Washington, DC — Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation today released a statement urging Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to re-open the government by supporting the House-passed funding bill. The Illinois senators supported a filibuster late last night that led to the government shutting down.

The following statement was made by U.S. Reps. Mike Bost (IL-12), Peter Roskam (IL-06), Rodney Davis (IL-13), John Shimkus (IL-15), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), and Darin LaHood (IL-18):

“Last night, Senators Durbin and Duckworth put their party’s leadership over the priorities of Illinois by voting to shut down the government. They voted against our military, against long-term funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and against keeping our government open. Their actions have endangered funding for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the middle of a nation-wide flu epidemic. Senator Durbin once said shutting down the government is ‘cowardice,’ but now he is leading the charge with Senator Schumer for this shutdown over a deadline for DACA that is more than a month away. We are asking Senators Durbin and Duckworth to vote on the substance of the bill; we are asking them to vote to reopen the government up immediately. Holding the government hostage over unrelated issues that we have all committed to addressing is no way to govern.”

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