Cole Floor Remarks on H.R. 9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025.

Today’s bill arises at a particularly challenging time for our country. For four years, President Biden and Vice President Harris’s self-inflicted border crisis has caused chaos in communities across our country. Our national debt has risen to over thirty-five trillion dollars, threatening the future financial stability of our country. Across the world, America’s adversaries continue to march forward, threatening our friends and democratic partners. And now we are facing a looming deadline to fund the government and keep it serving the American people.

Given the state of the world, and our approaching election, this is no time to shut the government down. That means Congress needs to act, and we need to do so today.

The appropriations process is one that is never easy. It requires time and hard work to complete, and frankly, I am proud of what this body has accomplished this year. Even after a late start due to the delay of the Fiscal Year 2024 process and a late President’s Budget Request, the Appropriations Committee succeeded in passing all twelve of our Fiscal Year 2025 bills out of the Committee. The House also passed five of those bills across the floor, representing nearly seventy-one percent of overall discretionary spending.

But unfortunately, time is drawing short, and our colleagues in the Senate – who have yet to pass a single Fiscal Year 2025 bill across the floor – have not kept pace with the House.  It’s clear we are unable to complete the full appropriations process by September 30th.

That means that a continuing resolution is needed.  The bill before us extends government funding through March 28, 2025, ensuring that the government remains open and providing critical services for our constituents. This extension will not only give us the time we need to complete our appropriations process for 2025, but also will allow the American people to have a say in the appropriations process.

The bill includes certain key extensions, including essential programs like Flood Insurance, WIC, and TANF. It also provides needed funding for disaster relief, helping communities across the country that have faced natural disasters this year, or that will face them in the coming months.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker – In just two short months, Americans will go to the polls to elect a new President of the United States. This is a critical time for American democracy, and it is more important than ever that our elections are secure. That is why H.R. 9494 includes the text of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act, which will ensure that only American citizens may vote in federal elections. This commonsense legislation is necessary to protect the sanctity and security of our elections, making sure that it is American citizens alone who will choose the future direction of our country. This is as the founding fathers intended, and as it should be.

Mr. Speaker, governance by continuing resolution is not ideal. It is always better to pass full-year appropriations bills through regular order. But we are out of time, and we cannot afford a government shutdown, which would be greatly damaging to our national security, to critical government programs, and to the American people.

The stakes could not be higher. That is why I urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 9494 today. Thank you, and I reserve the balance of my time.