At times of

great importance such as the weeks-long

partial government shutdown, it is good to

hear exactly where the elected Wyoming

Delegation stands on weighty issues.

The Roundup  sent several questions to

the offices of U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John

Barrasso and Rep. Liz Cheney – for their

feedback on the ongoing shutdown

The shutdown began in late December

when legislation expired to fund government

agencies, with President Trump insisting the

only condition of his approval to start back

up is a $5-billion border wall between the

United States and Mexico.

With the Republican arguments for and

Democratic arguments against the southern

border wall, the Roundup ’s goal was to receive

clear statements from each of Wyoming’s

national elected figures to the local

level.

They were each asked for a statement

“that unequivocally states” whether or not

they support the federal government shutdown

as a means to accomplish building

“the wall.”

First, they were asked if Congress and the

president should consider assisting the refugee

and immigrant problems at the root, “in

their home countries where extreme violence

is the reason they are coming here?”

Sen. Barrasso

Sen. Barrasso responded in full: “Shutting

down the government, even partially, never

benefits anyone. I voted to finish funding our

government, secure our borders, fund the

wall and give Americans in disaster areas

the resources they need to recover.

“I agree with the president that Democrats

must work with us to secure and safely defend

our border. We are experiencing a crisis

on average of 60,000 illegal and inadmissible

immigrants each month on our southern

border. The failure to address the problem

can’t continue to be ignored.

“The United States already works closely

with and provides resources to countries in

Central America to help them address crime,

corruption, rule of law and food insecurity.

This past December, the United States and

Mexico announced a $10 billion bilateral assistance

program aimed at curbing migration

from Central America. It is important these

resources are properly used to permanently

address the underlying problems causing the

mass migration out of Central America.”

Sen. Enzi

Sen. Enzi’s media spokesman Coy

Knobel replied, “Sen. Enzi has always

maintained that a shutdown is not what he

wants. It does not benefit Wyoming and

he has cosponsored legislation to prevent

government shutdowns.

“He voted to support the government

funding bill that included additional funds

to be sure we have border security, but that

legislation did not pass the Senate and the

president has said he would veto what the

new Democratic House has passed.

“He hopes Congress will work with the

president to soon reach an agreement that

helps provide solid border security and funds

the parts of the government that have been

shut down.”

Rep. Cheney

Media spokeswoman Maddy Weast responded

with Rep. Cheney’s statement.

“Congresswoman Cheney believes it is

outrageous that Democrats would rather

shut down the government than secure our

borders and she will continue to work with

President Trump and her colleagues in Congress

to pass legislation to fund a border wall

and reopen our government.”

End Shutdowns Act

On Thursday, Jan. 10, Enzi, Barrasso and

seven other Republican senators introduced

legislation that would “permanently prevent

the federal government from shutting down

in the future, ensuring that essential government

services are not disrupted and protecting

taxpayers who must bear the resulting

cost.”

Called “The End Government Shutdowns

Act,” they explained, “It would create an automatic

continuing resolution (CR) for any

regular appropriations bill or existing CR,

keeping the federal government open when

budget negotiations falter before key spending

deadlines.”

Enzi pointed to this shutdown’s disruption

of life for people in and outside the government

that could be avoided with this legislation

“Shutting down the government, even

partially, never benefits anyone,” added

Barrasso. “Americans shouldn’t have to

suffer uncertainty or go without a paycheck

because Congress failed to fund the government.

This legislation will help put an end to

unnecessary shutdowns in the future.”

The End Government Shutdowns Act

would “automatically continue funding for

discretionary programs for which a budget

was not enacted by the Oct. 1 deadline each

fiscal year. After the first 120 days past the

Oct. 1 deadline, if the government has yet

to enact spending bills, the budget for each

program, project or activity affected would

be reduced by 1 percent. The funding would

again be reduced by 1 percent every 90 days

thereafter until Congress does its job and

completes the annual appropriations process.”

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has introduced

this legislation in every Congress

since 2010.