[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 16, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H667-H671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2019, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on His 90th Birthday
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to take a moment as we honored
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on his
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90th birthday yesterday, and we continue to honor him throughout this
week and next Monday.
During this time, we recognize that we are in a society that is still
riddled with injustices. As Representatives, we have a duty to lift up
those who are marginalized and work to ensure that we continue a path
toward justice for every person. No person should ever feel less than
in the United States of America.
May we remember his legacy and his words and recommit to fighting for
justice and equality. May we also speak out loudly and unapologetically
about the ills of our society and work every single day to stay on the
right side of justice.
Madam Speaker, in regard to the government shutdown, I am very
passionate about making sure that we put a human face to this crisis,
so I rise today, during the 26th day of this reckless government
shutdown.
The real crisis here is the negative human impact. In the homes of
each of the Federal workers across this Nation, nearly a month without
pay. Our Federal workers are having to go to pawn shops to get cash to
live. This is not right.
Yes, there is a crisis for the families in my district who have
corporate polluters today in their backyards that do not have any EPA
inspectors monitoring our air quality.
Yes, there is a crisis for the families who are wondering if their
housing assistance will come next month from HUD.
The shutdown will have a long-lasting negative impact on our lives,
and it must end immediately.
Madam Speaker, I would like to take some time today to share stories
about residents in Michigan who are impacted directly.
Gregory Simpkins, who is president of the American Federation of
Government Employees Local 778, said four of the union's TSA employees
quit last week and three the week before. Right now, TSA employees are
deemed essential and still going to work but are not getting paid.
Ms. Wilson, one of our TSA employees, said the morale is so low she
has never seen anything like it. With personal budgets stretched, she
is afraid they will lose even more workers. One worker said to her that
he can't pay for gas money to get to work, and he is worried and scared
for the future of his family and for his life.
Federal environmental protection workers right now are not at work
protecting us, so when I think of this, I think of Line 5, which is a
very dangerous oil pipeline that threatens the drinking water supply
for Michiganders and our freshwater in the Great Lakes.
We are in trouble, Madam Speaker, because the computers that run that
model for emergency response is shut down during this crisis.
Mark Coryell, president of the American Federation of Government
Employees Local 3907, represents EPA workers who work in the Motor
Vehicle Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He and his
colleagues are furloughed, meaning they are not working right now and
not getting their pay.
For the public, this means they are not working on regulations that
are now lagging because they are not showing up. Their lab certifies
fuel efficiency numbers automakers display when selling cars to ensure
that they protect our air quality and abide by the emission standards.
So, Madam Speaker, this is reckless and irresponsible. It is reckless
that Mitch McConnell's Senate cannot muster up the courage to reopen
the government.
Senator McConnell works for the American people. He has been missing
in action during this crisis. He doesn't work for the President of the
United States; he works for the American people. I ask him to stand up
and do what is right for all of us and for our Nation and to open up
government.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).
Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 26th day of what is
now the longest running government shutdown in history, a shutdown
which is nothing more than a manufactured crisis designed to distract
us from the instability and dysfunction that rules the Trump White
House.
Trump has orchestrated this shutdown because he is looking for
someone else to blame for the ineffectiveness of his administration. He
wants to point to us here in Congress and claim that we are the reason
he is failing to lead this country.
But that blame, Madam Speaker, belongs to Trump--and Trump only. He
singlehandedly forced seven agencies to stop their crucial work, work
that impacts the health and safety of every American.
Soon, millions of people could start to go hungry as the government
runs out of money to fund nutritional assistance through the SNAP
program.
Thousands could face eviction and become homeless as HUD becomes
unable to deliver desperately needed housing assistance.
Federal courts could shut down.
Our aviation system could come to a halt as flights are grounded.
And the list, Madam Speaker, goes on and on.
But even before this shameful shutdown began, the executive branch
agencies were already struggling to operate under Trump's leadership,
or the lack thereof. As of today, there are more than 200 critical
agency positions for which Trump has failed to even put forward a
nominee. That is more than 200 agencies, offices, and programs that are
operating without defined leadership, full staff, or resources.
Consequently, even once we are able to end this debilitating
shutdown, our Federal Government will still be operating at less than
full capacity so long as we have an ineffective, ego-driven President
at the helm.
As Members of Congress, we took an oath to put the people of this
country first, to protect their rights, safety, and well-being. That is
why we, here in the House, voted on day one of this Congress, and
nearly every day since, to reopen this government.
