WASHINGTON – In an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union" today, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spoke about the ongoing partial government shutdown and his Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay individuals forced to work during the shutdown.

Excerpts from his interview are below, and video can be found here.

On the partial shutdown

“There’s a real easy solution: Have Democrats stop being hypocritical and put their money where their mouth is and fund better barriers. They work. [Democrats] supported, voted for about $8 billion of better barrier funding in the 2013 immigration reform, $40 billion in total in terms of border security. This is a growing problem. In 2012, a little over 11,000 people came into this country as family units. Last year, it was 107,000 people coming in as a family unit. In the first three months of this fiscal year it’s been 75,000 people.”

“Let’s face it, as a candidate, this is what [President Trump] talked about. If there is a mandate he can claim from his election, it’s better border security to keep this nation safe. Democrats have voted for this in the past. They’re being total hypocrites.”

On whether to declare a national emergency

“A better solution would be to pass our Shutdown Fairness Act, which is going to pay those individuals that are being forced to work because they are essential. … Hopefully Mitch McConnell will bring it up, hopefully Democrats will support it, hopefully President Trump can sign it so at least those individuals can get paid.” 

“I would hate to see it. Using that act would be, in this instance, would be far larger act than has ever occurred in the past. I'd prefer not, primarily because if we do that, it's going to go to court and the wall won't get built.” 

###