Patsy T. Mink: “I do not think that there are really any Members of this House of Representatives today that can feel very proud about…”

“I do not think that there are really any Members of this House of Representatives today that can feel very proud about having shut down the Government and causing all the pain and suffering, the many thousands of workers whose families were not able to have a Christmas or a New Year's celebration, and as they sit at home today, have no idea what the Congress is about to do with respect to their jobs. They want to go back to work. For those individuals who are working and who have been designated as essential workers, they are not being paid because their agencies have not been funded and their funds have already run out. The suffering among the workers is tremendous. I was home for a brief few days during our Christmas recess and heard from many workers. The tragedy is that this is all absolutely unnecessary. The majority party wanted to make a point in November, and the point was that they were determined that the 7-year balanced budget was their priority and they were going to hang on to it no matter what. Even if it was necessary to close down the Government, they were determined to force the President to negotiate. Those negotiations have taken place. They have not yet yielded the results that the majority party wants, but in point of fact these meetings have occurred. There is absolutely no reason to tie together the annual appropriations, which the Constitution says is the absolute requirement of this Congress to do, to tie it together to a 7-year plan.”