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In dissent, Eshoo blasts short-term funding bill

Congresswoman calls continuing resolution 'abdication of leadership'

Hours after casting her dissenting vote on a bill to fund the federal government until Feb. 8, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, said short-term measures like the one adopted Monday night represent "negligence and incompetence."

Eshoo was one of 146 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote against the continuing resolution, which was approved by a 266-150 vote (four Republicans also dissented) on Monday afternoon and signed into law by President Donald Trump later in the evening. The Senate had passed the bill in the morning by an 81-18 vote.

The bill keeps the federal government funded until Feb. 8 and renews the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. It does not, however, address the fate of the "Dreamers," immigrants who came to the United States as children and who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump's decision to end the program last year means the roughly 800,000 Dreamers could be subject to deportation in March if the issue isn't resolved.

In explaining her opposition, Eshoo argued that running the federal government through short-term continuing resolutions "ignores our national security and domestic challenges, and is an abdication of leadership." While Trump and the Republicans have blamed the weekend shutdown of the federal government on Senate Democrats, who briefly refrained from giving the bill the needed 60 votes, Eshoo and the Democrats have pointed out that Republicans control both chambers of the Congress, as well as the presidency.

The three-day shutdown was the first time in the nation's history that the government had shut down with one party in control of the executive and legislative branches.

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In a statement, Eshoo said she is "relieved that the senseless shutdown of the federal has ended, but the underlying reasons that led to it have not gone away." She characterized the bill -- and the three continuing resolutions that preceded it -- as only stop-gap measures -- "not a budget which addresses the needs of my constituents and the American people."

"There's a difference between just keeping the lights on (Continuing Resolutions) and having a budget, a precise road map that ultimately is a statement of our national values," Eshoo said.

Keeping the federal government running through continuing resolutions has led to a failure to get funding for disaster relief, for addressing America's opioid crisis and for community health centers, which are "careening toward running out of funds," Eshoo said.

Eshoo also said the issue of DACA, which is not in the continuing resolution, must be dealt with by Congress. Eshoo blamed House Speaker Paul Ryan for failing to bring bipartisan legislation on DACA to a vote, despite support from 83 percent of the American public.

"The wrong kind of history has been made with the first government shutdown with one party in command of the executive and legislative branches," Eshoo said in the statement. "Now the just-passed CR gives Congress until February 8 to help restore the confidence of the American people who deserve so much more. I will give my all to help us get there."

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Gennady Sheyner
 
Gennady Sheyner covers the City Hall beat in Palo Alto as well as regional politics, with a special focus on housing and transportation. Before joining the Palo Alto Weekly/PaloAltoOnline.com in 2008, he covered breaking news and local politics for the Waterbury Republican-American, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. Read more >>

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In dissent, Eshoo blasts short-term funding bill

Congresswoman calls continuing resolution 'abdication of leadership'

Hours after casting her dissenting vote on a bill to fund the federal government until Feb. 8, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, said short-term measures like the one adopted Monday night represent "negligence and incompetence."

Eshoo was one of 146 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote against the continuing resolution, which was approved by a 266-150 vote (four Republicans also dissented) on Monday afternoon and signed into law by President Donald Trump later in the evening. The Senate had passed the bill in the morning by an 81-18 vote.

The bill keeps the federal government funded until Feb. 8 and renews the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. It does not, however, address the fate of the "Dreamers," immigrants who came to the United States as children and who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump's decision to end the program last year means the roughly 800,000 Dreamers could be subject to deportation in March if the issue isn't resolved.

In explaining her opposition, Eshoo argued that running the federal government through short-term continuing resolutions "ignores our national security and domestic challenges, and is an abdication of leadership." While Trump and the Republicans have blamed the weekend shutdown of the federal government on Senate Democrats, who briefly refrained from giving the bill the needed 60 votes, Eshoo and the Democrats have pointed out that Republicans control both chambers of the Congress, as well as the presidency.

The three-day shutdown was the first time in the nation's history that the government had shut down with one party in control of the executive and legislative branches.

In a statement, Eshoo said she is "relieved that the senseless shutdown of the federal has ended, but the underlying reasons that led to it have not gone away." She characterized the bill -- and the three continuing resolutions that preceded it -- as only stop-gap measures -- "not a budget which addresses the needs of my constituents and the American people."

"There's a difference between just keeping the lights on (Continuing Resolutions) and having a budget, a precise road map that ultimately is a statement of our national values," Eshoo said.

Keeping the federal government running through continuing resolutions has led to a failure to get funding for disaster relief, for addressing America's opioid crisis and for community health centers, which are "careening toward running out of funds," Eshoo said.

Eshoo also said the issue of DACA, which is not in the continuing resolution, must be dealt with by Congress. Eshoo blamed House Speaker Paul Ryan for failing to bring bipartisan legislation on DACA to a vote, despite support from 83 percent of the American public.

"The wrong kind of history has been made with the first government shutdown with one party in command of the executive and legislative branches," Eshoo said in the statement. "Now the just-passed CR gives Congress until February 8 to help restore the confidence of the American people who deserve so much more. I will give my all to help us get there."

Comments

Manipulation
Registered user
Sylvan Park
on Jan 23, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Manipulation, Sylvan Park
Registered user
on Jan 23, 2018 at 7:12 pm

Swing voters are tired of lying politicians in both major parties.


Citizen84
Registered user
Old Mountain View
on Jan 24, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Citizen84, Old Mountain View
Registered user
on Jan 24, 2018 at 2:47 pm

Pretty sure that U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo remembers that DACA could not get through Congress when Obama was the President. The new Democratic attitude is that DACA is sacred and is more important than all other Government business?


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