Scott Statement on House Passage of H.J.Res. 59

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on House Passage of H.J.Res. 59, a short term Continuing Resolution which would delay parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):

"Once again Republicans are attempting to hold the Government hostage in order to extract passage of unrelated legislation. Obamacare will continue even if the government is shut down. This comes after Senate Democrats have already agreed to House Republican's budget numbers, leaving nothing in the budget to negotiate. The Federal Government should stay open, and it must be made clear to Tea Party Republicans that we will not respond to temper tantrums in which they threaten to shut down the government if they don't get what they want. Should we legitimize Tea Party Republican's tactics by passing unrelated legislation, Congress is at risk of allowing Tea Party Republicans to continue to hold the economy as ransom in future debates. And those debates will come soon -- this Continuing Resolution only funds the government for about two months, when all of this wrangling will begin anew.

"The next deadline facing Congress is the Debt Ceiling, likely to be reached in the next two weeks. Every credible economist, in addition to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has concluded that failing to extend the debt ceiling is stupid and will have catastrophic implications for the global economy. That conclusion ought to end the debate. Nonetheless, Tea Party Republicans are still threatening to use the Debt Ceiling as another weapon to pass unrelated legislation.

"What kind of dysfunction would there be if Senate Democrats attached an assault weapons ban, immigration reform, or gay marriage legalization to legislation to continue funding the government and threatened to shut down the government if the unrelated legislation did not pass? That, of course, would be absurd. It is essential that Members of Congress, both Democratic and Republican, work together to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without unrelated issues and allow our government to continue to operate, our troops to continue to receive the pay they deserve, and our seniors the assistance that they need."

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