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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I have good news this morning. Before the day is done, the Senate will pass a temporary extension of government funding, avoiding a painful and unnecessary shutdown next week. The agreement we locked in last night allows for no poison pill amendments.

Americans can breathe easy that because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done. We will keep the government open. We will prevent vital government services from needlessly coming to a halt. We will give appropriators more time to fully fund the government before the end of the year. And I am especially pleased we are getting the job done with some time to spare.

Now, none of this would have happened without bipartisan cooperation.

For the information of my colleagues, later today, the House is expected to take up the CR and pass it on suspension. Once the Senate receives the House bill, we will immediately move to its consideration. We hope to vote early this evening, with final passage set at 60 votes. So if all goes well in the House, the Senate should be sending President Biden a bill before the end of today.

This is a good outcome for the country. There will be no shutdown because, finally, at the end of the day, our colleagues in the House decided to work with us.

So thank you to my colleagues on both sides for their work. We aren't quite done, but we are now on a clear glidepath to getting the CR across the finish line.

I hope the House will have learned its lesson that, once again, listening to the hard right on these vital issues, funding the government, avoiding default, cannot lead to anything that is useful or constructive. In fact, I hope this positive outcome of bipartisanship can set the tone for more constructive bipartisan work when we return in the fall.

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