Government Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last night, we extended government funding for 2 additional days. The Senate and the House need to finalize another rescue package containing all the policies I just named and many more. We need to finalize government funding legislation for next year, and we need to pass these measures with a big, bipartisan vote and get them signed into law without further delay.

We need cooperation and focus from all sides. There is a kind of gravitational pull here in Congress, where, unless we are careful, any major negotiation can easily slide into an unending catalogue of disagreements. Let's guard against that.

The American people have already waited for more assistance longer than they could afford. In my judgment, they have waited far too long for a relief package of the same general size and scope that Senate Republicans have been proposing literally since last summer. Every one of us in the Senate and the House represent American families who simply cannot wait any longer for Congress to conclude these discussions. Every day that we delay may very well cost more small businesses their survival, cost more American workers their jobs, and, yes, cost more Americans their very lives.

We have had productive discussions this week. I appreciate the good- faith spirit that has characterized my talks with the Democratic leader, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, and Secretary Mnuchin, but the American people cannot feed their families or pay their bills with Congress's good-faith discussions. They need us to act. We need to conclude our talks, draft legislation, and land this plane.

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