Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement on tonight’s vote on the continuing resolution in the Senate:
“We have been telling Dreamers to sit back and be patient for over 16 years. For 16 years, we’ve been telling them to wait their turn. And then when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program went into effect, we told Dreamers that if they gave the government all of their personal information and paid an annual fee, they would be safe from deportation. Now DACA has been rescinded, and soon enough, 800,000 young men and women will watch their lives fall apart. We can’t let that happen. We need to work together to find a permanent, long-term solution for Dreamers before it’s too late.
“The bill we just voted on was not a long-term plan. It didn’t do enough for retirees and Nevadans struggling with opioid addiction. It didn’t give the VA the certainty it needs to provide our veterans with long-term care and resources. It contained no long-term plan to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to provide relief for families devastated by wildfires and hurricanes, or to support our critical rural hospitals and community health centers. Christmas can wait. We should be working as long as it takes to strike a bipartisan deal that funds the government through the end of next year.
“My vote tonight was a vote for Nevada’s priorities. And I will not stop fighting until we pass the Dream Act and pass government funding legislation that prioritizes the long-term needs of Americans.”