The President took a similar oath, and it is time that he honor it
because, Madam Speaker, the American people deserve better.
The 400,000 furloughed Federal employees deserve better, including
the 6,000 workers in my district, alone, who are currently wondering
how they are going to pay their rent at the first of the month and if
they are able to afford simple necessities like childcare and food.
They deserve better.
{time} 1900
If the President wants to have a real conversation about border
security, we are ready to have it. We can talk about finding a solution
to our broken immigration system and how to adopt policies that extend
humanity and compassion to migrants and refugees.
Every day, families are fleeing violence and untold hardships in
countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These people are
running from situations that are so brutal, that most Americans,
thankfully, could not comprehend, but as a refugee from Somalia, I do.
So I invite the President to engage in a real conversation with
Congress on immigration.
If he wants, we can talk about the $2 million the Guatemalan
Government paid to D.C. lobbyists and how our government is cozying up
to corrupt regimes in that country.
If he is interested, we could also talk about the U.S. funding and
training for Honduras security forces that are involved in serious
human rights violations and how these policies that we support are
forcing people to flee from their homeland.
If he wants to talk, we are ready to talk, but we don't need a
government shutdown to do it.
I join the similar calls made by my colleagues today, and I demand
that the President end his temper tantrum and quest for a racist and
cynical big wall, and I demand that he work with us to reopen the
government before any more damage is done.
Enough is enough. The American people deserve better.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York
(Ms. Ocasio-Cortez).
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, today I rise to tell the story of
one of my constituents, Yahey Obeid.
Mr. Obeid was born in Yemen and came to the United States when he was
8 years old. His childhood dream was to become a pilot, and he knew and
felt that in the United States, all things are possible and his dream
could come true.
[[Page H669]]
Mr. Obeid's dream did come true. He has been a Federal employee for
14 years, has two children, and a mortgage for his home in the Morris
Park neighborhood of the Bronx. He studied hard, got his pilot's
license, and is now an air traffic controller supervisor at John F.
Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
I spoke with Mr. Obeid today over the phone. He and air traffic
controllers like him across the country missed their first paycheck
this past week. He was telling me about how stressful his job is. Every
single day, air traffic controllers have thousands of people's lives in
their hands. With weather changes, flight delays, staffing
complexities, and a myriad of other issues, their days almost never go
exactly to plan. His job is to find solutions, analyze and adapt in
real time to keep people safe in one of the busiest airspaces in the
United States and the world.
It is terrifying to think that almost every single air traffic
controller in the United States is currently distracted at work because
they don't know when their next paycheck is coming.
Federal workers' jobs are stressful enough. The rise in New York
City's cost of living is stressful enough. The fact that Mr. Obeid's
family cannot be reunified due to fears over the Muslim ban is
stressful enough. His several-thousand-dollar-a-month Bronx mortgage is
stressful enough. The anti-immigrant sentiment of this administration
is stressful enough.
The truth of this shutdown is that it is actually not about a wall,
it is not about the border, and it is certainly not about the well-
being of everyday Americans.
The truth is this shutdown is about the erosion of American democracy
and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms.
It is not normal to hold 800,000 workers' paychecks hostage. It is
not normal to shut down the government when we don't get what we want.
It is not normal for public servants to run away and hide from the
public that they serve. And it is certainly not normal to starve the
people we serve for a proposal that is wildly unpopular among the
American people.
Each and every Member of this body has a responsibility to this
Nation and to everyone in the United States of America, whether they
voted for us or not. This President shares in that responsibility as
well, which means he has a responsibility to my constituent, Mr. Obeid.
President Trump has a responsibility to all air traffic controllers,
FDA inspectors, TSA workers, and he has a responsibility to maintain
the basic functioning of the United States Government.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California
(Mr. Levin).
Mr. LEVIN of California. Madam Speaker, on my first day in office, I
joined Democrats and Republicans in voting to reopen the government and
end this senseless and now record shutdown.
And we have passed Republican legislation. Make no mistake: this is
the same legislation that Senate Republicans supported just last month
to fund the Federal Government, but instead of taking that legislation
up for a vote, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have joined
President Trump in what can be best described as a temper tantrum.
As the father of a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, occasionally I know
something about a temper tantrum.
Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have joined President Trump in
holding 800,000 Federal workers hostage over a demand for an
ineffective, wasteful wall, a fifth century technology for a 21st
century problem.
