December 21, 2017

Duckworth: Congress Should Do Its Job Before Leaving Town for the Holidays

 

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement today announcing her opposition to Congress heading home for the holidays without addressing a number of vital priorities, including adequately funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program and protecting Dreamers:

“Enough is enough, this sort of governing-by-crisis that harms our national security and hurts Veterans has to stop. I didn’t spend 23 years in the military, going through multiple deployments, just to weaken our nation so that a bunch of politicians can go home early for the holidays. Our servicemembers in danger overseas today don’t get to go home for Christmas—they have to do their jobs protecting our nation. We in Congress should do our jobs too, and I won’t vote to kick the can down the road once again while we neglect to provide our troops with adequate funding for the training they need to maintain skills that will keep them alive in combat. I won’t vote to go on Christmas vacation while VA is suffering from a 30,000 employee shortfall that prevents it from effectively serving our Veterans.

“It's also unacceptable that my Republican colleagues are voting to go home for the holidays while leaving countless Dreamers at risk of being deported from the only country they have ever known. It’s unacceptable to high-tail it out of town while the future of the Children’s Health Insurance Program that 9 million children rely on remains in jeopardy, or as Illinois’s 400 community health centers are counting the days before their funding runs out and they are wondering if they will be forced to slash services and employees in 2018. And it’s unacceptable to take a vacation while doing little to address our nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and waterways or the dire opioid crisis that continues to claim the lives of our children and loved ones each day. Enough is enough.”