Alan Lowenthal: “I am greatly saddened by what has taken place the past few days with the closure of the government. We are participating…”

“I am greatly saddened by what has taken place the past few days with the closure of the government. We are participating in a downward spiral that has no end in sight. And we've lost the ability to relate to ordinary Americans. It's important to talk about how our actions, our inactions here in Washington affect the very people that we represent. I want to talk to you today about two people who have been impacted tremendously by the actions of this House to close down government. Let me begin with one of my constituents, who is an FAA safety inspector who has been furloughed. He has been furloughed, as I mentioned, from his job as a Federal Aviation Administration aviation inspector because we have not been able to keep the government open. He reached out to me, and I have here his letter. He reached out to me and asked that I share his concerns with all Members of Congress and with the public at large. He made it clear to me that he was not here to talk about or to ask me to minimize the hardship that is going on in his family. Instead, he wrote that he wanted to express his concerns that the aviation inspectors will not be on the job to ensure the safety of U.S. travelers. My constituent, a retired Army officer, veteran, wanted me to specifically talk about four safety functions that are now not being performed by FAA inspectors under this government shutdown.…”