[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 136 (Friday, October 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. O'ROURKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. O'ROURKE. Madam Speaker, I received the following email from Stu 
Harris in El Paso yesterday. He's the vice president of the National 
Border Patrol Council, Local 1929. He writes:

       Our Border Patrol agents in the El Paso sector are outraged 
     by this nonsense. We cannot understand tying the fight 
     against the Affordable Care Act with funding the government.
       I can only hope that nothing happens to any of our agents 
     in the field putting their lives on the line and doing it for 
     free. Imagine having to be in a state of heightened awareness 
     for 10 hours a day, all the time not knowing if or when the 
     paycheck will come in or how we're going to pay the bills and 
     feed our families.
       Due to the shutdown, all Border Patrol agent trainees that 
     were at the academy have been sent home. This amounts to yet 
     another delay in adding measures to secure the border.

  Madam Speaker, it is time to reopen the government and allow an up-
or-down vote on funding this government.

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