The Indian American congressman invites Americans affected by the shutdown to reach out to him.
The ongoing partial government shutdown that began last month on Dec 21, has now entered its fourth week. While President Trump continued to blame Democrats for the impasse in a series of tweets he sent out Monday morning, the Democrats blamed Trump for the longest government shutdown in US history.
Indian American US Representative for California’s 7th district Ami Bera said in a statement: “This shutdown is irresponsible and was completely avoidable. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are now working without pay, others have been furloughed, and important agencies like the Department of Homeland Security are being impacted.”
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He added, “We can’t keep governing from crisis to crisis. We must open the government before more people are hurt. That’s why the new House Majority passed bipartisan legislation to reopen our government. This legislation includes funding for border security. The Senate should vote on this legislation immediately.”
He also said: “Keeping the government shutdown over a physical wall is wrong. The President repeatedly promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Experts agree that a wall is ineffective. We need real solutions like comprehensive immigration reform, not political gimmicks. Both parties can agree on border security, but prolonging a government shutdown for political purposes is wrong. It hurts real Americans trying to make ends meet. This is yet another crisis of President Trump’s own doing.”
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Bera is also reaching out to Americans across the country and is asking them to reach out to him if they are impacted by the shutdown and share their stories with him. He also posted on his Twitter telling people to write to him with their stories on how the shutdown may be taking a toll on their lives. The congressman, who has been a US Representative since 2013, has maintained that the shutdown needs to end as soon as possible and has also voted for bipartisan legislation. He also said, “We need to end this irresponsible shutdown immediately, which is why I’ve voted for bipartisan legislation to reopen the government.”
“We need to end this irresponsible shutdown immediately, which is why I’ve voted for bipartisan legislation to reopen the government,” Bera said. “Are you being harmed by the shutdown?”