Throughout this Republican government shutdown, Donald Trump made clear that he is willing to hurt people — hungry children, federal employees, working families — in order to get his way. And Republicans in Congress are more than willing to bend over backwards to help Trump advance his harmful agenda more efficiently.

The American people want to see Democrats standing up and fighting back. That’s why I will not support a deal ending the government shutdown that does nothing to make health care more affordable.

A vote for this deal is a mistake. The fight to lower costs is a righteous fight, and we must not give it up.

Look, we are in a health care emergency right now. We need to keep fighting to fix our broken health care system and lower costs for working people.

Twenty-four million Americans are getting notices right now that their health care premiums are about to increase by twice or three times the amount they were last year. All Democrats are asking for is a one-year extension on these tax credits that help Americans afford their health care, so that we don’t pull the rug out from under them.

This would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina. Republicans in Congress extended tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations, but they are refusing to extend tax credits to lower health insurance premiums for millions of working people.

It’s clear where their priorities are. And so while Trump and Republicans inflict more pain on people, Democrats’ most important job is to fight back and lower costs for working people — and I’m in this fight all the way.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth