Rob Wittman’s Statement on the Government Shutdown

“The House has done our job. We passed a funding bill that not only kept our government open, but provided the necessary appropriations to keep our nation safe. This situation was completely avoidable, and it all stems back to a broken budgeting system.

“As I’ve done in every session since I’ve been in Congress, I have been urging leadership to fund our government with a budget passed through regular order instead of budgeting by crisis through a Continuing Resolution (CR). Our government needs long term budget certainty and they cannot continue working under the constraints of yet another CR.

“I am disappointed in Congress for allowing our funding decisions to get to this critical point and for not being able to come to an agreement on how to move forward without allowing a partial government shutdown.

“The federal workforce deserves the certainty of proper funding to do their jobs. To protect them during this lapse in appropriations, Representative Beyer (VA-8) and I introduced legislation that would guarantee back pay to all furloughed federal workers.

“This shutdown means that now, more than ever, it is absolutely critical that Congress get back to passing a budget and appropriations bills on time. For years now, I have introduced a resolution that says that Congress can’t leave for August recess until all 12 appropriations bills have passed the House. That resolution would make it so we don’t find ourselves in situations like this one. We can’t continue to find ourselves in these completely avoidable, crisis situations. We must work for a permanent solution that will provide a path to fiscal certainty for our federal agencies.”