New Dem Coalition Calls on Speaker Boehner to Govern Responsibly and Avoid a Government Shutdown
Washington, DC – Today, the New Democrat Coalition leadership sent a letter to Speaker Boehner urging him to work with leaders from both parties in the House and Senate to take the threats of a shutdown and default off the table and focus on bipartisan bills that will continue to grow the economy and help hardworking Americans.
The letter calls for Speaker Boehner to address several legislative issues necessary to maintaining certainty in the day-to-day operations of the government, including keeping the government open and raising the debt ceiling to prevent default on the country’s obligations. “The American people want Congress to focus on strengthening our economy and creating jobs,” said Coalition Chairman Ron Kind. “Placing partisanship ahead of the needs of the American people threatens economic growth at a time when the global economy has been slowing down and we are the locomotive of growth. We saw this first-hand when the last shutdown took $24 billion out of our economy.”
The letter also encourages Speaker Boehner to prioritize passing bipartisan bills that have the backing of a broad coalition of lawmakers in both chambers. In particular, the letter identifies responsibly replacing sequestration cuts, passing a six-year authorization for robust infrastructure funding, and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. “Instead of spending time on a fruitless battle over a shutdown, we look forward to building consensus with Speaker Boehner and other leaders to complete work on these important issues,” said Chairman Kind.
Sending the letter is the latest action that builds on the group’s American Prosperity Agenda, released earlier this year. The agenda identifies making government work better through ending crisis-by-crisis governing as one of its key priorities. For the text of the letter, click here or see below.
Dear Speaker Boehner:
As leaders of the House New Democrat Coalition, we write to express our strong concern with reports that House Republicans are leading us toward another government shutdown. As you remember from 2013, the government shutdown cost our economy and the government billions of dollars and adversely impacted millions of taxpayers and businesses. From small businesses unable to get private-sector loans due to an inability to verify government data to the vast majority of federal research activities halting for two weeks, the government shutdown was universally a drag on our competitiveness and growth. Further, the thousands of businesses that partner with the federal government, and the millions of people they employ across the country, face the prospect of having to stop work on important services to the public and having to go without pay during a shutdown. We hope you agree with us that repeating this path will only lead to legislative chaos and delays action on critical priorities for all our constituents and all companies who employ them.
The American people want Congress to focus on strengthening our economy and fixing how Congress functions. We believe Congress works best when we focus on the issues that unite us rather than divide us, which is why we urge you to work with the bipartisan, bicameral leadership to prioritize bills that will create certainty in the day-to-day operation of our government and continue to grow our economy.
First, Congress needs to pass legislation that takes shutdown and default off the table and maintains certainty in the day to day operation of our government. These include:
1. Passing a bipartisan short-term continuing resolution without controversial riders to allow for the negotiation of a long-term government funding bill.
2. Raising the debt ceiling to prevent the default on our nation’s obligations.
Second, Congress should prioritize moving and completing bipartisan bills that will continue to grow our economy in areas where both chambers share broad consensus and have created bipartisan momentum to get it done. There are many important issues that Congress needs to address, but in particular we should prioritize:
1. Replacing the upcoming defense and non-defense discretionary sequester cuts in a fiscally responsible manner so we can invest more in keeping the U.S. competitive and adequately fund our national security needs.
2. Passing a robust six-year transportation authorization. As you know, the Senate has passed a long-term bill and both House Chairmen have reiterated their commitment to completing a six-year bill.
3. Reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. As you know, the Senate voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank through an amendment to its transportation bill. There is a clear majority of House Members ready to vote for a reauthorization in the House.
We stand ready to work with you and the bipartisan leadership to move bills this fall that create certainty and continue to grow our economy.
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