Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-15-19

White House And Political News
This Is Now the Longest Government Shutdown In U. S. History
#BlackPower: Maxine
As the ongoing partial gov- ernment shutdown enters its 22nd day, it has set a new record for the longest shut- down in U.S. history.
The current shutdown began on Dec. 22, meaning the government has been closed for a full 21 days and counting.
The previous record- holder for longest shutdown was an incident at the end of 1995 and beginning of 1996, under former President Bill Clinton. The govern- ment remained closed for 21 days when Clinton and Con- gressional Republicans dis- agreed about how to balance the country’s budget.
This time, the government partially shut down after President Donald Trump refused to sign any spending bill that did not include $5 billion for a wall along the U. S.-Mexico border. Talks dis- solved between the White House and Congressional leaders, leaving a number of federal agencies without funding.
Since then, Democrats, who took control of the
down is already affecting about 800,000 workers and many Americans who rely on government services. So far, the shutdown has meant that national parks are filling up with trash and many are closed, that some govern- ment loans and grants are not being processed, that Coast Guard members and others have been forced to work without pay, and that the Food and Drug Adminis- tration has stopped its rou- tine food safety inspections, among other consequences.
Many federal employees would have been paid on Fri- day under normal circum- stances, but have now missed that paycheck.
If the shutdown contin- ues, federal district courts could run out of funds to op- erate and, by the end of this month, federal workers could miss a second paycheck. By February, there would be even more serious conse- quences, as many agencies would need to develop longer-term plans for how to operate with limited staff and no funding.
Caucus Members Take
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
House of Representatives at the start of this year, have tried to pass legislation to re- open the government. But the President has not changed his position and they have been unable to reach a deal.
Trump has suggested he would keep the federal gov- ernment partially shut down for “months or even years” if he does not get funding for his border wall, and threat- ened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to go around Congress if neces- sary.
The government shut-
They always say the tables can turn.
With a new Democratic majority in the House of Rep- resentatives, the Congres- sional Black Caucus is seeing its members step into key leadership roles. During the Republican House major- ity, not a single African- American chaired a committee, according to The Hill.
Now, Congressional Black Caucus members are leading five major committees:
Rep. Maxine Wa- ters (D-Calif.): Financial Services Committee (First woman and Black person to ever run it)
Rep. Elijah Cum- m i n g s (D-Md.): Oversight and Reform Committee
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas): Sci- ence, Space and Technology Committee
Rep. Bobby Scott (D- Va.): Education and Labor Committee
MAXINE WATERS Rep. Bennie Thomp-
son (D-Miss.): Homeland Security Committee
Last year, Kamala Har- ris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) served as the first senators to serve as honorary co-chairs of the CBC’s 48th Annual Legisla- tive Conference, a designa- tion usually reserved for members of the House of Representatives.
Waters And Other Black
Charge On Capitol Hill
FACT CHECK: Trump Falsely Claims Obama Support For Wall
Miami Airport Temporarily Closes
With the deceptive use of a video, President Donald Trump on Thursday heartily thanked his White House predecessor for supporting his policy at the Mexican bor- der. Barack Obama has of- fered no such support; only criticism.
Trump also denied that he ever expected Mexico to make a direct payment for his border wall, despite a call in a campaign policy paper for a “one-time payment” from Mexico of $5 billion to $10 billion, with options for Mex- ico to contribute in alterna- tive ways. Mexico is refusing to contribute at all.
A look at Trump’s state- ments Thursday as he trav-
eled to Texas to make his case for what he calls a security and humanitarian crisis, a possible precursor to declar- ing a national emergency at the border:
TRUMP: “President Obama, thank you for your great support — I have been saying this all along!” — tweet, accompanied by video of Obama speaking as pres- ident in 2014.
TRUMP: “Obama used to call it a crisis at the border, too.” — remarks before de- parting the White House for Texas.
THE FACTS: Obama’s remarks in the short video clip do not support Trump’s proposal for a border wall or
endorse the path Trump is considering now: declaring a national emergency that might enable him to circum- vent Congress and unilater- ally spend money on the wall. Instead, Obama was asking Congress to approve an emergency appropriation to deal with a surge of tens of thousands of unaccompanied children and youth, mostly from Central American, try- ing to cross the border from Mexico.
“We now have an actual humanitarian crisis on the border,” Obama said at the time, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden. He was referring specifically to the surge of minors that year.
During Government Shutdown
Terminal Amid Staffing Issues
As the partial government shutdown moves into a third week, officials at Miami In- ternational Airport are taking drastic measures to combat lack of staff. The airport is closing one of its terminals for the weekend after a num- ber of TSA agents called in sick.
The airport's Terminal G will be closed from Dec. 12 until Dec. 14, Time reports.
Meanwhile, TSA employ- ees have reportedly been tak- ing twice as many sick days as usual. As of Friday (Jan. 11), the agents will no longer be paid during the shutdown. "We felt we had to make a de- cision before the weekend,” MIA spokesperson, Greg Chin, said according to ABC News. "They're erring on the side of caution."
The effects of the partial shutdown caused a ripple ef- fect, halting employee pay- checks, funding and services for government supported fa- cilities and organizations, in-
MIAMI AIRPORT
cluding public parks and mu- seums.
Last weekend, Donald Trump reiterated that when it comes to the shutdown, he’s only concerned about a specific political party.
“I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats,” he tweeted Saturday (Jan. 5) morning. “I want to stop the Shutdown as soon as we are in agreement on Strong Border Security! I am in the White House ready to go, where are the Dems?”
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY UESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019