Senator Collins Urges All Sides to Come Together to End Government Shutdown
Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ full remarks.
Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ remarks
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Washington, D.C. – In remarks from the Senate floor this afternoon, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) spoke about the urgent need for all sides to come together to end the partial government shutdown. Senator Collins stated that the plan put forward by the President would result in the reopening of government – her priority – noting that “the outlines of a compromise are before us.”
The administration’s proposal would reopen government, allow hundreds of thousands of federal employees to return to work, provide disaster funding to states, invest in border security, provide $800 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of those who are crossing the border, and make changes to our immigration system that include guaranteeing relief for three years for 700,000 young immigrants enrolled in the DACA program.
“Compromise is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength, particularly when hundreds of thousands of families are being harmed,” said Senator Collins from the Senate floor. “The administration and Senate Republicans and Democrats have the opportunity to resolve the stalemate before 800,000 federal workers and their families, dedicated public servants, miss yet another paycheck and our economy is further damaged. Shutdowns harm too many innocent federal employees and their families as well as vulnerable citizens, homeowners, small businesses, and rural communities.”
Senator Collins also discussed her efforts to mitigate the impacts of the ongoing shutdown. In December, she successfully urged the White House to ensure that Coast Guard members received pay for their pre-shutdown work when an anomaly in the pay system put their paychecks at risk.
Last week, the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act was signed into law, legislation Senator Collins authored with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) to guarantee that furloughed federal employees will be paid retroactively as soon as the shutdown ends. In addition, Senators Collins and Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced the Shutdown Fairness Act, legislation to ensure federal workers that are deemed “excepted” and required to come to work each day are paid on time.
Senator Collins’ full remarks can be read HERE.
