Murray Remarks on Funding the Government and Avoiding an Unnecessary Shutdown

"Like all of my colleagues, I have been back home with my constituents--talking about their concerns and their priorities.

"And let me tell you: they do not want to spend the next month wondering if Congress is going to fulfill its most basic obligation and fund the government!

"Here in the Senate, we have proven there is exactly zero reason for chaos or for shutdown.

"In working with Vice Chair Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee has shown the American people that Congress can actually do its job--that we can work in a timely, bipartisan way to solve problems and make life better for the communities that we represent.

"We heard from members on both sides of the aisle they want to return to regular order, and we have been working very hard to ensure an open, bipartisan process is going on to make that happen.

"We held markups with input from members on both sides and televised them for the first time ever. So everyone could see what was in them and what was going on. The result was real progress.

"For the first time in five years, we passed all 12 appropriations bills out of Committee--and we did it with overwhelming bipartisan support.

"Nine of the twelve Committee bills were unanimous or had just a single "no' vote.

"We spent a lot of time and a lot of late nights and early mornings negotiating serious bills which can actually be signed into law, and which actually follow the bipartisan debt limit deal President Biden and Speaker McCarthy struck earlier this year.

"We have provided a clear bipartisan roadmap to fund the government under extremely difficult constraints, proving Congress can work together and through its differences.

"The next step--as you just heard--is to bring these bills to the floor--and we will start next week with the Milcon-VA bill, the Ag-FDA bill, and the THUD bill.

"And we hope, again, to move to them as early as Monday evening.

"That's very good progress, but I think we all understand a CR will be necessary to make sure we have time to complete this process, and that supplemental funding like President Biden has requested is absolutely necessary to support our Ukrainian allies, provide relief for the truly heartbreaking disasters we have seen around the country, stop the flow of fentanyl, and more.

"And let me be clear: we can and should meet the President's full supplemental funding request.

"There are too many urgent priorities that we cannot afford to shortchange: everything from delivering the disaster relief communities desperately need to recover, to paying our wildland firefighters, and continuing to have our Ukrainian allies' back.

"On that note, I have to say: I hope we can all come together--Democrats and Republicans--to address the child care crisis, as critical dollars for that are set to expire at the end of this month. I am ready to work with my Republican colleagues in every way possible to help make sure our child care centers remain open and our kids don't lose those slots, and parents--especially our moms--can stay at work.

"Now, as many of you know, I am no stranger to tough negotiations or fiscal brinksmanship.

"But I think it does bear repeating: the Senate has shown there is a genuine bipartisan path to do our jobs and fund the government.

"The Senate Appropriations Committee--with plenty of members on opposite ends of the political spectrum, strongly progressive Democrats and deeply conservative Republicans--wrote 12 bills to make our country safer, our economy more competitive, and do good for the people we all represent back home.

"We are full steam ahead here in the Senate and as we move forward, I hope that my colleagues in both chambers remember that the power of the purse rests with Congress. We have to take that responsibility seriously."

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