Blumenthal Statement on the Senate's Passage of a Continuing Resolution to Keep the Government Open

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement today after the Senate voted to approve a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through April 2017.

“This bipartisan measure is a stopgap to continue government services at current funding levels through the spring – but it has some big wins for Connecticut jobs and national security. I fought to ensure that the Continuing Resolution included two provisions protecting the future of the Ohio Replacement Program and authorization for Black Hawks. Funding these programs is a victory for Connecticut defense industrial base, which is so vital to our economic security and our national security,” Blumenthal said.

“I am disappointed that Congressional Republicans kicked down the road a key issue of coal miners’ pensions and benefits and slipped a complex national security issue that could challenge a bedrock principle of our democracy – civilian control of our military – into a funding bill during the dead of night. But I felt the good in this measure far outweighed the bad.”

The Continuing Resolution approved today by the Senate was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this week, and will now be signed into law by President Obama, averting a gap in federal spending. Although a Continuing Resolution typically funds the government at a level consistent with the previous year’s budget, rare exceptions can be made. Blumenthal worked to ensure that two such exceptions benefiting Connecticut defense manufacturing and our national security were included in this Continuing Resolution:

The Ohio Replacement Program (ORP): The ORP was granted an exception to allow for $773.1 million in a new funding account for shipbuilding, which will allow Electric Boat to begin advance work on construction. These submarines will replace the 14 Ohio-class submarines with 12 new strategic ballistic missile submarines in the coming years. Blumenthal led efforts calling on Senate appropriators to include such an exception in the final text of the Continuing Resolution, sending letters to both the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and the full Appropriations Committee.

Black Hawks: The Continuing Resolution also includes the authorization for the ninth multiyear procurement authority for Black Hawks. This provision allows the Secretary of the Army to purchase up to 268 Black Hawks over the next four fiscal years. The previous multiyear contract provided approximately $1 billion in savings by buying these helicopters in bulk. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Blumenthal fought to include language in the National Defense Authorization Act – approved by Congress earlier this week – which was necessary to ensure that the funding appropriated in the Continuing Resolution could be spent.

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