WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) issued the following statement in advance of a vote in the Senate on a three-week spending bill that leaves major issues unresolved, such as disaster aid for Florida, Texas, California and the 3.2 million Americans living in Puerto Rico, long-term reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program that covers more than a hundred thousand New Jersey children, and relief for 800,000 Dreamers – including 22,000 in New Jersey – who continue to lose their protections in the wake of the Trump Administration’s decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA):

“I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that ignores our solemn responsibility to help every community in times of crisis and fails to lift the arbitrary spending caps that have prevented us from passing a long-term budget that reflects American values and invests in New Jersey’s communities. As they continue to celebrate passage of their trillion-dollar giveaway to big corporations, Republicans have reminded us once again that they have no sense of urgency to resolve or even acknowledge the plight of the most vulnerable in our society. This stop-gap spending bill fails to fully-fund the children’s health insurance program, deliver adequate relief to the millions of Americans reeling from disasters in Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, and California, or help American Dreamers.

“The Trump Administration ended DACA and created a national emergency under the pretense that Congressional Republicans wouldn’t be so heartless to immigrant youth by refusing to act. But what should have been an urgent imperative for Congress has instead turned into a political standoff that has yet to produce any results. There is no consolation for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who are losing their work permits and protection from deportation, and now have to spend the holidays in fear that the next knock on the door will be the Trump deportation force.

“Come January, as we resume talks on a long-term funding package, I will use every tool at my disposal to ensure we produce a budget that invests in economic opportunity for all, and honors our responsibility to help each other in times of crisis, in times of loss, and in times of disaster, whether natural or man-made.”

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