WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) released the following statement after a Senate cloture vote on legislation to keep the government open failed by a vote of 50 to 49. Sixty votes were needed to advance the legislation. Latta voted to pass the legislation in the House yesterday.
“The failure by the Senate to keep the government open is bad for the country, it’s bad for our military, and it’s bad for the nearly nine million children that rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),” said Latta. “Despite this funding bill consisting of provisions they’ve previously supported, Senate Democrats have nonetheless decided to irresponsibly vote to shut the government down. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in 2013 that a shutdown is the “politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis,” but now he is leading the charge to stop legislation that would keep the government open.
“Compounding their vote for a government shutdown is the fact that this bill would extend CHIP for six years. The House previously voted for a CHIP extension, but it was not taken up in the Senate. Enough is enough – we need to fund this critical program that supports more than 200,000 children in Ohio.
“I encourage the Senate to continue to work to find a solution, but the easiest fix is right in front of them. They need to stop playing politics and vote to pass the House bill.”
