See below for video and highlights of Sen. Mark Warner’s remarks, courtesy of his Senate office. As they say:
“Sen. Warner continues to fight to keep the government open while protecting the essential health care tax credits that so many American families rely on. He believes this fight is especially important given the harm that was done when Republicans gutted Medicaid earlier this summer. As negotiations continue, Sen. Warner will continue pushing to prevent health care premiums from skyrocketing and urging his Republican colleagues to come to the negotiating table.”
- Sen. Mark Warner: “The Republicans, as we’ve seen, control all the levers of power in America. We’ve seen amazing actions from this president where the Congress has just basically gone along. This is the one time that there’s got to be a real negotiation. At the end of the day, if we end up with a shutdown, I think the American people will know it was because the president – who said ‘it’s the president’s responsibility to avert a shutdown’ – and the Republicans, who control the majority of the House and the Senate, weren’t willing to find a bipartisan deal. I think most Virginians know there’s no bipartisan effort in the Senate in the last decade that I haven’t been intimately involved with. There’s always a way to meet halfway. So far, we’ve seen nothing but a take-it-or-leave-it approach from the president and the Republicans, and that’s going to drive up health care costs for all Americans, and I think we can avoid that. Let’s keep the government open and keep health care costs down. Pretty simple.”
- Sen. Mark Warner: “We’ve already seen inflation keep trending up on a monthly basis. We know – I hear from Virginians all the time – grocery costs continue to go up dramatically. People can’t afford rent. We don’t have enough housing supply. The idea now that we’re going to have, in some cases, an $800 to $900 increase on people’s health care premiums per month? That’s just unacceptable. So, let’s grapple with this affordability crisis, keep the government open, make sure health care costs don’t go up dramatically, and then find other ways to bring down grocery costs and others. Americans want that kind of action from our leaders. But at the end of the day, when one party controls the presidency, the Senate, and the house, at the end of the day, they are driving this agenda. And I think they will be responsible for this shutdown.”
- Sen. Mark Warner: “Clearly, nobody wants a government shutdown because, you know, people are going to go without paychecks, they’re not going to be able to get government services. And as President Trump repeatedly said when he wasn’t president, it’s incumbent upon the president to work this out. It’s his responsibility. So let’s make sure we don’t see these health care costs skyrocket – and Virginians will start getting notice of these costs this month, in October – and at the same time, keep the government open. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. Let’s avert both of these disasters.”
- Donald Trump in 2011: “If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States. He’s the one that has to get people together.”
