Tim Kaine: “The issue isn't antipathy to the President. It is that Democrats don't believe in shutting down government. I appreciate…”

“The issue isn't antipathy to the President. It is that Democrats don't believe in shutting down government. I appreciate my colleague from South Dakota stating the issue the way he did at the beginning of his talk: Democrats will not engage in negotiations to reopen the government. Let's be plain. Democrats think the Government of the United States should never close. Democrats think that using a shutdown as leverage to get something else is illegitimate and beneath the oath of office. The President, on the other hand, said that he is proud to shut government down and is willing to use the suffering of more than 800,000 employees and millions of American citizens to get his way. The difference here is not on the immigration topics; there are differences that can be resolved. But the difference that is hard to resolve is a President and a party that believe in government shutdowns and a party that rejects the idea of government shutdowns. I will state complete willingness to negotiate with this President and my colleagues over border security. We--8 Democrats, 8 Republicans--introduced a proposal in February with border security investments, protections for Dreamers; 46 out of 49 of Democrats supported a $25 billion border security investment, and only 8 of 51 Republicans did. The President blew up the deal. So the issue is not about negotiation over border security. We have been a more reliable party in making border security investments than the majority party has been.…”