Don't get us wrong. Democrats continue to support strong, smart,
effective border security solutions, including the following:
First, we support new drug, weapons, and contraband scanning
technology at official ports of entry; installing new technology to
eventually scan all commercial and passenger vehicles for illegal drugs
and other contraband at our ports of entry. According to both CBP and
DEA, 90 percent of heroin, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of
methamphetamine, and 80 percent of fentanyl being smuggled into the
U.S. are seized at official ports of entry, not areas between the ports
of entry, where President Trump wants to build his wasteful border
wall.
Second, we support advanced technology to detect unauthorized
crossings; cameras, sensors, and radar to spot moving people and
objects in any weather or time of day that are mounted on towers and
border patrol vehicles and on drones to surveil tough terrain.
Third, we support more customs personnel, filling the more than 3,000
vacancies for customs officers who facilitate trade and travel at our
land, air, and sea ports of entry, inspect commercial and passenger
vehicles for illegal drugs and other contraband, and ensure that
travelers are vetted and screened before entering the United States.
Fourth, we support expanded port of entry infrastructure, building up
our port of entry infrastructure to improve security and better
facilitate trade and travel, ending the long delays for visitors and
commercial shipments that cost our country billions in economic
activity and thousands of jobs.
We support all these measures, and we have for some time, and we will
continue to support these measures, but we will not waste billions of
taxpayer dollars on an ineffective, expensive wall that can be tunneled
under, climbed over, or cut through, a wall that Mexico was supposed to
pay for.
A discussion about border security is no reason for President Trump
to keep government shut down. Perhaps even more importantly, we cannot
and must not allow this President or any President to hold our
government and Federal workers hostage every time we have a
disagreement.
Federal workers in the communities I serve in California are being
directly hurt by this shutdown, just as they are being hurt all across
this country.
I recently heard from a Fish and Wildlife Service employee whose
coworkers don't know how they are going to pay their bills and make
ends meet.
I heard from members of the Coast Guard. And, yes, the Coast Guard is
being impacted by this shutdown, because they are funded through the
Department of Homeland Security. I heard from the Coast Guard.
I heard from air traffic controllers, and they are being forced to
work without pay, and this becomes a security issue.
If this President and Senate Republicans truly cared about security,
they would want to fund the Coast Guard and they would want to fund air
traffic controllers and they would want to fund TSA agents at our
airports.
I have heard from veterans. I have a huge number of veterans in my
district. One-third of the Federal workforce consists of veterans, both
Federal employees and contractors, and they have been negatively
impacted by this.
So, Mr. President, you claim to care about veterans. How can you
allow this to continue to hundreds of thousands of veterans who have
served our country and who are working without pay?
The solution that we Democrats support is simple. Let's reopen the
government, and then we can talk about the best way to secure our
border.
Earlier today, I was honored to join some of my freshmen colleagues
in trying to deliver a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,
simply asking him on behalf of the freshman class to end this shutdown.
We couldn't find him, but we will keep at it.
We have got to get this government back open again. We have got to
get people back to work.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Porter).
Ms. PORTER. Madam Speaker, huge critical elements of our Federal
Government have now been shut down for 26 days. 800,000 blameless
Federal employees have already missed their paychecks, and they don't
know when their next paychecks are coming.
These furloughed workers are in crisis. They are facing impending
loan defaults, utility shutoffs, long-term reductions in their credit
scores, and potentially foreclosure or eviction proceedings. They are
unable to buy necessities for themselves and their families, including
necessary medications like insulin.
About 42,000 of those Federal workers are in my home State of
California, and they are hurting. The costs of housing are a real
challenge for families in my district, California's 45th. Thousands of
Orange County residents
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rely on Federal affordable housing programs to pay the rent each month.
Nationwide, this shutdown has already forced the expiration of over
1,100 rental assistance contracts between the government and private
landlords and developers. These housing units are at risk of being
permanently removed from our affordable housing stock.
In my district, California's 45th, the tenants of 749 homes rely on
the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help pay their
monthly rent. Our local Public Housing Authority distributes those
funds to needy families. As required by law, 75 percent of these funds
help applicants who are low-income.
Orange County's rental costs are the ninth highest in the country,
averaging over $2,000 per month. The cost of living is entirely
unaffordable for many tenants without this Federal housing assistance.
{time} 1915
This past spring, our Federal Reserve found that 40 percent of
Americans--4 in 10 Americans--don't have the cash to pay for an
unexpected $400 expense without selling a belonging or borrowing funds.
American workers cannot withstand the financial shock of going unpaid.
