NEWS: Sen. Schiff To Vote No On Republican Funding Bill That Fails To Address The Health Care Crisis

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement on the new Senate Republican funding bill that fails to address the massive increase in health care costs now facing Americans and his vehement opposition to the measure.

"Over the past 40 days, millions of Americans have understood the reality of the Republican health care crisis that will cause their insurance premiums to double next year. I have heard from countless Californians who are at risk of losing their health insurance, and my position has been clear from the beginning: I would not support a government funding bill that did not fund health care tax credits.

"The current Republican funding bill leaves this crisis unaddressed, and I am adamantly opposed to it.

"Senate Republicans refused to negotiate, House Republicans went on a two-month taxpayer-funded vacation, and President Trump played golf, held parties and worked on plans for his gilded ballroom.

"At the same time, Donald Trump used the shutdown to inflict maximum pain on working families - fighting all the way to the Supreme Court to withhold food assistance from the hungry, threatening states that are trying to feed their own residents, illegally firing federal workers and promising to withhold pay from others, canceling funding for job-creating projects in blue states, and using taxpayer dollars for state-run propaganda.

"This fight was primarily about which party was striving to reduce health care costs for the American people. But make no mistake, it is also a fight over our democracy and whether we will stand up to a corrupt president who is trying to nullify each and every check on his power. The American people clearly understand the stakes and we must act with the same urgency they feel.

"Today, there is no question that Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress own the deepening cost-of-living crisis that is at our door. And their empty promise of future votes to address it has less substance than a mirage. When facing a President who doesn't 'want to hear about affordability,' after an election that was wholly about affordability, history will quickly reflect that this was the exact moment to stand strong and together, and fight back.

"My vote today is a reflection of that conviction. I will be voting no."

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