Kendrick Meek: “On February 6 I introduced a bipartisan bill to prevent another shutdown if there should be another lapse in…”

“On February 6 I introduced a bipartisan bill to prevent another shutdown if there should be another lapse in appropriations. H.R. 2963, the Keep the Government Open Act of 1996, amends the Anti-Deficiency Act to permit Federal employees to continue to work and to be paid during a lapse in appropriations, if the President determines that a sufficient appropriation is likely to be made before the end of the fiscal year. The recent shutdown of the Federal Government wasted one billion taxpayer dollars. We ended up paying 285,000 Federal employees who were ordered not to work for 3 weeks. This shutdown also imposed a serious financial hardship on many of the 476,000 Federal workers who were not paid during this period even though they were ordered to work. The shutdown of the Federal Government hurt many private firms, both those that normally sell to Federal employees and those that have Federal contracts. They were unable to recoup the business they lost during the shutdown. I urge all my colleagues to support this insurance against another failure to enact funding bills.”