Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) joined his House colleagues in keeping the government open by voting to continue current appropriations levels through December 22, 2017, and issued the following statement:

“While I do not like to continue kicking the can down the road by voting for a long-term continuing appropriations resolution because of the impact to our national security, I told House leadership I would support a short-term resolution. The House and Senate leadership are working with the President on a compromise and asked for two more weeks to reach agreement. 

The House has already passed fiscal year 2018 spending bills, but we are waiting on the Senate to do the same. Congress must act before this continuing resolution expires so we do not continue a band-aid approach to the budget, and can give Americans the confidence and assurance they deserve in knowing the government and military are funded and operational.

A longer-term continuing resolution would not be fiscally responsible unless it exempts the military so we keep our promises to the servicemen and women, fix the readiness and maintenance problems that endanger their lives, and start the much-needed modernization that we have budgeted in our authorization bill.”