Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told Newsmax TV Friday that if the federal government shuts down on Friday at midnight, "this has got to be the most embarrassing shutdown I've ever seen."
"They're continuing a resolution that's being offered and passed through the House, offered to the Senate that contains everything that the Democrats are for — particularly CHIP, the health insurance program for children," DeLay told "Newsmax Now" host Bill Tucker.
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A former Texas Republican congressman, DeLay was majority leader from 2003 to 2005.
"The Democrats have decided to take their stand so that they can offer amnesty to illegal immigrants," he said. "That is not the way to do these shutdowns.
"If you're going to shut down, you shut down over something that's important to everybody in the United States.
"A lot of people are going to be upset if the Congress gives amnesty to illegal immigrants," he said.
The biggest casualty, DeLay told Tucker, would be the U.S. military.
"Here we have the military fighting a war in Afghanistan, fighting the war against terrorists," he explained. "We're facing North Korea right now — and we're playing around with the morale of our troops.
"They'll get their money. They'll get paid eventually, but the point is now their families are wondering when are they going to get paid, when are they going to get their money.
"It just creates a real problem."
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