On the recordJanuary 16, 2019
Madam Speaker, this is day 26 of the reckless Trump shutdown. Coast Guard officers and their families are suffering; Border Patrol agents and their families are suffering; TSA agents and their families are suffering because the President has decided to hold 800,000 Federal employees and the American people hostage. We are prepared to have a conversation about infrastructure on the border, prepared to have a conversation about personnel, and prepared to have a conversation about technology. We are prepared to have a conversation about border security in a comprehensive way; prepared to have a conversation about our broken immigration system and how we fix it in a bipartisan fashion. But, Madam Speaker, we are not prepared to have a conversation about these issues in the midst of a reckless shutdown where the President has decided to hold the American people hostage and try to force us to pay a $5 billion-plus ransom note. Madam Speaker, it is time for the adults in the room to get their act together and reopen the government so we can continue the business of the American people. ____________________





