Toomey Statement on Continuing Resolution

Member Group : U.S. Senator Pat Toomey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 18, 2014
Contact: E.R. Anderson 202-224-8609

SENATOR TOOMEY’S STATEMENT ON FUNDING MEASURE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today voted for the temporary government funding measure known as a continuing resolution. He issued the following statement.

"I supported this imperfect funding measure today primarily because we must go on the offense against this terrorist, so-called caliphate, that has beheaded Americans and is a serious threat both to our allies’ and our own national security interests. While I have deep concerns about the details of the plan to fund certain Syrian rebels, it is the only plan we have under this Commander-in-Chief to fight back against ISIS and the authorization lasts only to December 11th of this year. At that time, we will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of this plan and determine then whether to continue it.

"It’s also important that the U.S. have a rigorous response to the Ebola outbreak and this bill begins a more aggressive approach. The funding bill also extends tax-free Internet access, which has been a priority of mine.

"Unfortunately, the bill has some serious flaws. It spends too much money and is not fiscally responsible. It reauthorizes the Export-Import bank which should be phased out. The bill also prolongs dishonest budget gimmicks including imposing a low cap on distributions from the Crime Victims Fund and falsely claiming that amounts to budget savings.

"I would have preferred to have separate votes on funding the Syrian rebels and funding the operations of government. Unfortunately, Leader Reid would not allow that."

Elizabeth "E.R." Anderson
Communications Director
U.S Senator Pat Toomey
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
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