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It's sad to say, but House Republicans have once again proven that they put pandering to the Tea Party ahead of what's best for the country. As a result, our government is now shut down. There is a lot of misinformation spreading about the events that led to the government shutdown, and we wanted to set the record straight. On Friday, September 20, House Republicans sponsored an effort to completely defund the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Our Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz voted AGAINST that callous proposal, which would have prevented millions of Americans from finally getting access to affordable health coverage. On Saturday, September 28, House Republicans tried again, with a measure that would have delayed all aspects of the Affordable Care Act for one year. Dr. Ruiz voted AGAINST that measure as well. As an Emergency Room Doctor, Congressman Ruiz has seen firsthand the importance of making sure that every American has access to health coverage. That's why he is committed to implementation of the ACA. Just hours before the government shutdown was set to begin, House Republicans proposed another budget bill that included two provisions: First, it contained a measure that ensured Congress would not receive any special treatment when signing up for the health care exchanges. Dr. Ruiz believes that Congress should play by the same rules as the American people and he supported this provision. The health care exchanges are going to provide quality and affordable care to millions of Americans and Congress should lead the way. Second, it would have delayed by one year the penalty imposed on individuals who fail to purchase health care coverage in the first year of the health care exchanges. As you may know, President Obama had already delayed for one year the same penalty provision regarding businesses purchasing health care coverage for their employees. So Dr. Ruiz supported extending the sign-up time to individuals because he felt it was fair to give individuals the same opportunities as businesses. To be clear: Under the provision that Dr. Ruiz voted for, any individual who wants to sign up for health insurance through the health exchanges may continue to do so; just as hundreds of thousands of people across the country already have. There was nothing in the provision Dr. Ruiz supported that delayed the implementation of the ACA. Only the penalty for not signing up was delayed. Dr. Ruiz STRONGLY opposes the House Republicans strategy of taking the government hostage in order to achieve partisan political goals. But he also wanted to do everything possible to prevent a government shutdown that would hurt millions of Americans. So he saw this proposal as a last opportunity to set aside the games, put people over politics, and keep the government running to ensure that our recovering economy continues to grow, our troops in combat continue to receive pay, and our veterans and seniors continue to receive critical benefits they earned. In the 9 short months Dr. Ruiz has been in Congress, he has been a tireless advocate for our district. He voted in support of the Violence Against Women Act, against the radical Ryan budget which would have eliminated Medicare as we know it, and against the deep cuts to the Food Stamp program that millions of Americans need to continue putting food on the table. He is the strongest advocate in our Valley for quality and affordable healthcare, and he's doing exactly what we sent him to Washington to do; put people ahead of politics. From your Progressive News! team 
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