[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 15 (Thursday, January 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Murray, 
        Mr. Jones, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Van 
        Hollen, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Carper, Ms. Warren, Ms. Duckworth, 
        Mr. Coons, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Warner, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Menendez, 
        Mr. Brown, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Booker, Mr. Durbin, 
        Ms. Smith, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
        Portman, Mr. Udall, Mr. Manchin, and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 204. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to waive 
certain penalties for affected Federal employees receiving a 
distribution from the Thrift Savings Plan during a lapse in 
appropriations, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today is day 34 of the longest shutdown of 
government in United States history. We must end this shutdown. We must 
reopen government right away. Today, I want to talk about legislation 
that would provide some assistance to the Federal workers who are 
suffering from this unnecessary shutdown, the Emergency Relief for 
Federal Workers Act of 2019.
  Tomorrow, 800,000 Federal workers who work hard and just want to 
serve their Nation will not receive a paycheck. They have not received 
a paycheck since December 28th, 2018. However, more than 400,000 hold 
positions so essential to our Nation that they must go to work 
regardless of their pay status.
  Thus shutdown hurts these workers. I have talked about the personal 
stories of Virginians who serve our Nation in the Coast Guard, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, and the Forest Service. This shutdown 
means families that have jobs cannot pay their mortgages or rent. They 
cannot buy food to feed their families. They cannot afford to refill 
prescriptions critical to the health of their children. This shutdown 
threatens Federal workers with financial ruin. Again, we must reopen 
the government immediately.
  We have passed legislation to provide retroactive pay to these 
workers when the shutdown ends, but we do not know when that will 
happen. So today, I am pleased to be joined by my colleagues to 
introduce the Emergency Relief for Federal Workers Act. This 
legislation would allow federal employees who are in desperate 
financial straits directly because of this shutdown to borrow from what 
is, for many, their largest financial asset, their retirement account.
  This legislation would allow Federal workers in the Thrift Savings 
Plan to access their savings without immediate penalty to meet the 
financial hardships caused by the government shutdown. It would allow 
them to pay for basic necessities during the shutdown and allow them to 
replenish their savings after the shutdown ends.
  I do not know how much longer 800,000 families will have to wait to 
be made whole after this manufactured crisis. And I do not advocate 
irresponsibly borrowing from retirement savings. But I believe we must 
act to help the people who make our federal government function in this 
time of need they are in through no fault of their own.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Thank you, Mr. 
President.
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