Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) released the following statement after she voted with her bipartisan colleagues in the House to pass the second and final FY24 government funding package:

“Today, I voted to stop a shutdown and keep the federal government open for the rest of the fiscal year. This funding bill was not perfect, but I’m relieved it gives our service members a pay raise – and blocks Members of Congress from giving themselves a raise, a fight I helped lead.

The bill also provides vital additional funding for the Border Patrol to tackle the crisis at our Southern Border, and it secures visas for 12,000 brave Afghans who put their lives on the line to help our service members defeat Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda after 9/11.

Importantly, this bill maintains the funding levels agreed to in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, putting our country’s finances on a path towards fiscal stability. My constituents sent me to Congress to work across the aisle and solve the problems they care about. A motion to vacate is a waste of time. The Speaker should bring our Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act to the floor instead. Congress needs to act now to secure our border, stop the flow of fentanyl, and rearm Ukraine against Putin’s Russia.”