What Minnesotans in Congress are saying as a shutdown looms

If the federal government partially shuts down at midnight Friday, one thing is for sure: Both parties will try to blame the other for it.

On Thursday, the House passed a four-week, government-wide funding bill on a mostly party-line 230-197 vote. Republicans sweetened the measure with legislation to extend for six years a popular health care program for children from low-income families and two-year delays in unpopular "Obamacare" taxes on medical devices and generous employer-provided health plans.

But Democrats in the closely divided Senate say they will filibuster the bill to try to force concessions on immigration and a longer-term agreement on the budget. They want a deal to protect around 700,000 immigrants from deportation who arrived in the U.S. as children and have stayed here illegally.

Here's what members of Minnesota's delegation are saying about the short-term funding bill and the possibility of a shutdown:

Sen. Tina Smith, DFL:

"You know, I am barely two weeks into this job and I have to say I'm already a little frustrated. I may be new to this but I remember my high school civics lesson and what we Democrats are saying in the Senate is that we're supposed to pass budgets, not these short term, month-by-month fixes that don't move us forward, and that is a really important issue here. I mean you cannot run a great country month by month."

Rep. Jason Lewis, Republican:

"I'm proud to have voted to keep the government open while we negotiate an overarching spending deal rather than shut down the government in protest over an immigration deal that doesn't reach its deadline until March. I'm also very proud to have voted for a six-year reauthorization of CHIP, despite the vast majority of Democrats voting against this important funding for our kids.
"Make no mistake, Republicans may have a bare majority in the Senate, but legislation with a 60-vote threshold gives real control to a handful of Democrats. Those Senate Democrats need to carefully consider whether they want to vote against healthcare for young children and funding for our government."

Rep. Erik Paulsen, Republican:

"A top priority of mine is protecting Minnesota jobs," said Congressman Paulsen. "The continued suspension of the medical device tax is critical for med-tech jobs, innovation, and accessibility to life-saving technologies. As a longtime supporter of CHIP, and one of only a handful of Republicans to support its expansion in 2009, extending the program for another six years will benefit Minnesota children and their parents."

DFL Reps. Betty McCollum, Collin Peterson, Keith Ellison, Tim Walz, and Rick Nolan issued a joint statement Thursday:

"While we are encouraged that the legislation includes a six-year reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), we are disappointed that the Republican majority did not include a 10-year reauthorization, which would actually reduce annual deficits. By refusing to agree to a 10-year reauthorization, Republicans are denying Minnesota families the certainty they need and leaving billions of dollars in cost savings on the table.
"Worse still, the legislation does nothing to reauthorize our community health centers, which provide health care to more than 50,000 Minnesotans. We have heard directly from our community health centers that they will now be forced to lay off employees, meaning care will be rationed for Minnesota's most vulnerable people, including expecting mothers and senior citizens.
"Finally, we are disappointed that the Republican majority has not used this legislation to address Medicaid DSH payments, cuts to which are imperiling the financial stability of Minnesota hospitals. And we object to continued stalling on a reauthorization for the Special Diabetes Program, which funds successful diabetes treatment and prevention programs for Native Americans."

Note: Peterson was the only Minnesota Democrat in the House to vote for the spending bill.