Working Through the Shutdown

On October 1, the federal government shut down due to a lapse in funding. Prior to the shutdown, the House voted to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep our government open. I supported this resolution and believe the shutdown should have been avoided. However, the Senate still has not passed this proposal to fund the government, so no bill to reopen the government has been sent to the President's desk. At this time, the Senate is continuing to hold votes to reopen the federal government.

During the shutdown, my office remains open and I am continuing to work to help Wisconsin families. Please reach out if my office or I can be of assistance.

Addressing Children's Mental Health

Among the issues I continue to work on are the challenges impacting children's mental health.

I recently introduced nonpartisan legislation directing the Center for Mental Health Services to develop a strategy that addresses the effects of new technologies, like social media, on our children's mental health. Spectrum covered this legislation and received feedback from students and mental health experts. You can watch more above, at the link here, or read the article here.

It's important that the federal government work alongside families, mental health experts, and teachers to provide the tools necessary to promote positive mental health and keep children safe. This bill is a step toward creating a strategy for parents to better understand how social media is affecting their children's mental health and begin to reverse the harmful effects we are seeing in society.

I want to hear from you:

Peace Deal in the Middle East

On Wednesday, the President announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan he brokered to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip. As part of this agreement, Hamas will release the remaining 45 hostages, disarm, and its leadership will take steps to leave the Gaza Strip.

This is a significant step forward not just in ensuring the return of the hostages unjustly taken by Hamas, but also in ending the ongoing war, and moving toward lasting peace in the Middle East.

This peace deal has an opportunity to end a war that began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a heinous terrorist attack, killing more than 1,200 civilians, including Israelis and Americans, and taking more than 200 hostages. Since that date Israel has been engaged in a war to defeat Hamas and return the hostages.

For more information on the President's 20-point plan, click here. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan - Peace

This week, I joined Representative Darrell Issa in supporting the PEACE Act.

This legislation is an important step in deterring Azerbaijani aggression and supporting a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The PEACE Act puts in place consequences for any violations of agreement, while reinforcing the Trump administration's ongoing diplomatic efforts on behalf of sovereignty and stability.

Answering Your Questions

My priority is to be available and accessible to you, especially during the ongoing government shutdown.

Today, I held my October telephone town hall. We covered issues ranging from the ongoing government shutdown and troop pay, and to preventing government dysfunction and supporting our seniors.

Dorothy from Whitewater asked about the ongoing government shutdown. Shutdowns do not help Wisconsin families, and it's not the way our government should operate. That is why I voted to keep our government open and am working to find a solution to end this brinksmanship. We discussed the type of programs that will and will not be impacted by the ongoing shutdown. For more information on the shutdown, visit my website here.

Mary from Kenosha brought up concerns about pay for our service members. During a shutdown, active-duty military members will continue to serve but will not receive pay until the shutdown ends. This is wrong. I cosponsored the the Pay Our Troops Act as a cosponsor to ensure our military receives the paycheck they have earned. Read more here. I also requested that the Chief Administrative Officer of the House withhold my pay for the duration of the shutdown.

Government shutdowns rarely benefit Americans. Decades of dysfunction and continued brinksmanship do not help deliver policy solutions that Wisconsin families need. Mark from Williams Bay asked about what we can do to prevent future government shutdowns. One solution is the Eliminate Government Shutdowns Act. I introduced this legislation alongside Senator Ron Johnson to reform the appropriations process and eliminate the potential for future government shutdowns.

Under this proposal, if funding has not been authorized for the upcoming fiscal year, an automatic two-week continuing resolution would go into effect. This bill would create an automatic two-week CR in the event that Congress does not finalize appropriations at the end of a fiscal year. Funding would remain at existing levels until new appropriations are signed into law, ending the possibility for future shutdowns. A similar process is used in Wisconsin for the state budget. Read more about this bill here.

I also joined WCLO's Tim Bremel this morning to discuss these issues and more. You can listen to our interview below or at the link here.

It's time to reopen the government.

As always, feel free to contact my office if you have any questions, want to share an opinion, or are having trouble with a federal agency.

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

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