[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New Mexico (Ms. Haaland) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, I rise to urge President Trump and Senate 
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reopen the Federal Government. Let's 
be clear: the crisis is not along our Nation's southern border. The 
real crisis is getting people back to work.
  I cannot stand by silently while nearly 800,000 Federal workers, 
thousands of which are in New Mexico, won't receive a paycheck, and 
countless, innocent people suffer because they will not receive 
essential services from the Federal Government.
  The government shutdown impacts the State of New Mexico more than 
almost anywhere in this country. The government shutdown directly 
affects more than 6,000 Federal employees throughout New Mexico. These 
dedicated public servants are not getting paid, but they still need to 
pay the rent, put food on the table, and they still need to make 
payments on their car loans and student loans.
  Almost 50,000 residents of New Mexico's First Congressional District 
depend on SNAP benefits to feed their families. The government shutdown 
means that SNAP benefits are threatened.
  As someone who relied on government assistance programs when I was 
raising my daughter as a single mom, I have been there, and I know that 
it is devastating for these people to worry about how they are going to 
pay for their next meal and take care of their families.
  Our Indian tribes, pueblos, and nations who rely on Federal funding 
for aging services and Indian Health Services for medical care, are 
already being impacted by this shutdown, and the suffering will grow 
greater as the shutdown drags on. If this shutdown continues, 62 
percent of Indian Health Services will be forced to cease offering 
services, and 54 percent will be forced to lay off essential staff. 
This is a recipe for disaster.
  On the Navajo Nation in my State, people have been trapped in their 
homes without food, water, and medicine because the government has 
failed to fund the Federal maintenance to plow snow from the roads.
  The Department of Agriculture's Food Distribution Program on Indian 
reservations runs out of funding at the end of this month. This program 
provides nutrition assistance to nearly 90,000 Native Americans.
  Madam Speaker, I voted to pass legislation through this House that 
Democrats have put forward to reopen the government. What we need now 
is Senator Mitch McConnell and President Trump to show that same kind 
of leadership and act on these bills, which the Senate already passed 
last year, and reopen our government.

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