DPCC Co-Chair Debbie Dingell: The Shutdown Is Impacting Working People Across the Country
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on America's News HQ on FOX News to discuss the government shutdown caused by President Trump and Washington Republicans. Below are excerpts from the interview. Clickhere to watch the video
"I don't think anybody is winning right now. Republicans aren't winning. Democrats aren't winning and the American people are winning. President Trump – you and I have had long discussions before about why President Trump got elected – well, a lot of people I think voted for him two years ago because they were tired of partisan bickering. I came home this weekend. I can get on a plane and two seconds if we could ever reach an agreement. And people are mad. The fact of the matter is they're beginning to feel the impact. This is impacting real people's lives. These are public servants."
"I'm going to tell you, I think President Trump is not hearing the message either. I don't think that there's anybody that doesn't want to keep this nation safe – it's how we do it in the most effective way. In this state, it's a state that's very rich in its diversity of immigration - my hometown of Dearborn has Lebanese and Yemenis and a lot of different people, but we need comprehensive immigration reform and we need to get back in the room be talking about this. But the way this is being done right now, the President has dug in. I will say that what I don't understand is when the Senate passed a bill two weeks ago that was identical to a bill that passed the House, both of them - the Senate it 98 to 2 - why can't we reopen the government?"
"The President could sign a bill that passed the Senate 98 to 2, that passed the House this week and is refusing to do it. Why can't we fund the Departments for the rest of this year, extend Homeland Security until February 8?"
"The fact of the matter is I would like to see the President say we need to reopen government. We need to talk about the border but a lot of people are impacted by this government being close. I think he's far too callous about what the implications are for working people across this country and millions of people that it is impacting…We need to reopen the government. That needs to be our number one priority."