Washington, DC - Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, called on Senate Democrats to set aside their demands for now and immediately vote to re-open the Federal government.

“A bipartisan group of Senators has repeatedly voted to bring this absurd shutdown to a close, but we remain a handful of votes short—we need enough Democrats with us to reach the 60 vote threshold and pass the clean continuing resolution,” Yoes explained. “The shutdown is now almost two weeks old and, within a matter of days, those serving in the U.S. Armed Forces will no longer be paid to protect our country.

“This should be unthinkable, but instead it seems to be part of some kind of strategy to pressure ‘the other side’ to win concessions and ‘rollback’ cuts that were already enacted into law by this very same Congress!

“To raise these policy riders at this moment in history seems to our hard-working members to be more of a poison pill than anything else. The health care subsidies do not expire until the end of the year, why should they be the reason we are keeping the government shutdown in October? We need those seven votes to pass a clean CR now, not weeks or months from now.

“The Fraternal Order of Police remains in daily contact with White House officials and Congressional staff to ensure they fully understand the real-world toll this partial shutdown is taking on our members—the Federal law enforcement officers whose lives are on the line and yet they are going without pay.

“These officers and their families are in trouble because of this shutdown. Household budgets are falling short, and Federal officers are struggling to make their mortgage payments on time and put food on the table.

“We are advocating tirelessly for a swift resolution and will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that the interests of our members are protected.”