"What President Trump didn’t talk about today are the hundreds of thousands of workers he has forced to miss shifts or work without pay by shutting down the government — including our border agents," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. "The President needs to reopen the government and give workers back their paychecks today, and then we can work together to fix our broken immigration system."
>> Trump offers temporary immigration protections for wall money
Ohio Republicans, meanwhile, urged Democrats to take the offer.
"I think the President has laid out a constructive new proposal that contains the basis for a bipartisan agreement," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who said Trump's proposal includes many of the ideas Portman and a group of bipartisan senators have been discussing over the past few weeks. "My hope is that this proposal will spark more good faith negotiations so we can resolve the current impasse on border security and reopen government."
He said the two sides "are not that far apart."
" We should get a commitment to provide border security, reopen the government and pass legislation to stop government shutdowns in the future. I will continue my discussions with Democratic and Republican colleagues this weekend to achieve this result," he said.
>> The Latest: Schumer dismisses Trump plan to end shutdown
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, also praised the plan.
"Eight-hundred thousand federal employees are continuing to go unpaid," said Turner. "I support this solution to fully fund border security and reopen the government. ‘No’ is not a solution. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should stop opposing re-opening our government and securing our border.”
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, said Trump has demonstrated a "willingness to negotiate and ultimately find a bipartisan solution."
“There is a humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border, and failure to act is putting lives at risk," Davidson said. "Congress needs to do its job, providing necessary funding to secure our border, reform our immigration system, and reopen the government. Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have refused to negotiate thus far. Perhaps the President’s proposal will bring them on board with a process that offers to yield a bipartisan, legislative solution to the broken status quo.”
>> Trump offers deal to end shutdown in Saturday speech
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Cincinnati, called Democrats' reaction — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi panned Trump's proposal — "just one more example of President Trump trying to negotiate and being met with an unwillingness to even have a conversation by Speaker Pelosi."
“President Trump has come to the table yet again with a starting point for negotiations to end the shutdown and provide resources necessary to end the humanitarian crisis on the southern border," he said. "Because Democrats will not sit down and talk, he has been forced to negotiate through the media."
He said he was "encouraged" that the Senate would take up the compromise, and urged Pelosi to allow the House to vote on it as well.
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