WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to the government shutdown, Rep. Raul M. Grijalva issued the following statement:

“For a party that touts ‘responsibility’ and ‘good governance’, congressional Republicans have demonstrated that they are remarkably inept at living up to their own principles. On the eve of President Trump’s one-year anniversary in office, the American people are left with a government shutdown, Dreamers remain unprotected, and CHIP funding is still not renewed. A year’s worth of legislative priorities were left on the floor as this Republican Congress spent months passing their more-money-for-the-wealthy agenda.

“This shutdown is unnecessary. Americans want protections for Dreamers. They want funding for the CHIP program and community health centers. They want Congress to pass a budget, stop relying on stop-gap spending measures, and govern responsibly. Congressional Republicans and the White House are the ones responsible for this debacle. They could not even muster 50 votes within their Senate majority, let alone 60 bipartisan votes, to pass the House continuing resolution.

As the clock ticked closer to a shutdown, Trump did nothing to solve the problem that he caused when he unnecessarily ended the DACA program in September. Yesterday he traveled to a political rally in Pennsylvania instead of demanding that the House majority negotiate a bipartisan bill that the Senate could pass. As Dreamers anxiously awaited action on their futures, Donald Trump was out of town bragging about his 2016 election victory. As parents across the country wondered how they would pay for their child’s healthcare, congressional Republicans held press conferences blaming Democrats.

“The American people will lay the fault of this shutdown at the feet of the Republican Party, and come November, congressional leaders will be held accountable for their failed leadership. It’s time for Republicans to start fighting for the American people and tackle our most pressing issues in a bipartisan manner instead of cowering behind Donald Trump’s Twitter account. My Democratic colleagues and I stand ready to pick up the pieces of this disaster and get our government working for the people again.”