Amata Welcomes Solution to End 41-Day Shutdown
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is welcoming a likely end later this week to the government shutdown that reached 41 days on Monday.
“The end of this shutdown is in sight, and the Senate and House will need to see it through and fund our government as soon as possible,” said Congresswoman Aumua Amata. “I am very happy that it appears our military, air traffic controllers, and professionals across the federal government can expect to soon be paid, and full SNAP/NAP benefits will resume. Senate Leader Thune did the right thing in keeping the Senate working through the weekend, and I appreciate the negotiators on both sides of the aisle. That said, this agreement could have been put in place 41 days ago, and prevented this disruption and delayed pay for so many families.”
In a late Sunday vote, the Senate achieved the necessary 60th vote to move forward with a bill to temporarily fund government through January, and three of the 12 total full-year appropriations bills. Those first three appropriations include Veterans funding, military construction, and agriculture. Passage would ensure VA funding and nutrition programs, including SNAP nationally and American Samoa’s nutrition program block grant.
“These are some of our highest priorities: ensuring care for our veterans, programs affecting military families and housing, and needed nutrition assistance,” continued Congresswoman Amata. “I strongly hope that common sense lessons are learned from this unnecessary shutdown to prevent these harmful shutdowns in the future. Congress has much to do in a short time in order to pass not only all 12 appropriations, but especially the NDAA defense authorization, Coast Guard authorization, and the content of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act that I sponsored to codify our diplomacy for our tuna production.”
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