E-Newsletter: Shutdown Week: Different Attitudes, Different Results

Statement

The federal government has been shut down for four days and counting, and yet President Obama and the Senate Democrats still refuse to negotiate. It's incredible: the President will negotiate with Iran -- the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism -- but he won't negotiate with House Republicans. Even after the House passed smaller bills to fund several agencies, including the National Institutes of Health -- which has been forced to stop clinical trials for cancer patients because of the shutdown -- the Senate refuses to consider our bills, and the President promises to veto them. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was asked point-blank, "If you could help one child who has cancer, why wouldn't you do it?," Reid replied callously, "Why would we want to do that?" You can watch the video here.

The callousness of President Obama and the Senate Democrats stands in stark contrast to the courageous spirit of World War II veterans who travelled to Washington, D.C. this week. The veterans were here as part of an "Honor Flight" to visit the memorials that honor their service. But when they visited the World War II Memorial on the first day of the shutdown, they found it locked up. That didn't stop them, of course. Aided by several members of Congress, the vets stormed the barricades. And they had every right to do so. Even with the shutdown, there was no reason for the memorial to be locked up. And the vets weren't going to let some bureaucrat tell them what they can and cannot do. God bless them!

I love the spirit of those veterans. And that's precisely the spirit we need to get through this shutdown -- that "can-do" spirit, that spirit that says we can overcome the obstacles, we can rise above the powers that be - even when there's a chorus in the background shouting "no you can't" and "how dare you even try!"

We are a "can-do" people. Don't let the government tell you any differently. This week, 10 high school students and 2 teachers from Nampa travelled to DC to visit the capital's historic and cultural treasures -- only to find many of those treasures closed because of the shutdown. When I heard about their trip, I asked my staff to create a new itinerary for them. I was able to set up and lead a Capitol Tour for them and we had lunch together. To read the Statesman article about it, click here.

Still, it would have been better if the government was fully open. And that's why we need to remember: we could end this shutdown today -- if only the President and the Senate would come to the negotiating table. Why they refuse to do that is beyond me. We work in a divided government. And our type of government inevitably requires some give and take. Why the President continues to insist -- as he told NPR -- that "I shouldn't have to offer anything" is unbelievable and irresponsible.

I will continue advocating to end the shutdown while also ensuring fairness for the American people on health care.

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