House Passes Troubling Short Term Continuing Resolution

Bill To Temporarily Fund Government Contains Anti-Civil Liberties Provisions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The House passed a continuing resolution today containing two very troubling anti-civil liberties provisions. The continuing resolution is a bill meant to fund the government for one week and pay for the Department of Defense through September.

However, the bill contains provisions that would prevent Washington, D.C. from using its own locally raised funds to pay for abortion care for low-income women as well as a blanket ban on Guantánamo detainee transfers to the United States for any reason, including prosecution in federal courts. The transfer ban is significant because it would apply to all government funds, and not just to the Defense Department funds that already are restricted.

The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. The current continuing resolution will expire tomorrow, possibly resulting in a government shutdown which would affect thousands of government employees.

The following can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“The House just voted to jeopardize the health of low-income D.C. women and to chip away at due process rights under the guise of determining federal funding priorities. While government employees face the possibility of losing their livelihoods, the House is using the precious time left in the current continuing resolution to limit Americans’ rights. It is unacceptable that our civil liberties continue to be considered dispensable during this funding debate.”