Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven addressed the Senate, urging his colleagues to support a clean, short-term continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the federal government. The CR, which has already passed the House of Representatives, would fund government operations through November 21 and allow Congress more time to complete the annual appropriations process.

Hoeven criticized Senate Democrats for voting against the measure and called on them to end what he described as a shutdown caused by their leadership’s spending demands. “Once again, our Democrat colleagues are going to have the opportunity to vote for a clean, non-partisan continuing resolution that would open the government and allow us to continue working on the appropriations process. Unfortunately, the Democrat leadership is demanding more than $1 trillion in new spending just to keep the government open until November 21,” said Hoeven. “Let’s end this Schumer shutdown and pass a clean, short-term CR – the same kind of clean CR mind you that 96 percent of Democrats voted to support 13 times during the Biden administration."

The senator also highlighted other priorities he believes Congress should address once the government is reopened. These include passing appropriations bills through regular order and providing assistance for U.S. agriculture producers facing difficulties due in part to trade tensions with China.

“We need to re-open the government, return to our bipartisan appropriations work, and get back to conducting the business of the American people. A good example is our work to support our ag producers… With harvest season underway, the Trump administration continues to fight for better markets for our farmers and ranchers, but in the meantime, our producers need a bridge to stronger markets and the updated farm safety net, which we included as part of the Big Beautiful Bill.”

Hoeven pointed out that Chinese trade practices have negatively affected commodity prices and increased production costs for U.S. farmers. He emphasized that providing assistance now would help protect agricultural producers during ongoing negotiations with China.

“Due to China’s efforts to reduce commodity prices and push up the cost of production, our farmers are having a hard time right now. It’s critical that we don’t allow China to use our farmers as a pressure point in negotiations… By acting now and providing assistance for our producers during these negotiations, we will send a very strong signal to China that their tactics will not work. That’s how we secure better market access for our producers for the long-term.”

He cited past efforts by President Trump’s administration as an example: “That’s exactly what President Trump did during his first term in his negotiations with China, when we worked with him on the Market Facilitation Program to keep our farmers in the game. The result was that President Trump secured a $50 billion agreement from China to purchase our ag commodities. That’s what we’re working to do once again, and it’s just one example of the hard work that needs to get done for the American people. So, once again I ask our Democrat colleagues to join with us and vote to get this government open.”