Rhode Island, Massachusetts senators respond after Senate advances bill to end shutdown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island and Massachusetts senators are responding after the Senate secured the votes necessary to advance a funding deal which could reopen the government.

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Jack Reed, and Elizabeth Warren voted against the Republican funding proposal Sunday night.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement:

“The next phase of Democrats’ health care affordability fight is starting.  The American people are with us, and Republicans will pay a heavy political price if they do not follow through on their commitment to work in a bipartisan way to lower skyrocketing premiums.  I personally don’t believe them, but would be thrilled to be wrong.

We have also unlocked some progress on the path to a year-long government funding deal.  Bipartisan appropriations are a key restraint on Trump.

The shutdown put this president’s mad cruelty on display for the world to see.  President Trump and his goons were happy to inflict maximal pain on people and our economy, while throwing extravagant parties and wasting enormous sums to turn the White House into a gaudy palace.  Everyone saw that.  From his gilded golf club, President Trump kept food off the tables of millions of children and families.  The American people will not forget.”

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) released the following statement:

“I am a no on the CR agreement. I respect my colleagues on both sides, but the American people don’t deserve a preventable increase in health care costs.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:

“I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable. The fight to lower costs is a righteous fight, and we must not give it up. 

Republicans in Congress extended tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations, but they refused to extend tax credits to lower health insurance premiums for millions of working people. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.

Donald Trump has made clear that he is willing to hurt people—hungry children, federal employees, working families—in order to get his way. The wannabe king may declare victory today, but Americans will remember his actions.

While Trump and Republicans inflict more pain on people, Democrats’ most important job is to fight back. We will keep fighting to fix our broken health care system and lower costs for working people, but a vote for this legislation is a mistake.”