{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.britt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-u-s-senator-katie-britt-joins-cbss-face-the-nation-and-cnns-state-of-the-union/", "ICYMI: U.S. Senator Katie Britt Joins CBS\u2019s Face the Nation and CNN\u2019s State of the Union", "2025-10-20", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AL", "Katie Boyd Britt", "B001319", "www.britt.senate.gov", "britt", "https://www.britt.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) joined CBS\u2019 Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan as well as CNN\u2019s State of the Union with Dana Bash this weekend. In both interviews, Senator Britt discussed the impacts of Democrats\u2019 shutdown on everyday Americans and urged her Democratic colleagues to vote to reopen the government. She also highlighted her legislation to help reunite nearly 20,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children with their families. Senator Britt also credited President Trump with his historic pro-IVF actions that will allow millions of Americans to access more affordable fertility treatments.\n\nExcerpts from both of Senator Britt\u2019s interviews are below. You can view the full interview from CBS here and the full interview from CNN here.\n\nOn the real reason why Democrats are refusing to open the government:\n\n\u201cLook, first off, let\u2019s be honest about this. Democrats are playing politics. They are pandering to the far left because they\u2019re actually terrified them of them. They\u2019re not working for the American people \u2026 This is something that Democrats voted for 13 times under President Biden to give us an opportunity to continue to do our work\u2014the actual appropriations process, which you hear no Democrats talking about.\u201d\n\nOn Alabamians and Americans who have been harmed by Democrats\u2019 shutdown:\n\n\u201cJust as I\u2019ve been traveling the state this weekend, I have heard countless stories of people who are not getting a paycheck, whether it\u2019s our men and women in uniform or those who serve alongside them, or whether we\u2019re talking to veterans \u2026 (or) when we\u2019re looking at what\u2019s happening with WIC. There are a lot of people that are being affected by the Democrats playing politics, and [Democrats] need to actually do what\u2019s right and that is work for the American people \u2026 [T]hese have real consequences for American people.\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201c[Republicans] have always said we will have a conversation about this. We believe that you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Democrats, for some reason, don\u2019t think that that\u2019s possible. They need to come to the table, open the government back up, and then we\u2019re happy to have a conversation about the broken system that they created and help them get out of their own mess.\u201d\n\nOn Democrats\u2019 hypocrisy:\n\n\u201cThe underlying issue is the brokenness of Obamacare. That is the problem. And so, when you think about this, you\u2019ve got the 2021 premium (tax credits) that they\u2019ve given to everyone. Do you understand? Democrats are actually asking for us to continue premiums that are going to millionaires in some cases. We\u2019ve got to be more responsible (with) taxpayer dollars. And if you want these health care systems to even be able to work, then we have to have a larger conversation.\n\n\u201cBut this is absolutely, totally ridiculous to sit here and say, we\u2019re afraid people cannot afford their health care, but at the same time, we\u2019re going to deny them their paycheck. Those two things do not match up, and Democrats need to actually be honest about it.\u201d\n\nOn the Un-Affordable Care Act:\n\n\u201cWhen it comes to the ACA subsidies and these Covid-era subsidies \u2026 you didn\u2019t hear them talking about that until days before \u2026 the government needed to be funded. The bottom line on this is when you look at the costs that are coming up in 2026 \u2026 80% of the raise in prices that [Americans] will see in Obamacare has to do with a fundamentally flawed program.\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201c[F]rom the very beginning, Obamacare was never affordable. You even saw The Washington Post say the Affordable Care Act was never affordable \u2026 This program is fraught with fraud \u2026 It has no income cap \u2026 If you were to extend these just as they are now, you\u2019re continuing to waste money, basically put it up in flames, and we need to make sure, just like we did with the Working Families Tax Cuts, that the people who actually need these things, Dana, can get them.\u201d\n\nOn joining President Trump for his historic IVF announcement:\n\n\u201cLook, President Trump is the most pro-IVF president that we\u2019ve had. From the very first conversation that I had with him \u2026 he has been a strong, unwavering supporter. He understands that families all across our country are hopeful that they can either start or expand their family. And this, for so many Americans, gives them the opportunity for that. Look, 1 in 8 families actually experience infertility \u2026 And we know that the affordability of it puts it out of reach for so many people \u2026 [H]e is beginning to make strides in this that no other president has made and I am so grateful for his leadership on this \u2026 I think he will obviously continue to lead (and) be the most pro-family, pro-parent president that we\u2019ve ever had.\u201d\n\nOn her legislation to help bring back nearly 20,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children:\n\n\u201cLook, I am grateful for President Trump\u2019s efforts on this \u2026 [W]e are in this war because of President Biden. And (if) President Biden had sent the weaponry needed to Ukraine on the front end when we saw Russia building up, we wouldn\u2019t be in this war to start with. When you\u2019re looking at what President Trump has done, he has met with Zelensky more times in his nine months in office than President Biden did his entire time.\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201cThe First Lady obviously has been leading on this. We have built up support. We\u2019re having a hearing next week. I think you will see this (legislation) come to the floor if there is not a resolution in the short order, because we believe in bringing these children home. Margaret, it\u2019s about 20,000 children that have been stolen from their homes. This is something everyone should be able to get behind and Vladimir Putin should pay the price for.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.britt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-u-s-senator-katie-britt-joins-cbss-face-the-nation-and-cnns-state-of-the-union/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.273621805012226, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}