[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 16, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E53-E54]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONSTITUENTS AFFECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KATHY CASTOR

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 16, 2019

  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, the House will vote again today 
to immediately reopen the U.S. government and end President Trump's 
government shutdown. It is unwananted and wrong to force our Coast 
Guard, our Customs and Border, TSA officers, air traffic controllers 
and others to work without getting paid. I have heard from many Tampa 
area government public servants, contractors and their family members 
who have shared with me how the shutdown is affecting them.
  One of my Tampa neighbors who runs a small business in her retirement 
years to help support her son with mental disabilities advised me that 
``[As a] tax preparer--I cannot get responses from the IRS that affect 
[my] clients.''

[[Page E54]]

  Another neighbor who hoped to retire by years end is also running out 
of hope says, ``We are told there is no more funding after January 18 
for the courts, and our colleagues in the U.S. Attorney's office failed 
to be paid [today], although they stay on the job prosecuting 
criminals.''
  Another wrote to me after learning about what his own customers are 
going through: ``I was touched by [the story of] a young woman who I 
gave an estimate to. She is engaged to a young man who works for the 
Federal Bureau of Prisons. As she explained it, he is required to work 
without being paid, as they try to begin their lives together.''
  Another neighbor is not a government employee, but is still affected 
by the shutdown: ``My wife and I are in the process of starting a new 
business and are dependent on an SBA loan,'' he wrote me. ``We've spent 
months looking for a location in this very tight commercial real estate 
market and finally found one. We don't want to lose the opportunity to 
secure the location, start our new business and begin hiring employees 
just because the president makes demands that our representative 
legislature and our voters do not agree with.''
  Still another: ``I am extremely upset about this government shutdown. 
I am a private contractor working on a government contract. I have been 
unemployed for weeks because of this. I can't pay my bills.''
  Our TSA officers, Customs officers and air traffic controllers at 
Tampa International Airport are outstanding. TSA Officer Luis Mendoza 
advised me that ``I've been with TSA for 12 years. I have experienced 
previous shutdowns and close calls, but I really feel that this one is 
going to be a tough one to get through. The officers in Tampa are 
trying to hang in there because as they shared, `We do believe in the 
Oath we took to protect the flying public and guard against threats.' 
But many are trying to figure out how to pay for gas, child care 
services, and groceries before rent, bills and medical care.''
  I also spoke with Admiral Karl Schultz who leads the Coast Guard this 
morning regarding our shared deep concern that our frontline Coast 
Guard service members are not being paid. In fact, one Coast Guard 
mother wrote me, ``I have a son in the Coast Guard in Tampa, Florida 
that due to the government shut down will not be paid . . . I first 
hand know how this affects an individual and it take(s) several if not 
a life time to recover from this. These people should not have to 
suffer for others just trying to make a vote.''
  I urge the White House and GOP Senators to take up the bills to 
reopen America's government along with the detailed plan we have 
negotiated for modern border security--and do it today.
  Otherwise there will be more headlines like the one on the front page 
of my hometown newspaper that says ``Federal workers' new need: food 
assistance''. Thanks to Tampa International Airport, Feeding Tampa Bay, 
United Way Suncoast, USAA, the Crisis Center and others who are 
supporting our neighbors caught in Pres. Trump's government shutdown, 
but this is no substitute for the government of the United States of 
America to function and provide the services all of our constituents 
need, for public servants to get paid and to fulfill the oath to 
protect and defend America.

                          ____________________