WASHINGTON – Prior to Majority Leader Schumer’s announcement, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the impact of Sen. Manchin’s secret permitting reform deal being included in the government funding bill that will be voted on this evening. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“We’re just three days from the end of the fiscal year, and the Democrat-controlled Senate has yet to pass a single appropriations bill. No funding for our military, no funding for veterans services, no funding for border security. Nothing.”

“In order to get the Senior Senator from West Virginia to vote for his reckless tax-and-spending bill, the Majority Leader promised to attach permitting reform to the government funding bill.” 

“The bill doesn’t come even close to delivering the real commonsense changes that were promised. The provisions meant to speed up the approval process for new projects lack teeth…”

“On top of that, it’s a power grab by the federal regulatory, energy regulatory commission, granting them unprecedented authority to force electric transmission lines on states.”

“It will not succeed. Then Senator Schumer, the Majority Leader, will have a choice — pass a clean funding bill to keep the lights on, to keep government open, or shut down the government over their reckless tax-and-spending spree deal cut behind closed doors last summer.”

“If you’ll remember, a couple of months ago at the same time he professed publicly and privately that the disastrous radical tax-and-spending spree bill was dead, the Senior Senator from West Virginia was negotiating a sweetheart deal in secret. Unbeknownst to Republicans and, by the way, unbeknownst to all Democrats other than the Majority Leader.”

“Fast forward to today when that deal falls apart this evening, he’ll need to abandon his secret deal with Senator Schumer. For our country’s sake, I hope the Majority Leader and Senator Manchin won’t shut down the government.”