Weekly Address: End the Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama saidhat Republicans in the House of Representatives chose to shut down the government over a health care law they don’t like. He urged the Congress to pass a budget that funds our government, with no partisan strings attached. The President made clear he will 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.
The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, October 5, 2013
Weekly Address
The White House
October 5, 2013
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
has three children 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 commissaries closed on
their bases. They’re veterans worried the services they’ve earned won’t
be there. They’re business 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
reckless and damaging shutdown: pass 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 Congress. 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 reckless 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.
Pass a budget. End this government shutdown.
Pay our bills. Prevent an economic shutdown.
These Americans and millions of others are counting on Congress to do the right thing. And I will do everything I can to make sure they do.
Thank you.
