First District Congressman David McKinley says he’s wanting better communication with members of the Senate, on how to end the government shutdown that’s left close to one million federal workers unable to work. McKinley says the issues behind negotiations deal with health care and the economy.
McKinley is frustrated that more negotiations haven’t occurred with members of the House and Senate to this point. McKinley says he’s also concerned the mess won’t be fixed by the time the debt limit could be increased, which is also fast approaching. He says the Senate needs to have a conference with the House.
“Our endgame is to have negotiations. We want to sit in a room, we’re ready to try to do that. This is not about the budget; this is about our economy. The economy is still too soft,” he said.
McKinley says finger pointing has to stop, and when asked by reporters who he felt was responsible for a shutdown, refused to say. He says the priority has to be figuring out a solution to immediately get government open again, which he hopes will include some way to get to a balanced budget.
McKinley says he’s also not going to support the so-called “clean resolution,” which would fund the government, but has no added language about the Affordable Care Act.