“We stand here because we have little kids and seniors and hardworking Americans who go bankrupt when they get sick, who sometimes are denied access to care which results in loss of life”, said Ellison.
On October 15, 2013 Rep. Keith of Minnesota Ellison asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for one minute regarding the government shutdown. During that time he also addressed the issue of the Affordable Care Act.
“We stand here because we have little kids and seniors and hardworking Americans who go bankrupt when they get sick, who sometimes are denied access to care which results in loss of life. That is why we said no. We said we can talk about a lot of things–we can negotiate on anything you want–but we are not going to say, if we repeal, delay, defund the Affordable Care Act, then you will do what it is your duty to do, which is to open the government.”
“So my friends in the Republican caucus knew that–you know what?–the American public is on to our game. We are trying to do everything we can to trick people into thinking it is not really us who are being obstructionists, extortionists, hostage takers. We don’t want people to believe that is really us doing it. So, you know what? We have got to say something else. We have got to do something else”, said Rep. Ellison (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).