Luke Messer: “Irish leader Henry Boyle once said: The most important trip you can make in life is meeting people halfway.…”

“Irish leader Henry Boyle once said: The most important trip you can make in life is meeting people halfway. Unfortunately, in this debate, the President and Harry Reid's latest offers are way short of halfway. They won't even come to the negotiating table. During this shutdown, the Republicans in the House have passed nine bills to fund and reopen vital functions of government. Let me go through some of them for you: Twenty-five of my Democratic colleagues voted with House Republicans to fund pediatric cancer research. Twenty-three of my Democrats colleagues voted with Republicans to reopen national parks, memorials, and monuments; {time} 1115 Thirty-five of my Democratic colleagues voted with Republicans, honoring our promise to give veterans the benefits they have earned; Thirty-six of my Democratic colleagues voted with Republicans to pay our National Guard and Army Reserve personnel; Twenty-three of my Democratic colleagues voted with Republicans to make sure funds are available to provide disaster relief; and One hundred eighty-nine of my Democratic colleagues voted with House Republicans to provide backpay for furloughed Federal employees. Each of these are reasonable proposals, yet Harry Reid insists that virtually all of them will not be considered in the Senate, and the President has threatened a veto. Let me repeat.…”