Politics

Cornyn On Continuing Resolution: ‘Senator Reid’s So Needy’

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Juliegrace Brufke Capitol Hill Reporter
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Sen. John Cornyn said there is no reason for Democrats to refuse to vote for a must-pass stop-gap spending bill to keep the government funded after the Sept. 30 deadline.

Democrats are vowing to block a procedural vote scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, arguing the continuing resolution (CR) should include funding for the Flint, Mich., water crisis.

“I think that’s [Flint] a pretty lame excuse not to pass the CR.” Cornyn told reporters Tuesday, adding Democrats’ argument isn’t valid because, “the Senate has already overwhelmingly passed a solution in the Senate bill [Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA)].”

The upper chamber’s version of WRDA, which passed the upper chamber with bipartisan support earlier this year, includes $220 million in Flint funding. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday he believes it makes the most sense to pass Flint through WRDA, noting all Congress has to do is go to conference on the matter.

If the continuing resolution fails, as it is expected to do, Democrats are calling on Republican leadership to give in to some of their demands.

“What’s next is for Sen. McConnell to sit down and clean up a few provisions and get us out of here,” Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin told reporters Tuesday, adding the party wouldn’t support it even if Republican leadership assured Flint funding would pass both chambers through WRDA.

Cornyn disagreed, saying there is no reason for the opposing party not to support the bill since it’s a clean CR.

“There is no next step as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “They have a choice to make and they have to live with the consequences.”

Republicans have alleged Democrats are drawing out the process to prevent members from going back to their home states to campaign.

“Senator Reid’s so needy,” Cornyn said. “They’re just looking for excuses to string this process out, so I imagine they’ll find some magical solution to this between now and the end of the fiscal year, which id Friday — so I’m optimistic we’ll get it done.”

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