December 23, 2024

HOYLE RELEASES STATEMENT ON VOTE TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN

While House Republicans were busy bowing down to the world’s richest man, House Democrats stood up for farmers, federal workers, and disaster victims.

For Immediate Release: December 23, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C – On Friday, November 20, U.S. Representative Val Hoyle voted for the American Relief Act, 2025 to keep the federal government open and ensure federal employees get paid over the holidays. After casting her vote, Representative Hoyle released the following statement: 

“Even though this was not the original bipartisan agreement agreed to by both parties and chambers, this bill includes important wins for Oregonians and our country just as we enter the holiday season,” Representative Hoyle said. “Oregon will receive$624 million in disaster relief assistance for our record setting wildfire seasons and the ice storms that hit our state early this year. Federal employees,like our TSA agentsand air traffic controllers, will continue to be paid over the holiday season. And the bill keeps in place the current pay bump for wildland firefighters as Democrats push for a permanent increase. Once again, House Democrats were the ones who stood up to protect disaster victims, federal workers, and our nation’s farmers, as34 House Republicans still voted to shut down the government.”

“House Democrats did more than just keep the government open,” Hoyle continued. “Thanks to oureffective opposition, this bill did not contain the blank check debt ceiling increase that President-elect Trump demanded. This was the incoming administration’s first attempt at greasing the wheels to slash taxes on the wealthy and corporations and make working people pay the price for it.”

“While we did avert a shutdown, the American people should absolutely be concerned about what we saw last week. It is clear, House Republicans are not fighting for their constituents, they are fighting for the richest man in the world.When one man’s tweets can cause an entire political party to abandon its values, constituents, and responsibilities, we are no longer living in a democracy as we used to know it. It is also clear that the incoming administration doesn’t want to change this, they want to accelerate it on the backs of working people, veterans, and seniors. We cannot let this happen.”

The American Relief Act, 2025 includes key funding for disaster relief and recovery in Oregon, including:

  • $624 million for disaster relief fundingto address damage from the recentwildfire seasons and ice storms,including

  • $241 million in agricultural relief funding for Oregonianfarmers and producers;

  • $122 million in other transportationfunding. 

This bill also containsvital funding for federal programs that help with disaster recovery and assistance across the country, including:

  • $29 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which provides funding to communities for disaster response, recovery, and mitigation after major disasters;

$6.35 billion for forestry programs to address the consequences of wildfires, and other natural disasters in the past three years;

  • $920 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection program to help remove or reduce hazards to watersheds created by natural disasters;

  • $356.6 million for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program to assist private forest owners restore forests damaged by natural disasters;

  • $1 billion for NOAA, including $300 million for Fisheries Disaster Assistance.

  • Rep. Hoyle requested supplemental funding for NOAA toinvest in technology to help forecast and predict disasters before they strike

Rep. Hoyle’s full video statement on her vote, here. 

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