Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me say to my friend that she is absolutely right. We have heard from a lot of contractors who employ individuals, from large contractors such as Lockheed to smaller companies that employ 30, 40, 50 people. The range is around 20 to 25 percent of their workforce has been laid off. There is no assurance whatsoever they will ever get paid. There are some contractors who don't know whether they are going to survive; it is that serious. So the private sector direct employment loss as a result of the shutdown is growing every day, and it is having an incredible impact throughout the country in every State. The Senator mentioned Maryland, which I have the honor of representing along with Senator Mikulski. Ten percent of our workforce works directly for the Federal Government. The overwhelming majority of them have been put on furlough. We have estimated the number to be in excess of 125,000 in our State of Maryland. Add the private contractors who are laying off workers as a result of the shutdown. Last week I stopped by a restaurant right off the Baltimore Beltway to get a sandwich. I know the owner. I asked him how things were going. He said: Terrible. He said: About half of my customers are not here because they are Federal employees that would normally come in during the workday and are not coming in. The margins are very small for these businesses to be able to remain open.…”