Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Urgent Need To Pass An Omnibus Bill And Fund The Government
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the urgent need to pass an omnibus bill to fund the government and prevent a shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Now on a different subject, the omnibus. Earlier this morning, I joined Congressional Leaders in a meeting with President Biden at the White House in order to discuss the things we must accomplish before the end of the year.
We covered a lot of different topics, but there’s one I want to focus on right now: passing an omnibus. Leader McConnell and I have agreed to try and work together to make sure we get a yearlong funding bill done. We hope it can be done this year, and we know that each side is going to have to give in order to send an omnibus to the President’s desk – and of course it needs 60 votes.
Government funding is scheduled to run out on December 16th at midnight. If we don’t take action, the result will be a pointless and painful government shutdown.
The best option by far is for both parties to come to the table and work on a yearlong funding bill, not a Continuing Resolution. Lurching from one short-term Continuing Resolution to the next is a terrible and chaotic way to keep the government open. And ultimately it’s average Americans who get a raw deal if the government is forced to function with one hand tied behind its back.
And maybe worst of all, a CR is terrible news for our troops in uniform—it will throw their families into great uncertainty and prevent our security forces from conducting crucial operations that will keep us safe, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
So unless we want adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party to outmaneuver us militarily, we must pass an omnibus for the sake of our troops and for the sake of our national security.
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