On the recordJanuary 17, 2019
On Wednesday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 52, providing for consideration of H.J. Res. 28, the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act of 2019 to fund the government until February 28. The rule provides for consideration of the legislation under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations. Additionally, the rule provides suspension authority through the legislative day of January 25, 2019. Madam Speaker, we are in day 27 of this government shutdown, the longest government shutdown in our Nation's history. Nearly 800,000 Federal employees have now missed a paycheck since the shutdown began. Some estimates say those employees have lost an average of $5,000 each so far. These hardworking Americans are law enforcement officers and National Park Service, EPA, FDA, and IRS employees, and so many others in dedicated Federal service whose families are needlessly suffering. These employees are either furloughed or being forced to work without pay. This is not an acceptable way to govern. I may not have been a Member of this body as long as some people here, but I don't think there is a single Member, Democrat or Republican, who doesn't care about securing our border, but it is foolish to think that keeping our government shut down will in any way help secure the border.…
