Scott Statement on Opposition to Continuing Resolution

Statement

Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after voting against the House Republicans' latest short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government:

"Today's vote was the fourth Continuing Resolution (CR) in as many months. CRs are an abdication of Congress' constitutional responsibility to ensure that our federal government efficiently and effectively serves the American people. CRs hamstring federal agencies and freeze their ability to award new grants and puts a hold on the Department of Defense' ability to sign new contracts for shipbuilding, ship maintenance, and other critical national security priorities. Additionally, due to operating under continued uncertainty as a result of CRs, federal agencies waste billions of dollars planning on divergent budget scenarios, including preparing for a government shutdown. Compounding government waste and inefficiency, this CR only funds the critical Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years instead of ten, which would save the government billions of dollars.

"Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. I am not sure what my Republican colleagues expect to accomplish what they have not been able to accomplish in the last four months by dragging this process out until February 16th -- especially since the House will only be in session for a few full working days prior to this new deadline. Instead of going on recess next week, Congress should stay in session and work together on a long-term agreement that actually funds the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2018 and addresses CHIP, sequestration, community health centers, disaster relief, the opioid epidemic, and help for DREAMers."

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