January 15, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 8 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Ms. GABBARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. GABBARD. Madam Speaker, it has been 25 days, 25 days since over 
800,000 Federal employees have either been going to work without pay or 
have been furloughed, all of them wondering: How am I going to pay my 
rent or my mortgage? How am I going to afford the bills that I need to 
pay to take care of my family?
  I heard recently from Jay from the island of Maui, in my district of 
Hawaii, who is a TSA employee who has been working this entire time 
without pay, wondering how he is going to pay his mortgage, car, credit 
card payments, and lifesaving medical care that he needs to provide for 
his daughter.
  Jay is not alone. Our national parks are filling with trash. Our 
Coast Guard members are working without pay, being told they should 
hold garage sales or start babysitting to help pay the bills while the 
government is shut down.
  Food stamps for tens of millions of Americans are at risk, while low-
income housing subsidies aren't being renewed, impacting over 340,000 
elderly and disabled veterans who depend on that rental assistance. 
The safety and security of our country is at risk.

  We cannot turn our backs on our brothers and sisters. These are real 
people, real families, real lives, and real futures.
  Senator McConnell and President Trump must pass the bipartisan 
legislation we have already passed and reopen the government now.

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