E-Newsletter

The Democratic shutdown in Washington, D.C., is poised to become one of the longest in United States history.

As of Friday, October 10, it is the fourth-longest in U.S. history.

If it lasts another 7 days, it would become the third-longest.

The effects of the third-longest shutdown were felt in many parts of the country, including Virginia’s Ninth District.

During that shutdown, President Obama decided to close down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Park concessionaries were ordered to close, and park rangers were ordered to block the entrances to various attractions along the Blue Ridge Parkway!

The National Park Service report estimated that Virginia communities lost more than $20 million from the Obama shutdown.

The 2025 Democratic shutdown is also poised to inflict harms on Virginia communities.

I did not want this shutdown to happen. I voted to responsibly fund the government via a clean, short-term Continuing Resolution. The bill is noncontroversial. There are no poison pills or partisan policy riders attached.

But as Democrats continue to reject the clean Republican Continuing Resolution, they prevent Congress from delivering essential policies for the American people.

What is particularly bewildering about Democrats’ rejection of the clean Republican Continuing Resolution is that they support many of the things in it!

For starters, the bill extends the authority on some vital health care programs at community health centers (CHCs) and telemedicine. It replenishes the CHC fund.

CHCs fill in for hospitals and offer a variety of medical programs and services to rural, underserved areas.

During my time in office, I routinely visit Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

This summer, I visited Martinsville’s Connect Health + Wellness, one such FQHC. 

Through discussions with their leadership and staff, I received input and feedback on the services they provide to their local communities, including dental care.

Connect Health + Wellness is just one of many of CHCs that serve Virginia’s Ninth District. In fact, there are 61 FQHCs!

According to some, the impacts of the shutdown are immediately being felt by our CHCs. Without Congress extending certain program authority for CHCs, their ability to serve patients will be greatly hampered! The Democratic shutdowns means threats of staffing shortages, appointment delays and a hit to rural health care! 

It is vital that we support our CHCs in this clean Republican Continuing Resolution.

A health care-related provision Republicans also voted to extend in the clean Continuing Resolution concerns the National Health Service Corps (NHSC).

The NHSC plays an important role in tending to the health needs of communities. It addresses medical workforce shortages, particularly in rural and underserved areas, by deploying thousands of medical personnel to help provide care at more than 7,800 CHCs nationwide.

Given NHSC’s valuable work, I partnered with my friend and colleague from my Health Subcommittee, Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette.

I helped draft ideas for her bill, the Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act. The bill adds physical therapists to the NHSC.

Physical therapists deliver rehabilitative care that ensures better recovery health outcomes for patients. If leaving a patient untreated for an injury or chronic condition, that could cause greater hardships for the patient as well as our health care system.

This pro-patient bill empowers the NHSC to continue helping patients access the critical care that they need!

Another pro-patient feature of the clean Republican Continuing Resolution that I supported is the extension and strengthening of telehealth services.

In it, we expand the pool of eligible practitioners to deliver telehealth services.

We also enable telehealth services to continue serving patients for behavioral and mental health. 

For many rural communities, access to an in-person health care provider is a laborious process. Greater distances from home to a provider means a longer wait time and might deter people from trying to access treatment.

Telehealth is a major health care solution, and I am glad we extended telehealth programs in the clean Republican Continuing Resolution.

The clean Republican Continuing Resolution retains spending at current levels and does a lot of good! 

While Democratic insistence on a shutdown delays our ability to act on these health provisions, I am poised as Health Subcommittee Chairman to advocate for the policies within this pro-patient, pro-rural communities Continuing Resolution. 

When Democrats end this shutdown, Congress is poised to explore health care solutions for rural America.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives. 

 

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