Congresswoman Johnson’s Statement on the Government Shutdown

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson today released the following statement regarding the partial shutdown of the United States government:

“President Trump’s forced government shutdown is a disservice to the hard-working professionals in the Federal government and to the American people. As Ranking Member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, I want to point out that our federal science agencies have a long history of working hard on research and education programs that return huge payoffs to the American people. Those agencies are basically closed for business today. As I’ve noted in previous shutdowns, as our competitors in other countries surge ahead in their R&D investments, we have basically shut down a large chunk of our federal science and technology enterprise. Shutting down the government is an embarrassment and the President should not be ‘proud’ of it.

“It is important to consider that President Trump was presented with a bipartisan agreement to keep the government open and to keep paying the country’s 800,000 federal employees while we come to terms on a full budget. Instead, President Trump chose to demand $5 billion for an unattainable and irresponsible border wall over the American people. This decision by the president, and the decision by the Republican leadership of the House to follow his lead, will leave the nation’s federal employees – including almost 33,000 in Texas alone – without pay during the holiday season. The harm this shutdown will cause rests squarely with the President and his party.

“This will not stop me and every member of the Democratic Party in Washington from continuing to work to keep the government funded. It is up to the president and House Republicans, however, to accept the terms the Senate has agreed to and that my Democratic colleagues in the House support.”

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