{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cohen.house.gov/republican-shutdown-continues", "The Republican Shutdown Continues", "2013-10-06", "2013", "2013-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend,\u00a0 \nIn his 1996 State of the Union Address, President Bill Clinton drew the attention of the nation to a man sitting in the House gallery watching that night. Richard Dean was a Vietnam veteran who had worked at the Social Security Administration for more than two decades. Mr. Dean was at work in the Federal Building in Oklahoma City when a car-bomb that ultimately killed 169 people exploded just outside. He ran back into the building not once, not twice, but four times and saved the lives of three women.\nRepublicans and Democrats sitting in the House Chamber that night alike rose to applaud the American hero.\u00a0They continued applauding for almost a full minute.\u00a0President Clinton, speaking just days after Republicans forced the federal government to shut down, continued: \u201cBut Richard Dean's story doesn't end there. This last November, he was forced out of his office when the government shut down. And the second time the government shut down he continued helping Social Security recipients, but he was working without pay.\u201d\nAfter providing a clear and powerful example of how the 1995 and 1996 Republican shutdowns hurt our nation\u2019s heroes and countless others, the President urged Congress to \u201cnever, ever shut the federal government down again.\u201d\nLessons Not Learned  Republican Shutdown Problems  Fighting for Critically Important Programs  Standing with Federal Employees  Preventing Future Shutdowns  Affordable Health Care for Uninsured Memphians  Grant Announcements\nLessons Not Learned\nSadly, on Monday night, it became all too obvious that Congressional Republicans did not learn their lesson then. That night, Republicans in the House of Representatives\u2014along with Texas Senator Ted Cruz\u2014pushed our economy and our government over the edge of the cliff and forced the government to shut down yet again.\nAnd they did it even after Democrats in Congress agreed to their budget numbers. They couldn\u2019t take \u201cyes\u201d for an answer\u2014they had another eleventh-hour demand: now they would only keep the government open if they could also block millions from access to high-quality, affordable care. I was on CNN yesterday to talk about how we got to this point.\nFor the last six months, Democrats in both the House and the Senate have called on Speaker Boehner to appoint members to a conference committee so that the parties can work out their differences\u2014but he has consistently refused.\nMonths passed, and when we realized that Republicans were not only willing to allow the government to shut down\u2014that they actually wanted to shut it down\u2014Democrats agreed to accept every single cut the Republicans proposed just to keep the government running.\nAfter refusing to negotiate with Democrats\u2014and winning the budget they wanted\u2014Republicans are trying to take access to affordable, high-quality health coverage away from millions of Americans including more than 100,000 Ninth District residents. They are holding the government and our economy hostage to achieve the goals they couldn\u2019t achieve through the democratic process.\nAll Speaker Boehner and the Republicans need to do to get back up and running is take \u201cyes\u201d for an answer. If they would just let the House vote on a bill with their own funding numbers, it would pass overwhelmingly and this shutdown would end.\nAs we approach the second week of this shutdown, they still refuse\u2014that\u2019s irresponsible, reckless, and it hurts our economy, the middle class, as well as those who rely on benefits like the SNAP food stamp program, WIC assistance\u2014which I talked to Channel 3 about earlier this week\u2014and other government services just to keep their heads above water.\nRepublican Shutdown Problems\nAmericans are already feeling the pain that this Republican shutdown is causing. National parks have closed down, low-income women and children are being pushed further into poverty and hunger, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are turning children with cancer away from potentially life-saving treatments.\nInstead of working in a bipartisan manner to get the government back up and running, Republicans chose a politically-motivated piecemeal approach. They want to selectively restore partial funding to some agencies\u2014but, coincidentally, only to the agencies where the shutdown is causing them bad publicity.\nJust like when they stood up to clap for Richard Dean in 1996, Republicans want to look like they care about government services and employees when people are looking. But if you look past the surface, the facts prove otherwise.\nFighting for Critically Important Programs\nOn Wednesday night, Republicans went to the floor of the United States House of Representatives and cried crocodile tears over how much the shutdown they wanted\u2014and got\u2014is hurting the NIH. They\u2019re not wrong that the shutdown is causing big problems, but before it started Republicans had already cut $1.55 billion dollars from the NIH\u2019s budget\u2014and those cuts are also causing big problems.\nI spoke out on the House floor against their emotional and politically-motivated stunt, because I know first-hand just how important the NIH is to our country. In 1954, I came down with polio, and it still affects me to this day. It wasn\u2019t until six months later that the polio vaccine was made available\u2014with the help of the NIH.\nIf Republicans truly cared about the NIH, where were they when\u00a0I introduced legislation to save it from the devastating effects of their budget? The cuts they have kept in place for the last six months have already stopped countless research programs and crippled research into life-saving cures for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinson\u2019s, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and AIDS. Like it did for me, six months can make a difference\u2014a big difference. But those programs have remained shuttered in the face of Republican indifference.\nSince Republican cuts went into place a full half-year ago, I have spoken on the House floor, I have written editorials, and I have asked my Republican colleagues to adequately fund the NIH. Not once have Republicans said that they will. Not once.\nFor them to use this emotional PR stunt now to score political points when they have consistently ignored the pleas of the ill and dying should offend every American.