***WATCH: Senator Murray’s Remarks***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke at this afternoon’s Senate Democratic leadership press conference about her efforts to hammer out the strongest possible bicameral, bipartisan appropriations bills.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“After really months of needless delay caused by House Republicans going back on their word, we now have a spending framework that ultimately maintains the overall funding levels Congress agreed to last year and allows us to finally get to work negotiating and passing bipartisan, bicameral funding bills.
“This is a critical step that lets us move forward, and we have no time to lose.
“I am working with my colleagues in both chambers now to begin hammering out our final bills—and my staff and I will be working around the clock until we get this done.
“But make no mistake: negotiating final funding bills is no walk in the park.
“We are all working nonstop right now to get this done, but we are obviously crunched for time.
“It is obvious to anyone who’s watched weeks and months go by as House Republicans insisted on renegotiating the very deal that they cut.
“And let’s be clear: we will not be able to get any of our bills done if House Republicans insist on partisan poison pills that we all know are non-starters.
“So let me repeat: Democrats will not accept Republican poison pill changes. No changes—period.
“Every single decision we make in these bills has huge implications for our communities.
“We owe it to our constituents to treat this work seriously—that means not using a shutdown threat to push extreme partisan policies, and it means working together to avoid senseless and costly shutdowns and pass reasonable bills that help our constituents.
“So now that we have this agreement, I hope we can all work together to keep this process on a productive, bipartisan track.
“And I hope we keep that momentum going to address the other pressing challenges that Leader Schumer spoke to—getting aid to our allies and delivering critical humanitarian relief, addressing the child care crisis, and more.”
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