Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Passing The Continuing Resolution To Avoid A Government Shutdown And Moving Forward Bipartisan Appropriations Legislation
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor in advance of Senate passage of bipartisan legislation to avoid a government shutdown and on moving forward with bipartisan appropriations legislation next week. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
I am happy to inform the American people that there will be no government shutdown on Friday. When we pass this bill, we will have, thank God, avoided a shutdown with all its harmful effects on the American people.
I thank my colleagues for working together; it’s good we’re not shutting down. And now, let us finish the job of funding the government so we don’t have to do this again.
As I’ve said repeatedly to the Speaker, the only way to get things done in divided government is bipartisanship. I’m glad the Speaker heard our plea and worked with us to avert a shutdown.
Next week, we hope to bring the first six funding bills to the floor and send them to the President’s desk before March 8th. The vote tonight is a strong indication that we can work in a bipartisan way to get those bills passed, and we hope to finish funding all of the government by March 22nd. That is the commitment the Speaker made with us yesterday and we are counting on him to follow through.
What we have done today has overcome the opposition of the MAGA hard-right, and gives us a formula for completing the appropriations process in a way that does not shut down the government and capitulate to extremists. I thank Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and all the appropriators who helped reach this agreement.
