Congressman Brad Schneider Announces He Will Vote Against Irresponsible Short-Term Funding Extension

Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) released the following statement announcing his intention to vote against today's continuing resolution, which fails to address our long-term defense and domestic priorities and leaves in jeopardy our DREAMers, funding for community health centers, and other critical programs.

"Three times in the past year I have crossed the aisle to vote with my Republican colleagues for short-term funding measures to allow space for negotiations toward a year-long bill. But Republican leadership has demonstrated no willingness to work with Democrats, there is no evidence of progress, and a solution is no closer today than it was last month.

"I will not continue kicking the can down the road with irresponsible temporary fixes that hamper our military and other government agencies by forcing them to function ‘paycheck-to-paycheck.' A small business could not successfully operate this way, and it's no way to run our government.

"Enough is enough. We must come together on a long-term bill that funds our military, and also protects our DREAMers, funds the Children's Health Insurance Program and Community Health Centers, repeals the medical device tax, and addresses other critical priorities. I am committed and ready to work with my colleagues as long as it takes to achieve that responsible resolution."

Background:

Schneider joined six other Democratic members who had supported recent short-term funding bills in a letter urging Speaker Ryan to come to the table for a commonsense compromise, and writing of additional continuing resolutions that "we see no evidence that yielding more time will result in a process that allows us to resolve these issues."