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Health & Fitness

Congresswoman Duckworth Urges House Leadership to End Government Shutdown

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-08), joined by 200 of her colleagues, sent a letter to Speaker Boehner demanding a vote on a clean budget to end the shutdown and open the entire federal government immediately.

“We’ve now entered our second week of this senseless shutdown,” said Congresswoman Duckworth. “Our government needs to be reopened so Americans can receive the services they need and thousands of hard-working federal employees can get back to work. House Leadership must end the shutdown today.” 

“They have instead dragged out this unnecessary government closure by voting on incomplete piecemeal legislation that would cut $6 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It would fund Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), but not cover children receiving food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). A piecemeal approach will pay troops’ salaries but not fund their families’ and retirees’ Tricare prescription medications.” 

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“The government would be reopened if the Senate-passed Continuing Resolution is allowed on the floor for a vote. Current counts show that numerous Republicans have expressed their willingness to vote for a clean Continuing Resolution, along with the 195 voting Democrats. Let's embrace this bipartisan effort and end the shutdown.”

The text of the letter is below:

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The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.  20515

Dear Speaker Boehner,

Enough is enough.

Today marks the fifth day that the federal government has been shutdown.  Please consider how deeply unfair this is to the citizens we represent.

The solution to this crisis is a simple piece of legislation that funds the government at levels that have already passed both chambers of Congress.

At this point, to attach defunding or delaying the Affordable Care Act to legislation needed to re-open the government is to put our economy at risk in order to advance a political agenda.

We demand a vote on a clean continuing resolution immediately so that government functioning can resume and Americans can move on with their lives. 

The games have to stop.

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