USA: Furloughed federal workers demand action from lawmakers on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol as the government shutdown continues

Record ID: 215605

  • Title: USA: Furloughed federal workers demand action from lawmakers on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol as the government shutdown continues
  • Date: 4th October 2013
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 4, 2013) (REUTERS) CROWD CHANTING "MAKE THEM VOTE" (SOUNDBITE) (English) FURLOUGHED FEDERAL WORKER MARCELO DEL CANTO SAYING: "This is devastating to both of us. Our son is four years old. We had to take him out of day care immediately, because we knew that that would not be an expense that we can meet this month, because we don't k
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9ZN1AVGEEF7CM0FH8CCI2130F
  • Story Text: Federal workers furloughed from their jobs demanded action from Congress in a rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Friday (October 4).
    Chanting "make them vote," the crowd rallied on the grass in front of the House side of the Capitol as a political stalemate over the U.S. government shutdown continued in Congress.
    Marcelo del Canto, a budget analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said he has had to pull his son out of daycare, because he and his wife are both furloughed federal workers.

    "This is devastating to both of us. Our son is four years old. We had to take him out of day care immediately, because we knew that that would not be an expense that we can meet this month, because we don't know how long this furlough could go," he said.
    House Republicans held their ground on Friday in a standoff with President Barack Obama over federal funding, accusing him of intransigence and not caring about the impact of the shutdown, now in its fourth day.
    With little sign of compromise on either side, many fear the shutdown, triggered by a dispute over the president's healthcare reforms, will drag on until bickering politicians tackle the more dire threat of a possible U.S. default later this month.
    Natasha Rozier, an information specialist at the U.S. Census Bureau says the prospect of not being paid has made her consider the options for how she and her husband can makemeet.

    "We're trying to strategize what we're going to do now, possibly borrowing money from family members, friends, taking money from our 401K, our life insurance policies that have bill cash value and later pay ourselves back," she said.
    Nineteen-year-old Alexis Vasquez attended the rally because he said he was locked out from his job at McDonalds because the restaurant is located inside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which is closed as part of the shutdown.

    "I'm the only one with an income in the family, so my dad's been unemployed, and I was the only one helping out with the utility bills and rent and stuff, and now it's become, you know, more difficult for me to do so."
    House Speaker John Boehner, speaking after a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, said the House of Representatives would not vote on a "clean" spending bill.
    Republicans have demanded a halt, or at least a delay, in implementing Obama's healthcare reforms, the signature legislation of his presidency, as a condition of allowing a vote on spending that would allow the government to reopen.
    In light of the stalemate, Obama has canceled plans for a visit to a number of Asian countries next week.
    The government was obliged to close many of its operations because Congress failed to pass a spending bill by October 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
    Steve Beasley, an economist for the Department of Agriculture, said he signed up for unemployment benefits yesterday.

    "Congresspeople can be hard-working and they're dedicated. Unfortunately there are some extreme elements up here on the hill that are, I think, sabotaging the system," he said.
    Rozier said members of Congress should forego their salaries until the dispute is resolved.

    "They should give up their paychecks. You know, they should reserve the right to get a paycheck, to know what it feels like to not have the money to provide for your family, to be able to put food on the table, to be able to put gas in your car," she said.
    Facing public anger over the government shutdown, the House has adopted a strategy of voting piecemeal to fund publicly some federal agencies - like the Veterans Administration, the National Park Service and the National Institutes of Health - that are partially closed.
    Republicans know that neither the Democratic-controlled Senate nor Obama will go along with such an approach, but it allows them to accuse Democrats of working against the interests of veterans, national parks and cancer patients.
    Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the House would vote on Saturday (October 5) on a measure to pay federal workers during the shutdown, which has idled hundreds of thousands of employees. Democrats demand a broad spending bill be passed.
    Facing the prospect of not being paid, Del Canto says he will struggle to keep up with his family's expenses.

    "They're going to be very hard, if not impossible to meet. In fact, starting today, I will probably start to call the mortgage company and several credit card companies and I've heard some of the utility companies are offering, you know, extended payments and so on and so forth while we suffer from this furlough, so that's something that I will be doing in the next couple of days," Del Canto said.
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