January 24, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 15 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H1190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, I rise to call on President Trump and the 
Senate to reopen the Federal Government immediately.
  A legion of Federal workers went to work again this morning with no 
idea how or when they will be able to pay their bills or support their 
families, workers like Tracy from my hometown of Amsterdam, New York.
  Tracy has worked for the USDA for more than three decades helping 
upstate New York farmers, with nowhere else to turn, find the funds 
they need to stay afloat for another season.
  She says: ``When you start to lose farms, equipment dealers go out of 
business. Everybody suffers--the charities, the churches. If you can't 
pay your bills, you can't go to the local pancake breakfast on Sunday'' 
to help a not-for-profit.
  This weekend, bitter cold hit New York's capital region. Tracy tells 
me she hasn't gone down to the basement because she is afraid to see 
the level of heating oil left in her tank.
  Just as tough is the mental toll this shutdown is taking. Until 
recently, Tracy was furloughed. Now she is working, working without 
pay. She worries about the farmers who rely on USDA loans to get seed 
and fertilizer for the coming season.
  When asked what she would say if she were standing here in this spot 
today, she said: ``We need to take care of one another. It doesn't 
matter what party you are. We need to help and uplift each other.''
  Madam Speaker, I urge the United States Senate to heed Tracy's call, 
move forward with any one of the many bills that we have passed here in 
the House to reopen this government, restore paychecks to our dedicated 
Federal workers and the critical services they provide to our neighbors 
who need it, who need it most.

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