Mike Gallagher: “Distrust in government is at an all-time high, and it is easy to see why. Our Federal debt is approaching $20 trillion.…”

“Distrust in government is at an all-time high, and it is easy to see why. Our Federal debt is approaching $20 trillion. A child born today in this country will inherit a crushing burden of debt, part of an intergenerational crime without consequence. Meanwhile, the middle class is being hollowed out, if not disappearing entirely. We have a 7-million-man strong army that simply opted out of the labor force entirely. Finally, our foreign policy is in crisis. Threats continue to rise abroad as, here at home, we continue to wreak havoc on our own military through mindless defense sequester. By the way, our veterans still aren't getting the care that they deserve. This is unacceptable. Despite the fact that Congress, by any metric we might devise, is not doing its basic job, in 10 days the Members of this body will adjourn on a 2-week vacation. And in 10 legislative days, if we don't make some hard choices, the government may shut down, cutting off our constituents from access to programs they depend upon for their livelihood. So my message is simple. My plea to this body is simple. Let's end the vacation. In what other job would you grant yourself a 2-week vacation if you failed to do that fundamental job? I know we need to go back home. I know people want to hear from their constituents. But more than anything else, our constituents sent us here to do our job, to work together to fix problems rather than punting them down the road to the next generation.…”