September 14, 2017 Press Release Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) joined a majority (211-198) of the House of Representatives in supporting the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act (H.R. 3354). The legislation contains a package of funding bills that provide all discretionary funding for the federal government for the 2018 fiscal year."Today, the House took care of its job by passing all 12 of the appropriations bills for the first time since 2009," said Rep. Calvert. "The funding bill approved today reflects the priorities of most American families, including funding increases for our national security. The bill also contains funding for a number of southern California priorities, like continued investments in the earthquake early warning system and the Santa Ana River Mainstem flood control project. It's now time for the Senate to do its job and pass these bills."Highlights: The Defense portion of the bill contained $15 million requested by Rep. Calvert to construct a new schoolhouse at March Air Reserve Base to support the MQ-9 Reaper aircrew. The demand for of Remote Piloted Aircraft by our military continues to grow, making this investment essential to ensure March can meet the future needs of our Air Force. The Homeland Security portion of the bill included report language requested by Rep. Calvert addressing the rise in visa fraud for the purpose of having children in the United States. The growth of so-called birth tourism has resulted in a number of raids and arrests throughout southern California over the past few years. More recently, the city of Eastvale has reached out to Rep. Calvert about the growth of suspected birthing homes in the city. The language in the fiscal year 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations bill states: The Committee is concerned by a reported increase in individuals fraudulently entering the United States on non-immigrant visas in order to give birth in this country. While individuals are welcome to come to the U.S. on a tourist or other visa, it is against the law to apply for admission under false pretenses. The Committee is also concerned with reports that different ports of entry may not be consistently applying CBP guidance in this area, allowing individuals seeking to exploit the visa process to direct pregnant women to specific ports of entry with more lenient admission practices. The Committee directs CBP to investigate these fraud allegations and take steps to ensure that admission criteria are applied uniformly across ports of entry. The Energy and Water portion of the bill includes $40 million requested by the Trump administration and Rep. Calvert for continued construction of the Santa Ana River Mainstem flood control project. The Interior and Environment portion of the bill includes $10.2 million requested by Rep. Calvert for the continued development of an earthquake early warning system to help save lives during natural disasters. The Interior and Environment portion of the bill includes $130 million requested by Rep. Calvert for the Indian Health Care Improvement Fund to address the shortfalls in the allocations of base funding across the Indian Health Service system. The funding is particularly important to rural California tribes. ###