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Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the American people reject what is going on here, and that is the Schumer shutdown. We are now in day 7 of the Schumer shutdown--7 days of wasted time and growing hardship for the American people.

There is a new Harvard-Harris poll that has just come out, and it makes it loud and clear. And what is loud and clear is that 7 in 10 voters in America oppose the government shutdown. Americans overwhelmingly say Democrats should accept a continuing resolution at the current levels of funding until the actual spending bills are passed. It is interesting because 13 times in the Biden administration, the Democrats did exactly that, and it is the thing they are refusing to do right now.

Americans don't want their government closed. They want it open. They want it to work for them. They want a nation that is safe and secure and prosperous. They are sick and tired of Democrats holding them hostage with partisan and unreasonable demands.

What do the Democrats want? What did their demand letter say? It said they want free healthcare for illegal immigrants. This is opposed by an overwhelmingly large number of Americans.

The Democrats shut down the government, and they think they are hurting President Trump. In fact, the Schumer shutdown is hurting people all across America. Across this country, Americans are feeling the pain.

There are headlines that tell the story, and I have a few here. One in New York says ``Gov't shutdown threatens food access for Long Island's most vulnerable.'' Another in Nevada says ``Government shutdown threatens food stamps, jobs, national security.'' In New Jersey, one reads ``Hospital-at-home, telehealth programs on hold amid government shutdown.'' In New Hampshire: ``At least 1,800 NH federal workers to be furloughed or fired during shutdown.''

They are not statistics. These are families. These are our troops. These are seniors. These are veterans. These are mothers with young children, working families, patients all across the country. And the stresses upon American families are mounting as a result of the Schumer shutdown.

Paychecks for our servicemembers--well, they run out in days. Reports already show there are signs of financial distress. Every day this shut down continues, the damage drags on. Financial stress will lead to financial crises for many families. Temporary hardships will lead to lasting harm. The American people don't want it. They can't afford it. They want it to end.

Democrats have now voted five specific times to keep the government closed. Now all you need to do is read their ransom note. Democrats are demanding taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants. And who do they want to hurt in the process? They want to cut the funding for rural hospitals in my State and yours. That is how they want to pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants. That is their price to reopen the government, to get back to the normal workings of Washington and our government. As a result, the Democrats are holding the American people hostage.

There is a simple solution to the shutdown. The House passed a clean continuing resolution--current spending levels, bipartisan support--to fund the government through November 21. Why November 21? Well, I just heard the minority leader say there has been no discussion between Republicans or Democrats on the continuing resolution. Well, in fact, there has been, and it is the deadline date of November 21 because the chairs and the ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee all said they needed 7 weeks to finish the bipartisan work on the appropriations bills. So, yes. Senator Collins, Senator Murray worked together on the clean continuing resolution.

It is interesting because what we see are the Democrats fearing the wrath of the far-left wing of their party. That is why they are not voting to open the government.

The clock continues to tick. Every day Democrats hold out is another day wasted, another day we ought to be making sure the government is open. I hear the Democrats say they want to negotiate. Well, open the government. We are ready to negotiate. Every day the Democrats choose to keep the government closed is another day spent ignoring and rejecting the priorities of the American people. If Democrats actually wanted to negotiate, they would reopen the government today. It is that simple.

So, today, we are going to vote for the sixth time on a clean continuing resolution, something the Democrats approved 13 times when Joe Biden was President. Senate Democrats have a choice: Vote yes to end the Schumer shutdown or vote no, and tell the American people why their pain and their opinion just doesn't matter to the Democrats.

Let me end where I began: 7 out of 10 Americans oppose this shutdown. Americans overwhelmingly say Democrats should accept the clean continuing resolution that we are voting on here today. The American people have spoken. They want their government open, and they want it open now. It is time that the Democrats listened to them.

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