Shutdown Update. CONGRESSMAN DAVID CICILLINE.

January 22, 2018
Dear David, The past year has shown that Republicans are incapable of governing. Nothing demonstrates this fact more than the federal government shutdown. Operating a $4 trillion federal government without an annual budget, limping along month-to-month, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, and hurting our military, is no way to lead. Over the last four months, President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress created this crisis. It’s been four months since Republicans allowed funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to expire. It’s been four months since the President unilaterally ended protections for the Dreamers. It’s been four months since the last appropriations act expired. In those four months, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have failed to provide solutions for children’s health care, Dreamers, veterans, the opiate crisis, and relief for Americans impacted by hurricanes, floods, and wildfires in their communities. Today’s vote does nothing to change that. We should be staying here and working around the clock to get this work done, rather than kicking the can down the road again. I could not support a short-term bill that leaves so many critical priorities for Rhode Island unaddressed and just creates another crisis three weeks from now. The American people are sick of Washington’s dysfunction. You deserve better than a government that lurches from crisis to crisis every few weeks. Rest assured, I will continue fighting to address the issues important to Rhode Island, and to ensure that Washington’s dysfunction does not hurt our state. Warm regards, David N. Cicilline Member of Congress