[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 15 (Thursday, January 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H1194-H1195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SHUTDOWN STORIES

  (Ms. LEE of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise to echo the pain and 
suffering experienced by Federal workers and their families in my 
district during this reckless McConnell-Trump shutdown and also the 
important work that they do as public employees.
  One is a constituent who is a proud African American TSA agent out of 
the Oakland airport, who has been working without pay for more than a 
month. He must pay to get to work, though, buy his own lunch and gas, 
but has no paycheck coming in. He can't borrow from his family because 
eight of his relatives also work for the Federal Government.
  His story resonates with so many African Americans who work for the 
Federal Government. But now with this shutdown, the Black community has 
been deeply affected, like everyone else.
  While African Americans account for 12 percent of the population, 18 
percent

[[Page H1195]]

of the Federal workforce is African American. This is, of course, due 
to discrimination against African Americans in the private sector. The 
Federal Government has provided good-paying jobs and a path into the 
middle class.
  My grandfather worked for the Postal Service. He was a letter 
carrier. My mother worked for Social Security.
  Another constituent has been furloughed from the Food and Drug 
Administration. He told me that he and his husband both rely on their 
incomes to afford rent on their one-bedroom apartment.
  I urge President Trump and Senator McConnell to stop playing games 
with people's lives. Let's reopen the government and get workers the 
paychecks that they deserve.

                          ____________________