Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, released the following statement regarding the passage in the House of a short-term Continuing Resolution:

“Today, instead of voting on the full appropriations bill, the Republicans again forced to the floor a continuing resolution that has no new Hurricane Harvey funding, fails to resolve DACA or address the long term needs of parents who rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program for the healthcare of their kids.

“This is why I rose in strong opposition to the Continuing Resolution that places in effect for another month a short-sighted fix to mask the Republican’s inability to govern and adequately address our Nation’s innumerable obligations. I could not in good conscience vote to support a CR that does not include full funding for disaster recovery, extend additional health access for veterans, or provide funding to combat the opioid epidemic and protect pensions. It is outrageous that House Republicans would bring to the floor and request support for a fourth CR extension that does not address and resolve the crisis the Republican Administration has inflicted on 800,000 Dreamers and their families, including 124,000 Dreamers in my home state of Texas.

“While the legislation includes a six year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health coverage to nine million children, and which Republicans allowed to lapse on September 30, 2017, it falls far short of the meaningful extension families deserve. Making CHIP permanent would not only provide long-term stability for families, providers, and states, it would save $6 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“This is the fourth time House Republicans have chosen to kick the can down the road rather than work with Democrats to come to a necessary bipartisan agreement to lift the Budget Control Act (BCA) spending caps, giving appropriators the direction they need for full-year funding bills. The reason given for passing each of the prior Continuing Resolutions was that the extra time was needed to reach a comprehensive agreement to fund government operations in a fair and balanced way. Yet, even with the extra time, House Republicans made no progress during any of the previous extensions.

“Instead of acting responsibly to address these issues and fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, House Republicans continue wasting time. This is not appropriations; this is a stop-gap funding measure to save ourselves from collapse, and the American people deserve much better.”