Congress dodges government shutdown

WASHINGTON — With just hours to spare before federal funding expired, Congress last week approved a stopgap measure to keep agencies open for another 10 weeks as they negotiate a budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

The continuing resolution, which cleared the Senate and House, would basically maintain current funding levels through Dec. 11. It includes about $196 billion to fund the government, $14 billion for overseas military contingencies and $700 million in emergency funding to fight wildfires in the West.

"The bill before us would keep the government open and allow time for cooler heads to prevail," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Federal agencies would have had to furlough thousands of government workers if Congress had not approved the continuing resolution. The last government shutdown, which went on for 16 days in 2013, cost the U.S. economy about $24 billion, according to Standard & Poor's.

Most Democrats supported the bill, saying a government shutdown would hurt the poor and elderly by cutting off funding to programs they depend on such as food stamps. They also argued that Republicans were responsible for the budget impasse that put them on such a precipice.

"Within the coming weeks we will again be negotiating with Republicans to avoid another shutdown," cautioned Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Our constituents don't want every simple legislative task to turn into a doomsday clock."

Many Republicans opposed the resolution, arguing that it continues to spend too much on domestic programs, not enough on the military, and does not eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. The resolution was particularly disappointing to conservatives who want the organization stripped of an estimated $450 million it receives for non-abortion health services.

Republicans have pushed for defunding after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos that they said showed Planned Parenthood officials cavalierly discussing fetal tissue sales. Planned Parenthood has said it properly and legally collects fetal tissue to be donated for medical research with a patient's consent.

"We are right now voting on what is called a clean CR. I would note it is clean only in the parlance of Washington," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. "It funds all of Planned Parenthood, and it funds the Iranian nuclear deal. It is essentially a blank check to Barack Obama. That is not very clean to me. That actually sounds like a very dirty funding bill."

The Senate voted, 78-20, to approve the stopgap funding bill. Reid voted in favor. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., opposed it.

The House voted 277-155 to pass the bill. Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., Joe Heck, R-Nev., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., voted in favor.

Iran sanctions

The House approved legislation that would forbid lifting congressionally imposed sanctions against Iran until it has paid an estimated $43 billion in U.S. court-ordered damages to victims of Iranian-backed terrorism.

The Obama administration has threatened to veto the bill, saying it would interfere with the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, but Republican proponents insist it is only fair that American victims of terrorism are paid before Baghdad receives a dime in frozen assets.

"Iran will soon obtain $100 billion, approximately, in unfrozen assets as well as immeasurable economic and financial benefits by escaping the sanctions regime and reintegrating into the global economy. Iran will get sanctions lifted, and American victims will still be out in the cold. That is not right," said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said the bill was fatally flawed because it would require Iran to pay the claims before it could access the assets it would need to do so.

"So it is a Catch-22. And who does it hurt? Not Iran. It hurts the victims. Not a single claim would be paid under this bill. So, in my opinion, this bill offers nothing but false hope," Engel said. "This bill is not really about helping these victims. It is about exploiting their plight and their tragedy to make a political splash."

The House voted 251-173 in favor of the bill. Amodei, Hardy and Heck supported it. Titus opposed the bill.

Contact Peter Urban at purban@reviewjournal.com or at 202-783-1760.