{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-statement-on-need-for-congress-to-stay-in-session-and-avoid-a", "Kuster Statement on Need for Congress to Stay in Session and Avoid a Government Shutdown", "2015-09-23", "2015", "2015-09", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC  Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) released the following statement calling on her colleagues to join her in working around-the-clock to stop the partisan games and reach across the aisle to avoid another damaging and costly government shutdown. Kuster joined 79 of her colleagues in a letter demanding Speaker John Boehner keep the House in session every day until a deal is reached to prevent another government shutdown.\nWith less than two weeks until a possible government shutdown, working families in New Hampshire and across the country just dont have time for more partisan games and political theater, said Congresswoman Annie Kuster. I was proud to join almost 80 of my colleagues in calling on Speaker Boehner to keep the House in session until a deal is reached, and for both parties to reach across the aisle and work together to reach a solution and avoid another damaging, costly, and painful government shutdown. It is deeply disappointing that Tea Party extremists in Congress are threatening to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding, an organization that provides critical health care services for men and women across the country every day. I will continue fighting to protect womens health and keep our government running, our economy growing, and our New Hampshire working families and small businesses safe and secure.\nA full copy of the letter that Rep. Kuster signed is below.\n\nDear Speaker Boehner,\nWe write you today to express our deep concern regarding the looming government shutdown which will occur on October 1st should Congress fail to reach a bipartisan consensus to fund the government.\nAs of right now, there are just six legislative days scheduled before the end of the month. The American people deserve to know that their elected representatives are working around the clock to avoid another self-inflicted Washington wound on our national and local economies.\nAs the Speaker of the House, you have the power to change the legislative calendar. We strongly urge you to keep the House of Representatives in session every day from now until we reach a deal.\nWe already know the impact that a shutdown will have on our economy because it happened just two years ago. According to Standard & Poors, the 16 day government shutdown of 2013 cost the U.S. economy $24 billion and reduced 4th quarter GDP growth by 0.6%. We simply cannot allow this failure to happen again.\nAs Representatives, each of us has an obligation to the American peoplethe working families, seniors, veterans and others we have the privilege of serving. Now is the time to reject partisan gridlock and work together toward a common sense solution for the American people.\nWith the clock ticking, we can't afford to waste a moment. As Speaker, you have the power to keep Congress in session. We urge you to exercise that authority before it's too late.\n\nRespectfully,\n\nCheri Bustos\nMember of Congress\n\nLinda Snchez\nMember of Congress\n\nDerek Kilmer\nMember of Congress\n\nJudy Chu\nMember of Congress\n\nG.K. Butterfield\nMember of Congress\n\nRal M. Grijalva\nMember of Congress\n\nJared Polis\nMember of Congress\n\nJan Schakowsky\nMember of Congress\n\nJim Cooper\nMember of Congress\n\nRuben Gallego\nMember of Congress\n\nJoyce Beatty\nMember of Congress\n\nBrad Ashford\nMember of Congress\n\nTammy Duckworth\nMember of Congress\n\nSanford Bishop\nMember of Congress\n\nGwen Graham\nMember of Congress\n\nJim Costa\nMember of Congress\n\nFilemon Vela\nMember of Congress\n\nKyrsten Sinema\nMember of Congress\n\nSuzan DelBene\nMember of Congress\n\nBill Foster\nMember of Congress\n\nJuan Vargas\nMember of Congress\n\nMike Quigley\nMember of Congress\n\nMark Takai\nMember of Congress\n\nDebbie Dingell\nMember of Congress\n\nSteve Cohen\nMember of Congress\n\nJohn Delaney\nMember of Congress\n\nPaul D. Tonko\nMember of Congress\n\nJulia Brownley\nMember of Congress\n\nScott Peters\nMember of Congress\n\nRick Nolan\nMember of Congress\n\nMatthew Cartwright\nMember of Congress\n\nKathleen M. Rice\nMember of Congress\n\nDavid Cicilline\nMember of Congress\n\nTulsi Gabbard\nMember of Congress\n\nDave Loebsack\nMember of Congress\n\nAmi Bera\nMember of Congress\n\nKatherine Clark\nMember of Congress\n\nAnn Kirkpatrick\nMember of Congress\n\nAlma Adams\nMember of Congress\n\nSean Patrick Maloney\nMember of Congress\n\nJared Huffman\nMember of Congress\n\nMike Honda\nMember of Congress\n\nDan Kildee\nMember of Congress\n\nGrace Napolitano\nMember of Congress\n\nMark DeSaulnier\nMember of Congress\n\nBarbara Lee\nMember of Congress\n\nSander Levin\nMember of Congress\n\nSteve Israel\nMember of Congress\n\nElijah Cummings\nMember of Congress\n\nChellie Pingree\nMember of Congress\n\nJames P. McGovern\nMember of Congress\n\nMark Pocan\nMember of Congress\n\nTim Walz\nMember of Congress\n\nElizabeth Esty\nMember of Congress\n\nJim Himes\nMember of Congress\n\nGrace Meng\nMember of Congress\n\nJohn Garamendi\nMember of Congress\n\nChris Van Hollen\nMember of Congress\n\nEmanuel Cleaver\nMember of Congress\n\nBrad Sherman\nMember of Congress\n\nEd Perlmutter\nMember of Congress\n\nBobby Rush\nMember of Congress\n\nRobin Kelly\nMember of Congress\n\nLuis Gutirrez\nMember of Congress\n\nAnn Kuster\nMember of Congress\n\nLois Frankel\nMember of Congress\n\nJoseph Kennedy\nMember of Congress\n\n Andr Carson \nMember of Congress\n\nDonna Edwards\nMember of Congress\n\nPatrick Murphy\nMember of Congress\n\nPeter Welch\nMember of Congress\n\nMarcia Fudge\nMember of Congress\n\nKaren Bass\nMember of Congress\n\nEddie Bernice Johnson\nMember of Congress\n\nCorrine Brown\nMember of Congress\n\nCharles Rangel\nMember of Congress\n\nDina Titus\nMember of Congress\n\nJackie Speier\nMember of Congress\n\nLloyd Doggett\nMember of Congress\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-statement-on-need-for-congress-to-stay-in-session-and-avoid-a"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1303920075297356, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}