Kamlager-Dove Discusses Looming Government Shutdown on MSNBC’s ‘Symone’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 13, 2023
Media Contact: Maya Valentine | maya.valentine@mail.house.gov
WASHINGTON, DC – This weekend, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) joined MSNBC’s Symone Sanders to discuss House Republicans’ “laddered” continuing resolution proposal ahead of the November 17 deadline to fund the government. Below are excerpts of her remarks and a link to the video.
To watch her full interview, click here.
ON THE REPUBLICAN PLAN TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT
“…I can tell you that I don't subscribe to a laddered [continuing resolution]. I don't know what that really means…Democrats have said over and over again that we will support a clean [continuing resolution] that has all of the appropriations bills in it…Cascading, rolling shutdowns of the government [are] not something that we are going to support. I came from local government and state government. All of the constituents that I talked to say government needs to be more collaborative. We need to work together. Departments and agencies should be collaborating rather than working in silos, and pushing a two-tiered or a laddered system actually further continues this notion of government working in silos, which doesn't do anything to keep the government open or to help the American people.”
“So this is a lot of hocus pocus coming from a new Speaker [of the House] who was an anti-institutionalist who voted to shut the government down… This is a Speaker who is punching above his weight. Democrats have had to come in and save the day twice because of manufactured crises developed and designed by the Republican Party. We do support a CR, but everything else, what does that mean? I mean, how much of the government are you going to fund into January? And then what are you going to tackle in February? The American people need to have that information, and quite frankly, all of the departments need to be funded at current levels so that we can have folks working, answering the phones, making sure that constituents — when they are calling because they need help with their Social Security, … veterans benefits, …housing vouchers, …visas and passports — will have someone at the other end of the line helping them.”
ON AMERICANS’ FAITH IN CONGRESS
“I think the American people have lost faith in the Republicans doing their job but not the Democrats because… they know that we came in and saved the day with the last government shutdown that we prevented. We also saved the day last Tuesday. We saw voters come out and say, you know what, I support Democrats. I support the Democratic Party. They supported us in Kentucky. They supported us in Virginia. They supported us in Ohio because they know that we are doing what it takes to keep the government open, to make sure that Americans still have access to their rights, their constitutional rights, and we are about governing — not stoking culture wars and threatening chaos because of egos that are permeating on the Floor of the House of Congress.”
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