Senator David Perdue: Democrats Are Playing Politics With Critical Defense Funding

Statement

U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA), a member of the Senate Budget and Armed Services Committees, comments on Senate Democrats blocking the ability to advance a bipartisan funding package that would fully-fund the military and prevent a continuing resolution (CR) or potential government shutdown:

"Here we go again. The fiscal year ends in just seven working days, and Senate Democrats are playing partisan politics with critical funding for our military. To be clear, the only reason the Senate recessed for the August state work period was because both sides agreed to a bipartisan budget deal with no poison pill amendments. Senate Democrats ought to be ashamed of themselves for reneging on this good-faith agreement. Obviously, their mission is to obstruct the President, but in reality, they are forcing another continuing resolution, or potentially a government shutdown, on the American people. Either outcome would be absolutely draconian for our military.

"We shouldn't be in this position in first place. It's long past time for Congress to fix this broken funding process that has only funded the government on time four times since the Budget Act of 1974. Congress has used 186 continuing resolutions and shut the government down 21 times in those 45 years. Until Members of Congress are held accountable for completing the funding process on time, the Senate will continue to face the same dilemma every single year. If this latest display of partisan politics doesn't convince my colleagues that we need to change Washington's illogical funding process, then I don't know what will."

Background On Senator Perdue's Work To Responsibly Fund The Federal Government:

In May, Senator Perdue warned about the devastating impact that CRs have on military readiness.
In June, Senator Perdue introduced bold changes to fix Congress's broken funding process and end the use of continuing resolutions.
In July, Senator Perdue led 16 senators encouraging Trump Administration officials to reach consensus on a budget deal to fully fund the government on time. The senators warned that another continuing resolution (CR) would devastate the military, delay the implementation of President Trump's National Defense Strategy (NDS), and increase costs.
Senator Perdue explained why the bipartisan budget agreement is a reasonable compromise that will allow Congress to fund the federal government on time and prevent another CR.
In August, Senator Perdue encouraged his colleagues to support President Trump's bipartisan budget agreement and voted in favor of the budget deal.
Senator Perdue has continuously called out the flaws in Congress's funding process and warned of the damage CRs inflict on the military.

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