Statment of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To President Trump Proposing A Three-Week Continuing Resolution And Finally Agreeing To Demands To Reopen The Government
Friday, Jan. 25, 2019
Senator Patrick Leahy For 35 days, President Trump has robbed hundreds of thousands of American families of their paychecks, forcing dedicated public servants to turn to foodbanks and unemployment benefits to feed and support their families. For 35 days, President Trump denied millions of taxpaying Americans access to public services. For 35 days, President Trump has inflicted pain on the American people and compromised our national security.
CNN: Agreement will temporarily reopen the government after more than a month
And for what? All of this pain and suffering to end where we began. On December 19, the Senate passed a bill by voice vote to fund the government to February 8 – nearly what the President has proposed today – only for President Trump to break his word and precipitate this national crisis.
The Trump Shutdown should have never happened, and it should have never dragged on for 35 days. I hope that the President has learned that Congress is a coequal branch of government, and the American people are not pawns to be played with in his political games.
I look forward to continuing my bipartisan work with Chairman Shelby to make responsible investments in the American people and border security, and I pray that President Trump does not repeat this national embarrassment again. Let us promptly vote to reopen the government and end this national nightmare.
Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) issued the following statement on the reopening of federal government:
President Trump’s reckless decision to shutter federal agencies in order to fulfill a phony campaign promise did real harm to real people. For 35 days, federal employees, contractors and businesses endured government-inflicted financial jeopardy. The American economy was damaged. Vital government services, from ensuring the safety of our skies to the safety of our food, were disrupted.
America needs commonsense, cost-effective border and port security and comprehensive immigration reform. Those important goals will never be met if this impetuous and willful president does not abandon the now thoroughly discredited tactic of closing the federal government. It should never be used again.