\nStanding with Federal Employees\nEven though their pay remained a question, many federal employees continued working and continued serving their country over the last week. Two of those employees, a Secret Service member and a Capitol Police officer, were injured during a frightening incident in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. They both reported to work and performed their duties, just like countless other hardworking federal employees, even though they didn\u2019t know when they would see their next paycheck.\nStill more federal employees were forced out of their offices when the shutdown took effect on Tuesday morning and, though they want to work, they remain unable to serve their nation. And even worse, though this Republican shutdown came about through no fault of their own they are at risk of losing the pay they rely on to pay their bills unless Congress acts. That\u2019s not right, and I will work to ensure these good, hardworking Americans don\u2019t lose out because of the irresponsible and reckless demands of Congressional Republicans.\nThis week, I wrote to the official in charge of paying Members of Congress and asked that he withhold my pay until this government shutdown is resolved. Throughout the shutdown, I have been focused on reopening the government and have worked to make that happen as quickly as possible\u2014but as long as the government remains closed and other federal employees are not being paid, I will not accept my salary.\nPreventing Future Shutdowns\nYesterday afternoon, I appeared on MSNBC to talk about my plan to help prevent future shutdowns. Part of the reason the government has shut down is because today, Congress is so polarized that we\u2019re unable to find common ground on major issues\u2014for instance, funding our government. Instead of solving our nation\u2019s problems, Congress often grinds to a halt because some in Congress are unwilling to compromise.\nMany Representatives in Congress today don\u2019t have any reason to compromise, because they represent districts that are drawn by partisan commissions or state legislatures to ensure they are elected each and every time they run. It\u2019s called \u201cgerrymandering.\u201d The more extreme they vote, the more they are rewarded by their constituents\u2014and the more they compromise, the less likely they are to be re-elected.\nThat\u2019s not right, and it\u2019s time to take politics out of the redistricting process. Earlier this year, I introduced the\u00a0John Tanner Fairness and Independence in Redistricting (FAIR) Act to place the redistricting process in the hands of independent, non-partisan commissions. I hope that as soon as this shutdown ends, Congress takes up my bill and passes it. I believe that if we eliminate the gerrymandering of districts we will help get more accomplished for our country.\nAffordable Health Care for Uninsured Memphians\nDespite the Republican shutdown, one of the signature benefits of the Affordable Care Act\u2014also known as Obamacare\u2014came into effect on Tuesday: the new health insurance Marketplace, which is now open nationwide. On Friday afternoon, I joined via teleconference more than 40 Memphis-area pastors who had gathered in my Memphis office to discuss the implementation of the new health care law and answer questions on how uninsured members of their congregations and communities can enroll in the new Marketplace.\nI had planned to meet with the pastors in person, but the shutdown kept me in Washington. Nevertheless, the meeting was very beneficial. Seedco Senior Vice President Lisa Pote, whose organization offers trained experts to help walk Memphians through the process and help them enroll in insurance plans through the new Marketplace, was on hand in my district office to share her expertise as well. If you have any questions or need help with the new Marketplace, Seedco\u2019s experts are available to help you too. Their Mid-South Mid-South office is located at 22 North Front Street (Suite 900), and they can be reached by phone at (901) 528-8341.\nI\u2019m glad that I was able to engage with our community leaders in this important conversation on Friday, and I look forward to continuing my work of helping citizens in the Ninth District get the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.\nThe law is already working for Memphis families and the government shutdown doesn\u2019t change that. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 147,000 individuals in the district now have health insurance that covers preventive services without co-pays, $3.1 million in insurance premiums have been returned to consumers, and more than 5,000 seniors on Medicare paid a total of $5.9 million less for their prescription medications as we continue to close the \u2018donut hole.\u2019 Young adults up to age 26 can now stay on their parents\u2019 insurance plan and health insurance companies can no longer discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions.\nYou can access the Tennessee Marketplace at\u00a0www.HealthCare.gov\u00a0to apply for coverage, compare plans, learn whether you qualify for lower costs, and enroll. If you are on Medicare or your employer is going to continue offering health insurance next year, you\u2019re already covered and won\u2019t need to enter the Marketplace for quality health coverage. If you aren\u2019t sure whether or not you will need to use the Marketplace to get insurance, call the Marketplace Hotline at (800) 318-2596 or visit\u00a0www.HealthCare.gov. It\u2019s important to note that you may be eligible to save money on your health care premiums in the Marketplace. You can also call my office at (901) 544-4131 or the Marketplace Hotline to find out if TennCare (Tennessee\u2019s Medicaid\u00a0program) is a coverage option for you.\nIf you are one of the millions of Americans who need health insurance, you can sign up for coverage today that will take effect January 1, 2014. Enrollment in the Marketplace will remain open for six months.\nGrant Announcements\nI regularly release a list of grant announcements from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and others. These federal funding opportunities are available to faith-based and neighborhood associations, nonprofits and other community organizations in the 9th district. The announcements are\u00a0updated regularly on my website.\nAs always, I remain.   Most sincerely,    Steve Cohen   Member of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://cohen.house.gov/republican-shutdown-continues"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6465620137751102, "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"}