Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Graves said Sunday the party is "united" in its belief the government should re-open and negotiations with Democrats should continue to avoid a possible economic default over the debt ceiling.
"We have had a tremendous fight over keeping the government open and protecting Americans from Obamacare," Graves said on "Fox News Sunday." "There's no reason to default. The president's the only one demanding default right now."
He said President Barack Obama's chief aides have been reported saying they don't care how long the government shutdown continues "because they're winning."
"This is not about who's going to win or lose because it's the American people, ultimately, that are losing if we don't reach some sort of agreement, but you've got to have Democrats willing to have a conversation" he said. "We want to open up all the government that we can, but we want to provide fairness for the American people, and that is providing them the same protections that the president has provided big business, insurance companies and members of Congress."
Graves is referring the one-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to corporations. The individual-mandate portion of the law began taking effect Oct. 1, when the online public exchanges opened. In addition, a possible default looms as the nation's borrowing is close to reaching its federal debt ceiling.
"What I'm saying we're united behind is protecting Americans from the harmful effects of Obamacare and keeping the government open, and the votes of the last week demonstrate that," he said.