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Impact of the Shutdown

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 10, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations Agriculture and Food

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on the impact of the shutdown on Pennsylvania's Sixth District.

My office has heard from small businesses that can't pull permits, veterans receiving food assistance who worry, and Federal workers about paying their bills.

Agriculture is a vital part of the economy of my district, and the shutdown is having an impact there already as well. The last Congress passed a bipartisan farm bill, but the shutdown has prevented its implementation. The USDA farm loan program, a program providing millions of dollars to the Pennsylvania farmworkers, is no longer in effect.

My district is the mushroom capital of the world, and, yesterday, I heard from the mushroom growers that the lack of EPA inspections of drainage ditches and other water runoff is impacting the development of mushroom houses and the expansion of their businesses.

We cannot afford 1 day more, 1 week more, or 1 month more of this shutdown. We cannot ignore the impact it is having on so many Americans, including farmers, ranchers, and growers in Pennsylvania's Sixth.

The House has passed legislation to open our government, and I urge the Senate to do the people's work and to pass the bill as well.

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