Take a listen to the Democratic Radio Address!

“I am Michael John Gray, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas.

Our federal government has been shutdown for more than 30 days. We can argue who’s to blame and we can say who’s winning the politics, but the fact is 800,000 workers missed their second consecutive paycheck. These are our neighbors, friends, and family members forced to go to food banks for food.

My simple question: what is this all for.

It is Washington at its worst. It is what people are tired of. And frankly, I don’t care what party it is.

There is a question about our nation’s border security. We need to figure out the best solution to secure our border and allow legal immigration. But this shutdown is an absolute ridiculous line in the sand being drawn. The problem is the President has made this an issue about border security based primarily on fears and uneducated assumptions. It’s all predicated on a campaign promise that he can’t keep.

It’s time to have an honest discussion. If we need to build a wall, build a wall. If we need to look at what a wall can really do, let’s look at it. Our Democrats in Washington need to come to the table to negotiate, we need honest commitment to fix both border security and our immigration system.

It takes about seven years to become a citizen if you immigrate from Mexico to the U.S. That is a problem. If you want to become a citizen, if you want to work hard in this country–and pay your taxes–then why are we saying “no, you must wait 7 years.”

Build the wall, put some doors in it. Because I promise you if I live in a place where I might get killed, where I struggled to feed my family and all I had to do was cross a border legally or illegally, I promise you I’d do it.

Let’s staff the thing and quit arguing over whose fault it is.

The President Has not been successful. He has been successful in finding a wedge issue and appealing to racism and other forms of -isms, that people use to characterize people that immigration from other countries. He’s utilizing that instead of talking about the real problem. And Democrats are laying into it, but that’s not the right way to govern either.

We need to stop talking about winning and losing. We need to put a human face on this, and we don’t need to look any further than those around us missing another paycheck and wondering how they are going to feed their families.”