Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's Day 9 of the government shutdown in Washington, D.C., and Western New York Congressman Nick Langworthy (R, NY-23) is growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of action at the federal level.
"Now for the seventh time, Senate Democrats have voted against a clean continuing resolution to fund our government," said Langworthy during an appearance with Joe Beamer on WBEN on Thursday. "They voted again this afternoon to not pay our troops on the 15th - which is the next pay period for our active duty service members - to not pay the air traffic controllers, to not pay our frontline workers at the VA hospitals and inflict pain on the American people."
Langworthy feels the Senate Democrats have created a dynamic where there's a government that's not responsive to the taxpayers.
"In the house, we have passed a clean continuing resolution: Biden level spending, no policy writers, no gimmicks. Just straight funding, 52 days, keep the government open and we'll negotiate the rest for the year-long spending budget. That, apparently, is still not good enough. They don't care who they're hurting here in the process," Langworthy said.
"The House has done its work. We've passed the funding. Now they're going to start to squirm. They need to do the right thing and reopen the government today."
Langworthy is particularly frustrated over the actions of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying his actions and inactions are doing nothing but hurting people.
"Creating financial uncertainty for our service members and our essential federal employees that are showing up every day, knowing they're not going to get a check, it's embarrassing. It's disgusting," Langworthy said.
"He wants to seem like the Democrat tough guy, that he's fighting Trump. I mean, the president's going out and fighting for world peace right now. He's conducting the business of the country. The president hasn't missed a trick. He is off doing his job and leading this country. The people that are being hurt are our federal workforce and the 1.3 million members of our military that are going to go without a salary."
Langworthy strongly feels a shutdown of the federal government is a tool that needs some serious reconsideration.
"The problem is they're trying to attach a non-sequitur, something unrelated to the ability to just keep our government open. They can have the same fight in 52 days when we're considering what is, hopefully, 12 appropriations bills in a year-long spending flight. They can have those arguments in those debates, but this is basically a routine band aid that the federal government all too often uses just to keep business flowing and buy us more time for those negotiations," Langworthy explained. "This was a needless point on the calendar to decide to create chaos and havoc.
"We need to fix this long haul and stop the shutdown art form, because I think anyone that's ever done this has done nothing but inflict pain on everyday people, and it's never solved any political crisis."
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