Rich Neal: “I thank Mr. Quigley for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of H.R. 264. This bill appropriates…”

“I thank Mr. Quigley for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of H.R. 264. This bill appropriates desperately needed funds for the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service. As the shutdown persists, the financial and emotional drain on employees and taxpayers continues. There are tens of thousands of furloughed Treasury employees who want to work and proudly would do so, but they cannot. They also cannot pay bills, cannot afford medical care, and, like us, cannot understand any of this. Every day that passes and every minute the shutdown continues it is too long and too costly. Reopen the government and begin to negotiate. I spoke to the Treasury Secretary yesterday, along with the IRS Commissioner as well, regarding the impact of the partial shutdown on the IRS and the tax-filing season. I was informed that the IRS will release its contingency plan for the tax-filing season in the next few hours, or, certainly, within the next day and issuing refunds in coming days, apparently, an effort will be made to reach that goal, but it will also require a significant number of IRS employees to return to work without pay. These developments are no substitute for fully funding the government and reopening the agency. Reminder: The average refund is just under $3,000. That helps out a lot of middle-class individuals who will use it to pay down Christmas debt, perhaps. They depend upon that as part of regular cash flow. Mr.…”