releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=78143605-F2D8-4D60-AEC6-0EB915784021
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=78143605-F2D8-4D60-AEC6-0EB915784021 | Heitkamp Votes to Avoid Government Shutdown | 2017-12-21 | 2017 | 2017-12 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today released the following statement after voting for a short-term agreement to avoid a government shutdown. Lurching from deadline to deadline is no way to govern, and its unfortunate that Congress is once again kicking the can down the road for another few weeks. North Dakota families and small businesses understand the importance of budgeting and planning for their year ahead because they need to make sure they can put food on the table and support their kids, so theres no excuse for Congresss failure to do the same. Im disappointed that the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was only extended for three months. Thats little consolation to families with sick children who rely on the program for their health care needs. This program is about life and death, and the families who rely on it need long-term certainty to know that their kids will be protected. This bill waived the PAYGO law, meaning that vital programs like Medicare and agricultural assistance are not cut which is good, but it means Congress is still adding a $1.5 trillion tax bill to our nations credit card, to be paid for by our children and grandchildren. And experts and academics have said the Republican tax bill wont pay for itself. Unfortunately, the options arent good either cut critical programs families rely on or push huge costs onto future generations. North Dakotans expect and deserve more fiscal responsibility than that. Since before joining the U.S. Senate, Ive called for Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment, and I cosponsored a bill to do just that because the federal government needs to gets its fiscal house in order. While Congress avoided a government shutdown, which would be damaging to our economy and disruptive to many North Dakotans, it must end this cycle of short-term spending bills that just kick the can down the road, and instead give our economy the certainty it needs to grow. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |