Kilmer Supports Bipartisan Plan to End Government Shutdown, Calls for Action for Dreamers
WASHINGTON, DC—This morning, following the House’s passage of a bipartisan, two-year budget and spending plan Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) made the following statement:
“No compromise is ever perfect, but I voted for this bipartisan, long-term budget deal because our country has to stop lurching from crisis to crisis,” Rep. Derek Kilmer said. “Part of what’s wrong with Washington is that too many people forget about the impact of what Congress does on people in the rest of the country. There are a lot of people living on our coasts who make their living off of fishing -- who have been struggling because of the disasters that have reduced their ability to fish. This bipartisan agreement provides funding relief to help them after years of waiting. Folks in cities like Tacoma and Bremerton and in smaller towns like Port Angeles who rely on community health centers to get health care shouldn’t be caught in the crosshairs of DC dysfunction. There are families that have been ravaged by the scourge of opioids who will benefit from the funding this bill dedicates to combatting the opioid crisis. There are tens of thousands of servicemembers and defense workers in our region who have asked for an end to furloughs and chaos. They deserve certainty. This bill sets the table to achieve that, but only if the party that controls the House, Senate and White House continues working in a bipartisan fashion over the next few weeks.”
Kilmer said: “Having said that, there are things in this bill that I oppose, and I think it’s a disgrace that Congress is passing this in February instead of September when it was supposed to pass. In addition, I feel strongly that Congress must provide certainty for Dreamers. I have long been a cosponsor of the original DREAM Act, and more recently have cosponsored the bipartisan USA Act that I hope could be the basis for compromise. I have worked with Democrats and Republicans behind the scenes to try to build consensus on this issue. It is reprehensible that President Trump and Congressional Republicans have put the livelihoods of DACA recipients and their families in danger. Congress must act quickly and decisively to resolve this crisis, but I don’t think a government shutdown makes Congress any more likely to provide help to DACA recipients. What they need is Congress to act in a bipartisan basis to pass legislation that fully addresses this situation.”
Kilmer supported this measure because it makes investments that will help Tacoma and the Olympic Peninsula. For example, it includes $200 million in disaster funding relief for the state’s fisheries. Kilmer has worked with Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Washington’s senators to push for fisheries disaster relief for more than a year. They repeatedly called for disaster declarations from the Department of Commerce and for the inclusion of funding for these disasters in previous funding bills. In July, Representatives Kilmer and Herrera Beutler, who are both members of the House Committee on Appropriations, successfully added $20 million in stopgap disaster relief to a key House Appropriations Bill. However, the failure to pass a full year spending bill meant this disaster relief was placed on hold. In November, the Members also called on the executive branch to include additional funding for these disasters in the administration’s supplemental budget request.
The bill also includes $6 billion in new funding to help communities fight the opioid epidemic. Last week, Kilmer joined state and local leaders to discuss ways to help Pierce County and the region’s residents who are affected by opioid addictions.
The legislation passed this morning will safeguard the Children’s Health Insurance Program for a decade. CHIP helps low-income families by providing health insurance to their children.
The bill addresses concerns raised by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and the leaders of the US Navy. Secretary Mattis recently said: “As hard as the last 16 years have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act, defense spending cuts and operating in nine of the last 10 years under continuing resolutions.”
The bill includes $4 billion to repair and rebuild veteran’s health clinics. Kilmer has long supported upgrading the VA medical system. He has pushed for a new VA clinic in Kitsap County since he came to Congress. The builder of that clinic recently filed for building permits. He worked with Rep. Dan Newhouse to pass a package of reforms to the VA which passed out of the house in November.
Kilmer has repeatedly called on Congress to pass a bipartisan, long-term budget and funding plan. While Kilmer supported the bill today, he also believes it is imperfect.
He has concerns that the bill did not address the uncertainty facing Dreamers. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has said he would bring a proposal to the House floor to address this issue. It echoed the one Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave in order to end last month’s federal government shutdown. President Trump has also voiced support for a long-term pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Kilmer co-sponsored a bipartisan plan to create a pathway to citizenship and enhance border security and cross border commerce called The USA Act.
Kilmer recently published an op-ed in Time calling for reforms to Congress that prevent future shutdowns, add transparency to how budget bills are created and encourage debate which leads to bipartisan consensus. He has repeatedly worked with various congressional caucuses to offer bipartisan solutions. He is vice chair for policy of the New Democrat Coalition, a co-chair of the Bipartisan Working Group and an active member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, all of which sought bipartisan, long-term plans.