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West Virginia reps, Brown say shutdown is dirty politics

WASHINGTON D.C. — West Virginia’s Congressional members are saying people playing partisan politics are the reason why federal lawmakers were not able to agree on a funding bill leading to the federal government shutting down this weekend.

Many of the Republican lawmakers from West Virginia are putting the blame squarely on the Democrats who they say are playing games while the military goes unfunded and a measure to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years goes unapproved.

“This entire issue could have been avoided if Senate Democrats had worked with us,” said Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., in a prepared statement. “I joined my House colleagues days ago in sending the Senate a bill to keep our government open, provide for our national defense, pay our troops, and reauthorize CHIP for six years.

“Instead, Senate Democrats said no and stood fast in defending President Obama’s illegal immigration program.”

Jenkins was disappointed these senators rejected the longest reauthorization of CHIP in the history of the program, as well as critical funding to keep the government open.

“I will keep working to reopen our government, help those affected, and pass a long-term reauthorization of CHIP — and I hope Senate Democrats will do the same,” he said.

Jenkins held a telephone press conference Sunday where he repeated his assertion that they should not be in a shutdown.

“We should not be here,” he repeatedly said.

Jenkins said Social Security payments and Medicare/Medicaid benefits will continue to go out and the U.S. Postal Service will remain open during the shutdown.

He placed the blame for the shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., repeatedly calling it “the Schumer Shutdown.” He criticized what he saw as Schumer’s desire to have something in place to address Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) concerns now when the program was not set to expire until March, allowing lawmakers the ability to keep government open while continuing to work towards a resolution.

“Chuck Schumer is holding the federal government hostage over DACA,” Jenkins said. “This is not a good move for the citizens of this country.”

Jenkins said the House is ready to return to the floor at any time to vote for a deal to reopen the government. One option would adjust a four-week funding option to a three-week option while a final deal would be worked out.

“We want the government back open,” Jenkins said. “We need to open it now.”

A Continuing Resolution was passed Saturday to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown, said Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va. The resolution would have also funded the CHIP program for six years, he added. The resolution stalled in the Senate.

“This is now the third time House Republicans have passed CHIP,” McKinley said. “Republicans gave every opportunity for good-faith bipartisan negotiations to take place.

“West Virginia has over 21,000 children who depend on this program for their health care, and these families needed the peace of mind that this program provides.”

This CR also took the step of delaying the medical device tax and two other “unpopular Obamacare taxes,” McKinley said.

“It is now time for the Senate to take action and ensure the nearly 9 million children who use CHIP can have certainty,” he said. “If they don’t like the proposal, then make modifications or changes, but inaction isn’t an option. It is time to paint or get off the ladder.

“Funding the government by short-term CRs is not ideal. Hopefully Congress can find a bipartisan long-term agreement for funding the government soon.”

U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., called on Democrats, the minority party in the U.S. Senate, to stop filibustering legislation to fund the federal government.

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, and he voted for, all 12 appropriations bills to fully fund government for an entire year.

“It is particularly important that our military receive a long-term source of reliable funding which a short term Continuing Resolution does not provide,” Mooney said. “The House already passed the year-long Military funding bill back on July 27, 2017 — which the minority party in the U.S. Senate also continues to obstruct from coming to a vote.

“This shutdown falls squarely on the shoulders of Chuck ‘Shutdown’ Schumer and most Senate Democrats who refuse to allow open and honest debate on measures funding the government,” Mooney said. “I hope that we can return Congress to regular order and fund government the way our Founders intended.”

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was “disappointed and frustrated” Senate Democrats voted to reject a bill that would provide critical resources for programs that so many West Virginians rely on — including CHIP.

“This legislation would have funded CHIP for the next six years, giving long-term relief to the families that depend on it,” Capito said. “What we’ve seen instead are Democrats prioritizing legislation to address an illegal immigration issue over children’s health care and putting politics ahead of a bipartisan program that helps millions of families.

