| | | Veterans groups demand end to shutdown: 'Get your act together'
BY TAL AXELROD - 01/15/19 10:41 PM EST
© Stefani Reynolds
Several veterans groups held a joint press conference Tuesday demanding an end to a partial government shutdown, saying that tens of thousands of veterans who now work as federal employees were paying the price as they are either furloughed or required to work without pay.
“We ask the president and the Congress to get together, get your act together and get this situation resolved,” Regis Riley, national commander of American Veterans, or AMVETS, said.
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The White House Office of Management and Budget estimates that the agencies impacted by the shutdown employ at least 150,000 veterans.
The press conference, hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), comes as the shutdown entered its 25th day, extending its record as the longest shutdown in U.S. history. About a quarter of the government has been without funding since Dec. 22, and 800,000 federal employees have missed a paycheck.
“We do not want anyone to miss a second check, which is why VFW calls on the administration and Congress to reach an agreement that takes care of our Coast Guard and the hundreds of thousands of other dedicated employees whose daily job it is to help the rest of America sleep better at night,” B.J. Lawrence, the VFW national commander, said.
Active duty Coast Guard members, who fall under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security, did not receive their most recent paycheck, marking the first time in history a branch of the military missed a payment “during a lapse in government appropriations,” Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz said in a statement.
....... thehill.com |
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