Cornyn Rips Schumer on Government Funding Failures, Defense Implications

On the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the Senate’s repeated failures to pass appropriations bills in a timely manner and the impact Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s broken government funding process has on national security. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Congress has developed a dangerous habit of circumventing the normal processes for funding the government.”

“There's no doubt that stopgap bills are better than government shutdowns, but it's not a good solution, especially for critical missions like national defense.”

“By continuing to move from one stopgap bill to another, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We're weakening our own defense as China's military strength continues to grow.”

“Reliable funding for our defense is vital to our security. It should come before votes on nominees and virtually every other task on the Senate's agenda.”

“With each stopgap bill, we're sending the message that we're really not serious about our national security because we're weakening our defense. We're crippling our readiness and hurting our long-term security.”

“It's time to get serious about debating, amending, and passing those regular appropriations bills. I don't know what it's going to take to convince the Majority Leader that this is important.”

“There is far too much at stake.”