[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN'S IMPACT ON CENTRAL VIRGINIANS

  (Ms. SPANBERGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SPANBERGER. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to share another story of 
how this reckless shutdown is hurting real people in real communities, 
including in central Virginia.
  Chesterfield, Virginia, resident Donna Ingram has worked for the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury for 15 years. She is a mother of two, and 
because of the shutdown, she is worried about her ability to make ends 
meet. Earlier this month, Donna's pay stub showed the word 
``furloughed,'' and her paycheck showed the number zero.
  Donna is currently in the middle of medical treatment, but because of 
the shutdown's financial harm, she has been forced to discontinue her 
treatment. Donna said her livelihood is at stake and that she could 
lose everything she has worked so hard for over the past 15 years.
  Donna said that Federal employees like her want to work; they want to 
serve our government and our communities; and they want to continue 
their service.
  Yet this is how we treat our public servants here in the United 
States? Are they bargaining chips?
  I will continue to push for an immediate end to the shutdown, because 
I do not think they should ever be used as bargaining chips. There are 
hundreds of thousands of hardworking Federal employees like Donna who 
are depending on us, their elected officials, to do our jobs, to open 
this government, and to restore the function of our government.

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