ICYMI: Díaz-Balart Champions Crucial Funding for Health in Labor and HHS Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26), Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after the committee approved the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS)bill earlier this month:

"The FY26 Labor and Health funding bill prioritizes Americans' healthcare access, expands school choice, and devotes resources for life-saving services and research, all while cutting wasteful spending.

"I am proud to have successfully secured critical funding that directly benefits families in Collier and Miami-Dade counties. This funding will support Community Health Centers, expand Alcee Hastings Advanced Cancer screenings, advance groundbreaking research at Florida International University, and support pediatric care by funding graduate medical education. This legislation ensures families have access to life-saving treatments and prepares the next generation of healthcare providers.

"I thank Chairman Tom Cole and Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt for their leadership in advancing legislation that puts Americans' health first."

Funding Higlights for FL-26

Community Health

• Maintains critical funding for Community Health Centers, which serve as the primary point of care for underserved and vulnerable communities in Collier and Miami-Dade
• Maintains robust funding for Alcee L. Hastings Advanced Cancerscreeningsamong vulnerable, medically underserved communities, including those in Collier and Miami-Dade
• Providing $100 million for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, which will allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to invest in prevention and innovation programs for rural communities, telehealth resources for chronic care, and nutrition services.

Family Empowerment and Care

• Increases $60 million in funding to Charter schools, expanding School Choice options for parents and families.
• Maintains critical funding for Magnet schools.
• Maintains critical funding to support students with financial need who receive Pell Grants, renamed Trump Pell Grants.
• Maintains the longstanding Hyde Amendment, ensuring no federal funding can be used for abortion on demand.
• Increases $5 million in funding for children's hospitals' graduate medical education, which trains and equips the next generation of future of pediatric healthcare providers.
• Increases $10 million in funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance, which reduces the burden of energy costs for vulnerable families, including in Collier and Miami-Dade counties.
• Expresses crucial support for revolutionary approaches in functional precision medicine and groundbreaking research for adult and pediatric cancer patients, such as the ones being conducted at Florida International Universityby Dr. Diana Azzam.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Resources

• Providing increased funding for youth and young adult suicide prevention, mental health treatment, and substance abuse prevention and treatment services.
• Strengthening Tribal communitiesby supporting mental health and substance abuse treatment, elder care, and child and family services, while promoting accountability and self-sufficiency.
• Focusing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on communicable diseases rather than social engineering.
• Reducing funding by 19% and streamlining 35 duplicative and controversial programs while increasing funding to combat emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases.

Bolsters U.S. national security and border protections by:

• Providing $48 billion in funding to support biomedical research, a necessary counter to China's growing threat in basic science research.
• Strengthening America's biodefense and countering global health security threats by providing more than $3 billion for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
• Prohibiting the purchase of supplies from China for the Strategic National Stockpile, which supports American manufacturers by expanding the domestic industrial base for these items.
• Prioritizing the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children under custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement through improved sponsor vetting, interagency data sharing, welfare checks, and reporting requirements.
• Securing the nation's food security by rolling back the Biden Administration's burdensome one-size-fits-all regulations leading to the closure of small family farms.

A summary of the bill is available here.

Bill Text is available here.