NASHVILLE – U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., welcomed President Donald Trump’s agreement Friday with congressional leaders to temporarily reopen the federal government as talks continue with Democrats on his demands for money to pay for a wall on the border with Mexico.
Trump’s announcement came as the president was encountering increasing pressure and public opinion running against his move to leave a quarter of the federal government unfunded. It drew massive news coverage of the impact on government services and of the estimated 800,000 federal workers impacted by the partial government shutdown.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (Staff photo by Doug Strickland)
Sen Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., gestures as he gives his victory speech Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Atlanta.Alexander, who on Thursday voted for a Democratic-backed funding bill to end the nation’s longest shutdown in history, as well as a Republican bill backing the president, said “This is exactly what I voted twice to do yesterday: open the government.
“Now it is time for Congress to go to work and produce a bill that includes a comprehensive approach to border security including physical barriers where appropriate,” Alexander said in a statement. “That’s what we did for the last four presidents when 654 miles of physical barrier on the 1,954-mile border were approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis and that’s what we should do working with President Trump.”
Isakson, who also voted for both bills, said “I’m glad the leadership of the House and the president have come to an agreement and hope that we can now sit down and negotiate in earnest to secure our border and get the government back in operating order.”