Rokita Votes "No' on Continuing Resolution

Statement

Representative Todd Rokita released the following statement after the House passed legislation to fund the federal government through December. The bill passed the House by a vote of 342 to 85.

"Given that our national debt is already over $19 trillion, I cannot support this bill because several of the provisions are not even paid-for, including Zika funding, and therefore add to the national debt. To solve this problem, I introduced a fully paid-for Zika bill, which was not considered. This continuing resolution also fails to pay for disaster relief funds for the flooding that has devastated parts of the South. I saw the need for these relief funds firsthand during a visit earlier this month, but without being paid-for, this bill will try to solve one problem only by enlarging another: our debt."

This funding bill passed today provides money to fund the government through December 9. Of the $1.1 billion in Zika funding research, only $400 million is paid for. On September 15, Rep. Rokita introduced a fully paid-for alternative, the Zero Impacted Kids in America (ZIKA) Act, which provided the requested level of virus research while remaining budget-neutral.

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