STERLING, Va. — A Virginia Congressman took questions from his constituents at Sterling Middle School Saturday, many of them furloughed and fired federal workers and contractors.
“I’m going to show up in DC whether or not they’re there and I’m going to continue to ask that we have another vote,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam.
He has held town hall meetings before, but Saturday’s town hall was unlike any he’s organized since entering congress.
“This one is about what’s not going on which is that we have not passed a budget and the government is shut down right now,” said Subramanyam. “This is day four of the shut down.”
Frustrated community members arrived scared about what this could mean for their ability to find a job and worried about a spike in healthcare costs without work.
“I want to see some changes,” said Subramanyam. “Real changes to the way they’re treating our community and federal workers in our community and contractors, because right now assurances aren’t enough for me.”
17-year-old Ethan King spoke directly to the congressman. King said he’s worried about what lies ahead for his generation.
“The government’s kind of going to a halt and I really want to see how I can help work towards the future, because I don’t want to be in a gridlocked government for the rest of my life,” said King who is from Leesburg.
“First of all, I want the government to be reopened and the way I want that to happen is for us to sit down, democrats and republicans and negotiate this,” said Subramanyam.
He says he isn’t accepting his paycheck during the government shutdown, and he feels every member of the House of Representatives should go without pay until the shutdown ends.
“And I want to take away benefits as well from members of congress during this time,” said Subramanyam. “I want to make members congress feel the same sort of pain that everyday Americans feel during a shutdown. Otherwise, nothing’s going to change.”
Subramanyam says he’s introduced a bill that would do just that.