Congressmen Gonzalez and Cuellar Release Statement on Passing Continuing Resolution to Fund Federal Government

WASHINGTON— Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) and Henry Cuellar (TX-28) voted to reopen the federal government after a three-day government shutdown. The continuing resolution passed by a vote of 266 Yeas to 150 Nays in the U.S. House of Representatives and will keep the government funded until February 8, 2018. It passed in the U.S. Senate by a total vote of 81 Yeas to 18 Nays— 49 Republicans and 32 Democrats voted in favor. Last Thursday, the Congressmen were among six House Democrats who voted to avert a government shutdown.

Both Congressmen released the following statement regarding the Continuing Resolution, which passed in the House and Senate, to fund the federal government:

"Since September, we have said time and time again that Congress needs to keep the government open in order to properly deal with the DACA program and DREAMers," said Congressmen Gonzalez and Cuellar. "The inability of the Republican Party to prevent a shutdown, while having full control of the White House, the Senate, and the House – is unacceptable. The most basic job of Congress is to fund the federal government. For this reason, we voted in favor of keeping the government open so that we could keep our offices running while finding commonsense solutions.

"We are encouraged by the progress we made in Congress and remain as optimistic today, as we were in September, that we will reach a positive resolution for DACA. Months ago, we predicted that this was going to be an issue in both chambers. That is why we spoke with DREAMers, on multiple occasions, and explained that DACA would be resolved separately, in a responsible way.

"Congress' vote to continue federal funding will allow us, alongside our colleagues, to keep addressing additional legislative priorities including CHIP reauthorization, emergency disaster relief and funding for community health centers and the military. The resolution also calls for worker backpay in the event of a shutdown during fiscal year 2018. This development is a great example of why it is important to reach across the aisle, trust the process, and remain committed to resolving the problems we face. It is with this fundamental principle in mind, that our nation has been able to confront challenges and address them efficiently. We will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion in the House and Senate, to serve the American people and get Washington working again."