[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 9, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FURLOUGHED FEDERAL CONTRACTORS

  (Ms. TSONGAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had a heart-wrenching 
conversation with a nurse employed at a military installation in my 
district. She has been furloughed because of the Republican government 
shutdown. As a Federal contract employee, she is terrified that she 
won't be able to recover her lost pay, putting her family at financial 
risk. ``We are the ones suffering,'' she told me. ``We are hardworking 
Americans working paycheck to paycheck. Something like this can destroy 
us.''
  No piecemeal approach, no temporary fix here or there is going to put 
an end to this reckless shutdown. Only one bill is guaranteed to reopen 
all of the government--or even any part of it today--and put this nurse 
and hundreds of thousands of Americans like her back to work.
  It is time for the House to vote on the straightforward, Senate-
passed funding bill. Mr. Speaker, let us vote.

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