Welch Votes No on Funding Bill, Condemns Republicans for Refusing to Address Health Care Crisis

FROM WELCH PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday released the following statement after voting against a continuing resolution that fails to extend urgently-needed health care tax credits:

“I cannot vote for a government funding bill that kicks millions of Americans off their health care. The heart of this government shutdown is, and always was, about access to health care. There was an early recognition from my Republican colleagues that working families, small businesses, and farmers in their states would be really hurt by these premium increases—just as they will be in Democratic states, too. That’s why it is so disappointing that Republicans refused to come to the table to extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits. Millions of hardworking people, in every state, will face higher premiums and many will go without health coverage altogether.

“Republicans in the Senate spent the last 41 days capitulating to this White House. Republicans in the House of Representatives took a 52-day vacation. Meanwhile, Democrats fought to protect access to health care and lower costs. We are already in an affordability crisis, and Republicans chose to make it worse.

“Nobody wants a government shutdown—shutdowns are painful, damaging, and a sign of dysfunctional government. This Republican shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, was made all the more painful by President Trump’s refusal to negotiate and his total disregard for federal workers and those in need, including millions of people who rely on SNAP and other government services. I am appalled by this Administration’s endless cruelty.”