Government Shutdown

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the irresponsible government shutdown that is hurting people not only in my district, but throughout California and our Nation. There is no good reason for our government to be shut down.

As national leaders, one of the most important responsibilities as Members of Congress is, in fact, to pass a budget every year on time and always to keep government open. But since 2010, we have seen a phenomena take place where groups on both sides think, well, there can be justification to shut down government for an agenda, usually politically motivated, and put all of our other responsibilities aside.

Over half the Members of Congress have been here less than 6 years.

I say this government shutdown, any government shutdown, is irresponsible. We are supposed to have a budget for our country, like every family has a budget and every business has a budget.

When the government shuts down, people suffer, families suffer, veterans suffer, all Americans suffer. Approximately 800,000 Federal employees are currently furloughed or working without pay across the country.

Last Friday, in my home State of California, over 37,000 Federal employees did not receive their paychecks. That is irresponsible.

Yesterday was payday for the United States Coast Guard. Protecting our seas throughout our Nation is a vital part of America's national security. They got a paycheck with a printed ``0'' on it for their wage.

Our national parks are operating without full staff or guides. We have had, already, Americans die as a result of the shutdown, one in Yosemite close to my district.

The government shutdown is putting Americans in danger in other ways as well. By shutting down the government, the President is making border security--supposedly the reason for all of this--more difficult and has stopped paying key law enforcement personnel, including Customs and Border Protection officers, Federal prosecutors, immigration judges, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and members, as I said earlier, of the Coast Guard.

This is a manufactured crisis in order to pursue a political agenda. It is just not right. It is not the way our government is supposed to function.

Within the United States, Homeland Security investigation agents who investigate human trafficking, drug smuggling, and transnational criminal gangs are working without pay. Does that make any sense? I thought this was supposed to be about national security. We ought to be paying these folks.

The Department of Justice has stopped processing discretionary grants that support State and local law enforcement, which is critical, I can tell you, in California, where we have many of these challenges. I have been listening to the people back home. That is our job. We are supposed to listen.

For 25 days now, the shutdown has been hurting the people of San Joaquin Valley. Middle-class families are suffering. We have IRS officers and large numbers of Federal employees in my district who are working or not working, and they are not receiving paychecks.

Many of these individuals have shared that they don't even know how they are going to be able to feed their children or pay their mortgage or their car payment, because the majority of families live--what?-- from paycheck-to-paycheck. In fact, a group of Federal employees in my district is at the point of needing to take out loans and trying to find other jobs--which makes no sense--to keep themselves and their families afloat.

And the pain radiates, broadly affecting our local economies. Small businesses in downtown Fresno, Madera, Merced, and many other communities throughout my district are being impacted, along with the Federal officers who are involved in the United States Department of Agriculture and the ability to operate their offices.

And there are those who contract with the government who are looking at not receiving paychecks. It is affecting our Nation's economy. And there is clear proof of that.

Mr. Speaker, this harm must stop. Let me say it again. There is no good reason for a government shutdown. We have our differences, to be sure, and we ought to be negotiating those differences on border security and other matters.

On December 18, the Senate passed a bipartisan agreement, unanimously, to keep the government open that was acceptable to both Chambers and the President, and it did not include funding for a border wall. The next day, the President changed his mind.

This shutdown is not about securing our border, but it is about consistently providing funding to improve our border security, and we can do that. We should do that.

I urge my colleagues to get to work. The American people expect better.

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