The Government is Shutdown, I’m Still Fighting for Nebraskans
The Schumer Shutdown continues. It's the longest government shutdown in history, and we're seeing the impacts all across the country. That includes Nebraska.
Last week, a friend of mine called me to tell me about a restaurant in Bellevue. Normally, it's packed with airmen from Offutt. Because of the government shutdown, airmen and civilian employees are reticent to come in to eat. They aren’t able to afford it when they aren’t being paid. They don’t know when the next paycheck will come.
This is the cost of the Schumer shutdown. It’s impacting businesses in Bellevue, Nebraska and across the country. Air traffic controllers, federal law enforcement officers, Border Patrol and TSA agents, U.S. attorneys, and Capitol Police officers are working without getting paid. The federal courts are in limited operations. SNAP benefits are only partially being issued. Head Start grants are not going out, hurting low-income students. Small business loans are also not going out.
Rural development programs that support housing, utilities, and infrastructure projects are on hold. Grants to local law enforcement to fight fentanyl and protect our communities are disrupted.
Aircraft inspections are delayed. Veterans transition assistance is disrupted. National Guard trainings are delayed.
Telehealth and at-home care. Community Health Centers. Payments for Ambulances. Hospital-at-home services. All disrupted.
These are the consequences of the Schumer Shutdown.
To be clear, Republicans cannot open government by ourselves. We need eight Democrat votes to reopen government. We have three right now. We only need five more.
Yet for too many of my Democrat colleagues in the Senate, these consequences are just “leverage.”
Democrat Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said that our bipartisan bill to reopen the government: “gives the president more leverage.”
Why is it leverage for the President to have a working government? I think that benefits everyone.
Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said this shutdown is “the only lever we have.”
Democrat Ruben Gallego of Arizona said: “I’d just go back and shut it down again” if he didn’t get what he wanted.
And, of course, socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said: “you reopen the government, we lose our leverage.”
To Democrats, the Schumer Shutdown is about political leverage, not the American people. It’s past time Democrats ended their partisan game.
We're continuing to govern – even if the Democrats aren’t.
I’ve voted fourteen times for a clean, bipartisan Continuing Resolution. I voted for the bipartisan Shutdown Fairness Act to pay our on-duty federal workers. I voted for a bipartisan appropriations bill to pay our military servicemembers. I’ve voted to confirm 117 of President Trump’s nominees. Earlier this month, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act. This NDAA will support our airmen at Offutt Air Force Base and strengthen Nebraska’s Sentinel missile program. We passed the historic ROAD to Housing Act. This will make it easier for Nebraskans to buy homes. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced three of my bipartisan bills to deter Communist China and keep Americans safe. That includes the THINK TWICE Act, the PORCUPINE Act, and the AUKUS Improvement Act. I will continue doing everything I can to reopen the government and restore essential services for Nebraskans.
Here’s a better way forward. We need five more Democrats to say “we care more about people than about political leverage.” We need five more Democrats to join the three Democrats who are already with us. That’s all we need to reopen the government.
The sooner, the better. That’s what Nebraskans deserve.
Throughout the duration of the shutdown, my team and I are here to serve you. My offices remain open in Scottsbluff, Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha, and Washington, D.C. Contact us anytime by phone at 202-224-4224. You can also view my website at www.ricketts.senate.gov/contact. |
