[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 30, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PREVENTING THE NEXT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. HARDER of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HARDER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say I am embarrassed 
by the past month.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  January 30, 2019, on page H1288, the following appeared: (Mr. 
HARDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. HARDER. Mr. 
Speaker, I rise to say I am embarrassed by the past month.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: (Mr. HARDER of 
California asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. HARDER of 
California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say I am embarrassed by the 
pastmonth.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  This is my first week in Congress without our government being shut 
down. I came to Washington to help my community. It is a shame that the 
benchmark for progress so far has been whether or not the government 
has even been open. It is hard to lower the bar from there. We can't 
let this happen again.
  Alongside some of my freshman colleagues, I have cosponsored 
legislation that says, even if the government shuts down, Congress will 
still have the funding to pay our Federal workers.
  And it goes further than that. If Congress fails to make a deal, we 
should withhold pay from Members of Congress, we should stop using 
taxpayer dollars for travel, and we should end bonuses for the 
executive branch.
  In other words, if the government shuts down, the people at fault 
should be held accountable, not the workers. If families in my district 
can't get their paychecks or if farmers can't get their USDA grants, 
then elected officials need to feel the consequences.
  Mr. Speaker, governing from one crisis to the next is an 
embarrassment. I came here to do better. We have a chance to turn it 
around right now.

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