U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, issued a statement on Monday morning about her “yes” vote for the 45-day continuing resolution to avert government shutdown, calling the bill a “temporary, imperfect solution.”
The bill was passed last weekend to prevent a shutdown that, according to The Associated Press, would force the federal government to “stop all actions deemed non-essential, and millions of federal employees, including members of the military, won’t receive paychecks.”
Locally, it would have meant various actions coming to a halt at Mount Rainier National Park and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Gluesenkamp Perez cited her concerns for Southwest Washington in her statement on Monday.
“Our economy and working families across Southwest Washington would face catastrophic, mounting costs,” she stated. “I have repeatedly called on House Leadership to fund our government in a bipartisan manner, and I will continue to do so as we face this new deadline. This bill is a temporary, imperfect solution, but I voted yes for the sake of Southwest Washington families who are already feeling the pain of rising costs. Congress also needs to pass support for Ukraine’s defense — not only to stand up for democracy and sovereignty, but also because inaction would threaten freedom across our globe.”
Last week, Gluesenkamp Perez and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, introduced bipartisan legislation that would force Congress to submit daily reports during shutdowns that detail the economic impacts and costs to taxpayers, according to a previous news release.
If passed, those reports would include the following statistics: the day’s economic output lost due to the shutdown; any decrease in the quarter’s GDP resulting from the shutdown; the value of any assistance, such as loans, grants and contracts, which the small business administration couldn’t offer because of the shutdown; revenue losses for the National Park Service due to closing lands and historic sites on that day; and estimated revenue losses for that day associated with effects of the shutdown on tourism and travel, including by foreign tourists within the United States.
“The clock is now ticking on a full-year funding solution. I stand ready to work with Republicans and Democrats to reach a bipartisan funding solution that will prioritize the needs of working people in Southwest Washington,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in Monday’s statement.
The Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of House members, has a framework proposed in order to avoid the shutdown, which Gluesenkamp Perez supports, the release stated.
Her office’s release said she has and will continue to urge House leadership “to bring bipartisan appropriations bills to the floor to avert a costly shutdown.”
