NCL statement on the US government shutdown – National Consumers League

October 1, 2013

Contact: NCL Communications, Ben Klein, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League, has issued the following statement in response to the U.S. government shutdown:

We are deeply disappointed about the inability of the government to resolve conflicts and keep the doors of our federal agencies open for business. It appears to us that one extreme faction of the House of Representatives is holding the rest of the country hostage; they don’t like the Affordable Care Act, a historic measure to provide access to health care for the 50 million Americans without that coverage.

The consequences to families across America, to have, for the first time, the ability to take care of their families and get needed treatments is enormous. NCL since our founding in 1899 has strongly supported access to health care for all Americans and we cannot find any justification for further delaying this healthcare lifeline to so many citizens.

These right wing radicals are acting like petulant children – their cause – denying access to health care for the 50 million – has been defeated time and again, but they won’t accept reality. They lost the battle against the ACA in Congress, they lost their effort to overturn the law in the Supreme Court, their candidate for President, Mitt Romney, lost the election against President Barack Obama despite his platform calling for overturning the ACA. Now they have shut the government down and are trying to pin the blame on the President and the Senate for “refusing to negotiate.” That is a distortion of facts and reality. And we are glad the President and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats alike, and many members of the House as well, are not giving in.

We urge all reasonable lawmakers- those who consider themselves statesmen and stateswomen – to come to their senses and understand the consequences of this shutdown on the hundreds of thousands of loyal federal workers who are furloughed, and the impact on citizens across the United States. The American people deserve a better and more representative government.

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.