Chris Van Hollen: “I thank my friend and partner from Maryland for all of his work in ending the shutdown. I thank him, as well as our…”

“I thank my friend and partner from Maryland for all of his work in ending the shutdown. I thank him, as well as our friend from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, for bringing us together in a bipartisan way to find a solution to end this shutdown as soon as possible. That is why I support the bipartisan amendment that will be filed this afternoon to open the government for 3 weeks. I should stress that this is not my preferred solution. I would like to take up the bill that is at the desk that would open eight of the nine Federal Departments right away and give us time to deal with the Department of Homeland Security. Yet the proposal before us is our best option at this point in time for resolving this shutdown. What will 3 weeks accomplish? It is a fair question. First of all, it will allow Federal Government employees--all of them--to get back to work for the American people and help resume vital services. No. 2, it will make sure that all of them get paid--those who are working without pay and those who have been locked out. That is important because all of us know that tomorrow marks the second full pay period of when they will get big fat zeros on their paychecks even as their bills keep coming through the door. It will do something else that is very important.…”