I just want to discuss one Minnesotan who has been affected by this. Her family, Kathleen, she works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Minneapolis, currently furloughed.
This is Kathleen and her daughter. She says, my situation is becoming desperate. I accepted my position with the federal government only a few months ago because it is a fantastic way for me to better myself and my career. I am passionate about public service, and have enjoyed my job very much since I started.
While accepting this position improved my situation, I have lived paycheck to paycheck for a very long time. This has not changed unfortunately. I am a single mother and a homeowner. And while I am college educated and hold a Bachelor's degree, I have struggled to get where I am now. It has never been easy, and unfortunately this has only made life more difficult. My funds are exhausted. At this point in time, I don’t have the money to pay for my mortgage or for childcare for my daughter. The money I will receive for unemployment insurance will not cover everything I need it to.
Unfortunately this has put me in an untenable situation. Do I risk losing my home or do I risk having my daughter lose her daycare and be unable to work when I am recalled? She could maybe lose the daycare because she is at home but she will not have the daycare when she goes back to work when she can.
These are the choices I am facing right now. This may be a story you have heard before, but I felt it needs to be shared until it is heard by the right ears. This is this woman's words, the right ears. I am at a lost as to what else to do and I am terrified for what it means for my daughter and myself.
Kathleen is doing everything she can do to provide for her daughter. She recently starred picking up shifts with Instacart, the grocery delivery service, to makes ends meets. If this drags on, in her words, she is at a loss as to how she and her daughter will get by. In my state, there are 6,100 other federal workers with these stories. They are not being paid and each of these workers has a face and a name. It is time to end the shutdown and reopen the government.
I yield the floor, Mr. President.