For workers living paycheck to paycheck, this shutdown can easily
spiral into bankruptcy. Even if we provide workers with backpay, which
we have passed legislation to do, it will not make the harms of this
shutdown erased.
The government isn't paying for groceries or utilities or child care.
When the government reopens, it won't be paying the late fees that
these workers have incurred in the meantime. It also won't pay the
interest on new loans taken out by Federal workers to try to make ends
meet until the President chooses to put people over politics.
These families will still have $30 late fees on credit card payments.
They will still have to pay interest on mortgage payments, which can be
hundreds of dollars. They will still have delinquencies on their credit
reports, which can drop their credit scores and stay on their records
for up to 7 years.
That is why I have asked the major financial institutions of this
country to step up and provide relief to Federal workers and their
families who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves in
financial distress. These banks and credit card companies should waive
fees, pause debt payments, and stop eviction and foreclosure
proceedings until weeks after workers receive their pay.
Lenders should also stop reporting negative information to credit
reporting agencies during this difficult time.
Many of our Nation's credit unions are offering zero percent
interest, short-term loans to help furloughed workers.
I have sent letters to all of the Nation's largest lenders and, each
day, have been meeting with representatives of the major banks, urging
them to do more to help those affected by this shutdown. I have been
pleased with some of their responses.
For example, Discover is allowing furloughed workers to use its
existing disaster relief program to cope with the financial shock of
going unpaid. This generous program halts all payments and prevents the
imposition of late fees.
Ally Financial has created a customer assistance program that offers
help to those hurt by the shutdown. Ally is willing to refund
transaction fees, to eliminate bounced check fees, to waive late
charges, and to remove early withdrawal penalties on CDs and other
savings accounts.
Wells Fargo is waiving fees and pausing negative credit reporting,
auto repossessions, and foreclosure proceedings for furloughed workers.
I urge all lenders to contact our office to share what they are doing
proactively to help customers, their customers, who are going unpaid
through no fault of their own.
I will continue to share with my colleagues what banks and lenders
are doing so that they may do outreach to constituents in their
districts who are being affected by the furlough.
The damage the shutdown has caused, and will continue to cause,
doesn't end there. Thousands of IRS employees have been furloughed
because of the shutdown, which has delayed tax refunds and income
verification processing.
Without income verification documents, lenders may not be able to
finance or refinance mortgages or other loans. For families
experiencing recent financial hardship, access to refinancing could be
critical to helping them right themselves.
These delays in tax processing are particularly harmful to low-income
filers, especially those who qualify for the earned income tax credit
and the additional child tax credit. The EITC is one of our
government's largest anti-poverty programs, and millions of taxpayers
rely on tax refunds each year to catch up on bills, to pay off debts,
and to fund items like delayed medical procedures.
Understaffing will make it difficult for the IRS to answer taxpayer
questions this year. This is the first year that taxpayers will be
filing after the Republican tax law was implemented.
As a result of President Trump's tax law, Californians are, for the
first time in our country's history, unable to deduct all of their
State and local taxes. The elimination of this deduction is incredibly
punitive to Californians in my district. At this moment, Californians,
who are about to owe more Federal taxes than they did a year ago, don't
have access to the Federal Government, to the IRS, to help them
navigate this tax morass.
From late January through March 2, 2018, the IRS paid out tax refunds
totaling over $147 billion to 48.5 million households. Californians
submit more tax returns than any other State. For families expecting an
average refund of about $3,000, the shutdown will have very real
consequences.
If that weren't enough, the shutdown has also created an open season
on the American consumer. Consumer protection websites run by agencies,
like the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications
Commission, are closed due to lack of funding.
The FTC maintains the National Do Not Call Registry. Consumers can't
sign up, and telemarketers can't check the updated lists. There is no
one on the beat to enforce robocalling regulations.
The FTC has also shut down its critical website identitytheft.gov. In
normal times, victims of identity theft can use this website to file a
report and get the paperwork that they need to prove to banks and
businesses that someone stole their identity. That website is no longer
operating.
I want to take a minute to speak directly to every American hurt in
any way by the shutdown.
Whether you are a Federal employee or someone who relies for support
on one of those employees, I encourage you to ask for help. The
shutdown is not your fault and you could not have predicted the longest
shutdown in our history. I know how hard it is to ask for help. But do
not let embarrassment prevent you from protecting your credit score and
maintaining your financial well-being.
