Senate being stubborn
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October 1, 2013 |
By Congressman Raul Labrador
As you’ve probably heard, the federal government
shut down today because of a “lapse in
appropriations.” Quite simply, there is no money
currently available for many government
functions, although its most important functions
– from paying our soldiers to processing Social
Security checks – will continue uninterrupted.
To learn more about how the shutdown affects
you,
click here.
The reason we got to this point is that the
Senate refuses to negotiate with the House on
what’s called a “Continuing Resolution” (C.R.)
to keep the government open.
During the past two weeks, I voted for – and the
House passed – three different C.R.s to keep the
government open, while also shielding the
American people from the worst aspects of
ObamaCare.
The Senate, however, refused to accept our C.R.s.
They refused to negotiate at all.
And so, as of right now, we are left with no
C.R. and a government shutdown.
This is the 18th shutdown in the past 37 years.
The quickest one lasted one day, while the
longest one lasted 21 days. The House has taken
action to end the shutdown immediately.
Early this morning, we passed a resolution
requesting a formal conference with the Senate
to come to an agreement on a C.R. that ends the
shutdown. The Senate rejected our proposal.
The House continues to strategize on new ideas
to end the shutdown, but we need the Senate to
come to the table.
What the House has proposed is very reasonable –
a one-year delay in the individual mandate
(which is part of ObamaCare) and a requirement
that all members of Congress and their staff
purchase their health insurance on the ObamaCare
exchange, with no subsidy beyond what is
required by law for all Americans.
As I said on NBC’s
Meet the Press on Sunday, the President has
already delayed the employer mandate for big
business for one year. There’s no reason we
can’t delay it for the American people too.
It’s really an issue of fairness.
While the House listens to the American people,
the Senate is trying to keep the government shut
down with the hope that Republicans get the
blame. But the truth is, it will be the Senate
that gets blamed for refusing to fix the
individual mandate.
As Senator Max Baucus – one of the architects of
ObamaCare – recently said, ObamaCare is a “train
wreck” and we owe it to the people to minimize
the damage of that “train wreck” until either
the law becomes workable or gets repealed.
Think about it: If a major company like Apple
was rolling out a new product, they wouldn’t go
to market unless they were sure it was going to
work and all the potential problems had been
fixed. They would do whatever it takes to make
sure everything was done, and done right.
That is the total opposite of ObamaCare.
The Senate is rushing into this “train wreck,”
with no regard for the people. And why? What’s
the rush?
The House stands ready to work with the Senate,
but we need the Senate to come to the table. The
Senate has forced us into the first government
shutdown in 17 years, which is unacceptable.
The American people deserve better. I will
continue advocating to end the shutdown while
also ensuring fairness for the American people
on health care. |
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