Luján says measure once again fails to adequately address funding priorities

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) today issued the following statement on the Republican short-term spending bill offered in the House:

“Once again, Congressional Republicans have ignored their responsibility to govern and have taken us to the brink of another federal government shutdown for the second time this year. This is the fifth time in six months that Republicans have asked for an extension to complete the fundamental responsibility of funding our government.

The lack of a long-term budget and long-term spending bills demonstrates Congressional Republicans’ irresponsibility and incompetence. Republicans have also failed to meaningfully act on vital priorities – priorities for which there are bipartisan solutions on the table, including:

• providing emergency assistance for our fellow Americans rebuilding after natural disasters,
• devoting real resources to combat the opioid crisis,
• additional funding for our nation’s veterans, and
• saving at-risk pensions.

It appears the majority party cannot even agree on a temporary fix. The short-term House bill is designed to keep the lights on through March 23, but Senate leaders are not willing to commit to that framework.

In addition, President Trump and his Republican allies have still not put forward a workable solution to the looming March deadline for DACA recipients and DREAMers. Democrats have been working in a bipartisan way to reach an agreement on DACA and DREAMers, and there are now multiple bipartisan proposals with considerable support in both the House and the Senate.

But once again, the White House is unwilling to compromise and is pushing a my-way-or-the-highway plan that uses DREAMers as bargaining chips in order to achieve drastic hardline changes to immigration policy.

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