While speaking to reporters on Thursday, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) stated that he believes border security should include “a barrier on our southern border.” He added that both parties need to negotiate, and he’ll “continue to vote to open our government and get people back to work.”

Romney said, “I believe that a border security program should include, as well, a barrier on our southern border. When the vote for the president’s proposal failed, we went to see the second alternative, I voted for that as well, again, because I want to see government get opened and government workers get paid. … That proposal also failed. And now it’s going to be up to Republican leadership and Democrat leadership to come together and begin to negotiate. Democrats have said they’re not willing to negotiate unless the government’s open. Well, they tried their effort. I voted for it. It didn’t happen. Now they’ve got to negotiate. We’ve got to have the leaders of both parties, including the Democrat Party, sit down with the president and work out a deal that deals with border security and gets this government open. I voted both times to open the government, I’ll continue to vote to open our government and get people back to work.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett