Deal reached on $2.1B Capitol security supplemental
Senate negotiators agreed Tuesday on a nearly $2.1 billion emergency spending measure that would bolster Capitol Hill security and fund the relocation of Afghans who helped the U.S. government during the war, according to top lawmakers in that chamber. The bipartisan pact between Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., would end months of stalemate between the parties about how to pay for costs stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters and other emergency spending matters.
The bill would provide more than $1.1 billion to help relocate Afghans, with $600 million for the State Department to improve and strengthen the special immigrant visa program; $500 million for the Defense Department for emergency transportation, housing and other essential services; and $25 million for the Department of Health and Human Services for medical screenings and housing services once the refugees are in the United States.
The bill would provide the full $521 million the National Guard says is needed to fill the budget hole created by its activation of troops from numerous states in response to the Jan. 6 attack.
The U.S. Capitol Police would receive $70.7 million to cover the costs of their response to the insurrection and “to meet urgent gaps and demands” to protect the Capitol and those inside it, according to a Democratic summary. That funding would include $31.1 million for salary and benefits, $5.8 million to bolster protective details for members who have experienced increased threats, $4.4 million for trauma support for officers and $1.3 million for gas masks.
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/27/senators-close-to-deal-on-2b-capitol-security-supplemental/
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