Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04), Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives advanced H.R. 5860, the Continuing Appropriations Act, which would keep the government open until November 17. Cole supported the legislation.
“While Congress should come to an agreement to fully fund the government, we should also remember that the funding levels instilled by Democrats previously in control of both chambers of Congress are unsustainable,” said Cole. “House Republicans are passing our appropriations bills to provide full funding and have already sent four bills, which would fund nearly 70 percent of the discretionary budget, to the Senate. But we cannot shutdown the government in the interim and punish the American people, our service members and civilian workforce. This legislation would avoid that while allowing Congress to finish the job and provide critical disaster relief to Hawaii which was devastated by wildfires.
“I applaud Speaker McCarthy for taking this path forward. Government shutdowns are not the way to govern and do not work as a negotiation tactic. I thank him for his leadership to avert a shutdown, something the previous four Republican Speakers did not do, and this body for working in a bipartisan manner for the good of the American people.”
