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Rep. Veasey Calls for an End to a Cycle of Manufactured Crises

September 30, 2015

The House passes a “clean” appropriations bill to keep the government open until December 11, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, released the following statement after the House voted 277 to 151 to pass the Continuing Resolution to keep the government open until December 2015:

"Today, I voted in favor of a clean Continuing Resolution to avert another costly government shutdown. The House Republican led government shutdown of 2013 had devastating effects on families in the DFW Metroplex and nationwide. Lockheed Martin alone had to furlough 3,000 employees and the job security of thousands of DFW Federal employees' was jeopardized for over two weeks.

The bill presented today was far from ideal. It did not re-authorize critical bipartisan programs such as the Export-Import Bank. Recently, General Electric considered moving its headquarters to Dallas, but passed due to Republican Texas lawmakers' vocal opposition to the Export-Import Bank. Today's vote serves as a reminder that we cannot continue to fund our government on a month-to-month basis, negotiating only when crisis is knocking on our door. The American people deserve a Congress that governs responsibly and operates in a way that doesn't leave families, veterans, students, and seniors vulnerable for political gain.

Additionally, the House voted for the eighth time to defund Planned Parenthood, launching yet another assault on women's health care. Defunding this vital organization would leave millions of American women without key preventative health services and would overload our Community Health Centers. Instead of maneuvering to defund a critical provider of women's healthcare, we should be working to stand up for women nationwide.

The next three months will be the true litmus test on whether House Republican leadership will finally work with House Democrats on a long-term bipartisan funding bill. Democrats have proven that they will work across party lines in order to solve problems. House Republicans have until December 11th to prove that they can do the same. "