Lujan Grisham Challenges Republicans to Work With Dems on Balanced Spending Bill

Press Release

U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham released the following statement after Republicans voted to pass a short-term spending bill and left town without addressing pressing issues.

"Continuing resolutions undermine our military readiness and national security programs, harm small businesses, create uncertainty in the economy, and damage government services that countless Americans depend on. It is four months into the fiscal year and the President has not signed one spending bill into law or even agreed to top-line budget numbers. I remain concerned that we are no closer to resolving these issues. This lack of action hurts New Mexicans as they wait for Congress to do its job. Unfortunately, they will have to continue to wait--Republicans have recessed Congress and are already leaving town.

"I challenge Republican leadership to work with Democrats on enacting a balanced spending deal that strengthens our military and invests in our economy, funds community health centers, addresses the opioid epidemic, establishes a permanent legislative solution for 800,000 Dreamers, provides disaster assistance to Americans recovering from natural disasters, and safeguards the pensions of 10 million workers.

"As we have seen, when the Freedom Caucus and a small, extreme part of the Republican Conference control the agenda, bi-partisan work on all of these issues gets sabotaged. If the Trump Administration and Republican leadership fail to govern responsibly again and submit to the wishes of Republican extremists, they will lead Congress right back into gridlock. The only path forward is to empower the bi-partisanship consensus that already exists to resolve issues which have lingered for over a year. That may be difficult for Republican leadership to do politically, but it is undoubtedly in the best interest of the American people."

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