DHAKA: Saying the United States government shutdown was having a ‘heartbreaking’ impact on ordinary Americans, president Barack Obama on Saturday renewed his call on congressional Republicans to end the five-day stalemate and pass a funding Bill without conditions.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have held firm in their refusal to fund and reopen the government until Democrats agree to delay implementation of Obama’s landmark 2010 health-care law, also known as Obamacare.

In his weekly radio address, Obama ratcheted up the pressure on Republicans, describing the toll the shutdown was having on several people who had either lost access to government services or been temporarily displaced from their jobs.

Kelly Mumper, an early education worker with three children in the military, was one of 150 workers who had to stop providing care for 770 children enrolled in an early childhood education facility in Alabama, the president said, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1323 HRS, OCT 05, 2013
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