Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51) released the following statement regarding President Obama’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Budget.

“The President unveiled an ambitious and sensible Budget plan for FY 2016. This includes measures to strengthen our recovering economy in order to ensure it remains competitive in the 21st century. The plan lays out steps to improve our infrastructure, fortify our middle class, and to finally put an end to the sequester, in order to bring stability to our economy.

“I am especially pleased the plan includes funding that I requested in several letters to President Obama. The Budget contains $300,000 for the Salton Sea Research Project. This is a very positive sign as we address the environmental and public health concerns affecting the communities which surround the Salton Sea.

“The Budget takes into account my request for $2.3 billion in funding for the Ryan White Program to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic and $31.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH, one of the world's leading medical research centers, has been allocated $1 billion more in the FY 2016 plan than in the previous year.”