Schakowsky will vote to Oppose Republican Recklessness

Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky released the following statementin advance of tonight's vote on the Republican Continuing Resolution:

"I will be voting against the Republican resolution to barely keep our government funded for another month. I refuse to enable Republicans, who have full control of our federal government, to keep funding our government one month at a time and without addressing the most pressing crises facing our country.

"Republicans brag that this bill finally offers a long-term reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which expired in September, but neglect to mention that their bill doesn't pay for the clinics that care for our nation's children. The Republican bill completely neglects our health care system. It fails to address the scourge of the opioid epidemic and a flu season that has wreaked havoc on our communities. This bill does not include an extension of the Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, the Teaching Health Centers, or the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

"This bill fails to provide a solution for the 800,000 Dreamers whose lives were thrown into chaos when President Trump ended the DACA program in September. It ignores the U.S. citizens whose lives were upturned by natural disasters last year by failing to provide emergency disaster funding for Texas, Florida, California, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. It does nothing tosave Americans' endangered pensions, and it makes no significant investments in our struggling VA.

"Americans need better jobs and better wages. They need a criminal justice system that works for them and not against them. They need real, robust investments in infrastructure to put people to work and get our country moving. This bill fails struggling Americans, including sick children, unemployed workers, low-income veterans, and the homeless.This is no way to run a government. It is not the way the greatest nation on earth should do its business. I refuse to support Republican recklessness and brinksmanship."