[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15880]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN'S HUMAN CONSEQUENCES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Bustos) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BUSTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to again speak about the human 
consequences of this reckless and irrational government shutdown. We 
have now reached day 15 of this foolishness.
  Each day, I spend time speaking with people from my congressional 
district who are suffering through this through no fault of their own. 
Dorothy Lara, from Rockford, Illinois, shared the story of her family's 
history and their truly deep connection and commitment to this country. 
Dating back to the early 1600s, her family has literally given their 
blood, sweat, and tears for America's freedom and democracy.
  Nine generations ago, her family helped build the Mayflower, and not 
only that, they then helped coordinate its voyage. Her family's 
ancestors have served in nearly every war in this country--in the 
Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, both World Wars--and 
just recently, she welcomed home her son from Iraq.
  Dorothy said it better than I ever could myself. She said--and these 
are her exact words--``All of my forefathers would be ashamed of what 
has been going on in this country today.'' She went on to say, ``What 
happened to a government by the people, for the people?'' and then 
said, ``What I want to see is what my forebearers have fought for: 
equality, job creation, honor, and respect. They are owed that much.''
  We have the votes right now--right here--to reopen our government. We 
can end this madness and go back to governing our country the way we 
should be governing our country. Dorothy's family and so many other 
families throughout our country are, indeed, owed that much.

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