releases: http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/shutdown-updates

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http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/shutdown-updates SHUTDOWN UPDATES: 2013-10-11 2013 2013-10 Independent Senate MP Gregorio Sablan S001177 sablan.house.gov     legacy SHUTDOWN UPDATES: As the U.S. Government shutdown continues into day eleven, here are some of the actions I have taken to help bring this crisis to a close. Oct 11, 2013 Caucus meets with President Obama – Along with most members of the House Democratic Caucus, I met at the White House on Wednesday with President Barack Obama to discuss the shutdown and the looming debt limit crisis. House Republicans’ decision to close down the government on October 1, unless they could repeal the Affordable Care Act, was creating real hardship. Federal employees in the Northern Marianas and around the country were furloughed without pay. Head Start, the Women, Infants, and Children program, and other federal funds we rely on were running low. The President expressed his commitment to reopening the government and restoring services to the American people. He also remained firm that we cannot put our economy and the world’s economy at risk by threatening to default on U.S. debt. Once the government is reopened and the threat to our economic well-being is removed, he said he is more than willing to have a conversation with Congress about any aspect of the federal government’s fiscal policy, a course of action I support. As we prepare to publish on Friday it is reported that the President and Republicans are now working on a deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a plan to begin negotiations about fiscal issues. Territories want vote on discharge petitions – A “discharge petition” to bring a bill reopening the government to the floor for a vote was filed on October 4, but the Rules of the House do not allow the representatives from the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to sign the petition. We want to add our signatures, so the House can have an up or down vote on ending the shutdown. So, we have introduced legislation, H.Res.374, amending the Rules and allowing us to file or sign discharge petitions, which give a majority of House members the power to force a vote on any bill. H.Res.374 is unlikely to pass in the midst of the shutdown drama. But we believe it is important to make the point that federal programs and services are important to all Americans – no matter where they live. My thanks to Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, who drafted H.Res.374. Democrats ask to put federal government back to work – I joined 199 Democrats in a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner this week, urging a vote on funding the entire federal government and ending the shutdown. Republicans have insisted on defunding the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in return for keeping the government open. Although not all aspects of the Act apply in the Northern Mariana Islands, we are receiving $109 million in extra Medicaid money, which is helping keep the Commonwealth Health Center in operation, and the Kagman Community Health Center was paid for by Obamacare. Our Man’amko on Medicare are now eligible for free preventive care and some have seen prescription drug reimbursements improve. NMI families with health insurance benefited from rebates averaging $187 last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, because of the Affordable Care Act. I do not support repealing the law, although I am certainly open to improving Obamacare and making health insurance more affordable in the Northern Mariana Islands. 1 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z