Senator Murray Remarks on Republicans Pushing the Country into a Shutdown, Refusing to Prevent Families’ Health Care Costs from More than Doubling

***ICYMI: New Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds premiums on the ACA marketplaces will, on average, more than double next year if Republicans refuse to act***

***WATCH: Senator Murray's Remarks***

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon's Senate Democratic leadership press conference.

Senator Murray's remarks, as delivered, are below:

"Well, there is less than 12 hours to fund the government. House Republicans aren't even here in town. They're on vacation.

"Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are about to force another vote on a bill that already did not pass, and that eight of them did not even bother to show up to vote for the first time.

"And Donald Trump-well, the President is resorting to AI deep fakes and bold-faced lies because the actual facts are pretty bad for him here.

"So here are the facts: health care rates are being set right now. Open enrollment is weeks away-Idaho, open enrollment starts October 15^th. So American citizens are about to see their premiums skyrocket.

"In my state, a family is paying $238 per month for their health insurance right now. Thanks to Republicans, they could pay as much as $1800 per month next year.

"Look, is the President totally unfit to hold office? Yeah. But it is not about that. It's about health care. He is choosing to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats to fix the health care crisis Republicans created.

"If it seems like the only sentence that Republicans can form these days consists of a noun, verb, and illegal immigrant, that's because they have to resort to outright lies to defend their truly God-awful health care policies.

"Their attacks on health care are already hurting American citizens-millions of them. There is no getting around it.

"Cutting health care by more than a trillion dollars? Hospitals are already laying off staff and closing down across the country. Millions are going to be soon kicked off their health care.

"So Donald Trump can lie. JD Vance can lie. But people are still going to get those letters in the mail telling them how much more their health insurance will cost next year.

"Now, apparently, when President Trump was looking over Democratic health care proposals, he said, and I quote, 'Go f--- yourself.' That tells you how much Donald Trump cares about whether families go bankrupt paying for their health care.

"Premiums on the marketplace are set to more than double.

"Washington state had an uninsured rate of 15% before the Affordable Care Act. Now because of that, it is down to 5%.

"People now though are going to lose their health insurance because of Trump and Republicans. They are going to put off their care. Many will get sicker, and some will even die.

"That is the reality. That is why we are here fighting for health care.

"I'll be voting no on the partisan Republican-only funding bill that already didn't pass a few weeks ago.

"I'll be voting yes on the Democratic bill that not only funds government but also addresses this GOP health care crisis and protects Congress' power of the purse.

"I am ready to keep government open.

"As I said over the last two weeks, I am ready, I am willing to stay at the table for as long as it takes. But the question remains, will the Republican leadership get serious and negotiate?"

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