Rep Engel -- Two-Week Funding Bill Helps, But Bipartisan Llong-Term Answer Must Be Found

Statement

Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement after the passage of a two-week extension to the FY 2011 Appropriations bill funding the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The current funding was set to expire in three days and this extension will run through March 18. Further action must be taken, by that date, or the government will shut down. The measure now awaits action by the Senate.

"The $4 billion in cuts included in this bill were a small agreement between both parties in the House and Senate, as well as President Obama and is designed to allow us additional time to negotiate a long-term agreement in place for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends September 30. This will allow us to then focus on the FY 2012 budget. The cuts voted on last month, by the House Republicans, were a wholesale cutting of the social safety net. These are programs they have railed against for decades, programs which benefit the middle- and poorer-classes, women, children, seniors, local governments and small businesses. Their method of cutting amounted to taking a meat ax to the budget, when a scalpel would have been sufficient.

"I am hopeful in the next two weeks; the Republican Majority will need to work with the Democrats, the Senate and President Obama, rather than demand their way, or no way. Only together can we make changes to our budget which will make an impact on our deficit without placing too large of a burden on working families and those Americans who can least afford it. I look forward to this conversation and I am committed to keep the government from being shutdown.

"In 1995, over 800,000 federal employees were unable to report to work. Services to veterans were curtailed. New patients were turned away from the National Institutes of Health. Delinquent child-support cases were delayed. National parks and museums were closed leading to loss of tourism and revenues across the nation. Hundreds of thousands of passport applications went unprocessed. Prolonged shutdowns would stop new Social Security applicants and new applicants for veterans' benefits, and constituent services from Congressional offices.

"This is not what the American people want, they want us to work together to solve our nation's problems. It is time we did just that."

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