On the recordJanuary 10, 2019
I support this legislation because it is past time to move beyond the political game of chicken and reopen these critical government agencies. This Republican-passed Senate bill is not perfect. While it maintains current funding for the HOPWA program, it does not include the full $393 million that I led many of my colleagues in requesting last Congress. The House fiscal year 2019 bill reflected that funding level, and I deeply appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in achieving that goal. But I support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it for one simple reason: We must get these programs funded and operating again. People are suffering. They are working without pay or furloughed with no idea if they will ever get back to work. They are watching critical services and benefits slowly disappear, and it will only get worse as this absurd and unnecessary shutdown drags on. The House will pass this bill today, and I call on my Republican colleagues here and in the Senate to get people back to work, to get our government open again, and to put aside this political game of blackmail by the President in which he says the government will remain shut if we don't give him his $5 billion downpayment on a $25 billion wall. That is a judgment for Congress, not to be subject to blackmail by the President holding the American people hostage. I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and let's get our government open again.
