Denver - Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak today marked the end of the GOP's "do-nothing" 109th Congress. Over the last two years, Republicans have presided over a Congress that "worked a total of 103 days," which is "seven days fewer than the infamous 'Do-Nothing Congress' of 1948." [Washington Post, 12/8/06] Democrats are committed to taking the business of the American people seriously and, like most American workers, will put in the long hours needed to get the job done.

"Last month the people of Colorado sent a powerful message rejecting the failed leadership the 'do-nothing' Republican Congress and demanding real leadership that addresses the needs of Colorado's working families," said Pat Waak. "The people of Colorado have paid a real price for the failure of the 'Do-Nothing' Republican Congress, but help is on the way. Democrats like Reps. Diana DeGette, Mark Udall, John Salazar and Rep.- elect Ed Perlmutter are committed to heading to Congress to work hard, restore integrity and fiscal discipline in Congress, and the make sure that the needs of the American people are met."

Republican Inaction Will Hurt Veterans, Education, Health And Law Enforcement.

"Ridiculed as the 'do-nothing' 109th U.S. Congress, the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on Monday begin a brief session to wrap up whatever work they can, install a new defense secretary and approve money to prevent a shutdown of government services. . Congress has failed to pass nine of the 11 annual bills that fund government activities in the fiscal year that began on October 1. Farm subsidies, education, health and law enforcement are among the programs without full-year funding. To avert government shutdowns, two temporary spending bills have already been enacted. The latest expires on Friday and Congress is expected to pass a third stopgap funding bill that would keep U.S. agencies running through February 15. Early next year, Democrats will try to finish the work. But in the meantime, some programs could suffer as the stopgap bills mostly hold spending to last year's level. Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said that 'will absolutely hurt.' With growing numbers of Iraq war veterans, he said the backlog of claims for medical, pension and education benefits has swelled to more than 800,000, compared to about 773,000 last year." [Reuters, 12/3/06]