DPCC Co-Chair Matt Cartwright: The Shutdown is Threatening Americans' Safety and Security
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Matt Cartwright, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared America's Newsroom on FOX News to discuss the federal government shutdown created by the President and its impacts on the safety and security of the American people. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click here to watch the video
"It is terrible having a government shutdown drag on like this…The first oath we take as Members of Congress is for the safety and security of the American people. When we have a shutdown like this, what I worry about are air traffic controllers. Are they coming in? TSA people, are they coming in? When they are not getting paid, maybe they will call off sick and that affects, maybe in a slight way, but real nonetheless…the safety and security of American people."
"At the ports of entry – almost all of the drugs coming into this country that people are dying from opioid overdoses, 70,000 last year in this country alone, they are coming through the ports of entry – and the NII – the nonintrusive inspections – that is the scanners of things coming through the ports of entry. What people don't realize is that we are investing money in legacy technology, in other words upgrading the software for the legacy scanning systems. Any time you hear that word legacy, what that tells you is old technology. I want to see money going into new technology doing a better job scanning for drugs, scanning for bombs, any kind of terrorist activity. You want to make America safe and secure, let's invest the money in the scanning technology at the border."
"I have said for a long time, we've got over 700 miles of fencing in place already. It doesn't make sense to invest in money in walls or fences where mountain goats can't even climb."
"Look, if you want to get to yes, go into the room without any preconceived notions about what is permissible and what's not permissible. But let's be the grown up in the room and look at the real threats. The drugs coming through the ports of entry. Let's do a better job of investing in scanning technology."
"We are a Congress of 435 different people. And so each one has his or her own but voice. For my own part, let's be practical. I come from northeast Pennsylvania where we want to get to solutions that work. Let's not talk about slogans. Let's not talk about political bomb throwing. Let's talk about making America safe and secure at our borders in ways that make sense."
"Well, the question really arises in the context of a shutdown. Should we even be having a State of the Union address during a shutdown? When all that is going to happen is political bomb throwing."