Kyrsten's Newsletter 10-25-2013

Statement

Dear Friend,

Thanks for taking a few minutes to read our October newsletter - an update on the foolish government shutdown, the near-default, and our work to get government back up and running.

Unfortunately, the last nine months of fighting and finger-pointing in Congress led to this irresponsible shutdown. I worked hard to find common ground and reasonable solutions to prevent this shutdown, but sadly some in Congress preferred shutdown to a reasonable solution.

As it became clear that a small minority of the House would force a government shutdown, our office took action. We believe that our office serves the people of district 9, no matter what fights some people pick in Washington. We knew that, with federal agencies shutting down, our residents would need help navigating through this shutdown. That's why we expanded our office hours during the shutdown to help residents with questions and assist them while federal agencies were unable to do so.

Many constituents had questions about their earned benefits or needed assistance with the services for which they had applied. Our Phoenix office is staffed with dedicated and experienced professionals who are always ready to listen and help. I'm proud that our office was able to continue helping residents in our community during the shutdown.

We also received questions about the details concerning shutdown and the votes Congress took over the course of the shutdown, leading up to the big government default vote. We've included a rundown of the votes below to keep you up to date on our work.

After several weeks of gridlock, Congress finally agreed on a reasonable solution that ended the shutdown. However, this solution is only temporary, so Congress has a lot of work to do before January to prevent another disaster like this from ever happening again. I'm committed to working with people I disagree with to find a common sense solution to our country's budgetary challenges.

With so many challenges facing our country, it is important that I know where you stand on the issues that matter most. Your views help me provide the best representation for our community. I encourage you to always feel free to reach our Phoenix office. We can be reached at 602-956-2285. For more information, please visit www.sinema.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Kyrsten

Fact Sheet on Votes Relating to the Shutdown and the Affordable Care Act

Many of the calls our office received were requests for accurate information regarding votes leading up to and after the government shutdown.

I voted against the House Republican funding bill (called the continuing resolution) that would have defunded the Affordable Care Act (9/20/13 -- Roll Call 478). I also voted against the House Republican amendment to delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (9/29/13 -- Roll Call 498).

These amendments do nothing to help families and businesses plan for the future. A delay of full implementation of the Affordable Care Act adds to the confusion and cost of healthcare, and creates even more uncertainty for Arizona families and businesses.

I also voted to ensure that families can still sign up for affordable healthcare plans without being punished for failing to purchase "adequate" healthcare coverage during a time that many are experiencing difficulty accessing the information they need to make informed decisions (9/30/13 -- Roll Call 504).

During the 16 day shutdown, I voted for every effort to bring a "clean" funding bill floor, which would have ended the shutdown and allowed Congress to continue working towards a long-term budget solution.

On October 16th, Congress finally put the interests of the American people ahead of political games and passed a bipartisan bill that reopened the government and prevented government default. I voted for this commonsense solution (10/16/13 -- Roll Call 550).

Working Across The Aisle to Find Reasonable Solutions

While our office in Phoenix was helping people at home navigate the shutdown, I worked in our nation's Capitol with Republicans and Democrats to find reasonable solutions that would end the shutdown and prevent default. I also kept Arizona first by reading your emails and letters, and holding frequent conference calls with communities and organizations throughout the Ninth Congressional District.

It was clear, and it remains clear, that no longterm solution can be achieved and sustained if Congress stays in its partisan silos. The House is controlled by a Republican majority and the Senate by a Democratic majority. In order to find commonsense solutions that work for the American people, both sides have to be willing to listen to and work with one another.

During the shutdown, I continued my work with several bipartisan groups to end the budget impasse, including the United Solutions Caucus, which I helped form before I was even sworn into office. Our primary goal has been to get past the partisan bickering in order to create commonsense reforms that better our communities, and we continue to work together to address the longterm fiscal challenges facing our country.

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