Lujan Grisham Votes Against Damaging Short-Term Funding Bill that Ignores Urgent Issues

Press Release

U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham released the following statement after Congress once again extended last year's budget through February 16, 2018. The bill doesn't include disaster assistance for the Puerto Rico and other areas, funding for community health centers, money for the opioid crisis, or a legislative fix for 800,00 Dreamers and their families.

"Short-term funding bills slowly grind government to a halt by damaging our national security and creating instability in our economy. Contractors can't get paid, universities and non-profits can't receive grants, and our state's national laboratories and military bases can't make the investments they need to keep Americans safe. With the passage of this bill, we will be using last year's budget almost halfway through this fiscal year with no end in sight. A bipartisan budget deal would have enabled us to cut wasteful and ineffective spending while investing in critical priorities that grow our economy and create jobs.

"Operating the government in this way has been business as usual for far too long and it has to end, especially while life-threatening issues go unaddressed. Republican leadership has ignored the opioid crisis, reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program, supporting our community health centers, and enacting a permanent fix for 800,000 Dreamers for a year while they pushed their massive tax bill for the richest Americans through Congress in seven weeks. My focus is with my Republican colleagues who are committed to finding consensus on funding the government, with Americans struggling with drug addiction, with families who can't access health care services, and with Dreamers who fear detention and deportation."

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