Cole: Another expensive holiday season

As we near the end of the year, it reminds us of the need for and importance of finishing important legislative work inbothchambers of Congress. In fact, there are still several necessary items left to complete, and lawmakersmust come together and finish the remaining work.

First, Congress needs to provide full-year funding, or appropriations, for the federal government. Annual appropriationssupportgovernment programs that touch nearly every aspect of our daily lives and various facets of the economy – including national defense, transportation and infrastructure, operation of national parks, law and immigration enforcement, health care research and many other similar activities to keep the government functioning. AlthoughDemocratscontrollingthe House Appropriations Committee have completed their version of all 12 of the appropriations bills by straight party-line votes, unfortunately, Democrats controlling the Senate have been dragging their feet and not holding up their end of the bargain.

In fact, Senate appropriators have failed to pass a single appropriations bill out of committee. While final resolution of this legislation can be negotiated and finally enacted without their completing that important work in advance, it will take both time and increased, cooperative negotiation between the two chambers. This work must advance quickly and in earnest. Unfortunately, Democratic leadership is still operating in a partisan, go-it-alone manner which will not result in legislation getting to the president’s desk. It is wasting time.

Currently, the federal government is operating and funded by a short-term “continuing resolution.” While this is ultimately a better option than a government shutdown, it only allows the government to continue to operate based on fiscal year 2022 spending levels and is not an acceptable outcome since these spending levels do not keep up with runaway 40-year high inflation. This approach also freezes the government from proceeding with needed new initiatives, effectively managingcontractsandsufficiently providing for our national defense.

Next, while I am hopeful that Congress will soon move the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023 across the finish line, the completion of this annual legislation has been unnecessarily drawn out. The NDAA authorizes funding for the U.S. military and other critical defense priorities, deals with important policy matters and ensures our troops and their families have what they need as they defend our nation. Our military men and women in uniform deserve better from their elected officials.

Unfortunately, instead of making good use of the precious time left to finish this vital work of funding the government and authorizing the necessary funding for our national defense, Democrats in both chambers have continued to kick the can further down the road by focusing on messaging bills. This is a disservice to the American people and ultimately puts many livelihoods and our shared national security at risk.

T h ec l o c ki st i c k i n g ,a n dl a w m a kers mustracetofinishworkonthese pressing legislative items before the end of the year. While I remain committed to completing this process, I hope Democrats, who still control both chambers of Congress and the executive branch, can buckle down and work with Republicans to finish this work. Indeed, while the U.S. is amidst a recession, this is the wrong time to play such games.