[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 5 (Thursday, January 10, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               END THE CHARADE AND REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. NEGUSE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the son of refugees, and the 
first Eritrean American to be elected to the House of Representatives.
  My father, who immigrated to this country 35 years ago, sat in this 
same Chamber up there in the gallery only a week ago to watch his son 
be sworn into the people's House.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a simple, solemn, and serious request: 
that this administration stop its demonization of immigrants and reopen 
the government.
  The administration has manufactured a crisis based on fear and is now 
holding our government effectively hostage, blatantly causing harm to 
the economic security of American families across the Nation.
  Bruce, a constituent in my district, had to close down his small 
business in Estes Park as a result of the shutdown. As Rocky Mountain 
National Park remains closed, small businesses have continued to 
struggle under this burden.
  Countless workers in my district--Federal lab workers, national park 
employees, national firefighters, weather forecasters, and many 
others--have been furloughed or are working without pay, and $700 
million in national parks' revenue in Colorado has been threatened.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough.
  Mr. President, end the charade and reopen the government now.

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