‘Congress is playing a game of chicken with our jobs, with our economy, with our future’

Sen. Joe Donnelly asked congress today to work to end the current government shutdown before it further hurts Indiana’s economy.

“I am incredibly disheartened by what I have seen in Washington recently,” Donnelly said in his speech on Capitol Hill. “[Congress] is playing a game of chicken with our jobs, economy and future.”

He focused on the effects an extended government shutdown will have on an already weakened Indiana economy, referencing Indiana’s unemployment of 8.1 percent, above the national average of 7.3 percent.

“The people of Indiana all want jobs, we want to go to work,” Donnelly said. “We want and we know the dignity that comes with a good day’s labor.”

He said federal employee furloughs have put thousands of people out of work hindering Hoosier’s ability to support their families.

“We are now at a point where some are putting our economy at risk simply to advance their own political agendas,” Donnelly said about the inability of Congress to come together on a federal budget bill. “That hurts our still recovering economy and congress isn’t helping."

Donnelly said Hoosier businesses deserve a government that provides certainty and at the very least Congress’ role is to not make things any worse.

He said with 13 days until the United States defaults on its debt, the American people are “losing confidence in the economy because of Congress.”

A default on loans would be devastating to the already weak economy, Donnelly said, a hit that could send Wall Street into another tailspin and could lead to a loss of nearly 1.6 million jobs.

Donnelly said Congress' inability to work together between political parties is making it difficult for Hoosiers who are trying to get back to work in an economy that is still recovering from the most recent recession.

“This is no way to run a country,” Donnelly said. “I am willing to work with anyone is a common sense way to get us out of this train wreck.”