Russ Feingold: “I will vote in favor of final passage of the Senate version of the fiscal year 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services…”

“I will vote in favor of final passage of the Senate version of the fiscal year 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. This legislation is an improvement over the House-passed bill and over the President's request in many areas. However, it still vastly underfunds a number of crucial programs. I commend the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee for their work to produce this bill under tight fiscal constraints. However, we can and should do better for the many Americans who depend on the programs that are funded by this important appropriations bill. I am pleased that the Senate adopted two amendments I worked on. One was an amendment I cosponsored that the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, offered, to provide much-needed funding to improve access to dental health in rural and underserved areas, and the other was an amendment I offered to increase public access to automatic external defibrillators in schools. I have worked with my colleague from Maine, Ms. Collins, for a number of years to secure funding for these important programs, and I hope to see these provisions carry through to the conference report. I regret that the Senate missed a number of opportunities to improve this bill, including by rejecting amendments that would have increased funding for a number of elementary and secondary education programs, including title I, after-school programs, and special education.…”