Continuing Appropriations

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today in order to talk about the impact of the current government shutdown on Hawaii's Federal workers.

Here in Washington, we debate in what most people consider abstractions. We use terms such as ``ObamaCare,'' ``filibuster,'' and ``discretionary spending.'' We talk about government programs and initiatives in the aggregate and in the abstract. Hardly a day goes by that we do not hear about some program costing in the millions and billions. While we use these terms and concepts when debating the nuts and bolts of government policy, what we need to always keep in mind is that these dollars and these terms impact real people, real lives.

The work of the Senate is to debate and to deliberate with the goal of finding consensus solutions to the challenges our Nation faces. The core of what we do is about people, families, and communities. When we get away from thinking this way, when we focus on the abstractions and the slogans and who is winning the day's media war, it becomes easy to forget what we are all here for. When we forget that, we find ourselves unable to move forward and find consensus. We lose focus on the people, families, and communities that sent us here.

Public service is a privilege. It is also a responsibility. When we stand for election or enter public service in some other way, we are committing to put ourselves in the back, behind the people for whom we work and serve.

So today, as we mark another day of a government shutdown, I would like to share some stories with my colleagues, stories about people and families affected by the shutdown.

I have received letters like my colleague from Minnesota has received letters from her constituents, from people of all ages, serving in different capacities and at different Federal Government agencies, and even some who are just embarking on a path to public service. These are all people dedicated to their work and dedicated to their country. The damage we are doing by not getting these folks back on the job is serious and impacts our national security, our economy, and a host of necessary services upon which the people of our country depend.

This shutdown and the debate around it is undermining a commitment to public service for many people. It is damaging the effectiveness of our institutions, and it is unnecessarily putting many families in Hawaii and across the Nation in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

One furloughed man who wrote to me expressed these views clearly. He said:

As a U.S. Air Force civilian, I am a furloughed employee. Hawaii has nearly the highest percentage of federal workers. This has a huge impact on the Aloha state. Unlike the recent sequester, one can't scale back when nothing is coming in.

Some lower-grade workers may lose their homes and with it their sense of pride for choosing to work for the govt. That's the reality of this shutdown.

He went on:

By Oct 9, we'll have lost more than the recent sequester cuts. Many have not overcome that and now we're summarily discharged. And the debt ceiling debate is next? I work in an office of 10 or so. Half active duty, half civilian. We provide the continuity needed year in and year out to manage instrument procedures at all our bases in the Pacific Air Forces. .....

He goes on:

Are we ``non-essential'' employees? I respectfully ask Speaker Boehner to ask them. I'm upset that a few politicians are holding my country, my community, and yes, my family hostage for political brinksmanship. ..... I stand with you, Leader Reid and the ``responsible'' Republicans in the U.S. House that want to get our nation moving again.

Another constituent wrote to me about the impact of the shutdown on her family. She said:

As the wife of an ``essential personnel'' government employee, I would like to tell you that the shutdown is devastating. We are parents of three children, one of whom is special needs and requires expensive measures daily to survive. Without a paycheck, we will be unable to pay our bills, buy food, support our children. Many, many middle class federal employee families are in the same boat. Savings will not support us indefinitely.

My husband is, right now as we speak, at work doing his duty, protecting the American public against foodborne illness and contamination. Yet he is doing it with no pay. We are devastated. Please please tell our story. Tell the Republicans who have not crossed the aisle to please be reasonable and fund the government. They can argue later. Children are paying the price for the shutdown.

As of right now, at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, three of our Nation's nuclear submarines are in drydock. Work on them stopped due to the shutdown. One of the shipyard workers wrote this to me:

Mazie, I am an employee of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. The shutdown has left my co-workers and myself with a sense of trepidation, insecurity and angst. Most of the hard working dedicated and patriotic federal civilian employees I work with live paycheck to paycheck due to the high cost of living in our islands. I have fears of not being able to pay my mortgage on time in November.

But more importantly Mazie, the operational readiness of our Pacific Fleet is in jeopardy because we aren't able to keep our ships ``Fit To Fight'' if we can't go to work, repair them and meet schedule deadlines for returning them to operational status. Our workload already is stretching our resources and demanding we perform more with less. How can we recover a day, a week, a month or more sitting at home when so much is at stake? The long term consequences of this shutdown has ripple effects that are not one for one but a much longer period when moving a large industrial workforce back into a rhythm of productivity and efficiency. Please continue to work with your colleagues in Congress and convince them to end this shutdown sooner rather than later.

This letter is an example of the selflessness of so many workers. While he is concerned about himself and his colleagues, his greater concern is for the impact this shutdown will have on our Nation's security.

I have also received letters from people just starting out in life and in public service. For example, one young woman wrote me:

I am in jeopardy of losing my AmeriCorps VISTA placement, which would prevent me from developing essential workplace skills, and an education stipend that would lighten the load of my student loan debt.

Another shared this:

My husband and I are closing on our first condo today, Tuesday, October 2nd and are now faced with the challenge of my husband not receiving a paycheck during the shutdown. He is a government employee who is expected to work during the shutdown without a payday in sight. I am extremely nervous now about paying our mortgage and other essential bills when I should be excited about our first home purchase. I know eventually this will be straightened out but at what cost to us? We are both in our early 30's trying to make a life together and like many obstacles, this is another setback. I hope this comes to an end quickly.

These are people just starting to make their way in the world. They are working hard and doing all the right things. Yet, through no fault of their own, they are facing uncertainty and are likely questioning whether they have chosen the right path.

The last letter I would like to share today--and I will be sharing more in the coming days about other areas of Hawaii's economy that have been impacted--is one that I hope my colleagues will think about as we go forward. This couple wrote:

My spouse and I are both federal employees, with a combined public service commitment of over 50 years. We have seen and lived through many congressional sessions and many more shenanigans, but neither of us can recall a time when the truculence of a few has caused so much hurt in the lives of so many. I am ``essential;'' my husband is not. We will get by.

Others are not so lucky. Our administrative assistants, for example, both of whom are barely hanging on, trying to feed their kids on the same pay they received three years ago while the costs of health insurance, transportation, and housing have continued to rise, are now not being paid at all.

Our daughter, for example, over $200,000 in student loan debt, who tends to our veterans as a physician in a VA hospital, still had to come up with her rent on Tuesday and still has to pay for healthy food and quality daycare so that she can go to work, but not get paid.

These people devoted their careers to serving the public, helping people, and making our country a better place.

I ask my colleagues to think: How long will this couple's daughter or the administrative assistants they mention in their letter continue to hang on and stay in public service? If our political system cannot function, our institutions and the people who work in them and rely on their services suffer.

One of the most damaging legacies of this shutdown could be the crisis of confidence it will create among the American people toward their own government. That would be devastating.

I am not arguing that government should be the answer to all of our problems, provide all of our services, but the services it does provide should be worthy of the people, families, and communities we are providing them for. Having a dedicated Federal workforce is central to that goal, and our job as Senators is to give that workforce confidence that their work is valued, that they are valued, that their contributions are worthwhile. This shutdown fails miserably in all of those respects.

We have the privilege of serving in the Senate. Let's do our job for the people all across our country who, like all these people who wrote to me and who wrote to all my other colleagues, expect nothing less of us.

Let's reopen the government. Speaker Boehner, let the House vote on the bill that the Senate sent to you. Let's get back to working on what we can do better to serve the people, families and communities that gave us the privilege to be here.

I yield the floor.

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