This week, House and Senate appropriators agreed on an omnibus spending bill to fund the government for the rest of FY17 through September 30, 2017. The bill included $111,360,000 for the Office of Citizen Exchanges which operates international exchange programs, including those that send U.S. artists abroad. The office was previously funded at $102,000,000; the FY17 allotment is an increase of $9,360,000. Next, both the full House and full Senate must vote on the spending bill before it can be sent to the president to be signed into law. All of these activities are expected to take place by Friday, May 5.