Senate Set to Prevent Shutdown by Following Republican Roadmap
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding government funding:
“Today, the Senate will consider and pass a government funding bill and do our part to avoid a shutdown.
“The continuing resolution contains a number of key items that Republicans called for.
“That includes supplemental funds to help resettle vetted Afghan refugees and hurricane recovery aid for Louisiana.
“It’s seriously disappointing that the Democratic side would not let us include funding for Israel’s Iron Dome in the base text. It baffles me that defensive aid to our ally Israel has become a thorny subject for the political left.
“But overall, this is encouraging progress.
“The Democratic majority has begun to realize that the way forward on basic governing duties matches the road map that Republicans have been laying out for months.
“On government funding, what Republicans laid out all along was a clean, continuing resolution without the poison pill of a debt limit increase. That’s exactly what will pass today.
“Earlier this week, the Democratic Leader tried to muscle through something different, through a partisan jam. But it failed. Now the government will be funded as we laid out.
“That’s step one.
“Next will come step two — the debt ceiling. And we have clearly laid out the way forward there as well. As I’ve explained since July, Democrats need to begin the fast-track process for handling that issue through reconciliation.
“Clumsy attempts at partisan jams by the majority will not change that reality. It didn’t work on government funding and it won’t work on the debt limit. They will just be wasting valuable time.
“I think this reality is starting to dawn on our colleagues.
“Multiple leading House Democrats acknowledged just this week that their unified Democratic government is fully capable of fast-tracking a debt limit increase on their own. Nonpartisan experts have confirmed they have plenty of time to get it done before late October.
“At the same time that the Senate Democratic Leader says incorrectly that he doesn’t have enough time, he has spent weeks of the Senate’s time processing mid-tier nominations. Today the majority is spending multiple hours to confirm a Bureau of Land Management nominee who literally collaborated with eco-terrorists!
“Fiddling away day after day while they pretend they lack the time to do their most basic job.
“Senate Republicans have been totally transparent. We’ve given Democrats a step-by-step guide to governing in this environment and months of advance notice to get it done.
“The conclusion to draw from this week is very clear: Clumsy efforts at partisan jams do not work. What works is when the majority accepts reality.
“We’re able to fund the government today because the majority accepted reality. The same thing will need to happen on the debt limit next.”
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