McGovern Joins Nearly 80 Members of Congress in Call for Speaker Boehner to Keep House in Session Every Day to Prevent Shutdown
Washington, DC,
September 18, 2015
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:
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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