[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SHUTDOWN EFFECTS IN EL PASO

  (Mr. O'ROURKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Speaker, the government shutdown continues to harm 
the communities I represent and the more than 43,000 Federal employees 
in El Paso who dedicated their careers to public service.
  The Federal district court in El Paso is one of the busiest in the 
country. It handles a large volume of immigration and drug cases, among 
many others. I recently heard from Maureen Franco, a Federal public 
defender, regarding the shutdown's impact in El Paso.
  In the U.S. Attorneys Office there, the prosecutors and public 
defenders are working, but not getting paid. In addition, their staffs 
have been furloughed. The result: prosecutors brought only 35 cases on 
Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, only nine people were brought into 
court. When our government works, the average is 55 a day.
  The same number of people are being arrested, but the shutdown means 
we are not prosecuting them in a timely manner. It is likely that these 
individuals are remaining in detention at taxpayer expense, costing us 
more than if the government were open. Justice is not being served, nor 
are the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to end the shutdown. Please allow an up-or-
down vote. It will pass this House on a bipartisan basis. It will be 
signed into law by the President. We can reopen the government today.

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