Sheila Jackson Lee: “Today reflects two interesting commemorations. First, it is the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who lost…”

“Today reflects two interesting commemorations. First, it is the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who lost his life in a fight for justice for public employees. I wonder what he would say on this day while we are in the longest shutdown that is really against the Nation's proud and needed Federal employees across the Nation. I think it is important for my colleagues to reflect that 80 percent of those impacted who work for the Federal Government are outside of the Capital of the United States. The second commemoration is a founder's day for Alpha Kappa Alpha. That is the group of young women who organized in a segregated America at Howard University to stand for service to the Nation. They were African American young women. As I have said, in a segregated Nation, in the midst of Jim Crow-ism, these women stood up to be servants of change and good business. As I mention this, I do it because of where we are today. It is important to note the tragic impact that we cannot see that are not the headlines of Federal employees, their families, but even those who are not Federal employees impacted by the lack of service, such as a disabled woman who may not get her payments from HUD and may be evicted from housing that she desperately needs. So why are we here?…”