King: Vote Toward Ending Shutdown is “The Opening of an Opportunity”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) today voted to advance debate on a Senate spending bill that could eventually reopen the government in a 60-40 vote. The vote comes as the shutdown became the longest federal government shutdown in American history at 40 days. From federal furloughs to cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, the shutdown caused incredible harm to Maine families and people across the country.

At a nationally-televised press conference toward the end of the vote joined by his colleagues Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Senator King shared the following remarks:

"Those of us here, and those of us certainly are participating in the Democratic Caucus, are 100% committed to working on the issue of the ACA premium tax credits and preserving access to healthcare for millions of Americans.

"So, the question before us, before those of us here, who decided to vote yes tonight, the question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits?

"Our judgment was that it will not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen. Would it change in a week or another week or after Thanksgiving or Christmas? And there's no evidence that it would.

"What there is evidence of is the harm that the shutdown is doing to the country. What it's doing to millions of federal workers, but also what is doing to tens of millions of recipients of SNAP benefits. This is a true crisis for those individuals. Soup kitchens, kitchens can't fill the gap, food pantries can't fill the gap. SNAP is an essential part of the food, the food provision program in this country. So, we were faced with a series of steps that weren't working to achieve the goal we wanted with regard to the ACA, but it was at the same time creating hardship and difficulty for millions of people across this country.

"So, I believe that we are closer tonight to a vote on the ACA tax credits than we were this morning. Because part of this agreement, and you heard the Majority Leader on the floor today say he has committed to putting a bill on the floor before the second weekend in December, that would be drafted by the Democrats concerning health care in the ACA.

"That is a big step, because otherwise there's no way for the minority to get a bill onto the floor of the U.S. Senate. It has to be through the Office of the Majority Leader. So, that was a major step to get the Majority Leader to agree to make that commitment tonight on the Senate floor. After tonight's vote, we are closer to the possibility of work on the ACA tax credits for the people of this country than we were yesterday, and that we were a week ago, two weeks ago, or a month ago.

"So, this agreement tonight is a win for the American people, and it's a win for those people that are so insistent that I'm hearing from all the time, protect our health care. Our judgment is the best way to do that is to get a bill on the floor … and we have that expression from Republican senators who are interested in working on a bill that will deal with the ACA issue and perhaps additional health care issues at the same time.

"So, what happened tonight is not the closing of a chapter. It's the opening of an opportunity. What the chapter does close is the damaging shutdown that is only getting worse, that is only going to impact more and more people. It's an opportunity for us to move forward on behalf of all the people of this country on the issue of health care, but also on making the federal government function."

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