COURTNEY VOTES AGAINST ‘GROUNDHOG DAY’ CONTINUING RESOLUTION | Congressman Joe Courtney
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COURTNEY VOTES AGAINST ‘GROUNDHOG DAY’ CONTINUING RESOLUTION

January 18, 2018

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) made the following statement after voting against another short-term continuing resolution (CR):

"In September, I supported a continuing resolution with assurances that we would work toward a bipartisan budget agreement before the end of 2017. Now here we are in January 2018 and it feels like Groundhog Day has come early as we vote once again on a stop-gap spending measure punting the issue into next month. Where does this end?" said Courtney. "Out of the first 12 months of the Trump presidency, we have now spent 8 living under a continuing resolution with no agreement on a long-term budget to fund the government. While Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, they simply cannot muster enough support within their own party to pass a budget without Democratic support. Unfortunately, Republican leaders have shown zero-interest in engaging with Democrats in order to hash out a bipartisan agreement to get the votes they need - so they are stuck in neutral, unable to move forward or backward.

"At the same time, Republicans claim Democrats will harm the military by voting against another continuing resolution while our military leaders have told us over and over again that it is the use of CRs that is costing us money and undermining readiness. If Republicans were serious about helping the military, they would focus on lifting the spending caps that restrict both military spending and non-defense spending including the Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard, and the VA."

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