[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               STOP HOLDING OUR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HOSTAGE

  (Ms. BROWNLEY of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. BROWNLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, today, I want to share the 
story of one of my constituents. Her name is Trisha.
  In December of 2017, Trisha and her family lost their home and all of 
their belongings in the devastating Thomas fire. Since then, the family 
has been working hard to rebuild their home and their lives while 
supporting their two young children.
  Now, because of the Trump shutdown, Trisha and her husband, who both 
work as air traffic controllers, have gone weeks without paychecks, 
facing very extreme hardship.
  President Trump is holding them and 800,000 other Federal employees 
hostage, making an already stressful time even worse.
  I welcome an honest, bipartisan discussion on border security, but we 
cannot have a full and transparent legislative process while the 
American people are being held hostage. It is time to open up our 
government now.

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