WATCH: Sen. Schiff Calls Out Donald Trump’s Refusal to Address Rising Health Care Costs, Demands Republicans Accept Compromise to End the Shutdown on ABC

"What the president is revealing, once again, more than eight years after he came down that golden escalator - they still don't have a health care plan. They're still back to what Trump once called "concept of a plan." And in the middle of a shutdown, when people are really hurting, we need more than concepts of a plan."

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos to highlight President Trump and Republicans' refusal to accept Senate Democrats' proposal to negotiate an end to the government shutdown amidst deepening economic pain.

As the shutdown enters it 40^th day, Schiff emphasized the devastating impacts of rising health care costs and the Trump administration's continued fight to withhold food assistance from hungry families - risks to Americans' health, which Trump is purposefully making worse.

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:

On the harmful impacts to Americans while Republicans drag on the shutdown:

[…] I'm hearing from people all over California, people with pre-existing conditions, people who tell me their premiums are going to go up $1,000 a month, that they're going to have to drop their coverage.They know that's really bad for them and their families. And we can easily estimate the millions of people that are going to lose access to quality care and the tens of thousands of lives that will be lost. So, we need to end this. We proposed something, I think very reasonable. It was a compromise. Certainly, wasn't everything I want, which is a permanent extension of the tax credits. We said, let's extend existing law for a year, give us more time to work on this, and reopen the government.

And the result from the Republicans: from the Senate Republicans, "No." From the House Republicans, "We're staying on vacation." And for the president, "I'm going out to play golf." And that's where we are while people are hurting. And one thing that is just so shocking to me, George, in the midst of all this, they're appealing to the Supreme Court for the right to cut off food from people. Who does that? Who works so hard? Who goes all the way to the court system to cut food from people who need it right now? But that's where they're coming from. The cruelty is part of the policy.

On the need for Republicans and Trump to come to the negotiating table:

[…] What we're seeing is a lot of cracks within Republicans. As you see now, over a dozen Republicans in the House, for example, say they want to fix the Affordable Care Act problems. Those are the cracks I'm seeing. You see cracks, I think, even within the White House, as the president acknowledges that their lack of focus on bringing down costs, the shutdown and all its economic impacts are affecting him. They're dragging him down.

So, I think what we're seeing from the Republicans is a recognition that they have a responsibility to govern. They control the White House, the House, and the Senate. The American people recognize that, and they need to solve this. And frankly, George, it's not going to happen until the president gets off the golf course, gets out of his ballroom planning, and sits down and negotiates. Otherwise, I think this is going to go on because Senate Republicans aren't going to do anything without the president's agreement and approval. And House Republicans are just content to stay away while people suffer.

On the need for Trump to address the ongoing health care crisis:

[…] We have no idea what the president means by that, except it sounds like what he means is the same old, tired proposal of repealing the Affordable Care Act, giving people a benefit in the form of a health savings account, but allowing insurance companies once again to cancel policies and refuse to write policies for people who have pre-existing health conditions. So, the same insurance companies he's railing against in those tweets, he is saying, "I'm going to give you more power to cancel people's policies and not cover them if they have a pre-existing condition." That was one of the main problems the ACA helped address. So no, I think what the president is revealing, once again, more than eight years after he came down that golden escalator - they still don't have a health care plan. They're still back to what Trump once called "concept of a plan." And in the middle of a shutdown, when people are really hurting, we need more than concepts of a plan. Let's just extend the ACA for a year, reopen the government, and then we can negotiate a more permanent fix to this crisis in health care in this country.

On Republicans cheating out on a shutdown agreement:

[…] You've got people on the precipice right now who are getting those notices of losing their health insurance. And what's more, we have the president telling us now, Republicans telling us now they're not going to honor any agreement we reach with them. They're telling us we'll put money in whatever money we agree on for a continuing resolution to fund the government, but we're telling you in advance, we are going to rescind the funding you want. We're going to cut the funding you want. We're going to cut what he calls, the president, calls Democrat programs like food for people. So, they're telling us they're going to cheat on an agreement. And we need, in whatever agreement we reach, to have some really solid guarantees in that legislation that they simply can't go and renege after it's done.

###