Weekly Addre: End the Government Shutdown
Good morning.Earlier this week, the Republican House of Representatives chose to shut down a government they don’t like over a health care law they don’t like.And I’ve talked a lot about the real-world consequences of this shutdown in recent days – the services disrupted; the benefits delayed; the public servants kicked off the job without pay.
But today, I want to let the Americans dealing with those real-world consequences have their say.And these are just a few of the many heartbreaking letters I’ve gotten from them in the past couple weeks – including more than 30,000 over the past few days.
Kelly Mumper lives in rural Alabama.She works in early education, and she has three kids of her own in the Marines.Here’s what she wrote to me on Wednesday.
“Our Head Start agency…was forced to stop providing services on October 1st for over 770 children, and 175 staff were furloughed.I am extremely concerned for the welfare of these children.There are parents who work and who attend school.Where are they leaving their children…is it a safe environment…are [they] getting the food that they receive at their Head Start program?”
On the day Julia Pruden’s application to buy a home for her and her special needs children was approved by the USDA’s rural development direct loan program, she wrote me from Minot, North Dakota.
“We put in an offer to purchase a home this weekend, and it was accepted…if funding does not go through, our chances of the American Dream [are] down the drain…We have worked really hard to get our credit to be acceptable to purchase a home…if it weren’t for the direct lending program provided by the USDA, we would not qualify to buy the home we found.”
These are just two of the many letters I’ve received from people who work hard; try to make ends meet; try to do right by their families.They’re military or military spouses who’ve seen commiaries closed on their bases.They’re veterans worried the services they’ve earned won’t be there.They’re busine owners who’ve seen their contracts with the government put on hold, worried they’ll have to let people go.I want them to know, I read the stories you share with me. These are our fellow Americans.These are the people who sent us here to serve.And I know that Republicans in the House of Representatives are hearing the same kinds of stories, too.
As I made clear to them this week, there’s only one way out of this reckle and damaging shutdown: pa a budget that funds our government, with no partisan strings attached.The Senate has already done this.And there are enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives willing to do the same, and end this shutdown immediately.But the far right of the Republican Party won’t let Speaker John Boehner give that bill a yes-or-no vote.
Take that vote.Stop this farce.End this shutdown now.
The American people don’t get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their job.Neither does Congre.They don’t get to hold our democracy or our economy hostage over a settled law.They don’t get to kick a child out of Head Start if I don’t agree to take her parents’ health insurance away.That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work.That\'s why I won\'t pay a ransom in exchange for reopening the government.And I certainly won\'t pay a ransom in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.For as reckle as a government shutdown is, an economic shutdown that comes with default would be dramatically worse.I\'ll always work with anyone of either party on ways to grow this economy, create new jobs, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul.But not under the shadow of these threats to our economy.Pa a budget.End this government shutdown.Pay our bills.Prevent an economic shutdown.These Americans and millions of others are counting on Congre to do the right thing.And I will do everything I can to make sure they do.Thank you.早晨好！本周早些时候，众议院共和党人因为不喜欢医疗保健法案而选择关闭他们不喜欢的政府。最近几天，我对于这次政府关闭的真实后果已经谈了不少——多种服务中断；津贴支付延迟；公务员被迫停薪休假。
但今天，我想让应对这些真实后果的美国人来讲一讲。这些只是我过去几周收到的许多令人心碎的信件中的一部分，过去几天就收到了30,000多封。 Kelly Mumper生活在亚拉巴马州农村地区。她从事早期教育工作，她自己有三个孩子在海军陆战队服役。下面就是她周三写给我的信。
“十月一日，我们的‘先人一步’机构„„被迫停止为超过770名的孩子提供服务，175名员工被迫休假。我及其关注这些孩子的幸福。家长们要工作、要上学。他们把孩子放哪里„„是安全的环境吗„„（他们）能像在‘先人一步’计划中那样获得食物吗？”
Julia Pruden在为她和她有特殊需求的孩子购买住房的申请被美国农业部农村开发直接贷款计划批准的当天，从北达科他州迈诺特给我写信。
“本周，我们出价购买一所房子，我们的出价得到接受„„如果资金筹措不顺利，我们实现美国梦的机会就会逝去„„我们工作非常努力，为的是能够获得贷款购买住房„„如果没有美国农业部提供的直接借贷计划，我们将没有资格购买我们相中的房子。”
这些只是我收到的许多信件中的两封，这些信件，都来自辛勤工作、试图维持家计、试图为家人做出正确决定的人们。他们是看到基地军人商店歇业的军人或军人夫妇。他们是担心无法享受应得服务的退伍老兵。他们是看到其与政府签订的合同被搁置的企业主，这些企业主担心他们将不得不解聘员工以渡过难关。我希望他们知道，我读过了你们分享给我的故事。
这些就是我们的美国同胞。这些就是把我们送到这里来为大众服务的人民。我知道，众议院共和党人也在倾听相同的故事。
像我本周明确指出的那样，走出这次不计后果和造成伤害的政府关门只有一个方法：通过预算为我们的政府提供资金，不附加任何党派附带条件。参议院已经这样做了。在众议院也有足够的共和党和民主党人愿意投票做同样的事情。但是，极端保守的共和党人不让议长John Boehner组织对该法案进行直接表决。 请投票表决吧！请停止这场闹剧吧！请现在就停止这次政府关门！
美国人民不会为完成自己的工作而去索取赎金。国会也不会。他们不会为了一项决定了的法律而要挟我们的民主或我们的经济。他们不会因为我不同意拿掉家长的医疗保险而把孩子撵出“先人一步”计划。这不应该是我们的民主运作的方式。
出于这一理由，我不愿意支付赎金来换取政府重新开门。我当然不愿意支付赎金来换取提高债务上限。因为经济关门像政府关门一样不计后果，会引发债务违约，明显还会造成更为严重的后果。
在发展美国经济、创造新工作岗位和为了长期发展而重整我们的财政机构的道路上，我总是愿意与两党中的任何人合作。但不是在对我们经济所做出的种种威胁的阴影笼罩下。 请通过预算吧！请结束这次政府关门！ 请支付我们的账单吧！请阻止经济的关门！
这些美国人和许多其他人正指望国会去做正确的事情。我愿意尽我所能确保他们去这样做。 谢谢大家！
