WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after it was announced that a deal had been reached to temporarily reopen the federal government through February 15, ending the longest government shutdown in American history.
"After 35 days of this senseless and cruel Trump shutdown, the president and Republican leadership in Congress have finally agreed to stop blocking a bill to re-open the government. President Trump could have accepted this same deal — open the government and negotiate on border and immigration issues later — back in December. But the president chose to torpedo our best opportunity to give relief to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including thousands in New Mexico alone, whose lives have been thrown into chaos by his indefensible shutdown. Instead, he forced these families to endure many more sleepless nights worrying about how they would make their mortgage or rent payments, and put food on the table to feed their families.
“For New Mexico’s federal employees, contractors, their families and communities, I am relieved we may finally be able to overcome the president's governance-by-extortion, which has held the lives of so many families in New Mexico hostage for an ineffective and offensive wall that our communities reject. But the president's announcement cannot undo all of the damage that his shutdown has caused for the more than 10,800 federal workers in New Mexico who missed their paychecks, and for the countless others who were hurt as critical services ground to a halt. The president has already threatened another shutdown -- an outcome that would be unconscionable and that we cannot allow.
"Now that there is a path to re-opening the government, the president must face up to reality, drop his outrageous wall demands, and support common-sense proposals to keep the government open for the long-term. And as negotiations occur on border and immigration issues, I will support New Mexico's values, our immigrant communities, and smart border security measures that actually match the reality on the ground.”
