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In Appropriations Markup, Rep. Susie Lee Secures Funding for Nevada Servicemembers, Airforce Equipment Used at Creech Airforce Base

July 13, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Susie Lee, a member of the Appropriations Committee, voted to pass two funding bills out of the full committee that include multiple provisions pushed for by Congresswoman Lee. The Homeland Security and Defense funding bills for fiscal year 2022 now head to the House floor for final passage.

"These funding bills will go a long way to make our country and Nevada safer," said Rep. Lee. "I'm proud to have passed a Defense funding bill that ensures our troops are being compensated fairly for their service and includes additional funding for aircraft flown at Creech Air Force Base. The Homeland Security funding bill includes robust funding for beefing up cybersecurity to help address the serious and growing threat of cyber-attacks and intrusions. I also secured important additional funding for the Urban Areas Security Initiative – funding that will help ensure that Las Vegas is able to prevent, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism."

Rep. Susie Lee helped to champion and secure the following priorities in the Defense funding bill, which was advanced by the full Appropriations Committee today:

  • Secured funding for 12 MQ-9 Reapers, six more than the Presidential Request. This aircraft is flown at Creech Air Force Base.
  • Secured 2.7% pay increase in pay for military servicemembers, which will directly affect the more than the 10,000 airmen and soldiers currently stationed in Nevada, as well as the more than 4,000 members of the Nevada National Guard.
  • Secured $42 million for the STARBASE program, a STEM education program for primary education children across military bases across the nation, including Nellis Air Force Base.
  • Secured $25 million to provide transport and safe passage to Afghans who have provided faithful and valuable service to the United States and who are under serious threat.
  • Secured $15 million for the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants Program that promotes foreign language study programs targeting elementary and secondary students.
  • Secured $300 million for the Israeli cooperative research and development programs, including David's Sling and Arrow-3.
  • Secured $110.4 billion, a $3.2 billion above the FY 2021 enacted level, that invests in basic and applied scientific research, development, test, and evaluation of new technologies and equipment.

A summary of the Defense bill is here. The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee's commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

The following amendments to the bill were adopted by the full Committee:

Rep. McCollum – The manager's amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Lee #1 – This amendment repeals the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Lee #2 – This amendment repeals the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Susie Lee helped to champion and secure the following priorities in the Homeland Security funding bill, which was advanced by the full Appropriations Committee today:

  • Secured an increase of $397.4 million above to prevent cyber-attacks and root out cyber intrusions
  • Secured an increase of $10.7 million to conduct research on voting technologies and election procedures to help ensure election systems are secure.
  • Secured $795 million in Urban Areas Security Initiative funding, assists high-threat, high-density Urban Areas, including Las Vegas, in efforts to build and sustain the capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism.
  • Secured responsible investments in border security, including $655 million for construction and modernization of land port of entry facilities, $50 million for border technology, $10 million for port of entry technology, and $10 million for video recording capabilities at Border Patrol Stations.
  • The Homeland Security funding bill will also:
    • Invest strongly in maritime security through funding for the Coast Guard
    • Respect the dignity of immigrants with new funding to improve migrant processing and reduce backlogs in refugee, asylum, and immigration benefit applications


A summary of the bill is here. The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee's commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

The following amendments to the bill were adopted by the full Committee:

Rep. Roybal-Allard #1 – The manager's amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Roybal-Allard #2 – Requires the FEMA cost share adjustment to be not less than 90 percent for disasters and emergencies declared or that began in calendar year 2020. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Meng #1Allows unused fiscal year 2020 and 2021 diversity visas, employment visas, and family-based visas to remain available in fiscal year 2022 and beyond until they are used. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Meng #2 (with Reps. Espaillat, Pocan and Torres)Allows issuance of diversity visas to immigrants who would have otherwise been issued diversity visas but for former President Trump's Muslim Ban. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Pingree (with Reps. Cuellar, Harris, and Ruppersberger)Provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with authority to make available additional H-2B visas. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Cuellar (with Rep. Newhouse) Requires the admittance of H-2A workers in fiscal year 2021 without regard to whether they will engage in work that is temporary or seasonal in nature. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Rep. Watson Coleman Provides for the cancellation of Community Disaster Loans. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Issues:Veterans