U.S Government Shutdown Deepens: Republicans Urge Democrats to Back Clean Funding Bill and End the Stalemate.

Two weeks have passed since we initially voted on a clean continuing resolution to maintain government operations, Mr. President.  Long before it began, this shutdown might have been prevented.  Unfortunately, we are now approaching the third day of this needless shutdown because Democrats are unwilling to make concessions on their ideological demands.

We might be working productively right now, approving the bipartisan defence authorisation bill, conducting conferences on the three appropriations measures voted back in August, or moving bipartisan appropriations legislation forward through regular procedure.  Instead, the American people are suffering as a result of the stalemate that the Democrats have manufactured.

A clean, impartial funding extension is the consensus among Republicans.  It is currently in the Senate, awaiting a vote, having already received approval from the House.  This plan is straightforward, straightforward, and unambiguous; it contains neither party riders nor new Republican policy changes.  Only to give us more time to finish the appropriations process here on the Senate floor, it reopens the government until November 21st.

There are now a number of bipartisan legislation that are prepared for discussion and approval.  The Democrats' demand for an extra $1.5 trillion in political expenditure, which surpasses our total national defence budget, for only four weeks of government financing is the only thing standing in the way of reopening the government and starting vital work.  A proposition like that is unrealistic; it is basically a far-left expenditure plan.

We could have this whole thing resolved in a matter of hours, Mr. President.  A single roll-call vote on the clean continuing resolution voted by the House would be sufficient.  The US president has already stated that he is prepared to sign it.  All we need is some Democrats to get on board.  We can talk about the problems raised by the Democrats after the government is reopened.  However, significant progress is unattainable as long as they continue to enslave the federal government to their party demands.

I think that many Democrats, in private, are aware of the shortcomings in their stance, regardless of what some of them say in public.  "Hostage tactics are the last resort for those who cannot win their battles through elections, legislation, the courts," the senior senator from Massachusetts previously stated.

This shutdown must end quickly, Mr. President.  The only way ahead is for Democrats to support the clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution that is now on the table.  We can resume governing and tackling national objectives with only one vote to reopen the government.

Prior to talking about the policies and issues that require attention, we must reopen the government as quickly as possible.  Disagreement is a natural aspect of democracy—our system was designed to work in spite of disagreements, as the Democratic leader famously said.  However, the stability of that very system is threatened when one side turns to political standoffs and exploits the fundamental operations of government as leverage in policy conflicts.

Hopefully, the Democratic leadership will heed its own counsel and put an immediate stop to this impasse.  Democrats will have another opportunity to vote in favour of the clean continuing resolution later today.  We'll see if they decide to cooperate with us to reopen the government or stick to their shutdown politics.

Republicans are prepared to take action and reopen the government so that it can continue to serve the American people.  The Democrats' readiness to follow suit will determine how long this shutdown lasts.