The pain of the latest government shutdown is still fresh in our minds.
President Donald Trump threatens another shutdown in three weeks.
It is time for Congress to pass a law that prohibits government shutdowns as a hardball negotiating tactic.
Legislators from both parties are considering such a law, as reported in The New York Times on Jan. 26.
The government would remain open at existing spending levels during a legislative impasse, rather than shuttering parts or all of the government.
Please write to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Rep. Derek Kilmer to demand that they support a law prohibiting shutdowns quickly, preferably before the next shutdown deadline.
I’d like a law that would stop the salaries of the White House and congressional staff during any government shutdown.
Of course, they would never do that.
But there is hope for a sensible law to keep the government open during negotiations.
This insanity must be stopped by force of law.
Wendy Goldberg,
Sequim