Rep. Gallagher Urges Colleagues in Congress to Cancel Two Week Recess

Washington, D.C. – Today on the House Floor, Rep. Mike Gallagher delivered a speech urging his colleagues to cancel Congress’ two week break in legislative activity until they finish their work on behalf of the American people.  

In his speech Rep. Gallagher asked his colleagues, “In what other job would you grant yourself a two-week vacation if your failed to do that fundamental job? I know we need to go back home…to hear from our constituents. But more than anything else, our constituents sent us here to do our job – to work together, to fix problems rather than punting them down the road to next generation.

Today marks ten legislative days until the government could shut down if the House does not pass another continuing resolution to fund its operations. This would put citizens in Northeast Wisconsin and across the country at risk of temporarily losing access to certain government programs. 

Read the transcript of Rep. Gallagher’s speech below:

“Mr. Speaker, distrust in government is at an all-time high and it is easy to see why. Our federal debt is approaching 20 trillion dollars. A child born today in this country will inherit a crushing burden of debt, part of an inter-generational crime without consequence. Meanwhile the middle class is being hollowed out, if not disappearing, entirely. We have a seven million man strong-army that has simply opted out of the labor force entirely. And finally, our foreign policy is in crisis. Threats continue to rise abroad as here at home we continue to wreak havoc on our own military through mindless defense sequester and, by the way, our veterans still are not getting the care that they deserve.

This is unacceptable. And despite this, despite the fact that Congress by any metric we might devise is not doing its basic job, [will] in ten days… adjourn on a two-week vacation. And in ten legislative days if we don’t make some hard choices the government may shut down, cutting our constituents from access to programs they depend on for their livelihood. 

So, my message is simple, my plea to this body is simple: let’s end the vacation. In what other job would you grant yourself a two-week vacation if your failed to do that fundamental job? I know we need to go back home; I know [we] want to hear from our constituents. But more than anything else our constituents sent us here to do our job – to work together, to fix problems rather than punting them down the road to next generation.

So please, let’s stay here, let’s do our job – that’s the very least we owe the American people.”

Click here for the video of Rep. Gallagher’s speech.