Davis Backs Individual Spending Bills To End Shutdown

President Obama has called on House Speaker John Boehner to call a vote on a so-called “clean” continuing resolution to end the partial government shutdown. But Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) says he IS supporting “clean” resolutions, by voting for individual appropriations bills.

Davis said  these measures reflect the way Washington used to govern in the days before gridlock.

“The fact of the matter is, I’ve been a voice for returning to a constitutional appropriations process, where we send appropriations bills through the House of Representative, through the Senate, and then have the Senate pass them into a conference committee, get an agreement together, get ‘em to the President’s desk,” said Davis.

Davis spoke before Monday evening’s House session, in which House members voted 265-162 vote for short-term funding of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Davis said he has not seen any language in the appropriations bills that concern the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare --- unlike the earlier bills passed in the House.

“And in those (earlier bills) were different levels of defunding or delay (of the Affordable Care Act), or just getting rid of the Congressional special subsidy to avoid a government shutdown," said Davis. "Unfortunately, the President and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid had no intention of avoiding a government shutdown. And because of that, we are then passing individual appropriations bills, clean appropriations bills.”

Davis accused Reid of having a “temper tantrum” over the measures, when he should be allowing their passage. While President Obama has threatened to veto the individual spending bills, Davis predicted he would sign them if they reached his desk.