Barbara Kennelly: “on day 20 of the longest Government shutdown in history, once again yesterday the Republican majority refused to open…”

“on day 20 of the longest Government shutdown in history, once again yesterday the Republican majority refused to open the Government. This is a cruel, unnecessary hardship. There is not a businessowner in this country who would demand that his or her employees cease working and forgo their paychecks indefinitely. There is not a private employee in this country who would be expected to tolerate such treatment. Yet our Federal workers are forced to accept idleness or to work without pay. Meanwhile, taxpayers are also paying an unfair price. Who is eliminating health and safety violations while OSHA is closed? Who is making sure laid-off workers are going to get the compensation they paid into? Who is looking out for the integrity of worker pension plans? In a word--nobody. But everybody--every taxpayer--will be footing the bill for this fiasco. Every day of shutdown costs approximately $50 million. Talk about Government waste. This situation is wrong. I urge my colleagues, pass legislation to open the Government.”