Washington, DC – Congressman Steve Pearce today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted and passed H.R. 1625, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which authorizes $1.3 trillion in spending:

"This is not the process that Congress takes to ensure the federal government remains up and running. The House sent all 12 appropriations bills to the Senate on time for full-year budget certainty. However, the Senate Democrats stood in the way of our appropriations bills. Now, we're left with one bill to cover an array of spending priorities for the nation, and only a short period of time to debate it. This is simply reckless..

We went month after month pushing the deadline for a long-term spending bill further and further down the road. While today's bill does provide funds for the rest of the year, it was only introduced late last night and given less than 24 hours for Members to read and vote on it. On top of that, we had less than 2 hours to really debate the bill on the House Floor. This is no way to operate the federal government.

Today's spending package wastes taxpayer dollars without providing real solutions to problems in our health care system, infrastructure, financial system, and national security.

What's worse, this bill does not roll back burdensome regulations that severely affects farmers, ranchers, and small businesses in New Mexico who contribute to the strength of our economies. After years under an Administration that choked off resource production and crippled access rights across the West, people in our communities deserve relief to effectively operate. Instead, this bill leaves troublesome rules in place that forces many New Mexicans to comply with overreaching federal standards rather than having greater opportunities to flourish."