Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Urgent Need To Pass A Bipartisan Continuing Resolution To Avoid A Government Shutdown
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the imminent need to pass a continuing resolution to avoid a catastrophic government shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Yesterday afternoon, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on a CR that will keep the government open until November 17th. And with a strong bipartisan vote of 77 to 19, the Senate agreed to move forward last night on this legislation. It shows that in the Senate, both parties can work through our differences for the betterment of the country.
But in the House, Republicans have tried everything but bipartisanship. Last night, the Speaker twisted himself into pretzels yet again trying to avoid his responsibility of governing. But this is the truth: every bill House Republicans have pushed has been partisan, every CR has been aimed at the hard right, and every path they’ve pursued to date will inevitably lead to a shutdown.
Speaker McCarthy: the only way – the only way – out of a shutdown is bipartisanship. And by constantly adhering to what the hard right wants, you're aiming for a shutdown. They want it, you know it, you can stop it. Work in a bipartisan way, like we are in the Senate, and we can avoid harm to tens of millions of Americans.
Bipartisanship is precisely what we have been pursuing here in the Senate. We haven’t agreed on everything – and there’s still a lot more work to be done – but we haven’t let our differences paralyze us. And the result has been a common sense, bipartisan, sensible approach for a CR.
It will keep the government funded at current levels until November 17th.
It will extend the Federal Aviation Administration until December 31st.
It will replenish the Disaster Relief Fund to help communities battered by natural disasters.
It will continue paying federal fire fighters.
It will extend funding for Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and other health care programs.
And it will send more help to our friends in Ukraine.
And a reckless shutdown will serve no purpose except for hard right partisans whose only goal is to grind the gears of government down and promote extremism. It will cause grave harm for communities across the country.
A reckless shutdown will cause grave harm to our border.
It will affect our military by withholding their pay.
It will disrupt everything from food safety inspection to TSA operations to small business loans.
This is the problem with MAGA extremism: it’s not serious about governing. Chaos is the only word in their playbook. Conflict seems to be their natural state of being. And some of them seem to exult in shutting down the government.
And if MAGA Republicans get their way, the danger for this country will be great: extremism will be dominant, the ultra-rich will be empowered, working families will suffer, women’s health care will be even more curtailed.
We don’t want to go down that troubling road. The Speaker should resist the thirty-or-so Republicans who want to drag us in that direction. And he can do it by giving bipartisanship a chance, just as we are doing here in the Senate.
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