Following President Trump's announcement today that he will reopen the federal government without demanding a taxpayer-funded border wall, Congressman Paul D. Tonko expressed thanks to workers and relief for all those affected.
"I am relieved for the thousands of federal workers and their families who have been used as pawns by President Trump for the past month as we endured the longest government shutdown in U.S. history," said Tonko. "I want to thank them for their faith, their resilience and their enduring service during this crisis. We have already passed legislation guaranteeing back pay for these dedicated workers. The pain they suffered during this Trump shutdown was unnecessary, self-inflicted and could have been over a month ago if the President had done then what he is doing now.
"Democrats and Republicans have worked together on border security year after year, helping the U.S. reach its lowest levels of illegal immigration in a decade last year," Tonko continued. "While my colleagues and I remain strongly opposed to spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a medieval border wall, I am confident that we can find bipartisan agreement based on more effective border security investments including new technology. In the meantime, I hope those responsible have learned a valuable lesson from the mistakes of this failed shutdown and never choose to hold our federal workers and their families hostage again."