U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee responds to end of shutdown

HOUSTON (FOX 26) — Shortly after President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. announced the partial government shut down is over, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee conducted a news conference in Houston. She gathered at the Mickey Leland Federal Building with very excited government workers.

Flanked by federal employees, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee points out that the government shutdown ended without a deal to pay for a wall as President Trump has been fighting for. Jackson Lee also promised the government workers that everyone, including the President, agrees they will get their back pay sooner rather than later.  

Congresswoman Jackson Lee says she will not agree to building a wall. Instead, she wants the border monitored and strengthened by using drones, state-of-the-art technology and extra personnel. The federal workers standing with her say they feel a great deal of relief that the longest government shutdown in history is now a thing of the past, but they also say there should not be an option for this to ever happen again.

"One man, even if he is the President, should not have the power to shut down this government,” says Ginny Stogner McDavid, president of the Harris County AFL-CIO.   

"What kind of nation are we when people are not valued?," adds Congresswoman Jackson Lee. "So, I join with Ginny saying we should no longer hold our federal workers hostage. I expect to go back to Washington as a newly-appointed member of the Budget Committee to address how we deal with continuing to pay our workers.”

"Even if it's three weeks, justice has prevailed and we will get our pay,” says Bridget Broussard-Guidry, a financial management specialist at NASA where she has worked for 36 years.

"I'm just so happy the shutdown is over," explains federal employee Steve Sanders. "We still have a lot of work to do but we're on the right path.”

"When we come together and we fight we can win," says Hany Khalil, executive director of the Texas Gulf Coast Labor Federation. "That's the lesson we all need to take away.”

“When it is time to vote, please do not have selective amnesia," adds Cynthia Cole, a city worker supporting federal employees. "Know there are certain people who put us in this position. We don't want to be here again."

This shutdown does come with a potential expiration date. Remember, if a permanent deal isn’t reached, the federal government could be shut down again in three weeks on Feb. 15, 2019. The workers who gathered say they literally cannot afford for that to happen.