Bass Statement on Today's Vote to Fund Troops, Keep Federal Government Open PDF Print
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April 7, 2011

WASHINGTON – Congressman Charles F. Bass (NH-02) issued the following statement today after the House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1363) that will fund the federal government for one week and fund the Department of Defense for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends on September 30th. The legislation also makes $13 billion in reductions to discretionary spending, excluding defense.

Bass said:

"While not a perfect solution, this bill will give Congress one more week to negotiate a compromise. More importantly, this legislation will give our military the funding certainty it needs for the rest of this fiscal year. Our troops shouldn't have to worry about having access to the resources they need, and they shouldn't have to worry about not getting paid while they are serving in harm's way.

"We can all agree that funding the government in one- or two-week increments is no way to operate the federal government. We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if the Democrat-led Congress had done its job last year and passed a budget and the spending bills. I do not support a government shutdown and it will not help us accomplish our larger goals of getting spending under control and reducing the deficit.

"It has been at least 45 days since the House passed a bill to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year. The Senate Leadership has not made the same commitment and has failed to pass any legislation that would fund the government for the long-term and bring closure to this debate. We have bigger issues to tackle and the American people want us to move past this and get to work strengthening the economy and allowing the private sector to create jobs."

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