Hi, this is Congressman ████████████. It's an honor to represent you in the US House of Representatives. I'm calling to invite you to my telephone town hall to discuss the ongoing government shutdown and other issues that matter to you. The event will begin in just a few moments. If you would like to participate, please stay on the line and you will automatically be connected. If you have any further questions after the event, please call my office at ████████████. To be added to the Do Not Call list, please press 9. Thank you. Please hold while we connect you to your Access Live event. This Access Live event is currently in progress. Please note this call may be monitored, recorded or rebroadcast. If you would like to ask a question during Today's event, press Star 3 on your telephone keypad at any time. Example of Partisan gamesmanship In exchange for their support to open the government, they'd like to see $███ trillion in additional spending, including giving free health care to illegal immigrants and reinstating wasteful foreign aid programs funded by taxpayers. The government has been shut down for over three weeks now, and while federal programs and federal employees such as service members are hanging in the balance, Senate Democrat leader █████████████ joked with a reporter that every day gets better for them. These types of political games are abhorrent. I believe it's well past time for the Democrats in the Senate and Americans especially, to tell █████████████ to end their shutdown Politics despite this shutdown, my team and I have been working and my offices are open. This year. We have already responded to tens of thousands of letters, phone calls, emails, and we will continue to do so while operations are limited. We've also helped constituents cut through the red tape of the federal bureaucracy and have secured hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to Michigan residents by agencies like the irs, the VA and the Social Security Administration. Unfortunately, our ability to help constituents with casework is affected by the shutdown because these agencies will not process casework for its duration. However, if you are dealing with an issue with a federal agency, please call my office at ████████████ and we will work with you to complete any required paperwork so your case can be filed as soon as the shutdown ends. Additionally, many federal agencies are impacted by the shutdown. I'll take a few moments to discuss some of the most significant results of the shutdown. One of the most pressing issues, in my opinion, are the brave men and women in the military who do not get paid during a government shutdown. Thanks to President █████'s leadership, the Pentagon shifted funds away from other line items of previously appropriated funds to ensure our service members did not miss a paycheck last week. However, at the end of this month, members of our military, our Border Patrol, air traffic controllers, and federal law enforcement.