Dent Votes to End Government Shutdown & Defuse Debt Crisis

Statement

At a town hall meeting in Allentown in late August, I was asked by one of my constituents if I would be willing to shut down the government in order to defund Obamacare. I said "No."

I told the people gathered there it was a flawed tactic that would not actually defund Obamacare.

Specifically, I said tying defunding of Obamacare to a short term government funding measure would result in exactly two things: a government shutdown and Obamacare remaining funded.

When the time for the vote came, I did what I said I would, and voted against shutting down the government.

Today, 16 days after this misguided tactic drove us into a government shutdown, I voted to reopen the government and prevent a devastating roiling of our markets, a likely credit down grade and an imminent default.

This legislation tonight needed to be supported but should not be celebrated; there should be no victory laps or spiking the football. It is my hope that the temporary conclusion of this difficult period will demonstrate to many of my colleagues the need to affirmatively govern this nation.

Over the past few months, particularly the last two weeks, I have worked tirelessly with both Democrats and Republicans to find a solution and break this impasse. These discussions have laid a strong foundation that I will continue to build on as we look to address America's out of control spending, increasing debt burden, and challenges associated with Obamacare.

I am pleased that cooler heads have finally prevailed in this instance, and now it is time for all of us to come together to handle the many difficult problems our great nation faces.

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