Congressman Fred Upton cast his final vote as a member of the U.S. House Friday. He now retires after nearly 40 years in office. Upton’s office has released the following:
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, today voted for the omnibus federal spending bill to fund the government for Fiscal Year 2023. The $1.7 trillion spending bill provides funding for defense and other domestic priorities, including $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health (ARPA-H) championed by Upton. ARPA-H, like its defense counterpart, will fund cutting-edge research that has the potential to save millions of lives. Passage of the bill also marked Upton’s final vote of nearly 22,000 cast and 36 years of service for the people of Southwest Michigan. Upton issued the following statement after House passage of the bill:
“Today I cast my final vote as your congressman. It was a vote to keep our government open and working for the people, which is something I have made the hallmark of my career. With Christmas this weekend, a government shutdown would have been the ultimate ‘Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” And punting the ball until later would have ended like a scene from Charlie Brown when the narrow margins in the House and Senate literally would have allowed a few lawmakers to snatch the ball away and force a shutdown early next year.
“This bill provides a 10-percent increase in funding, to $858 billion, for our military to keep it the strongest, best-equipped fighting force and protect our homeland and way of life. It also includes $45 billion to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion and barbaric targeting of Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. As a member of the congressional Ukraine Caucus, and one-time Reagan administration staffer, I believe Ukraine’s fight for the freedom of its nation and people against a foe that historically has opposed America is in our own Nation’s interests.
“This bill also provides funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health that will save countless lives and keep America as a leading center for medical and health research. I have long considered the bipartisan passage of the Cures bill, which helped speed medical innovation and pave the way for the lifesaving COVID vaccines, to be my biggest legislative accomplishment. ARPA-H was an integral part of the Cures 2.0 legislation that I was working on with my colleague Diana DeGette from Colorado. Seeing the agency stood up this year and fully funded is a fitting outcome that I believe will help improve health outcomes for all Americans.
“With today’s vote, I want to thank the people of Southwest Michigan for giving me the chance to serve as your congressman all these years. It has truly been an honor and privilege to serve.
“I would have far preferred 12 individual spending bills completed by the end of the Fiscal Year, September 30, like we had when I was first elected rather than one giant omnibus 4,100-page bill with no amendments. But the Senate left us no choice and we’re likely to see the same repeated next year with divided government. We need to radically reform the budget and spending process and this bill illustrates why. But to shut down the government with the election of the next Speaker very much in doubt, coupled with a new Congress, could create an even greater paralysis with our defense needs on autopilot rather than reflecting the dangerous world’s realities including the crisis in Ukraine would be a dereliction of duty.
