Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Need To Avoid A Government Shutdown, Fund The Government, And Pass The National Defense Authorization Act
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the urgent need to pass a one-week continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown and continuing to make progress on omnibus government funding legislation and the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Last night, the House of Representatives passed a one-week continuing resolution that will keep the government open long enough for us to pass a bipartisan yearlong omnibus.
Negotiations keep trending in the right direction, but we still have a lot of work left to do and not enough time to do it, unless we extend government funding for another week.
Let me put it a different way: as of this morning, the Senate will now require consent from both parties if we want to pass a CR before funding runs out tomorrow at midnight. We should move quickly to avert a shutdown today, without any unwelcome brouhaha that has caused shutdowns in years past.
Democrats are ready to act at a moment’s notice, and I hope Republicans will stand ready too. Both sides are going to spend the day working on an agreement to get the weeklong CR done.
We should have no drama, no gridlock, and no delay on passing a weeklong CR. Just remember, those who demand something happen and risk shutting down the government almost always lose.
Let me say that again. No drama, no gridlock, no delay: that’s the recipe right now for avoiding a shutdown within the next 48 hours, and I’m very hopeful we’ll get that done with time to spare.
For the last two years, the 117th Congress has not had a single government shutdown. Not one. Not even for a day. I hope we don’t start now, just as we approach the finish line. Recent history shows that those who risk shutdowns with hopes of scoring political points ultimately lose in the end.
Now once we pass the CR, we can make progress towards an omnibus. I’ve said it time and time again that a yearlong omnibus is the best and most balanced option to fund our government.
An omnibus is the best approach because it will ensure that our kids, our veterans, our small businesses, and our military continue to have full access to vital services and programs they depend on.
An omnibus is the most balanced approach because it would contain priorities both sides want to see: funding for Ukraine, the ECA: Electoral Count Act, and full implementation of CHIPS and Science, the PACT Act and more. We worked so hard together on these bills, now let’s work together again to implement them fully.
As we continue negotiating to pass a one week CR and omni, both sides will keep working on an agreement to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, hopefully today, trying to do it as soon as today.
The National Defense Authorization Act has been a consistently bipartisan effort every year for more than six decades. I do not expect this year to be any different, and I thank Chairman Reed and all my colleagues for their good work on this bill.
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