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Rep. Kelly Addresses the Schumer Shutdown

January 20, 2018

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued the following statement today regarding the ongoing lapse in fiscal appropriations for the federal government.

As every honest observer knows, this is a shutdown that Senate Democrats chose to make happen. They’re in a truly indefensible position. The House passed a bipartisan funding bill with nothing controversial in it. President Trump is ready to sign it. But because it doesn't contain an unrelated far-left demand, Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey are abusing Senate rules to block it. By recklessly insisting that a short-term funding bill include a separate measure to give legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, Senate Democrats are showing their true colors as a party on the fringe. They are literally putting the interests of non-citizens before the needs of millions of American children and troops. This kind of obstruction may please their liberal base, but it is wrong, radical, and dangerous. Senator Schumer was right back in 2013 when he said that ‘shutting down the government’ over immigration reform ‘would be governmental chaos.’ Five years later, he should reverse his stunning hypocrisy and lead his party to do the right thing for America. The future of the DACA program – created only by an unconstitutional executive order – deserves to be thoroughly debated in open hearings and careful discussion considering its dramatic size, scope, and ramifications. Rushing it through the process to jam it into a CR is just plain irresponsible. For now, it’s time to end the Schumer Shutdown.

BACKGROUND: Rep. Kelly’s latest official statement on DACA can be viewed here.
 

NOTE: ​Rep. Kelly has formally requested that his pay be fully withheld for the duration of the shutdown. His official letter to CAO can be viewed here.

 

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