EXCLUSIVE — Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday, urging him to reopen the federal government so that all services for military veterans can resume with funding.

“I respectfully ask that you act swiftly to vote in favor of the clean continuing resolution and end the shutdown,” Collins wrote to Schumer in the letter obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Reopening the Government would reaffirm that our Nation’s duty to Veterans transcends party divisions and political stalemates.”