, $345 million to adjudicate naturalization and asylum cases and $891 million to reduce court backlogs through 100 new immigration judges.
  
  
• Invests $63.5 billion in the State Department, a 12 percent increase, including $10 billion for global health security to prevent and respond to future pandemics, $2.5 billion to combat climate change and increased funding for United Nations peacekeeping.
  Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein