Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Melissa Otava for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

Melissa Otava is a student at Standley Lake High School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Melissa Otava is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Melissa Otava for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Claire Pfaff for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

Claire Pfaff is a student at Standley Lake High School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Claire Pfaff is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Claire Pfaff for winning the Arvada Wheat

Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Analena Shaw for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

Analena Shaw is a student at Arvada West High School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Analena Shaw is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Analena Shaw for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Isaac Hinojos Venegas for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

Isaac Hinojos Venegas is a student at Wheat Ridge High School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Isaac Hinojos Venegas is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Isaac Hinojos Venegas for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of his future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Command Warrant Officer Five Sefer Steve Imeraj on his retirement.

CW5 Sefer Steve Imeraj was the 6th Command Chief Warrant Officer (CCWO) for the Colorado Army National Guard, appointed in November 2014. Steve retired after 36 years of service in the active U.S. Army and the Colorado Army National Guard. He graduated from Colorado State University in Ft. Collins with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in History.

CW5 Sefer Steve Imeraj is a son of Albanian immigrants and enlisted out of Detroit, Michigan into the active US Army in 1982. After serving three years with the 1-29 Field Artillery (Nuclear Surety Cohort) Battalion, he enlisted into the COARNG in 1985 with the 2/157th FA BN in Colorado Springs. In 1988, Steve transferred to HHD Headquarters State Area Command and worked various assignments in the Military Personnel Office until he pinned as an AG Warrant Officer One/HR Tech in February 1992.

Later in his career, CW5 Sefer Steve Imeraj mobilized and deployed to Iraq with the 2/135th GSAB (General Support Aviation Battalion) from March 2006 until September 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his combat deployment, he served as the Assistance S1 and was later detailed as the AV BN Battle Captain for all combat missions for the COARNG 2/135th GSAB. I am grateful for CW5 Imeraj's brief service in my office and to the constituents of the 7th Congressional District, but I am most grateful for his service to our country.

Steve is married to Victoria and is a proud father of five sons, and grandfather of three granddaughters. I want to extend my deepest gratitude and congratulations to Command Warrant Officer Five Sefer Steve Imeraj.

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 131 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 131, providing for the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.J. Res. 31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019.

The rule provides for consideration of the legislation under a conference report rule and provides for 1 hour of debate. The rule also provides for standard recess procedures through Friday, February 22.

Madam Speaker, this legislation has been a long time coming. In December, the Senate passed a clean continuing resolution for the seven appropriation bills which hadn't been completed. The President said at the time he would sign that bill, but then the President changed course and demanded $5.7 billion for his campaign promise of a border wall.

As we now know, this led to the longest government shutdown in United States history: 35 days. This put our country in jeopardy by withholding paychecks for 800,000 Federal employees who are patriots and provide critical services to our country and to all Americans.

Put simply, this was not an issue worth shutting down the Federal Government. That is why I am pleased we are here today to avoid another shutdown and begin to get the agencies affected by the shutdown back on track.

This bill provides appropriations for the seven remaining appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year, including Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, Science; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior and Environment; State and Foreign Operations; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Over the past 6 weeks, we heard testimony from the chairs and ranking members of the Appropriations Committee numerous times as we tried to reopen the government last month.

A constant theme from those hearings, from both Democrats and Republicans, was respect for the appropriators and their ability to negotiate a deal. Today's result is confirmation of that trust we placed in our appropriators.

I want to congratulate all the committee Members and staff for their work over the last few weeks.

The conference report in front of us today is by no means perfect, but it represents a compromise between Democrats and Republicans and between the House and the Senate.

There are many programs well funded by this bill. For instance, the Census Bureau will see an increase of more than $1 billion as they prepare for the 2020 Census, to ensure an accurate count.

NASA, which invests heavily in Colorado and across all of the country, will see a $763 million increase over last year to fully fund NASA's science mission directorates and support human

exploration, from the international space station, to the Moon, and on to Mars by 2033.

This legislation provides $17 billion in funding for new infrastructure investments in roads, bridges, transit, and housing, and the bill blocks attempts by the White House to hamstring the EPA and other agencies from protecting our environment.

Importantly, the bill overrides the President's decision to freeze Federal employee pay this year. Instead, it provides a 1.9 percent pay raise for all Federal employees.

This conference agreement also makes smart investments in border security by investing $755 million in infrastructure and technology at ports of entry, additional funds to hire customs agents, $563 million for immigration judges to reduce the backlog, and humanitarian aid for Central American countries and along our border to those who need the help.

The bill also provides $1.375 billion for border fencing, with restrictions protecting sensitive areas and local involvement, and takes steps to reduce the immigration detention bed levels, for which I am confident the House will provide rigorous oversight.

Madam Speaker, there are a few things missing from this agreement to help us repair the damage from the longest partial government shutdown in United States history.

First, the bill does not provide Federal contractors backpay from the shutdown. Federal contractors often work side by side with other Federal employees and perform jobs important to the country and all Americans. These contractors did nothing wrong and deserve to be made whole, just like the 800,000 Federal employees who missed paychecks. Congress needs to work together and make this right.

Additionally, during this shutdown, my State of Colorado, along with California, Louisiana, Vermont, and Washington, took steps to ensure fairness for excepted Federal employees to make them eligible for unemployment insurance because they were forced to continue working without knowing when they would be paid.

Unemployment benefits are a lifeline for situations just like this where there is nowhere else to go, but, unfortunately, the United States Department of Labor choose to make it more difficult for States to provide these benefits. The Department has said it will not reimburse States for these legitimate costs and has threatened additional penalties, putting earned benefits for other unemployed workers at risk.

I am a cosponsor of legislation produced by Representative Katie Hill from California which would clarify current law and ensure our States are reimbursed as intended by Congress. For reasons I don't quite understand, my friends on the other side of the aisle would not accept this provision. I plan to continue working with Representative Katie Hill and Chairman Richie Neal from the Ways and Means Committee to help States like Colorado.

Additionally, I worked to introduce two pieces of legislation during the shutdown to help Federal employees deal with the effects of the shutdown. First was H.R. 545, the Financial Relief for Feds Act, which was introduced by Representative Pete Olson from Texas and Representative Don Beyer from Virginia and me, and this was to ensure Federal employees who made withdrawals during a shutdown from their Thrift Savings Plan or other retirement accounts weren't penalized for their early withdrawals.

TSP saw a 35 percent increase in hardship withdrawals during the shutdown as Federal employees did anything they could to help pay their bills. I hope our legislation is considered by the House quickly to make these Federal employees whole again.

I also introduced H.R. 781, The Student Loan Relief for Feds Act, with Representative Will Hurd from Texas to allow Federal employees to defer their student loans without penalty during a government shutdown. A typical student loan payment is between $200 and $300 a month, and that is money you don't have if you are not getting a paycheck.

These are examples of legislation we need to pass to fix problems created during the shutdown.

There is one more bill I will be introducing today--I just put it in the hopper--to prevent these shutdowns from ever happening again.

If Congress and the White House have a political disagreement, our Federal employees and the American people shouldn't be the pawns who suffer the consequences of the disagreement. My bill, the No More Shutdowns Act, provides automatic continuing appropriations for any fiscal year when appropriations haven't been enacted.

This means whenever there would be a lapse in the appropriations, funding would continue at previously enacted levels, along with an increase to the account for inflation until Congress passes an appropriation bill. This is common sense and would allow our Federal agencies to continue their work without the start and stop of shutdowns and short-term CRs.

I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in making sure shutdowns do not happen again.

Overall, Madam Speaker, this is a good compromise to fully fund these agencies so we can finish last year's work and allow Congress to move on to other important issues that we were sent here to do, like reducing healthcare costs and repairing infrastructure across the country.

I urge all my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying conference agreement, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. Cole. We had a lot of hearings in the Rules Committee where we heard a lot of appropriations bills and, quite frankly, we knew that if we had some time and the appropriators were able to act, that they would come to an agreement, an agreement that didn't give everybody all that they wanted, but gave them something that they wanted.

I think our trust was appropriate at that time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate Mrs. Lesko's and Mr. Cole's comments. In the bill, there is $400-plus million for VAWA. It isn't as if it has been forgotten. But I hear this, and over the last few years, the Republicans have done nothing but try to defund VAWA.

So I am expecting a bill that was signed by Bill Clinton and was authored by the former chairwoman of the Rules Committee, Louise Slaughter, will be something that Democrats will certainly push forward. After listening to Mr. Cole and Mrs. Lesko, I am sure all of the Republicans will be on board with extending VAWA.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining me here today to speak on the rule and the conference report. Providing funding for the Federal Government is one of our most basic responsibilities here in the Congress. Unfortunately, the Congress in the last session failed to get it done and pass an appropriations package or even a short-term continuing resolution, and that resulted in a 35-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, something I hope we all can avoid from this point forward.

Starting on day one of the new Congress, House Democrats began by working to reopen the government, so we could negotiate the remaining issues on border security and finish last year's work once and for all. Today, we are accomplishing that goal.

I want to close with a thank you to the Appropriations Committee, which worked very hard to get this done. I thank the Rules Committee, where we heard every one of these appropriations bills.

I especially thank the 800,000 Federal employees affected by the shutdown, as well as the other 1.2 million Federal employees across the country. They are patriots. The employees are patriots for the work they do each and every day on behalf of our country and our citizens.

I met with dozens of Federal employees during the shutdown. I heard about the uncertainty of how to pay bills and the mental anguish from being sidelined from work because they were not excepted or essential. Despite all that, I still heard that they were proud of their work of 10, 20, even 25 years in public service and how they just wanted to get back to their jobs.

Madam Speaker, I say to Mr. Cole that I am hopeful, too, that we can come together on these important responsibilities. There are going to be basic disagreements, and hopefully, we can work together to iron out most of those. But shutting down the government is something we have to avoid from this point forward. So I hope the lessons we in Congress learned from the shutdown are not forgotten, and we continue working together to prevent this from happening again.

Madam Speaker, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on the rule and on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud The Seyfer Family for receiving the 2019 West Metro Chamber of Commerce's Steve Burkholder Diamond Legacy Award.

This award is reserved for individuals who achieve the highest level of respect within the their community. Nominees are known as the ``shining stars'' of the current business world and must have had a positive economic impact within the Jefferson County community over the last year. This is true of the one and only Seyfer family--Margie, Christy, Don, TinaMarie and Troy--who have all contributed to their community in unique and substantial ways.

Margie Seyfer has co-chaired the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival and Wheat Ridge Kite Flight Festival as well as spearhead membership and recruitment efforts for the Wheat Ridge Business Association. For the past several years, she has also served as a reading tutor for Jefferson County and Denver Public Schools.

Christy Seyfer has also been an integral part of the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival as their designated photographer and organizing the kid's craft booth. She has also volunteered with the Wheat Ridge Kit Flight Festival, Arvada Center Dance Academy, and the Wheat Ridge High School's Boy's Tennis Team Booster Club, After Prom Committee, and STEM Program. In 2015-2016, she co-created the Wheat Ridge Business Association Christmas Tree Auction and served on the planning committee.

Don Seyfer formed Seyfer Automotive in the spring of 1961 and has been actively involved in leadership for the Automotive Service Association, both state and national chapters, and served as the National Chairman for the ASA. Locally, he served as a board member for Wheat Ridge Local Works (formerly Wheat Ridge 2020) and the Wheat Ridge Business Association.

After twenty years of working for Corporate America, Troy and Tinamarie Seyfer, decided it was time to follow their passion and start Seyfer Specialties, a hot rod specialty business in Wheat Ridge. Tinamarie has been on the Board ofDirectors with the Wheat Ridge Business Association for the last four years and is currently the Vice President. Troy volunteers and/or directs several car shows throughout the year in the community, including the Berkeley Bash and the All Ford Show where money is raised for different charities. In 2014, the couple created the Annual 44th Avenue Rumble which brings together community leaders, car enthusiasts, families, and small business owners in the community as well as raises funds for the Wheat Ridge High School's STEM program.

The Seyfer family has clearly demonstrated an extraordinary ability to influence their community and have used their strong leadership skills to advance community and business success through public service and philanthropy.

I extend my deepest congratulations to The Seyfer Family for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Joyride Brewing Company for receiving the 2019 Medium Business of the Year Award from the West Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Located in Edgewater right across from Sloan's Lake, Joyride Brewing is a small craft brewery focused on producing great quality brews with a fun atmosphere. Along with their majestic views, they have a 10- barrel brewhouse with eight serving tanks and six fermenters. Currently, their taproom holds around 95 people and they have plans to open a rooftop this spring.

When they first opened, their goal was to put the word ``neighbor back in to neighborhoods'' and they have done just that, helping bring together residents and neighbors to share ideas and good beer. This is also demonstrated with their annual anniversary street party.

Another story that embodies their fun-loving spirit is their mascot, Roger. Roger was the first elephant ever used by Barnum and Bailey's Circus. Barnum would keep Roger and the other elephants at Sloan's Lake during the winters while they weren't touring, providing daily entertainment to the surrounding community. To that end, they felt like Roger embodied their motto: ``Life is about enjoying the journey, not always the destination.''

I extend my deepest congratulations to Joyride Brewing Company for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Spay Today, Neuter Now for receiving the 2019 Nonprofit of the Year Award from the West Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Angelina Piccoli brought her vision to help pets and pet owners in need to life and founded Spay Today in 2009. Over the last ten years, the company has grown from two employees to 20, serving over 10,000 pets each year. To date, the company has spayed and neutered more than 65,000 cats, dogs and rabbits and provided low-cost vaccines, microchips and other veterinary care to thousands more.

Under the leadership of our Executive Director, Cassie Tanner, and the Board of Directors, Spay Today purchased a building at the end of 2017 and renovations are nearly complete on the new clinic in the Eiber neighborhood in Lakewood. Their relocation will allow them to expand the safety net for pets in need by adding much needed basic wellness services along with a community outreach program.

Spay Today works with community partners like The Action Center and Colorado Pet Pantry to provide free veterinary care to pet owners struggling financially. In 2016, they launched Healthy Paws, a voucher program which has provided nearly 1,000 free spays and neuters to pets in need.

Thank you to Spay Today, Neuter Now for their commitment to providing high-quality, accessible and affordable spay, neuter and basic veterinary care to our community. I extend my deepest congratulations to Spay Today, Neuter Now for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Food For Thought Catering for receiving the 2019 Small Business of the Year Award from the West Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Forty years ago, Wheat Ridge native Suzanne Smith, and another parent thought the 420 students at the parochial school their children were attending deserved more than a cold sack lunch every day. For six years, the two mothers came to the school once a month to prepare a hot lunch for the students. Several years later, Suzanne was asked if she could prepare food for a rehearsal dinner. Food For Thought Catering was born and today the company caters everything from small intimate dinners for two to events for 250 people as well as breakfast, lunch, dinner, business meetings special events, and afternoon teas. ``Food with thought'' has been their guiding principle and motto ever since.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Food For Thought Catering for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Rocky Mountain Reagents for receiving the 2019 West Metro Chamber of Commerce's Chairman's Award for Minority and Woman-Owned Business of the Year.

Started in 1951 as S & K Reagents, Rocky Mountain Reagents is a small but vital supplier of chemical products to the medical and healthcare community in the Denver Metro area. Phyllis Sordelet purchased the company in 1988 and rebranded it as Rocky Mountain Reagents in 1996. During that time, it went from a basement business to occupying a 20,000 sq. ft. facility and a preeminent supplier of thousands of high- quality and custom chemical products to industry sectors, including aerospace, healthcare, law enforcement, education, industrial laboratories, water treatment, and bioscience.

This, of course, didn't all happen by accident. It happened due to hard work and long hours by Phyllis and her daughter, Elizabeth. They worked tirelessly to cultivate lasting relationships with vendors, customers, and the local business community. They have operated with the principles of integrity, teamwork, and empowerment to become a resource partner and ally in pursuit of each of their clients' unique visions. They continue to grow and thrive and are soon-to-break ground on a 26,000 sq. ft. expansion. Their commitment to offering quality products, exceptional customer service, and community-building philanthropy has already made a different and will continue to be felt in the years to come.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Rocky Mountain Reagents for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Village at Belmar for receiving the 2019 Large Business of the Year Award from the West Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Village at Belmar is a locally owned and operated community designed to provide an unparalleled lifestyle experience for seniors. Our innovative Village, with more than 300 residents, was conceived and inspired by Phil

Shapiro, Tom Finley, and Susie Reimer. With more than sixty years of combined senior living development, marketing, management, and ownership experience, the three of them co-founded Ascent Living Communities based in Denver.

Their philosophy is ``meaningful connections'' which is demonstrated through their dedication to maintaining a presence at the community through engagement with the associates, residents, and their families. Village at Belmar is a thriving community and is always seeking ways to continually improve in order to provide an elevated quality of life for those they serve in the greater Lakewood and Jefferson County area.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Village at Belmar for this well-deserved recognition.

Madam Speaker, here we are in the fifth week of this shutdown.

I want to talk about two stories.

One is Tyler. He is a resident of Golden, Colorado. I have known his family a long time. He has two small children. He says: Two weeks ago, I received a certificate from the United States of America thanking me for working for the air traffic controllers for 10 years. The same day, I got a check for zero dollars.

Then I want to talk about a young woman who works for the EPA. She has two children with disabilities. She is a patriot. She has a chemistry degree. She could work in a million different places. She wanted to work for us, for the United States of America, to serve the public, to give back to the United States. But now she has to question, with two young kids with disabilities, whether she can do this anymore. She expected us to be reliable as employers, and we are not.

We are better than this, Mr. President. Open up the government.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Maine. This subject is so serious and so infuriating because it is absurd.

We have shut down our government--we are the only country in the world that does something like this--inflictin harm on our employees, on Americans, and on America.

I see we have the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger) in the Chamber. She talked about national security being placed at risk. The fact that we have done this to ourselves is really difficult, and I would say to the President, Madam Speaker, that it is time to reopen this government.

We have offered 11 versions of how to reopen the government. But I want to talk about some stories, because the psychological effect that the gentlewoman from Maine talked about really has an impact on these employees.

I want to talk about a young man who works for the National Park Service. He is in the natural resource technical division, so what he does is he goes to the national parks and deals with faults and different kinds of geological problems that may exist. They work throughout the year, but particularly at the time when their parks are not very crowded. This is something that is very important.

He has worked for the Park Service for 19 years, and then, all of a sudden, he believes that nobody saw this coming, and he is furloughed, with young children.

And he described it as this:

I don't know when we are going to get back to normal.

Everything is on hold. It just sucks. The mental side is

crushing. I am sad; I am angry; I am demoralized. And this

sitting around, just twiddling your thumbs, hoping that the

greatest Nation on Earth opens back up for business, eats

away at my soul.

He has a brother-in-law who works for the Border Patrol. He is an EMT and a field agent with four children. He is a first responder not getting paid.

And this gentleman, we ask him to provide border security, and he is not getting paid, and he is under the pressure of having a young family that needs these paychecks and needs stability and reliability.

We had folks from Fish and Wildlife that came in and talked to us, they deal with aquatic and invasive species, like the zebra mussel, which really can gum up water systems throughout the country.

There was a big conference between Canada and the western United States that got canceled when, in fact, we should be making sure these rivers and our waterways are in good shape. They are getting affected.

There are so many things. We talk about the front-facing individuals that talk to the public, the TSA, the FBI, those individuals, but we have so many other employees who provide service to each and every one of us that are either working without pay or have been furloughed without any end in sight.

This is no way to run a nation. We know that. The absurdity of all of this is really taking hold, and it is time for us to open this government. This can be resolved quickly, Mr. President. Let's just get this government open, and then let's sit down and negotiate all of this.

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about Tom, who is a 32- year Federal employee and works as an agricultural statistician. He calculates how many cattle are in the western United States and how many acres of hay and crop that we have.

This is his fourth government shutdown. He loves his job and his work. He loves serving our country. But he feels like these political games have become an insult, and he is tired of being used as a pawn.

I have many more stories, but I see that the gentleman from Maryland is ready to go and I yield back to the gentlewoman from Maine so that she can yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McGovern for yielding time to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule and the four underlying bills to help fully reopen the United States of America. Here we are, 19 days into the Trump shutdown, and all we see is political posturing from the White House and the Republican-controlled Senate, which has failed to take any steps to reopen the government.

The President has made Federal employees political pawns to try and get his way. He has put America and the hardworking men and women who work for her in jeopardy.

Last week, I joined a bipartisan majority of the House in supporting two bills to fully reopen the government. Unfortunately, the Senate has failed to take up those bills. They would immediately reopen the government and put 800,000 people back to work.

I know that the gentleman from Oklahoma said we have plenty of time. Those were his words just now. We don't have plenty of time. We need to get people back to work.

I want to share some stories from my district. Denver Federal Center is in the middle of my district, and it has the highest concentration of Federal agencies anywhere in the country outside of the D.C. area.

More than 15,000 of these and other Federal workers in Colorado have either been furloughed or forced to continue working without knowing whether they will be paid or not.

One of these employees is Sherry who works for the EPA. Sherry is furloughed and doesn't know when she will get back to work or if she will be paid when the EPA reopens. Sherry has two sons with disabilities who rely on counseling and treatment not covered by her insurance. She is being forced to make decisions about how to continue their treatment, pay for groceries, and keep up with her family's other expenses.

Or take Shannon, who is a supervisor for the TSA. Shannon is still on the job but doesn't know when she and her coworkers are going to get paid for work. Shannon told my office: If the shutdown lasts through this month, it will be nearly impossible for her family to make rent. They barely made January payments and still have outstanding utility and credit card bills.

I also met with Matt this morning who is an air traffic controller in Denver. He and his coworkers have stayed on the job keeping our skies and the traveling public safe, but will not receive paychecks on Friday.

One more story is from Gabe who lives in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, where I live. Gabe is a student who called my office concerned he won't be able to start classes at the University of Colorado because his registration with the Selective Service System cannot be processed until the government reopens.

These are just a few examples of why we need to fully reopen the government. I urge my friend from Oklahoma to work with Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Pelosi, and Mr. McGovern to come up with solutions to this, to get these people back to work as soon as possible,

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule, and ``yes'' on the underlying legislation.