After the U.S. Congress voted to end the partial government shutdown and to raise the debt ceiling late Wednesday night, October 16, President Obama signed the measure.

Montana Congressman Steve Daines was one of the 265 members of the U.S. House who voted to approve the measure that passed the Senate by a vote of 81-18 just hours before. Daines said he believes the measure may add some safeguards for citizens against Obamacare.

"I voted last night for that agreement because it did put some important safeguards in place on the health care law," Daines said. "We were able to put some revisions in there that will reduce the fraud, so that now there will be checks done on income before these subsidies are applied."

Daines returned to his comments in several previous interviews in which he blames President Obama for his absolute unwillingness to negotiate on his health care law.

"President Obama has made it clear that he would rather shut the government down than accept some reasonable changes to Obamacare that the majority of Americans support," Daines said. "Most Americans believe individuals should be treated the same as corporations and government workers when it comes to the mandate."

Daines said it was too soon to speculate on whether the Republican Party gained or lost support because of the government shutdown.

"It's just too soon to speculate about what this may mean for 2014," Daines said. "We're still a year away from the election, and the polls will go up and down, so we can't make any judgments yet."

When asked about if or when Daines would announce his intentions to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Max Baucus, Daines said the clock is ticking.

"We're giving the decision thoughtful consideration," Daines said. "I'm staying very focused on the big to-do list I have back in Washington as a current member of the House. I also recognize that we've got to put this to bed. There's a lot of speculation about the 2014 election and the Senate race, and we'll sort this thing out in the near future."

Montana Congressman Steve Daines

 

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