I have spent the last few days meeting with those representatives
from our Nation's banks. Every bank I have met with has said to please
contact them and ask for help, and do it sooner rather than later. They
will waive your late fees. They will push back your payment deadlines,
whether it is car insurance or your mortgage or credit card or some
other line of credit. If you need something specific, like to delay
foreclosure or have a bounced check fee waived, ask for that thing.
I have cast my vote to end the shutdown multiple times, and it makes
me sick to think about how working families are hurting. I have
dedicated my career to protecting consumers from financial hardship and
from bankruptcy. I am proud to have the opportunity to use that
expertise to help my constituents and unpaid Federal workers across
this country.
Call your lender, call your bank, call your credit card company and
ask for help. And if you need more help, call my office. Until the
President ends this shutdown, it will be my priority in Congress to
help all those who are being hurt by it.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, as you can see, there has been a huge
challenge among the American people across the country. In my district
alone, I have the third poorest congressional district, with ZIP Codes
with the worst air quality in the country.
[[Page H671]]
Many of the workers who are not showing up to work are directly
providing critical services to our residents back home. It is important
for us to see beyond, obviously, the numbers of 800,000 workers. What
were they doing? How were they providing for the American people? How
were they serving our Nation?
We to continue to be very focused on the fact that this is a huge
crisis that needs to be addressed, and we need the leadership of the
Senate to rise and to support the bills, the same ones we sent to them
before our January swearing in. They supported it then. I have no idea
why they haven't been able to pass again the same exact bills they
supported before we became the leaders in the majority in the House.
Madam Speaker, I, again, urge all of the Americans who are directly
impacted by the shutdown to please reach out to us. Seek out help.
As the gentlewoman from California said, we are here to serve you. We
are here to help you in any way that we can.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, today is day 26 of the Trump Shutdown.
Federal workers missed their first paycheck last Friday, and still
there is no end in sight to this cruel and senseless shutdown. It is
truly shameful that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are
so desperate to secure taxpayer funding for an irrational border wall
that they're willing to harm hardworking Americans and jeopardize
national security by shutting down the federal government.
This outrageous shutdown has furloughed 400,000 federal workers, and
it's forcing another 400,000 federal workers to work without pay. Among
those working without pay are 53,000 Transportation Security
Administration employees, more than 24,000 air traffic controllers and
other Federal Aviation Administration employees, 54,000 Customs and
Border Protection agents and customs officers, 42,000 service members
in the United States Coast Guard, 17,000 Bureau of Prisons correctional
officers, 14,000 FBI agents, and 6,000 Forest Service firefighters.
These dedicated public servants go to work every day for the American
people. These hardworking people keep us safe. They should not have to
worry about how they will keep a roof over their heads and feed their
families.
My congressional district is home to Los Angeles/International
Airport (LAX), the sixth busiest airport in the world and the third
busiest in the United States. In 2017, more than 84 million passengers
used LAX. All of these passengers depend upon the TSA's airport
security screeners and the FAA's air traffic controllers to get them to
their destinations safely.
The Trump shutdown doesn't just affect government employees. An
economic study in 2011 reported that operations at LAX generated
294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County with labor income of $13.6 billion
and economic output of more than $39.7 billion. The economic vitality
of Los Angeles County depends upon the safety and security of LAX and
the TSA and FAA employees who work there.
TSA employees are dedicated public servants who risk their lives
every day to keep our nation's airports and travelers safe. On November
1, 2013, a Transportation Security Officer named Gerardo Hernandez was
tragically killed in the line of duty during an active shooter incident
at LAX. He was the first TSA employee to be killed in the line of duty,
and my colleagues and I passed the bipartisan Gerardo Hernandez Airport
Security Act of 2015 in his honor. Our President has forgotten the
critical role these American patriots serve in our national security.
Today, at LAX and airports throughout the country, Transportation
Security Officers like Gerardo Hernandez are working without pay.
The Trump Shutdown is endangering public safety, national security,
and the livelihoods of the people whose job it is to protect us.
Democrats want to end this shutdown now. On Day One, the new
Democratic House of Representatives passed Senate Republican
legislation to end the Trump Shutdown and re-open government. Despite
the Republicans' relentless obstruction, Democrats have continued to
take further action to re-open government, passing individual Senate
Republican appropriations bills to re-open all government agencies.
American families and workers should not be punished because of a
policy disagreement in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump should stop
holding the safety, security, and paychecks of workers in my district,
and throughout the country, hostage. He must re-open the government
immediately.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
____________________