VIDEO: Kaine Shares Stories from Virginians Concerned About Government Shutdown

VIDEO OF FLOOR SPEECH AVAILABLE HERE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine delivered a speech on the Senate floor to highlight the devastating impacts a government shutdown would have on Virginians. He shared stories he received from Virginians in Orange, Norfolk, Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg, Glen Allen, Williamsburg, Centreville, Virginia Beach, and Falls Church about how a shutdown would impact their families. Kaine has received more than 600 letters from Virginians who are worried about the consequences of a government shutdown.

“I’m a senator from Virginia. Some of the hardest effects of shutdown will be seen in my state, and they’re already started. Even before we get to midnight on Saturday, September 30, my office has been flooded with more than 600 constituent comments expressing their concerns about government shutdown,” said Kaine. “This affects every zip code—every last crossroads in this country—and it affects hundreds of thousands of Americans who are living abroad, serving this nation in other countries, whether they be serving in the military or in a civilian capacity.”

“The President and the Speaker came to a bipartisan, bicameral agreement. It was voted positively in the House. It was voted positively here. The only reason we’re here is that a small but loud minority of House GOP members who didn’t like the deal that was reached—who voted against it—are now trying to use the leverage of shutting down the government of the greatest nation on Earth to try to get their way,” Kaine continued.

Below are some of the stories that Kaine shared of Virginians who wrote about what a government shutdown would mean for them, their families, and their communities:

• April from Orange wrote: “My husband is a member of the Army Reserves and is preparing for a deployment to Africa next year. His training has been delayed due to funding with the close of the fiscal year, and a shutdown will certainly delay this training again.”
• Jennifer from Norfolk wrote: “My husband is a USMC veteran who utilizes VA services… A government shutdown places an undue financial and emotional burden on our family.”
• Kelsey from Harrisonburg wrote: “My parents, along with two friends, are on a 7-week post-retirement camping trip to visit National Parks. Their closure would significantly impact their trip.”
• Katie from Fredericksburg, whose husband is a civilian DOD employee, wrote: “I work directly with families through the Head Start program in Stafford County. A shutdown to include so many important social services will be devastating to so many families I see and serve every day.”
• Mary, who is a Virginia resident living overseas with her husband who works in the Foreign Service, wrote, “It’s a huge problem for my family to go without pay for an unknown period of time. I have a son with a chronic illness whose medications are very expensive. This could impact our ability to purchase his needed medications. As a foreign service family, we spend every day representing our nation and making sacrifices on behalf of our nation. We hope that Congress will do the same and work hard to resolve this issue before the deadline later this week.”
• Lauren from Glen Allen wrote: “My family and I purchased plane tickets to visit Utah about 6 months ago. Our entire itinerary is to visit National Parks… and it is heartbreaking to realize now that on the cusp of our trip (we leave September 30), we may not get to visit the locations and hike the trails that we have been looking forward to for months now. It may seem like a trivial matter to you, but we saved money for over a year and managed our own household budget in order to afford this trip. Now Congress is on the verge of ruining it.”
• Amber from Williamsburg wrote: “We recently PCSd, and a shutdown could not only cost us my husband’s paycheck, but it would also delay the reimbursement from our personally procured move. We could face missing payments on the card we used to pay for our move and my husband’s student loan, taken out so he could pursue a degree he needed for promotion. Not to mention that he will continue to work, doing the job of many more that will be furloughed until a resolution is agreed upon. We are a family that has served this country for generations, and we are still serving, but I am hesitant to encourage my son that dreams of enlisting to pursue a career for a country that is so quick to ignore the needs of its military families.”
• Cheryl from Centreville wrote: “My husband's business will be affected, as he has several government contracts. He will be required by law to pay his employees, whether he receives government funding or not. I also have several friends who will be required to keep working without pay, just as they did last time—and the time before that. They have families to feed.”
• Tracy from Virginia Beach wrote: “My family… has experienced government shutdowns previously. My husband has been a federal employee since 2005. It always creates stress and worry and having to figure out how to pay basic expenses while he has to work without pay.”
• Lori from Falls Church wrote: “As an active duty military family whose income depends on a government job, a shutdown will have a real and lasting impact on our family. The government shutdown affects our ability to pay our mortgage, pay for groceries, medical expenses… the struggle is real for our family. We have had some extra medical expenses from an illness my son has that Tricare won’t cover… This is just too much pressure on active duty families.”

Kaine has been outspoken about the use of government shutdowns as a negotiating tactic. In an effort to end this brinksmanship, he introduced his End Shutdowns Act, legislation to prevent government shutdowns. During the 2018-2019 shutdown—which caused about 380,000 furloughs and approximately 420,000 federal employees to keep working without pay—Kaine objected to the Senate going out of session, which resulted in him securing passage of legislation to guarantee back pay for federal employees for that and all future shutdowns. He also recently introduced legislation to change the annual government funding deadline from October 1 to January 1 in an effort to reduce the use of harmful stopgap funding bills and shutdowns.

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