Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement after the Senate approved a Continuing Resolution that funds the federal government for six weeks into the start of Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14):

“Americans are counting on Congress to do its job and pass a fiscally responsible budget. We cannot continue to govern from crisis to crisis, as we have been forced to do recently, without putting out economy at risk. I urge the majority in the House to come to their senses and quickly pass the continuing resolution just approved by the Senate. A continuing resolution is not good policy because you cannot adjust spending levels, but it is a better alternative than shutting down the government and putting families, seniors and communities across the country at risk. Once we can move beyond this current deadline, we should be sitting down as adults, as national leaders, and negotiating a budget that funds national priorities and essential services through all of FY14.

“We started this Congress with the House passing a budget and the Senate passing a budget. They were very different budgets. Democrats want to get rid of sequestration; Republicans don’t. Democrats want to ensure more Americans have access to affordable, quality health care through Obamacare; Republicans don’t. Democrats want to actually reconcile our two budgets into one; Republicans don’t. In the House, there is a minority in the majority caucus that wants to see government fail and wants to see gridlock rule the day. These Republicans want to hold the economy hostage so they can try to defund Obamacare. Obamacare will not be defunded. We are not turning back the clock. We are not putting our seniors, our families, our children and small businesses at risk. These extremists were elected to actually govern. They need to do just that. We all need to move on to the current business of paying our bills and boosting the economy rather than playing games with the full faith and credit of the United States of America.”