Congressman Lowenthal Votes To Keep Government Working

Seeking to prevent a government shutdown that would impact services for millions of Americans, Congressman Alan Lowenthal on Wednesday voted to support the 'Continuing Resolution.'

Passed by a bipartisan majority of 267-151, the Continuing Resolution is a six-month stopgap funding mechanism that will keep the federal government funded through the end of the fiscal year on Sept 30. The resolution also affords the Army and Navy leadership greater flexibility over where they can cut their budgets. Such flexibility in the wake of mandatory sequestration cuts will help to maintain readiness at facilities such as the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and the Long Beach National Guard Armory in the 47th District.

"I will be the first to say this was not a perfect bill. What it did was continue funding the government, protect our veterans, and keep hundreds of thousands of workers on the job," Lowenthal said.  "What it did not do, which I hope will be amended in the Senate, is to provide flexibility in making cuts to our critical domestic programs."

The bill now moves to the Senate, where it will be considered before being returned to the House for a final up or down vote.

In the past, separate appropriation bills for various departments of the government were debated and voted on individually before being sent to the President. In recent years, however, the overall budget process has broken down and a series of short-term continuing resolutions have been approved to fund the various segments of the federal government preventing government departments from having long-term funding stability.

Lowenthal emphasized that moving forward with bipartisan efforts to fix the federal budget process remains one of his primary goals in Congress.

“It is time for Congress to stop playing games with federal funding and come together to draft and pass a responsible and balanced budget.”