{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=355496", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 10.14.13", "2013-10-14", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The House as a Footstool?\nThe President refused to negotiate with any Republican in either the House or the Senate to work out a potential solution to the partial government shutdown until Thursday, October 10, which was the tenth day of the partial shutdown.\u00a0 House discussions with the Obama White House collapsed the next day, however, and Senate leaders took up negotiations over the weekend of October 12 and 13. \nWhen government is divided, as it currently is, there must be ongoing conversations involving all parties.\u00a0 All parties must be prepared to compromise.\u00a0 While the House majority is of a different party than the President, each one of the 232 House Republicans were elected by the constituents of their districts.\u00a0 The Founding Fathers didn\u2019t intend for the House to merely be a footstool for any President, and the House must be involved in the negotiating process.\u00a0 The President\u2019s general refusal to participate in discussions with the House has been damaging to the negotiating process.\nAs long as I have the honor to represent the Ninth District of Virginia, I do not intend for the House to be a footstool.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care whether that President is a Democrat, Republican, or Independent.\u00a0 The constitutional prerogatives of the House must be defended.\u00a0 \nAs this column is being written, it is being reported that Senate leaders are approaching agreement.\u00a0 While I believe that serious negotiations should have started long ago, these are the facts that we must deal with.\u00a0 Therefore, a reasonable, short-term extension may be appropriate.\u00a0 The full extent of this reported agreement has not yet been released by the Senate negotiators.\u00a0 I will need to review the proposal in detail before determining whether in my opinion it is in the best interest of the United States.\u00a0 \nIn the Meantime\u2026\nSince the beginning of the partial government shutdown, there has been an ongoing controversy regarding why open-air monuments and other park facilities (some of which don\u2019t cost any federal dollars) were closed as a response to the partial government shutdown.\u00a0 On Sunday, October 13, veterans and other supporters traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of the \u201cMillion Vet March\u201d to protest the partial shutdown-related closure of monuments and memorials.\u00a0 While a very small number of the participants behaved inappropriately, the vast majority were there to visit war memorials.\u00a0 \nThe National Park Service had the memorials barricaded so the veterans could not visit them.\u00a0 In the last week, though, the National Park Service gave clearance for a pro-immigration reform concert and rally.\u00a0 Then, a few days later, the same Park Service attempted to block veterans from paying tribute to those who died in the various wars.\u00a0 I believe it was out of frustration that many of the veterans participated in acts of civil disobedience by gathering barricades and moving some of them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue \u2013 aka the White House \u2013 where they made it clear, as one veteran said, \u201cMr. President, tear down these barricades!\u201d\nWhile the partial government shutdown is not something that anyone could or should truly want, I and others have to question why, during this difficult time, the Administration would choose to close down open-air war memorials.\u00a0 \nPlease keep in mind that, in the previous 17 shutdowns since the new budgeting process was started in the 1970s, NO OTHER PRESIDENT has taken such action.\nTo reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. \n###", 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://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=355496"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.806812196969986, "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"}