Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today signed onto a letter urging Speaker John Boehner (OH-08) to keep the House of Representatives in session until a deal is reached to avert a government shutdown.

“The American people expect Congress to be working on smart solutions to spur job growth and build an economy that works for everyone. That means crafting a budget that makes job-creating investments, encourages innovation, expands economic opportunity and responsibly reduces our deficit,” DelBene said. “Lurching toward another government shutdown will hurt working families, small businesses and our economy. With only seven legislative days remaining before funds run out, I urge Speaker Boehner to keep us in session until we reach a deal.”

The full letter, led by Reps. Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Linda Sánchez (CA-46), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Judy Chu (CA-27), G.K. Butterfield, Raúl Grijalva (NC-01), Jared Polis (CO-02) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) follows:

Dear Speaker Boehner,

We write you today to express our deep concern regarding the looming government shutdown which will occur on October 1st should Congress fail to reach a bipartisan consensus to fund the government.

As of right now, there are just seven legislative days scheduled before the end of the month. The American people deserve to know that their elected representatives are working around the clock to avoid another self-inflicted Washington wound on our national and local economies.

As the Speaker of the House, you have the power to change the legislative calendar. We strongly urge you to keep the House of Representatives in session every day from now until we reach a deal.

We already know the impact that a shutdown will have on our economy because it happened just two years ago. According to Standard & Poors, the 16 day government shutdown of 2013 cost the U.S. economy $24 billion and reduced 4th quarter GDP growth by 0.6%. We simply cannot allow this failure to happen again.

As Representatives, each of us has an obligation to the American people—the working families, seniors, veterans and others we have the privilege of serving. Now is the time to reject partisan gridlock and work together toward a common sense solution for the American people.

With the clock ticking, we can't afford to waste a moment. As Speaker, you have the power to keep Congress in session. We urge you to exercise that authority before it's too late.

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