Dianne Feinstein: “today, I voted for H.R. 4328, the omnibus appropriations bill. I believe that on balance, this legislation will benefit…”

“today, I voted for H.R. 4328, the omnibus appropriations bill. I believe that on balance, this legislation will benefit California. This bill is 4,000 pages, 38 pounds, and stands a foot tall. It appropriates $500 billion, funds a third of the federal government for fiscal year 1999, and includes many pieces of authorizing legislation. My staff reviewed the entire bill yesterday. It includes properly written legislative bill language as well as many hand written changes and amendments. Congressional negotiators, the administration, and many staff members have worked for weeks to finalize this legislation today, but that work was often done behind closed doors without the full review of the Senate. I do not believe that this is the way the Congress should do its work. Our choice today was to shut down the government or pass this bill. I want, however, to note that the omnibus bill provides many benefits for Californians. education This bill funds several education initiatives. It includes $1.2 billion to hire teachers and reduce elementary class sizes, an effort already underway in California. This will mean 3,500 new teachers in California. This bill also includes increased funding for Head Start, for Education Reform, for bilingual education, for charter schools, for educational technology and for student financial assistance. California school enrollment is growing at 3 times the national rate.”