SUNRISE, Fla. – Before heading back to Washington to work on a bill that will stop the government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, and representatives of furloughed federal employees met Monday to give updates on the effects.
"Day 24 of the government shutdown. Over the weekend this became the longest government shutdown in American history," the congresswoman said.
Air traffic controllers along with TSA employees at South Florida airports continue to show up to work, trying to put public safety ahead of their lack of pay.
"Single parents that are worried about paying the mortgage, worrying about day care when they have to come to work and how they're going to pay their day care and all the other expenses, of course, that come around with that," Bill Kisseadoo, of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said.
The group met at the congresswoman's office in Sunrise.
Other representatives of the IRS, TSA and airport safety inspectors echoed stories of hardship and that trickle-down effect now affecting the vital services of organizations like Women In Distress, which aids victims of domestic violence.
With the potential of the shutdown lasting several more weeks, the question to Congress is: When can a deal be done to get the government back to work?
"We should follow the legislative process: Send the president a bill. If he vetoes it, put it back on the floor and let's see if we have enough votes to override," Wasserman Schultz said. "They passed the appropriations bill in late December, 100 to nothing, so we know that there is support for keeping the government open and negotiating just on homeland security in the short term so we can solve this problem."