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SNOWE VOTES FOR FY ‘05 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Contact: Antonia Ferrier/ (202) 224-5344
Saturday, November 20, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today voted for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill citing the overall benefit to the State of Maine and the small business community, while raising her concern over the process that brought forth this legislation. The Omnibus Appropriations bill passed the Senate this evening by a vote of 65 to 30. The House of Representatives passed this legislation earlier today. “This evening I voted in support of the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill - essential legislation for the functioning of the federal government. This legislation contains critical programs and projects that benefit both the State of Maine and the small business community that I am pleased to have supported and am pleased are now the law of the land,” said Snowe. Snowe is particularly pleased that the Small Business Administration was reauthorized and that several of her small business provisions were included as part of the Omnibus bill, including provisions that expand the 7(a) and 504 loan programs making additional capital available to small businesses. “Today, the nation’s small businesses are winners with the passage of this Omnibus bill. Numerous critical provisions were included that will help continue our nation down the path of economic recovery and will provide our nation’s small businesses with the tools they need to succeed,” said Snowe. Snowe noted, however, her disappointment in the process that made an Omnibus bill necessary: “I am disappointed, however, by the legislative process. Congress should have completed the 13 appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. Instead, we were presented with a catch-all bill that included not only the money to keep the federal government running, but countless provisions and policy changes that never saw the light of day either through a Committee hearing or floor debate. They were inserted in the dark of night without the necessary transparency that allows the American people to have faith in the legislative process. Congress must endeavor to reach a higher standard.” Snowe also voiced her strong concern about the inclusion of a provision that would allow health-care providers to deny women access to reproductive health services, and stressed that she will fight to repeal the provision when the Senate revisits the issue in the 109th Congress. “I remain resolute in my opposition to a provision that would adversely affect reproductive health access for women across the country. It is an ill-advised policy that is clearly harmful to women and must be addressed in the 109th Congress. There are many of us who fear the broad implications of this provision and who will join together in working to repeal it. What is clear is that a provision with such far reaching ramifications should never have been included in the Omnibus in the first place, and I am pleased that the Majority Leader has agreed to reconsider this issue before April 30, 2005,” said Snowe The federal refusal clause that was included in the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill would allow a broad range of health-care companies to refuse to comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations pertaining to abortion services. This provision provides that federal, state, or local government may no longer require any institutional or individual health-care provider to provide, pay for, or refer abortion services.
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