Tom Udall: “I rise to call on the President to stop holding the government hostage and trying to force taxpayers to pay for his…”

“I rise to call on the President to stop holding the government hostage and trying to force taxpayers to pay for his border wall--a wall that would be ineffective and wasteful and that is rejected by the American people. President Trump said he is ``proud''--that is his word that he used-- to shut down the government. He is proud to force hundreds of thousands of people across this country to miss their hard-earned paychecks. He is proud to shutter critical services. He is proud to try and extort the American people into paying for a wall they don't support. This Trump shutdown is nothing to be proud of. It is a national disgrace, and it is time to end this recklessness. I join with my Democratic colleagues today in calling on the Republican leaders to do their jobs and reopen the government right now. The American people don't support Trump's border wall, and they don't support this Trump shutdown. The funding bills that are being held up and used by the President as a bargaining chip have broad bipartisan support. The Democrats in both Chambers want to pass these appropriations bills now. Yet, as the Democrats stand ready to reopen the government, President Trump plans to address the Nation tonight to tell us again why he is proud to keep the government shut down. We will likely hear more bizarre talk tonight about what we need at the border from a President who doesn't know the first thing about the border.…”