{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-21-senator-murray-calls-on-president-trump-republicans-to-stop-wasting-time-finally-come-to-the-table-to-reopen-government-and-prevent-health-care-cost-crisis/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 21: Senator Murray Calls on President Trump, Republicans to Stop Wasting Time, Finally Come to the Table to Reopen Government and Prevent Health Care Cost Crisis", "2025-10-21", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "NEW FROM AP: 6 in 10 Americans are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about their health costs going up in the next year\n\nWindow shopping period begins today for Washington state ACA exchange\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s Remarks***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon\u2019s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the twenty-first day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cWell, President Trump could not be less focused on reopening the government or preventing premiums from exploding. But he is very focused on bailing out Argentina, and buying private jets for Secretary Noem, and bulldozing the White House so he can build a fancy new ballroom\u2014even in the middle of a shutdown.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Republican leaders are sticking their heads in the sand and doing nothing beyond the same, failed partisan vote over and over.\n\n\u201cIn a shock to no one, Republicans\u2019 decision to ignore reality has done nothing to change it.\n\n\u201cWhile House Republicans can\u2019t even be bothered to come back and do their jobs\u2014for over a month now, over a month\u2014health care premiums are, right now, going through the roof.\n\n\u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to take my word for it. Window shopping started in my state of Washington today, and it\u2019s going to start in many other states as well.\n\n\u201cThat means, today, families are logging on, looking for health coverage for next year, and coming face to face with massive price hikes because Republicans downright refuse to work with us to do something about it.\n\n\u201cI have heard from families whose premiums are doubling, or even worse.\n\n\u201cI have spoken to small businesses. Their owners are realizing they may have to close up their shop or give up their health care.\n\n\u201cAnd this is not just happening in Washington state. I know, because I\u2019ve been talking to people in Idaho and Montana as well. This crisis is hitting them just as hard, and in many ways, even harder.\n\n\u201cSo reminder for my Republican colleagues: the majority of people who rely on the premium tax credits? Are in red states. And the states where these families will see premiums jump the most? Again, all red states.\n\n\u201cThese are your voters, and you are not listening to them. Instead, what is the Republican response? Silence. What is the Republican solution? Wait. Where are the House Republicans? Oh, on a month-long vacation that has no end in sight.\n\n\u201cThat is not even remotely close to good enough.\n\n\u201cNot when open enrollment starts nationwide next week.\n\n\u201cNot when it has started in Idaho already.\n\n\u201cAnd not when families are window shopping right now and seeing astronomical prices.\n\n\u201cThe Republican leaders\u2019 plan is to do nothing while those prices get locked in, and people get priced out of their health care.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t tell us to wait. Don\u2019t tell us to ignore this problem. Republicans have had all year to get serious about health care.\n\n\u201cInstead, they focused on tax cuts for billionaires, and they did not tell them to wait for new tax breaks. But now they are forcing working families to wait until those devastating price hikes are unavoidable.\n\n\u201cI mean, Republicans have actually talked more about health care during this shutdown than they have all year.\n\n\u201cBut they are still refusing to talk about solutions. \u2018Wait\u2019 is not a solution. \u2018Maybe we should have repealed Obamacare\u2019\u2014that is not a solution. Saying \u2018we have a plan\u2019 over and over again\u2014is not a plan!\n\n\u201cHere is my clear message to Republican leadership: stop wasting time, stop ignoring your constituents, and come to the negotiating table so we can work out a bill to reopen the government and prevent the health care cost crisis.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are here, we are ready to get this done. But with window shopping under way, and open enrollment right around the corner, Republicans need to understand there is no time to waste.\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.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-21-senator-murray-calls-on-president-trump-republicans-to-stop-wasting-time-finally-come-to-the-table-to-reopen-government-and-prevent-health-care-cost-crisis/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1596539989113808, "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"}