[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10661-10662]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CONTINUING BUDGET IMPASSE IN MINNESOTA

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the 
frustration that I feel at the continuing budget impasse in Minnesota. 
Minnesota faces the biggest budget deficit in its history, and with it 
comes a responsibility to govern and a cautionary tale for this body.
  A government shutdown at any level is not only detrimental to the 
economy and to the success of small businesses, but it's hazardous to 
the progress of our society as educational programs and nonprofit 
organizations are put at risk.
  Like many of the citizens of southern Minnesota who have written me 
about

[[Page 10662]]

this shutdown, I share a concern for the families harmed by this 
shutdown, working parents who receive child care assistance, disabled 
Minnesotans who rely on State services for their better quality of 
life, roads remaining unrepaired and simple things like campgrounds 
being closed where families can't spend time together.
  A gentleman approached me in Stewartville at a Fourth of July parade. 
He asked me if I was working this week. I said yes, I was. And he said 
he wasn't, but he sure wished he was because he was force furloughed.
  When it comes to divided government, we all win when no one political 
party wins. In Minnesota, that means both the Governor and the 
legislature need to compromise. We need to put politics aside to put 
Minnesota first. The same applies to this body.

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