Thread by @RepGolden

🧵I just voted to pass a Continuing Resolution and avoid a government shutdown. Here's a short thread to explain why:

This CR is not perfect, but a shutdown would be worse. Even a brief shutdown would introduce even more chaos and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it.

Funding the government is our most basic obligation as members of Congress. My vote today reflects my commitment to making tough choices and doing my job for the people of Maine.

This CR includes several provisions Mainers can celebrate, including:
🎖️billions for the construction of a DDG-51 destroyer at Bath Iron Works
🪖 funding to provide junior enlisted members of the Armed Services their biggest pay raise in 40 years.

The CR also includes:
👮‍♀️increased funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration
🌨️ increased funding for disaster relief;
🏞️ increased funding for operational expenses at national parks, including Acadia;

The CR also includes:
💻 extended telehealth flexibility for Medicare; and
🩺 advance funding for state Medicaid grants and Aging and Disability Services Programs.

To be clear, this CR is not the one I would have written. But elections have consequences. I am disappointed by messaging gimmicks from some in my party, particularly the untrue claim that this CR cuts veterans services.

The truth is: There are no cuts to veterans care in the period covered by this CR & we have six months to ensure funding continues in the next fiscal year. To say it contains cuts is, at best, a misreading that creates unnecessary fear among veterans.

At worst, Dems are adopting the same cynical GOP political tactics that we have rightfully denounced — using misdirection to justify a vote. This may seem politically expedient, but it only lowers us to a level we shouldn’t accept.