Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Curtis (R-UT) voted to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and advance critical annual appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs. Following the Senate’s action, Senator Curtis issued the following statement:
“I commend the Senate’s action to end the shutdown that has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and negatively impacted the lives of millions of Americans. Utahns deserve far better from Washington.
“Over the past 51 years, Congress has managed to pass a proper budget only four times. That is completely unacceptable. It is time to reform the process and restore fiscal responsibility.
“I am committed to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to create a long-term solution that prevents either party from holding the government—and the American people—hostage again.”
As part of the Military Construction portion of the bill, Senator Curtis secured $162.6 million for key military infrastructure projects in Utah, including:
- $2.6 million for design of an F-35 Canopy Repair Facility.
- $22 million for Phase 1 of Hill Air Force Base’s F-35 maintenance expansion.
- $123 million for a new maintenance complex supporting Hill’s training aircraft.
- $15 million for a fuel cell hangar at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base (Salt Lake City Airport).