Today, Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02) joined 78 of his fellow Members of Congress in a letter to Speaker John Boehner urging him to keep the House in session every day until a deal is reached to prevent another government shutdown.
With just six legislative days scheduled before the government closes its doors at 12:01 am on October 1st, the letter led by Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) calls on the Speaker to use his power to keep Congress working every day, including over the next two weekends, until there's an agreement.
“American families expect real leadership from their representatives in Congress. Instead, they are seeing House Republicans bring us closer to the brink of yet another costly government shutdown,” Congressman McGovern said. “We’ve seen this movie before. The last time House Republicans shut down the government, it cost our economy $24 billion and 120,000 private sector jobs. We are standing with families across the country to say enough is enough. Speaker Boehner, it’s time to put an end to these theatrics and get down to the business of finding the bipartisan solutions we need to keep our economy growing and help all of our families succeed.”
The last time Republicans shut down the government for 16 days, it had real consequences for families across the country:
- The Republican shutdown stalled veterans’ disability claims – creating additional, needless delays for our heroes seeking help;
- Hundreds of critically sick Americans were prevented from enrolling in National Institutes of Health Clinical trials – with 98 percent of the National Science Foundation, nearly three-quarters of NIH, and two-thirds of CDC employees furloughed;
- Head Start grantees serving thousands of children were forced to close;
- American entrepreneurs and small businesses were cut off from millions of dollars in SBA loans – and small businesses with government contracts faced abrupt payment delays and cutbacks;
- Almost $4 billion in tax refunds were delayed.
As of right now, Congress has more recess days scheduled than working days before a potential shutdown.
Below is the text of the Letter to Speaker Boehner:
Dear Speaker Boehner,
We write you today to express our deep concern regarding the looming government shutdown which will occur on October 1st should Congress fail to reach a bipartisan consensus to fund the government.
As of right now, there are just six legislative days scheduled before the end of the month. The American people deserve to know that their elected representatives are working around the clock to avoid another self-inflicted Washington wound on our national and local economies.
As the Speaker of the House, you have the power to change the legislative calendar. We strongly urge you to keep the House of Representatives in session every day from now until we reach a deal.
We already know the impact that a shutdown will have on our economy because it happened just two years ago. According to Standard & Poors, the 16 day government shutdown of 2013 cost the U.S. economy $24 billion and reduced 4th quarter GDP growth by 0.6%. We simply cannot allow this failure to happen again.
As Representatives, each of us has an obligation to the American people—the working families, seniors, veterans and others we have the privilege of serving. Now is the time to reject partisan gridlock and work together toward a common sense solution for the American people.
With the clock ticking, we can't afford to waste a moment. As Speaker, you have the power to keep Congress in session. We urge you to exercise that authority before it's too late.
Respectfully,
James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Cheri Bustos
Member of Congress
Linda Sánchez
Member of Congress
Derek Kilmer
Member of Congress
Judy Chu
Member of Congress
G.K. Butterfield
Member of Congress
Raúl M. Grijalva
Member of Congress
Jared Polis
Member of Congress
Jan Schakowsky
Member of Congress
Jim Cooper
Member of Congress
Ruben Gallego
Member of Congress
Joyce Beatty
Member of Congress
Brad Ashford
Member of Congress
Tammy Duckworth
Member of Congress
Sanford Bishop
Member of Congress
Gwen Graham
Member of Congress
Jim Costa
Member of Congress
Filemon Vela
Member of Congress
Kyrsten Sinema
Member of Congress
Suzan DelBene
Member of Congress
Bill Foster
Member of Congress
Juan Vargas
Member of Congress
Mike Quigley
Member of Congress
Mark Takai
Member of Congress
Debbie Dingell
Member of Congress
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress
John Delaney
Member of Congress
Paul D. Tonko
Member of Congress
Julia Brownley
Member of Congress
Scott Peters
Member of Congress
Rick Nolan
Member of Congress
Matthew Cartwright
Member of Congress
Kathleen M. Rice
Member of Congress
David Cicilline
Member of Congress
Tulsi Gabbard
Member of Congress
Dave Loebsack
Member of Congress
Ami Bera
Member of Congress
Katherine Clark
Member of Congress
Ann Kirkpatrick
Member of Congress
Alma Adams
Member of Congress
Sean Patrick Maloney
Member of Congress
Jared Huffman
Member of Congress
Mike Honda
Member of Congress
Dan Kildee
Member of Congress
Grace Napolitano
Member of Congress
Mark DeSaulnier
Member of Congress
Barbara Lee
Member of Congress
Sander Levin
Member of Congress
Steve Israel
Member of Congress
Elijah Cummings
Member of Congress
Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress
Mark Pocan
Member of Congress
Tim Walz
Member of Congress
Elizabeth Esty
Member of Congress
Jim Himes
Member of Congress
Grace Meng
Member of Congress
John Garamendi
Member of Congress
Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress
Emanuel Cleaver
Member of Congress
Brad Sherman
Member of Congress
Ed Perlmutter
Member of Congress
Bobby Rush
Member of Congress
Robin Kelly
Member of Congress
Luis Gutiérrez
Member of Congress
Ann Kuster
Member of Congress
Lois Frankel
Member of Congress
Joseph Kennedy
Member of Congress
André Carson
Member of Congress
Donna Edwards
Member of Congress
Patrick Murphy
Member of Congress
Peter Welch
Member of Congress
Marcia Fudge
Member of Congress
Karen Bass
Member of Congress
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Member of Congress
Corrine Brown
Member of Congress
Charles Rangel
Member of Congress
Dina Titus
Member of Congress
Jackie Speier
Member of Congress
Lloyd Doggett
Member of Congress
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