[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 136 (Friday, October 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I want to apologize to the people of 
southern Ohio in Pike County at the uranium enrichment facility for not 
being able to be with them today. We did not anticipate that our 
schedule would be completely disrupted by the shenanigans here due to 
the GOP shutdown of our departments of government, which is so 
unnecessary and so absolutely discourteous to the people of this 
country.
  Initially, when this happened, the calls that came into our office 
were calls of dismay and shock and upset about the inability of this 
Congress to reach agreement because of a very reckless faction on that 
other--majority's side of the aisle.
  The calls have changed. Now we're getting calls from people who've 
gone to apply for Social Security benefits and there's nobody there to 
take their application. Now we're getting calls from veterans who are 
returning from theater and there is nobody there to process their 
benefit claims.
  We have over 800,000 people furloughed from the Federal Government. 
Guess what? One of my communities had sent officers for training at one 
of the FBI academies, and they're riding back home right now because 
that training was not available.
  Madam Speaker, our responsibility is to provide a stable government 
that gives confidence to the people of this country, advances economic 
growth, and meets our responsibilities. All Republicans have to do is 
send a clean continuing resolution to the floor and this could end.

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