WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Saturday released the following statement after voting to pass a continuing resolution to temporarily keep the government open until November 17.

“I am relieved that Democrats were able to bail out House Republicans and prevent a government shutdown today. But make no mistake, all of this could have been avoided if House Republicans weren’t addicted to chaos. Rather than legislating, they spent weeks pursuing a baseless impeachment inquiry and reckless proposals to dramatically cut funding that millions of families rely on.

“An unnecessary government shutdown would be a catastrophe for too many Americans, and that’s why I voted to avoid it. But I’m worried that our willingness to allow a small minority of Republicans to strip funding for Ukraine from this stopgap bill only makes it harder for us secure the funds Ukraine needs to defend itself against Russia when we pass full-year appropriations. Bipartisan majorities in the Senate and House understand that opposing Russia’s unlawful aggression is in our national security interest, and we must spend the next 45 days working to ensure that continues. Anything less is a gift to Putin.”

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