Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Bipartisan Appropriations Agreement To Avoid A Harmful Government Shutdown
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on yesterday’s announcement of an appropriations agreement to avoid a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Yesterday, Congressional leaders announced that we have come to an agreement to avoid a shutdown this weekend, so we can finish our work to fund the federal government for the rest of the year.
The House is set to vote today on an extension of government funding until March 8th and March 22nd.
Once the House acts, I hope the Senate can pass the short-term CR as soon as tonight, but that will require all of us working together. There’s certainly no reason this should take a very long time, so let’s cooperate and get it done quickly.
I am very glad we got this done before Friday’s deadline. I worked very hard with Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and all the appropriators to reach this agreement. It is consistent with the topline agreement I reached with the Speaker back in January, without the unacceptable poison pill riders that we said wouldn’t fly.
As I said directly to the Speaker over and over and over again, the only way to get things done here is with bipartisanship, and this agreement is another proof point.
This agreement is proof that when the four leaders work together, when bipartisanship is prioritized, when getting things done for the American people takes a high priority, good things can happen even in divided government. And I hope this sets the stage for Congress to finish the appropriations process in a bipartisan way very soon.
On top of all that, I am very glad the American people won’t have to deal with the pain of a government shutdown. Even a partial shutdown would have threatened services for moms and children, it would have hurt our veterans, it would have hurt farmers and homebuyers and law enforcement and so much more. Thankfully we are on track to avoiding all of that.
If there’s anything that this appropriations process has made abundantly clear, it’s this: when serious-minded Democrats and serious-minded Republicans engage each other with a desire to get things done, good things happen even in divided government. We avoid shutdowns. We invest in the American people. We make our country stronger.
###
