Letter to Speaker John Boehner - Government Shutdown
Letter
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner:
Americans' confidence in Congress continues to plummet the longer the doors of the United States government are slammed shut. U.S. economic confidence plunged more in the past week than any week since September 15, 2008, the beginning of the financial crisis.
This is a wholly a congressionally-created problem. We can find a solution, if we work quickly and together.
We write to you, as Members from the great State of Texas, to express our grave concern about the government's shutdown and its impact on Texans and their families.
If this shutdown continues for more than ten days, more than 180,000 service members in Texas will see a delay in their pay. Nearly half of the Texas civilian workforce would be sent home without a paycheck, and the rest will get a delayed paycheck -- this alone would affect over 51,000 civilian workers in Texas.
All told, nearly 140,000 federal employees in Texas could be out of work. Texas small businesses could get a delay in their financial support from Small Business Administration loan programs. These items will have a tremendous ripple effect on our local economy.
Across the country, families are depending on us to help them receive paychecks that put food on their table. Our military families deserve the protection and certainty from their government as they have provided to our nation. And, small businesses need their financial capital to operate and create jobs.
There is a bipartisan consensus that a government shutdown sets a horrible precedent and is no way to operate. While we have voted differently on the measures brought for consideration, we can all agree that we should be afforded the opportunity to vote on the Senate-passed, clean Continuing Resolution. We encourage you to bring up this measure for a vote to allow us the opportunity to cast our vote for Texas and Texan families.
Sincerely,
Pete P. Gallego
Member of Congress
23rd Congressional District of Texas
Sheila Jackson Lee
Member of Congress
18th Congressional District of Texas
Henry Cuellar
Member of Congress
28th Congressional District of Texas
Gene Green
Member of Congress
29th Congressional District of Texas
Marc Veasey
Member of Congress
33rd Congressional District of Texas
Beto O'Rouke
Member of Congress
16th Congressional District of Texas
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Member of Congress
30th Congressional District of Texas
Filemon Vela
Member of Congress
34th Congressional District of Texas
Source