Patrick Leahy: “today, the Senate will hold a vote to allow for the consideration of a temporary, stopgap measure to keep the government…”

“today, the Senate will hold a vote to allow for the consideration of a temporary, stopgap measure to keep the government funded through December 3. The measure also provides $28 billion to help States ravaged by hurricanes and wildfires, like Hurricane Ida that recently tore through both the South and the Northeast. It provides critical assistance to Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Finally, it will raise the debt ceiling to December 2022, including the $8 billion of debt that was incurred under President Trump. Now, this shouldn't even be a close call. A government shutdown, if we had one, would needlessly cost the taxpayers billions of dollars-- billions of dollars--throughout our country. It would throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work. A government default would be catastrophic. And that is all completely avoidable. Yet, in the wake of the deadliest pandemic our country has seen in over 100 years and in the wake of natural disasters that have left a trail of death and destruction, the Republican leader and his party have decided to play a dangerous game of political brinksmanship. They have chosen--and it was a free choice on their part--to withhold their votes and prevent this bill from even being debated, threatening to shut down the U.S. Government--the U.S. Government--and have it default on its debts for the first time in the history of our great country.…”