WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) slammed Senate Democrats for refusing to vote for a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government, and as a result, imposing unnecessary, avoidable burdens on hardworking Texans who are experiencing the negative effects of a government shutdown, including having to work without pay and airport delays across the state due to Federal Aviation Administration staffing issues. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Every single time we’ve given the Democrats opportunities to do the right thing, only three of them have voted to reopen the government.”

“It may not be a big deal to wealthy Senators on the Democratic side who don’t have to worry about paying the bills paycheck-to-paycheck, but it does matter to many, many Americans, because it means they may not be able to pay their rent, they may not be able to buy groceries for their family, or pay their utility bills.”

“It’s not simply the case that these government employees will be the only ones affected.”

“Just in terms of airline flights, we’ve seen hundreds canceled since the shutdown began, and thousands more have been delayed, which means more and more Americans’ daily routines are being upended as a result of this irrational and truly stupid government shutdown.”

“Three airports in Texas are seeing some of the worst delays.”

“It is really not rational that Senate Democrats should impose this burden on the entire country in order to try to appease the more radical elements of their political base, which is really what this is all about.”

“Minority Leader Schumer has made it clear that he is willing to impose almost any cost on ordinary Americans in order to try to appease his radical, progressive base.” 

“In one of the more telling quotes, he admitted to Punchbowl News last week that this was all about politics when he said, quote, ‘Every day gets better for us.’”

“I hope, given the opportunity to vote here shortly on another short-term continuing resolution, that we get five more Democrats joining the three who’ve already voted to reopen the government, so that we can put an end to this foolishness because every day does not get better for the American people.”