U.S. senators call for August recess to be shortened or canceled

ALBANY — Citing just 33 scheduled working days before the federal budget year ends Sept. 30, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Sea Island, and nine other Republican senators are calling for the August recess to be shortened or canceled so the Senate can make timely progress on five critical issues.

“There are five imperatives which must be accomplished this year,” the senators wrote in the letter dated Friday. “We must complete the first phase of Obamacare repeal and replace. Next, we have to pass a budget that serves as a reconciliation vehicle for reforming our outdated tax code. Before September 30th, we must agree on an appropriation that responsibly funds the government.

“Also, we must deal with our debt limit before that approximate date. If we successfully navigate those priorities, we can finally get to our once-in-a-generation opportunity on tax reform. Growing the economy, repairing our infrastructure and rebuilding our military are all dependent on accomplishing the tasks before us.”

Perdue was joined by Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; John Kennedy, R-La.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Luther Strange, R-Ala.; Dan Sullivan, R-Ark., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., in calling for what’s known as the August state work period to be shortened or canceled altogether.

“Our current Senate calendar shows only 33 potential working days remaining before the end of the fiscal year,” the letter states. “This does not appear to give us enough time to adequately address the issues that demand immediate attention. Therefore, we respectfully request that you consider truncating, if not completely foregoing, the scheduled August state work period, allowing us more time to complete our work.”

The letter noted that passing a budget and all 12 appropriations bills on time is rare, having happened only four times in the past 43 years. While they thanked the majority leader for moving through the Senate legislation that allowed the rolling back of some federal regulations, they said more time should not be lost with tax reform “hanging in the balance.”

“Robust change to our tax code is our single most important economic growth tool, and there is already growing anticipation for us to act. Failure to deliver could have devastating economic consequences,” the senators wrote.

The group said the request was supported by a full commitment to “thoughtfully and diligently work through” the cited issues.

“We simply recognize that making America great again requires a certain time commitment. Delivering meaningful results was never assumed to be easy, but the millions of Americans who placed their confidence in our leadership expect our full and best effort,” they wrote.