-Good evening. I appreciate the opportunity
to speak directly to the American people tonight
about how we can end this shutdown
and meet the needs of the American people.
Sadly, much of what we heard from President Trump
throughout this senseless shutdown
has been full of misinformation and even malice.
The President has chosen fear.
We want to start with the facts.
The fact is, on the very first day of this Congress,
House Democrats passed Senate Republican legislation
to re-open government and fund smart,
effective boarder security solutions.
But the President is rejecting these bipartisan bills,
which would re-open government over his obsession
with forcing American taxpayers to waste billions of dollars
on an expensive and ineffective wall --
a wall he always promised Mexico would pay for.
The fact is, President Trump has chosen to hold hostage
critical services for the health, safety,
and well-being of the American people
and withhold the paychecks of 800,000 innocent workers
across the nation -- many of them veterans.
He promised he'd keep government shut down for months or years,
no matter whom it hurts.
That's just plain wrong.
The fact is, we all agree we need to secure our boarders
while honoring our values.
We can build the infrastructure and roads at our ports of entry.
We can install new technology to scan cars and trucks
for drugs coming into our nation.
We can hire the personnel we need to facilitate trade
and immigration at the boarder.
We can fund more innovation to detect unauthorized crossings.
The fact is, the women and children at the boarder
are not a security threat.
They are a humanitarian challenge --
a challenge that President Trump's own cruel
and counterproductive policies have only deepened.
And the fact is,
President Trump must stop holding American people hostage,
must stop manufacturing a crisis,
and must re-open the government.
Thank you.
Leader Schumer.
-Thank you, Speaker Pelosi.
My fellow Americans, we address you tonight
for one reason only --
the President of the Unites States,
having failed to get Mexico to pay for his ineffective,
unnecessary boarder wall
and unable to convince the Congress
or the American people to foot the bill,
has shut down the government.
American democracy doesn't work that way.
We don't govern by temper tantrum.
No president should pound the table
and demand he gets his way,
or else the government shuts down,
hurting millions of Americans who are treated as leverage.
Tonight and throughout this debate
and throughout his presidency,
President Trump has appealed to fear,
not facts, division, not unity.
Make no mistake, Democrats and the President
both want stronger boarder security.
However, we sharply disagree with the President
about the most effective way to do it.
So, how do we untangle this mess?
Well, there's an obvious solution --
separate the shutdown from arguments over boarder security.
There is bipartisan legislation,
supported by Democrats and Republicans,
to re-open government,
while allowing to debate over boarder security to continue.
There is no excuse for hurting millions of Americans
over a policy difference.
Federal workers are about to miss a paycheck.
Some families can't get a mortgage to buy a new home.
Farmers and small businesses
won't get loans they desperately need.
Most presidents have used Oval Office addresses
for noble purposes.
This president just used the backdrop of the Oval Office
to manufacture a crisis, stoke fear,
and divert attention from the turmoil in his administration.
My fellow Americans, there is no challenge so great
that our nation cannot rise to meet it.
We can re-open the government and continue to work
through disagreements over policy.
We can secure our boarder
without an ineffective, expensive wall.
And we can welcome legal immigrants and refugees
without compromising safety and security.
The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty,
not a 30-foot wall.
So, our suggestion is a simple one.
Mr. President,
re-open the government
and we can work to resolve our differences
over boarder security, but end this shutdown now.
Thank you.