Senate being stubborn
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and we owe it to the people to minimize the damage of that “train wreck” until either the law becomes workable or gets repealed.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.