WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) took to the House floor today to highlight the impact the government shutdown is having on residents in Alabama’s 7^th Congressional District.

“We heard the story of Heather Bryant, who is struggling to pay for the gas she needs to drive the 30 minutes to work. In the small community of Aliceville, Alabama, the federal women's correctional facility is a major employer,” Sewell said. “I want you to know that because of the 35 days that these correctional officers, parole officers, prison workers have gone without pay, that we have seen restaurants closed, we have seen convenient stores reduce hours in that community.”

“As Martin Luther King also said, ‘The time is always ripe to do what’s right.’ What is right, Madam Speaker, is to reopen government now. We must stand with these federal workers. We must unabashedly demand they get paid, and we must seek ways to work across the aisle to get government open,” Sewell said. “But they have to also offer an olive branch. This President hasn't done that. Instead, he's put his interests over the American people's interests.”

Earlier today, Sewell’s staff provided lunch to some of the 300 corrections workers employed at the federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama. Earlier this week, Sewell provided breakfast lunch to TSA officers at the Montgomery Regional and Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airports. These acts from the community help, Sewell said, but they are not enough.

Here’s a link to watch video of her speech: https://youtu.be/1aju1TpNN0c