Kerry warns lawmakers to think ‘long and hard’ about message shutdown sends to the world

BALI, Indonesia – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is urging Congress to think long and hard about the message U.S. sends the world when “we can’t get our own act together.”

Kerry, in Bali for an economic summit, called Saturday for Congress to reach an agreement to end the partial shutdown of the federal government, now entering its fifth day.

President Barack Obama had planned to attend the summit but cancelled his travel plans to remain in Washington and deal with the shutdown. Kerry is now leading the U.S. delegation in the talks.

Kerry says that America’s “friends and foes” shouldn’t mistake the government shutdown as anything other than a “moment of politics.”