Barr Votes Again to Avert Government Shutdown, Ensure No Special Treatment

Mr. Barr:

The House has voted multiple times to fund the government and to prevent a shutdown.

The House is also continuing the effort to listen to the American people and give a voice to those who want to limit the harmful impact of obamacare.

The President says that the House is shutting down the government. But the House has acted multiple times to prevent a government shutdown.

It is the president and the Senate Majority Leader who are refusing to negotiate, refusing to compromise, refusing to seek a bipartisan solution or a middle ground.

The President will negotiate with Vladimir Putin. The president will negotiate with the leaders of Iran.

But he won't negotiate with the duly elected representatives of the people in Congress.

In divided government, the only way forward is to negotiate.

The American people witnessed one-party rule in 2010, when congress rammed through Obamacare on a party-line vote, and they didn't like it.

The only thing that was bipartisan about Obamacare in 2010 when it was enacted was the bipartisan opposition to it. and so they elected a different Congress and they divided power.

When you have divided power in government, the only way forward when there is a difference of opinion is to negotiate and compromise.

I come from the district, Mr. Speaker, of Henry Clay, a great Speaker of the House. Henry Clay is a model for this president and this congress.

We need to come together, negotiate and abandon the stubborn refusal to lead, which will guarantee a government shutdown.

The President needs to work with house republicans to find a middle ground and this bill is the middle ground.

When I found out that Members of Congress, the President, members of his cabinet and the political elite in Washington got a special exemption from Obamacare, I introduced a simple two-page piece of legislation and it's called the Live by the Laws You Write Act.

It's a simple concept: Why should we allow the administration to delay Obamacare for large employers and exempt members of congress, himself, and the elite, but not also provide relief for individuals and families?

I believe that the President and Members of Congress should live by the same health care law that they have imposed on the American people.

I call on my colleagues in the House, both on this side and that side of the aisle, to support fairness for the American people.

If Obamacare is what the president insists on, then it should apply to everyone. And that includes the politicians in Washington.