Dear Friend,

Do you think our military men and women deserve a pay raise? Do you think Congress should take action to stop funding for harmful EPA regulations? I do and that is why it is important for Congress to pass an omnibus appropriations bill before the end of the year.

Congress has to decide how to fund the government after December 11th, when the current funding measure expires, and there are two approaches Congress can take - passing an omnibus appropriations bill or passing a short-term continuing resolution. I want to briefly explain the differences.

An omnibus is a bill that includes funding for the government until the end of the fiscal year and wraps all twelve separate appropriations bills into one. On the other hand, a continuing resolution keeps the federal government funded at the same level as it is now and for a shorter period of time forcing Congress to come back to the issue again and again instead of making the tough decisions and looking ahead to the next fiscal year. By supporting a continuing resolution, we would be saying the world is the way it was last year and that is not the case.

An omnibus reflects the work the Appropriations Committee has done all year to closely examine programs funded by the government and prioritize the programs that have worked efficiently, while making cuts to inefficient or redundant programs. For example, by passing an omnibus we would fulfill our commitment to fund the authorized pay raise for our men and women in uniform and provide much needed funding for customs and border protection to carry out their critical border security efforts. Additionally, we restrict funding for programs that implement harmful EPA regulations and increase funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for priorities such as stopping cyber-crimes, gangs, and human trafficking. These are just a few of the many decisions that would be lost in a continuing resolution.

The American people want the Congress to function so we can make the difficult decisions that must be made to get our fiscal house in order. This can’t be done if we are lurching from one short-term continuing resolution to another every few months.  

Sincerely,
Kay Granger