Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at this afternoon’s Senate Democratic leadership press conference. Murray reiterated the need to quickly pass a Continuing Resolution to avert a needless shutdown so that Congress can continue negotiating and pass the strongest possible bipartisan, bicameral funding bills in the coming weeks. She also stressed the importance of finally passing the national security supplemental. Video of Senator Murray’s remarks is available HERE.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Now that we finally have a spending framework, which allows us to move forward on full-year appropriations bills, I have been working around the clock with my colleagues in both chambers to keep this process moving as quickly as possible and write and pass the strongest possible bipartisan, bicameral funding bills—and get them to the President’s desk.
“After all, we are talking about negotiating twelve bills that fund our federal government and have huge implications for our families and our country’s future.
“It’s critical we get it right and pass the strongest possible funding bills—and soon.
“But as that work continues, we absolutely have to prevent a harmful government shutdown come Friday.
“So I am really glad there is bipartisan agreement in both chambers on a CR to avert that shutdown so we can get our bills done.
“And I certainly hope that it is the last CR that we consider.
“We took the first step to get that passed yesterday, and I hope everyone will continue to work with us to get this wrapped in a quick, timely way, so we can avoid a pointless, expensive shutdown, and keep our focus on the pressing challenges at hand.
“Because we still have an awful lot of work to get done in a short amount of time to finalize serious appropriations bills—free of partisan poison pills—that protect key investments in our country’s future.
“And, as you heard, we still urgently need to take action on a supplemental that gets desperately needed support to our allies in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific—and provides humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
“I will be joining leaders from both parties at the White House today to discuss how we get this across the finish line.”
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