WASHINGTON, D.C. (WACH) — On Saturday, South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson released a statement on the partial government shutdown.
Rep. Wilson (SC-02) says of the shutdown:
“Last night, I was disappointed to watch Senate Democrats oppose a clean spending bill that would have kept our government open and reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Plan for six years. Senate Democrats are just trying to distract families from President Donald Trump’s successes on his first anniversary in office.
A government shutdown does not benefit anyone, and it causes irreparable harm to our military. Over 100,000 National Guardsmen will be sent home from weekend training, and over two million service members will have their pay disrupted by Senate Democrat’s partisan politics. This is unacceptable.
Sadly, Democrats have chosen to hold adequate funding of our troops serving in harm’s way across the globe and children in need of a long-term fix for their health insurance hostage over immigration legislation. It is time Democrats in both the Senate and House stop playing politics and fund the government, it is what their constituents and their country expect of them.”
The shutdown began after Senators failed to pass a government spending bill on Friday evening.
President Donald Trump also focused on the role of Democratic Senators in the partial shutdown in Saturday morning tweets. He stated they “decided to play Shutdown politics instead.”
In a later statement, Rep. Wilson forfeited his pay during the shutdown, saying:
“Senator Schumer and Senate Democrats had the option to keep the government open and provide funding for at-risk children and our troops, but instead American families are experiencing a shutdown. Thousands of families at Fort Jackson and the Savannah River Site could potentially face smaller paychecks as a result of this dilemma. If my constituents are feeling this pain, Members of Congress should as well.”
Rep. Wilson has represented the 2nd Congressional district since 2001.
Story originally posted by WACH Fox 57.