Rokita Statement on Senate Refusal to Compromise or Negotiate

Statement

Representative Todd Rokita released the following statement after the Senate voted down a proposal to appoint a conference committee to negotiate funding the federal government and end the government shutdown.

"The way to work out of serious disagreements is to talk. We have tried to do that for months and on four separate times in the last several days. President Obama and Senator Reid refuse to talk with us. The President is not a leader. We are simply asking that members of Congress and their staffs not have their healthcare benefits subsidized by taxpayers and they be treated like all other Americans on ObamaCare exchanges. And we are asking that individual Americans get the same exclusion from ObamaCare that big businesses and unions are getting. The President and the Senate have rejected this equal treatment under the law.

"We have acted repeatedly to avoid a government shutdown and they have rejected our legislation along with our offer for negotiations. The intransigence of President Obama and Senator Reid has led to a government shutdown that Americans oppose just as they oppose ObamaCare. It's time for President Obama and Senator Reid to compromise and heed the will of the American people."

Despite a federal government shutdown, and unwilling partners in negotiations, essential government functions like our military, Social Security, airports, and prisons are operational.

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