The Arizona House delegation split along party lines. Arizona’s Senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, joined the Democrats in supporting the bill.
Arizona Representative Matt Salmon released a statement saying that has been “very clear from the beginning of this debate, I would have supported a resolution that accomplished three objectives: ended the government shutdown, protected Arizonans from the devastating effects of Obamacare and reduced our government’s addiction to spending before we increased our borrowing authority and added to a $17 trillion debt. While this bill does end the shutdown, it fails to offer any protection for my constituents from Obamacare, nor does it put in place systematic reforms to change the trajectory of our mandatory spending.”
As a result, Salmon voted against the bill. “Sadly, the reality is this bill does what Washington is good at – kick the can down the road for another day,” said Salmon. He called the episode a “shame” and said that “another opportunity for the President and Congress to come together, address our problems and enact reforms to put America on the right path has been wasted.”
“The President said he would negotiate with Republicans only after Congress ended the shutdown and lifted the debt ceiling. After tonight’s vote and upon his signing this bill into law, he’ll have an opportunity to make good on that promise.”
“While I am glad we came together to end this reckless shutdown, I am furious that Southern Arizonans were put through more than two weeks of pain and hardship,” Barber said this evening. “There are no winners in these Washington blame games when the American people are hurt,” said Ron Barber.
“We cannot continue to act solely as Democrats or Republicans,” Barber added. “We must set partisanship aside and act as Americans for the good of the people that we all represent,” said Barber before voting to kick the can down road.
Representative Paul Gosar said the “American people lost again– in a vote for a short-term deal that doesn’t address our long-term solutions. Every election cycle we hear both parties talking tough about real cuts, balancing the budget and reducing spending–but when the fight gets tough, people start to waiver giving in to promises for ‘next time.'”
“Indeed, we have now seen a default in civility, bipartisanship and in an independent and credulous media,” said Gosar. He called the vote the “worst type of compromise–a compromise of principles. Our debt, our deficit and our path to insolvency was not altered–indeed it was hastened. I was elected to tackle our nation’s toughest problems but wasn’t given that chance during this fight. Instead, our nation’s President and the Senate Majority Leader used extreme measures to force a bloated government full of waste, fraud and abuse to continue with business as usual.”
Gosar said the fight has been about the “future economic health and principled direction of our nation. Obamacare is not workable. Right now people can’t even log on. We can’t afford Obamacare. It is one more entitlement that will cause our financial failure. It is harming families across our nation; they deserve better! This fight has been about understanding that we cannot continue to spend, spend, spend! We must start planning for our nation’s future, this is an adult moment.”
Despite voting for the bill, Representative Krysten Sinema said, “Now, we need Congress to engage in meaningful budget negotiations. If Congress continues to kick the can down the road without addressing our budget challenges, the country will suffer through another manufactured crisis in three months.”
Senator Jeff Flake, who refused to stand by the Arizona House delegation and like his colleague, John McCain, rarely has kind words for his fellow Republicans, said, “A Continuing Resolution was not passed, the shutdown occurred and Obamacare was still funded. That’s more of a black eye than a victory, but we’ll take our lumps and put it behind us.”
It is that inevitability that has caused few to have confidence in the measure. Many small business owners facing the high cost of Obamacare had hoped the Congress would at least win for them the same delay of Obamacare requirements offered to large corporations.
“Obamacare’s start has been nothing but a disaster,” said Salmon. “More Americans are learning each day that their healthcare premiums are rising, their network of physicians is being restricted, and their hours at work are being cut. Even worse, Americans are still being forced into this disaster despite the fact that big corporations, Congress and the President and his administration are exempted.
“At the same time, our national debt continues to rise at a rate of over $3 billion per day,” said Salmon. “The American people elected us to work together and find solutions to these problems, not kick the can down the road and leave it for our children and grandchildren to solve.”