By Glynn Wilson –

On Day 20 of the Trump federal government shutdown, U.S. Senator Doug Jones, the Democrat from Alabama, held a media conference call with reporters on Thursday to provide an update on what’s going on in Congress and Washington to end the shutdown and other national legislative issues, including the latest on Medicaid expansion.

U.S. Senator Doug Jones on CBS This Morning: CBS

At the outset in opening remarks, Senator Jones pointed out that if the shutdown continues another two days it will be the longest government shutdown ever.

“That’s not something to be proud of,” he said.

But in response to questions in the end, he said, “We’ve got a lot of things on the agenda in this Congress over the next two years. It’s an exciting time if we can just get past this Trump shutdown.”

While about 800,000 federal workers who are now on furlough have received back pay in past shutdowns, he said, that doesn’t do them any good with bills coming due this week.

“Many of those workers will not be getting that paycheck tomorrow (Friday),” he said. “And federal contractors will not get any back pay at all.”

The costs of this will impact the economy by reaching the local grocery store, drug store, auto mechanics, airport security, troops deployed overseas and many others, he said, and the effects are not just being felt in Washington, Huntsville and Birmingham. Even smaller communities in places like Talladega and Aliceville will be hard hit, where there are federal prisons, with guards now being asked to work without pay.

“Heart breaking stories have poured into my office in emails, phone calls and letters from families who are literally scared to death of losing their paychecks,” Jones said. “They live pay check to pay check. These are not overpaid government workers. They want to work. They want to pay their bills and support their families.”

Some temporary “band-aid” relief has been announced by the administration, he said, for farmers, SNAP beneficiaries and tax filers.

Senator Jones wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week calling for the resumption of home loan programs serving rural communities. The programs have been suspended during the ongoing government shutdown.

In the letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Jones pointed to examples where the agency has already announced temporary relief in other cases, like the extension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and an extension of the deadline for farmers to apply for tariff relief.

“For generations, homeownership has been the backbone of the American economy and a fundamental aspect of the American dream, and nowhere is this more true than in our rural communities,” the Senator wrote. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) home loan products are vital for thousands of rural homebuyers. By freezing these programs, the negative impact on rural communities grows each day the shutdown continues.”

Under the current lapse in appropriations, programs designed to facilitate home ownership in rural communities, including 502 Direct and Guaranteed loans, are not available.

“Rural home buyers rely on the USDA, which serves as a critical facilitator and provider of rural mortgages. Without these USDA programs providing direct loans and loan guarantees, it will make home sales in many rural communities impossible,” he said. “While I believe that these adjustments are only band-aids and not a lasting solution, I encourage the USDA to pursue every available legal measure to resume these loan programs and minimize the pain … rural constituents are feeling as a result of this costly shutdown.”

The Senator went on to say, “this shutdown needs to end.”

“These critical USDA programs have nothing to do with the debate over border security, and I urge you the share with the President the significant damage the shutdown is doing to residents of rural communities across the country,” he concluded.

“At the end of the day the debate (over the shutdown) is political and the rhetoric is increasingly tribal,” he said in the conference call. “Most folks support stronger border security. Many support what the president calls ‘a wall.’ But they don’t agree that shutting down the government of the United States of America is the right way to do it. I completely agree.”

He said it was unfortunate that the wall has just become a political metaphor for border security. The president and the Republicans in Congress have setup a false choice for political purposes, he indicated, with support for a wall or no support for a wall being “a false” and “inaccurate choice.”

The Senate and House have already offered bipartisan legislation to fund the government and end these shutdowns and to continue debating security for the southern border, he indicated, including a bill which passed the Senate Appropriations Committee with leadership from Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa.

“We should move these bills forward, reopen the government and continue to work with the White House and have our debates about the best way to secure our borders,” Jones said.

In answer to reporters questions, Senator Jones expressed frustration with the president’s request for $5.7 billion for the border wall, since no member of Congress has actually seen a concrete proposal from the Trump administration on what the plan is to spend that money.

As for the rumor that Trump might declare a national emergency and try to use defense spending to cover the cost of his wall, Senator Jones said that would be a mistake that would face legal opposition.

“It’s a real slippery slope to declare a national emergency,” Jones said. “Congress … and the American public … is concerned about the overreach of the executive branch of government right now. This should not happen.”

Senator Jones said the president has “hyper inflated numbers” about the amount of drugs being smuggled into the country and the threat from terrorists crossing the southern border illegally.

“These numbers have been so misleading to the American public,” he said. “There is a problem along the southern border. It needs to be more secure. But to declare this a national emergency to divert funds that have been allocated to the military, no, I think that’s just wrong and an overreach.”

He indicated if President Clinton or Obama had tried something like this, “You would have seen outrage about using these powers. This is just beyond what we’ve seen any president do in the past.”

Video

Doug Jones delivered remarks on the Senate floor urging voting to continue on debate on for federal funding to avoid a government shutdown.

On Medicaid Expansion

Senator Jones, as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, re-introduced the Smart Choices Act this week that would quantify the impact of Medicaid expansion both for states that expanded and those that did not. It would require the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) to publish an annual report on the estimated impact in each state, including the amount of federal funding that has been passed up by states that have not yet expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

The legislation, cosponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), was introduced but failed to pass in the previous Congress.

“For a state like Alabama, where our rural hospitals and health providers are struggling to stay afloat, Medicaid expansion would be a lifeline,” he said. “Unfortunately, in the past, partisan politics have gotten in the way of providing more than 200,000 more Alabamians with health care.”

An estimated $14 billion of state tax dollars have been left on the table that could have covered these families, offered a lifeline to rural hospitals, and boosted the local economy, he said.

“My legislation will shed light on exactly what costs we continue to pay by not expanding Medicaid,” he said.

After recent elections, a new state legislature will going into session soon and there will be “an opportunity to bring our hard-earned money back to our state to ensure that every Alabamian has access to the quality, affordable health care that they deserve,” Senator Jones said.

Of course our followers will recall that it was former Republican Governor Robert Bentley who decided not to accept $1 billion a year in federal funding from the Obama administration under the Affordable Care Act, simply to play politics with people’s lives and get himself reelected in 2012 without opposition from the tea party political right. When the state Medicaid agency faced an $85 million shortfall in 2016, Bentley finally changed his mind and urged the legislature to come up with the money in a special session. They came up with $120 million over two years from BP Gulf oil spill lawsuit settlement money to save the program and thousands of lives. Of course Bentley was then forced to resign his office to avoid jail time for using state tax money to coverup a sex scandal.

Previous Coverage

HUGE Medicaid Crisis Looms in Alabama

Alabama Legislature Bends: Finds Last Minute Compromise to Save Medicaid

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley Resigns Rather Than Face Impeachment, Jail Time

Civil Rights Cold Case Records

While the Senator said there’s a lot going on in Washington, all the news is not so bad. He took the time to tout the passage and the president signing the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act this week, a bill he co-sponsored with Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. The legislation requires the review, declassification, and release of government records related to unsolved criminal civil rights cases. Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) led the companion legislation in the House.