Vicky Hartzler: “It is a sobering time to be here because we are in the 24th day of a government shutdown, something that none of us…”

“It is a sobering time to be here because we are in the 24th day of a government shutdown, something that none of us wanted, and something that could be fixed very, very quickly. I am hopeful that it will. We have heard some speeches tonight from individuals calling on the President to open up the government. But the reality is that the House, in December, voted to fully fund the government, and all of the Democrats voted no, and the Senate voted no. So here we are. We voted to keep the government open, and we provided border security at the same time. We need to do that. Tonight, I think it is important that we have a discussion with the American people about why we think it is important to secure our border. Can we do both? Can we find $5 billion in an almost $4 trillion budget to secure our border? Can we open our government and make sure our government employees have the funds that they need to pay their bills? Absolutely, we can do that. I am ready to work with those on the other side of the aisle. I find it so interesting how they have changed their position. I just want to review with everyone listening tonight about the position of some of those who are now, all of a sudden, voting no. During the previous administration, all 54 Democrats in the Senate voted to double the length of a new border fence with Mexico, double the number of border agents to 40,000, and spend $40 billion on border security.…”