Huffman Statement on House GOP “Partial Government Funding Bills”

October 02, 2013

WASHINGTON­—Tonight, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) voted against the House Republicans' "partial funding bills" that would fund some individual federal responsibilities, while keeping the rest of the government shut down.

“This attempt to cherry-pick government functions was not an honest or serious bid by House Republicans to reopen the government, and will leave most critical functions of the government shut down. 

"This strategy was first proposed by Senator Ted Cruz as a way to use the government shutdown to get rid of programs and services the Tea Party doesn't like. We already passed a Veterans Appropriations bill earlier this year with a higher level of funding, and today’s bill would actually cut the support that our veterans deserve. It even ignores critical functions of the National Park Service, including conservation and preservation.  

"The Senate has declared its intentions to reject any such piecemeal measures, and the President has said he will veto them. We can't pretend that we're ending the shutdown by simply turning on the "open" sign at our National Parks.

We need a clean government funding bill, and I remain committed to working with members on both sides of the aisle to find a responsible end to this reckless and damaging shutdown of our government.”