Jay Rockefeller: “This shutdown is doing enormous harm to our country, and it was totally avoidable.”

That is stunning. It has not been reauthorized, CHIP. It is still out there, floating.

We simply cannot afford to take this major step backwards and jeopardize the future of generations by allowing CHIP to expire.

Furthermore, if we are going to potentially burden our government agencies with increased costs that will be associated with complying with the bill, then I think Congress should also provide these agencies with sufficient funding to deal…

I come today with a spirit of reflection and optimism about our future. I am also compelled towards an honest assessment of where we are as a body--of the promise of what we can achieve when we don't shy away from compromise and what we…