WASHINGTON – Late on Wednesday, the U.S. House approved a bill to end the government shutdown and raise the federal debt limit through the beginning of 2014 by a vote of 285-144. The bill had been approved by the U.S. Senate just hours earlier by an 81-18 vote, and will now be signed into law by the president.
The Alabama delegation, with exception of Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, voted not to go along with the majority of their congressional colleagues.
“I firmly oppose this legislation,” Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said in a statement following the Senate vote. “We should fund the government and safeguard the full faith and credit of the United States. We should do both, however, by putting our nation on a more responsible fiscal path. This legislation fails to do so. Once again, we are kicking the can down the road. In the meantime, the spending continues and our national debt grows unabated. The American people deserve better.”
A statement by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, pointed out that over the last five years, the federal government has spent more than $15 trillion and added more than $6 trillion to the debt. Sessions also criticized the two key Democrats in the fight, President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for their “extreme stance.”
“[L]eader Reid and the White House have adopted the extreme stance that there is to be no change in policy to help the millions of Americans being squeezed out of the middle class,” Sessions said. “They demanded yet another increase in the debt limit – without cutting one single penny of spending. They demanded the unfettered implementation of ObamaCare – a law that will add $6 trillion to the long-term debt while causing millions of hardworking people to lose their jobs and health plans, forced into part-time work that can’t support a family. And they even demanded that we spend above the Budget Control Act – a transparent effort to permanently bust federal spending caps.”
On the House side, Reps. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Mike Rogers, R-Saks, and Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, all opposed the bill.
“While it is good to fully open the federal government and raise the debt ceiling, it is necessary that Washington do it in a financially responsible way,” Brooks said in a statement. “Today’s Senate bill is financially irresponsible. It further deteriorates America’s financial solvency and, over the long haul, creates an unhealthy funding environment that will slowly but surely bleed NASA and national defense of the money they need to carry out their missions.”
Brooks said it would take serious reforms to convince him to vote in favor of increasing the nation’s borrowing limit.
“I am more than willing to vote to properly fund the federal government and raise the debt ceiling so long as Congress simultaneously passes a balanced budget constitutional amendment or spending cuts that both address the underlying deficit problem and give our children and grandchildren, and America, a brighter future,” Brooks said.
On the affirmative side, Bachus broke ranks with his Alabama Republican colleagues. In a statement issued after the vote, Bachus called for “true entitlement reform” to rein in the federal deficit and debt.
“Unless we accomplish true entitlement reform, we will continue to face these disruptive crises,” Bachus said. “There now needs to be bipartisan resolve to decisively address the entitlement programs, ObamaCare and Social Security Disability among them, that are the primary drivers of our deficits and national debt.”
Sewell, the state’s lone Democrat on Capitol Hill, expressed frustration with congressional Republicans and explained why she voted in favor of the measure, along with the 87 Republicans, including Bachus, and all 198 House Democrats.
“Tonight, I voted in favor of H.R. 2775, the bipartisan funding bill, because it was the only responsible thing to do to re-open government and pay our nation’s bills,” she said. “I share the frustrations of millions of Americans who are fed up with the political brinkmanship in the halls of Congress. For the last sixteen (16) days, House Republicans have placed partisan politics ahead of the needs of the American people by allowing the government shutdown to continue due to their unreasonable demands to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. We do not put America’s full faith and credit in jeopardy to score political points.”
Follow Jeff on Twitter @Jeff_Poor
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.