“What’s worse is they brought us to a government shutdown in the process. Shutting down the government is a completely fruitless and avoidable tactic, and it’s a disservice to the American people. I will continue working to pass legislation that funds the government; delivers a long-term CHIP solution; and provides needed resources to our military, veterans, seniors, and working families. I encourage my Democrat colleagues to do the same.”

Democratic lawmakers are blaming their Republican colleagues for the shutdown.

The Republican Party controls the House, the Senate, and White House, said U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

“They’ve just shut down the government,” he said. “(President Donald) Trump, (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican leadership’s failure to govern is 100 percent to blame.”

Lawmakers have important work to do including ensuring the military is equipped to protect the country, fighting the opioid epidemic, keeping the promise to coal miners so they don’t lose their hard-earned pensions, fully funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Community Health Centers, expanding broadband access and passing a comprehensive infrastructure package, Manchin said.

Manchin voted the other night for the fourth short-term continuing resolution for FY2018 in order to keep the government open.

“While I voted for this continuing resolution because I refuse to support a government shutdown, it doesn’t mean I believe this should be the way we govern,” he said. “We are already more than three months into FY2018 and we still don’t have a budget to fund our government for the rest of the fiscal year.

“Every time we pass another short-term funding bill, we put our national security at risk, we stall critical projects and throw our economy and our citizens into limbo.”

Jenkins on Sunday called for Manchin to try and influence Schumer to get the government open again.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was calling on Republican leaders — who control both houses of Congress and the White House — not to shut down the government. Brown was urging McConnell to keep the government open by passing a short-term continuing resolution for a few days, so both sides can stay at the table and continue working to reach a bipartisan deal.

The latest one-month bill proposed by House Republicans is the fourth stop-gap spending measure Republicans have proposed since September — creating dangerous uncertainty for the military, the economy and Ohio families, Brown said.

He said it is critical both sides stay at the table and keep working for a long-term deal so Ohioans don’t have to endure the same uncertainty again a month from now.

“We have the opportunity to reach a bipartisan deal, and we owe it to the people we work for to keep working until we get the job done,” Brown said. “The uncertainty created by Republican leadership in Washington is hurting Ohio businesses, jeopardizing our military readiness, and forcing too many families to live in fear — whether it’s fear their children will lose health insurance, fear the retirement they worked for will be taken away, or fear they will be ripped away from the only home they’ve ever known — enough is enough.

“Leader McConnell must keep the government open and allow us to pass a solution that gives Ohio businesses, military installations and families the certainty they deserve.”

Brown, who has been imploring Republican leaders for months to extend (CHIP), criticized Republican leaders for using Ohio kids as political leverage. He plans to move to take up and pass a CHIP bill with no strings attached immediately.

“These are not bargaining chips, they are 209,000 Ohio kids who are depending on us to do our jobs. Republican leaders must stop holding CHIP hostage to their failed budget process and allow a vote to extend children’s healthcare immediately,” Brown said.

He introduced a bipartisan, five-year CHIP extension in September 2017 and passed it out of the Finance Committee in October. He has repeatedly called on Republican leaders to take it up and pass it since then and Republican leaders have refused time and time again, he said.

Manchin introduced legislation that would withhold the pay of Congressional members during a government shutdown.

“In West Virginia, we know that when you don’t do your job, you don’t get paid,” Manchin said. “If Congress can’t come together to fulfill one of our most basic constitutional obligations, then we don’t deserve to get paid either.”

Jenkins has volunteered to go without pay until the shutdown ends. He spoke of his son who is a U.S. Marine officer who is on active duty.

“He is working today and not getting paid,” Jenkins said Sunday.

He has instructed the U.S. House of Representatives to withhold his pay for the duration of the government shutdown, he said.

“As long as our men and women in uniform are not receiving pay for their service to our nation and my constituents are not receiving the services of the federal government, I will not accept any pay for the duration of this shutdown,” Jenkins wrote to Chief Administrative Office Philip Kiko.

If any pay is required by law, Jenkins said he will donate that pay to charity.

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