Pelosi Floor Remarks in Support of Bill Guaranteeing Back Pay for Furloughed Federal Employees
Contact: Speaker's Press Office, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of a bill that would ensure back pay for all furloughed federal employees. Below are the Speaker's remarks:
Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Assistant Speaker. I thank Mr. Cummings for bringing this important legislation to the Floor in very expeditious time. The Senate passed it by unanimous consent yesterday, and here we are today, on the day that some of our federal employees will miss their paycheck and Congress is saying and guaranteeing that workers will be paid, not only for this shutdown, but God forbid if we have any future ones, that their pay will be guaranteed.
I support the bill and I'm glad it has strong bipartisan support, as it did in the Senate, and that the President has given the impression that he will sign the bill. It ensures that 800,000 federal employees going without pay because of the senseless shutdown will ultimately get the back pay they deserve.
But it's scarce consolation for these workers who are desperate to make ends meet right now. Their paychecks are going to be late, but they must pay their bills on time and in full.
The impact of a missed paycheck is catastrophic in the lives of these Americans when they can't pay their mortgage, their rent, their utilities bill, their car payments, children's tuition on time, the list goes on. It affects their credit rating and it affects the credit rating of the United States of America.
I'm particularly concerned about the impact it has on our veterans. A large percentage of the federal work force are veterans. They have taken their commitment to public service and the military to public service on the civilian side. We don't do any favors for our friends, our veterans and military families, if we affect their credit rating.
So, today the press reported that workers are desperately taking their – taking to the internet to sell some of their household items and other things sometimes at a very reduced price. For just a couple of dollars just to pay their bills.
This is just not right that we would subject people who work – we say two things: come to work and don't get paid, or shut them out so they can't come to work. And while they are not getting paid, again, thousands of these men and women are expected to show up for work.
Sending these workers their paycheck late is wrong. We keep saying that. It's wrong. But since there is a guarantee that they will be getting paid, I would hope that the commercial banks, the banks in our country would follow the lead of some of the credit unions by giving interest-free loans right now to these families so that they can pay their bills in time and they can be respected for the work they do or anticipated to do.
This shutdown, by the way, is soon to become the longest in history and it's creating chaos in our communities. It fails to meet the – fails to have us, the government, meet the needs of the American people. We're endangering the safety of our food supply, the security of our airlines, the eviction of vulnerable families is affected, the support of our farmers, for their support systems as well as food stamps for the hungry, and tax returns – refunds, tax refunds for the American people. And the ability of the IRS to supply information to taxpayers who want to pay their taxes but need guidance. It's a needless crisis that is inflicting pain on the American people.
Democrats support effective border security. We honor our oath of office to protect and defend, to protect and defend our borders, our country, our people, and our Constitution. We need to look at the facts, according to the DEA, when the President says, ‘Oh, we have to stop the drugs coming into the country.' Well, let's look at the facts: the DEA says that almost all, 90 percent of illicit drugs coming into the country come in through legal ports of entry.
So if that's the President's concern, and it's a legitimate concern that we all share, we need to build the infrastructure, increase the size of infrastructure of the legitimate ports of entry. Those are ports of entry for immigration, for trade, and to stop the unwelcome in terms of drugs, contraband, and weapons coming into our country.
So more infrastructure, improve the roads there to facilitate. We also need – the technology exists – we have all committed that we would pay whatever it is, $400 million or more, for the technology to scan the cars. Scan the cars for the drugs and other contraband. Again, technology is our friend in this, and it is very effective, proven, proven way to protect us from those intrusions.
We can hire more personnel, which we must do. There are thousands of unfilled positions with the Border Patrol. We must have more people to do the job there. Much of what I'm saying here is what the Administration, Department of Homeland Security, asked for. And we said yes in the appropriation bills. And here we're having that fight later.
And we can have more investment in innovation to detect unauthorized crossings. We don't need, what the President first described as a concrete wall, 30 feet high, paid for by Mexico. Cross out all of the above. It's not that. But the fact is: spending money on whatever that is that the President's describing it now as is an opportunity cost for doing what we know will work to secure our border, all of our borders, all of our borders.
There is a humanitarian challenge for us at the border that we have to deal with in a way that is consistent with our values, but also protects our border. What the President is proposing, in fact, he has exacerbated the problem with his cruel policies of taking children out of the arms of their parents, separating families, the list goes on. But to the point of securing the border, in a strong, cost-effective, values-based way, Democrats have made that proposal, the proposals have bipartisan support.
Let me just say just before this bill came up on the Floor, we had the legislation to pass a bill, passed by the Senate to open up the Department of Interior and related agencies there. We have said to the Republicans and to the President: we will accept ideas, good ideas wherever they come from and these ideas came from the United States Senate, controlled by the Republicans, up until this new Congress, within the last month. They controlled – they still do control the Senate. And they put legislation on the Floor of the Senate in a minibus that passed 92-6.
We said, ‘Let's take your language, let's embrace your language, let's pass it on the House, and you once again pass your own language.' They won't take yes for an answer and that might be part of a legitimate debate. But why do you have to shut down government? Do you not have confidence – I say to the President, ‘Don't you have confidence in your own ideas? That you have to shut down government to increase your leverage and then threaten to take extraordinary measures when the answer is very simple: let's open up government, let's have a civilized debate, and let's do so in a way that honors our values as we protect our borders and meet the needs of the American people?'
I urge a yes and I'm glad we're going to come out of this with a bipartisan vote. Again I thank Mr. Cummings for his extraordinary leadership in so many ways, most recently on this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.
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