BARRASSO: Meet the Real Americans a Democrat Shutdown Would Hurt the Most

Obstructionist Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are pushing the government to the brink of a shutdown that could harm everyday Americans.

I took to the Senate floor this morning to demand that Senate Democrats drop their far-left shutdown ransom and join Republicans in voting for the clean continuing resolution to keep the government open, and warn them of the pain a government shutdown would inflict on the American people. Here is what I said:

The Minority Leader once again refused to admit it is Democrats who are driving America into a shutdown. Let me remind everyone what Sen. Schumer himself said in 2013. This was when the government faced another government shutdown. He said, “What if I persuaded my caucus to say, ‘I am going to shut the government down … unless I get my way?’ It’s a politics of idiocy.” A shutdown is “idiocy.” Those are the Minority Leader’s words – not mine.

Today, Republicans are committed to keeping the government open. We are going to vote to do that again today. The House already passed a clean continuing resolution with bipartisan votes. It keeps the government open and funded at the current levels for seven weeks. It allows Republicans and Democrats on the Appropriations Committee to continue their bipartisan work on full-year funding bills. That is where senators in both parties have a very important part to play. This continuing resolution is now before the Senate. Senate Republicans support it. Senate Democrats should join us and vote yes to keep the government open. Democrats had no problem voting for 13 clean continuing resolutions just like this one under Joe Biden. Now, they refuse.

Instead, Democrats are demanding a ransom of more than $1 trillion to keep the government open for just four weeks. The proposal is a far-left wish list. Democrats want to spend $400 billion to keep Biden Bonus COVID Payments forever. They want to repeal reforms that strengthen Medicaid for those who need it the most. They want to provide free healthcare for able-bodied, working-aged adults who refuse to work. Democrats want to send billions of dollars overseas because of their obsession with extreme climate policies. 

The Minority Leader made a statement today on healthcare that I found to be preposterous. I’m a doctor. I practiced medicine for 24 years. I was at a rural hospital in Wyoming just this week. The Democrats’ proposal, the ransom note they provided, wants to repeal the critically-important $50 billion Rural Hospital Fund. Every Democrat in this body voted against a $50 billion Rural Hospital Fund. Just a few minutes ago the Senate Minority Leader came to the Floor. He said one of his members went to some rural communities in his home state and said that the healthcare providers there are really concerned. Well, then those healthcare providers haven’t been informed by the Democrat Senators from that state about what is in the bill that passed this summer, and the incredible resources that are being made to make sure that rural hospitals can be sustained, can stay afloat, can stay open, can provide healthcare.

The Democrats are so against rural communities of this country that they actually introduced a bill in July called the “Protecting Healthcare and Lowering Costs Act.” It’s preposterous because that act alone repeals the $50 billion for the rural hospital communities. They didn’t just do it once with their bill in July. They’ve done it again with a ransom note from Chuck Schumer to the Republicans. Hospitals all across my state realize it’s important for their sustainability to provide healthcare in rural communities where the next hospital may be a hundred miles away. That’s something foreign to the other side of the aisle, who ignore so often the rural communities in their own states, don’t campaign there, don’t go there, don’t talk to those people. 

This is an outrageous shakedown by Senate Democrats. And that’s why we’re going to have a shutdown. Because they refuse to keep the government open while working on bipartisan funding bills. Everything they’re doing is focused on satisfying the most radical, extreme, dangerous, and scary part of their party.

In March, Sen. Schumer did the right thing. He voted with Republicans to keep the government open. The far-left immediately attacked him for it. Nancy Pelosi said, “I myself don’t give away anything for nothing.” [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] questioned why Sen. Schumer would “hand away our leverage for free.” Eighteen of Democrats’ own candidates who are running for Senate in open seats refuse to say whether they will vote for him as Leader if they do get elected.

So now, according to an Axios report from last week, Sen. Schumer has built a “private war room” with liberal groups to orchestrate a shutdown. He and his staff have met with these groups every week for the past two months to plan this shutdown that begins tonight at midnight. Sen. Schumer is doing exactly what he once called the “politics of idiocy.” He is threatening to shut the government down unless he gets everything he wants. 

Republicans will not pay Sen. Schumer’s ransom, and the American people aren’t going to pay the ransom. We will not sell out our nation’s service members, our law enforcement officers, our seniors, or our air traffic controllers. 

Let me remind everyone who pays the price for a Schumer Shutdown.

The American Legion warns a shutdown will “directly affect the lives of veterans and their families.” They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

Vietnam Veterans of America put it plainly: “For veterans, a shutdown is … an immediate disruption of care, support, and progress on life-saving initiatives.” They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

The National Fraternal Order of Police says a shutdown “will cause major disruptions for programs that fund public safety efforts in our communities.” They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

The National Association of Police Organizations adds, “Federal law enforcement officers, who are working to protect our cities and communities from violent crime, drugs, and guns, will be putting their lives on the line without getting paid.” They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

The Association of Mature American Citizens warns that seniors on fixed incomes will face “backlogs and service disruptions.” They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says farmers and ranchers will lose “predictability and stability” as harvest season begins. They’ll pay the price for a Schumer Shutdown. 

The National Grocers Association warns that vital programs feeding low-income families and children will run out of money. That is the reality of a Schumer shutdown.

Here’s the bottom line: Republicans are fighting for veterans, service members, law enforcement, border patrol agents, seniors, and rural hospitals. Democrats are willing to shut down the government for illegal immigrants, climate extremism, and wasteful Washington spending. Twelve years ago, Sen. Schumer decried the politics of idiocy. If Democrats shut the government down at midnight tonight, the idiocy will be theirs.

The House did its job. It passed a continuing resolution to fund the government. President Donald Trump is ready to sign it. It is time for the Senate to pass it. The American people are watching.

I urge my Democrat colleagues to join with us. Tear up the ransom note. Keep the government open. Otherwise, Democrats will own the Schumer Shutdown. And the American people will suffer the costs and consequences.

The post BARRASSO: Meet the Real Americans a Democrat Shutdown Would Hurt the Most appeared first on The Daily Signal.