Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Cole and our ranking member for their leadership as we move toward regular order in the appropriations process. I appreciate the ranking member's passion because of this issue, but we are not here today, Mr. Speaker, to talk about Russ Vought. We are here to talk about keeping the government open and avoiding a Schumer shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this short-term CR, the continuing resolution.

This CR will ensure the Federal Government remains open and working for our constituents. It ensures that our troops get paid on time and that our veterans continue getting the healthcare they need and other benefits that they have earned.

It also ensures the Trump administration can continue its work to secure our border, secure our communities from violent crime, and secure a stronger economy.

Under the leadership of Chairman Cole, we have passed all 12 spending bills out of committee on a condensed timeline and for the first time in years, regular appropriation bills are now headed to conference committee, showing that appropriators are engaged in good-faith, bipartisan, bicameral negotiations.

Keeping our government open and working for the American people should not be a partisan issue, but it appears our Democrat colleagues want to make it one.

As you will see throughout this debate today, Democrats' proposal is full of partisan priorities that would explode the Federal debt by $1.5 trillion.

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker: If our Democrat colleagues vote against this clean CR to keep our government open, they will own the shutdown. This will be a Schumer shutdown. The media will not be able to spin it. The American people will see straight through their gaslighting and political posturing to the contrary. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the continuing resolution and keep our government open.
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