U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar voted in favor today of the continuing resolution, H.R. 2638, which will fund programs covered by nine regular appropriations bills that have not been enacted. H.R. 2638, also known as Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009, passed the House by a vote of 370 to 58.

“This bill will provide an additional $28,282,000 for 561 new CBP Officer positions for land ports of entry for the final two months of the fiscal year,” Congressman Cuellar said. “It will also provide for the eradication of Carrizo cane, an invasive plant species detrimental to border security along the Rio Grande.”

H.R. 2638 addresses our nation’s more pressing security needs, including implementation of the 9/11 Act and our need to prepare for disasters of every kind and cuts funding for low priority and poorly managed programs in order to increase investments in high priority areas including the security of our ports and rail and transit systems. The measure also provides for critical investments in border and immigration security, providing for record numbers of border patrol agents (20,019 in total) and Customs and Border Protection Officers, Air and Marine Interdiction Agents, and agricultural specialists (24,160 in total). The bill also mandates that taxpayer dollars are well spent with new requirements for contracting, procurement, and program oversight.

The legislation also appropriates $22.9 billion for disaster relief activities, including $7.9 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure it can help communities recover from recent disasters, including Hurricane Dolly and Hurricane Ike in Texas, and have the resources necessary to respond to future disasters. The measure provides for $1.4 billion for agricultural disaster relief projects and nearly $500 million for small business disaster loans.

The legislation provides $47.6 billion for veterans’ medical care, claims processing and facility improvements. With these funds, the Veterans Health Administration estimates they will treat more than 5.8 million patients in 2009, including more than 333,275 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan (40,000 more patients than 2008.)

H.R. 2638 provides an additional $1 billion to Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to support mothers and their children with proper nutrition, as more families struggle with the economic downturn and rising food costs. It also allocates an additional $23.5 million to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program to prevent nearly 70,000 low-income women, infants, children, and elderly citizens from losing access to food. H.R. 2638 additionally provides $7.5 billion to support $25 billion in loans to help American automakers to update their factories in order to build more fuel efficient cars and trucks.