By Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com
With more than a week of the federal government having been shut down, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to end the interruption in government affairs.
“On behalf of the more than 920,000 citizens and residents of Prince George’s County, Maryland, I earnestly ask that you work with Congress to end this partial federal government shutdown,” wrote Alsobrooks.
Prince George’s County Executive wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to the end the government shutdown. (Courtesy Photo)
The county executive explained that the federal government employs 70,000 Prince Georgians and their families and that the shutdown also negatively influences the business community in the County and region.
“Many of the families currently affected are those who live paycheck to paycheck, and the ramifications of this systemic failure is far reaching,” Alsobrooks wrote. “For many, and due to no fault of their own, it will mean they must make tough choices that could mean little or no food on their tables or the inability to pay their rent or mortgage.”
She reprimanded the president for his actions to shut down the government, because he wants the funding for the wall.
“This shutdown means an interruption in necessary services that will have negative implications, not only at the local level, but nationally and globally,” she said. “This unwillingness to compromise to reach a solution that will allow our government to continue to perform some of its most basic functions is not only harmful to those directly impacted, but it also represents a form of irresponsible and unpredictable governing that has regrettably taken root.”
The county executive also admonished the President for the shutdown because of its harmful impact on American families, contradictory to the hope of the wall- to protect American families.
“At its core, the federal government exists to protect this nation and its people, and as I understand it, you want your wall funded based on your belief that it will protect Americans. However, the current state-of-play jeopardizes the safety and way of life of the very people you claim to defend,” she wrote.
Hoping to appeal to the President’s empathic side, Alsobrooks encouraged him to consider the lives being affected by the shutdown.
“For the sake of Prince Georges County residents, and those across the state of Maryland and this country, I implore you to reconsider the hardline approach that has been taken on this issue. Instead, I ask that you consider the families you took an oath to protect and serve.”
