September 21, 2012

Manchin: It’s Wrong for Congress to Leave Town Without a Budget Deal

Congress expected to adjourn until the November election after voting for 13th temporary spending measure in less than two years

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) underscored his frustration with Congress leaving Washington without finishing the people’s business on Friday night. The Senate is expected to vote late today or early Saturday on a short-term spending measure that will be the 13th temporary extension since November 2010, when Senator Manchin took office.

“There are more than six weeks left until the election – there’s no reason to throw in the towel today,” Senator Manchin said. “The simple truth is: how much longer should we work on a temporary basis? When is enough enough? There’s not a soul in West Virginia who is begging us to come home and campaign – they want us to stay and finish the hard work they sent us here to do. 

“Our debt is growing nearly $5 billion every single business day – that’s about $150 billion between now and the election – but instead of tackling our finances, lawmakers are punching their tickets out of town,” Senator Manchin said. “While some people are willing to say we’ve done all we can do, I refuse to break faith with the people of West Virginia who sent me here and deserve better. 

“We cannot shut down our government – nor should it ever get to this point – but the threat of a shutdown can’t be an excuse for kicking the can down the road. There’s been too much time wasted, and sooner or later, we’re going to have to do something. By passing this temporary measure to allow people to go campaign, we’re forfeiting even more time. Precious time that we should be using to work across the aisle on a solution, not dividing this nation with politics.” 

Senator Manchin delivered a major speech about the issue on the Senate floor Thursday, criticizing the temporary spending measure and departure. A C-SPAN clip of Senator Manchin’s speech is available here and full text of the speech, as prepared for delivery, is here.  

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