Source: The Eagle, Bryan, TexasOct.儲存 02--The Brazos Valley endured its first day of the federal government shutdown on Tuesday. Some services were impacted, some weren't, but for many, it was business as usual.U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, said he had only received slightly more feedback than normal and that his constituents' opinions were evenly split on the first federal shutdown in nearly two decades.The partial shutdown officially kicked off Monday at midnight. House Republicans, along with Flores, passed a budget that strips funding from the Affordable Care Act. Democrats in the Senate, along with President Barack Obama, are at odds with the House budget and have essentially refused to barter with a previously routine approval of the operation of public services.The effect of the partisan gridlock was realized Tuesday morning, when 800,000 government employees deemed non-essential were furloughed. It's unclear how many of those employees are within the Brazos Valley. Flores said he didn't know how many employees in his district were affected by the shutdown and officials with the local National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association couldn't say.Still, some of the impact is visible.The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum was closed. A notice on its website said, "Due to the Federal Government shutdown, all National Archives facilities are closed, with the exception of the Federal Records Centers and the Federal Register." Library spokesman Will King did not return requests for comment on Tuesday.The two parks operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at nearby Lake Somerville were closed Tuesday and campers have until 8 p.m. Wednesday to leave, according to lake manager Emmitt Attaway."They're going to be closed until the shutdown is over with," Attaway said.He declined to say how many of his employees were impacted, but said some Corps operations at the lake, such as security and working with water levels, would be unaffected.The Sam Houston National Forest was also shut down. Calls to the park went straight to voice mail, which announced the park amenities were closed due to the lapse in federal government funding.Notably not impacted was the air traffic control tower at Easterwood Airport. A&M University spokesman Shane Hinckley said the federal government deemed the tower essential and will continue to fund it. Flights are unaffected, he added.Employees at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are all still working, according to a system spokesman. The entity is partially federally funded. However, some federal programs and grants could be affected if the shutdown continues for weeks, he said.The Brazos Valley Council of Governments is similarly up and running. BVCOG funnels millions of federal dollars to the Brazos Valley for Section 8 housing, workforce programs, GED programs, aging programs, home-delivered meals and solid waste programs. Assistant executive director Michael Parks said the services were uninterrupted. He said that the services' availability without federal support is unclear, as that would put the agency in uncharted territory."It's b儲存倉siness as usual," Parks said. "We're working as normal."It's less clear how other social services will be impacted. Karen Garber, executive director of the Brazos Valley Community Action Agency, did not return requests for comment throughout the day Tuesday.Other services, such as Transportation Safety Administration workers, Social Security and Medicare payments, the U.S. Postal Service and active-duty military, are almost completely immune to the shutdown.Flores has received just slightly more correspondence from constituents recently than in the periods before the shutdown debate. He said, up until Monday, about 80 to 90 percent of the constituents he heard from were supportive of the Republican strategy, but that the percentage had dropped to about 50 percent since the shutdown."As you can expect, it's a mixed bag of responses," Flores said. "There are some people who are saying the House should continue what it's doing, which is fully fund the government but try to stop the damage of Obamacare, and some upset that it's shut down."He said a few of the correspondents were now out-of-work government employees."They are disappointed and want to get the government open as quickly as it can," Flores said.Pay has been stopped for Flores' 15-person staff; some are furloughed. He said some staffers are still working without pay, and that he will donate his pay to the Treasury for debt reduction every day the government is shut down.Flores said Tuesday he was at a loss on how to move forward."I'm not sure what the next move is," Flores said. "Every time we put up something reasonable, they call us 'anarchists.' The president has drawn the red line and the Senate is doing the same thing."Still, Flores reinforced that he would like to see a solution devised quickly and that every vote he has cast was to fund the government."If you look at what we've done, I've been up past midnight two out of the last three nights to have late-night votes on this," Flores. "I'd say the House GOP has a real sense of urgency to get stuff done. Since everything we've done has been rejected, we'll have to wait and see what the Senate will do."Back in Texas, government employees are displeased, said Dennis Newton, president of the Bryan-College Station chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which represents 180 members."People are frustrated we're having to go through this type of situation again," Newton said of the feedback he'd received. "We're all hopeful the shutdown is a temporary type thing. A lot of us went through it many years ago. I had to spend a few days at home. We're all hopeful that the two parties will get together and get something done."Newton said members of his association had been in frequent communication with Flores."It's really frustrating in a way ... the lack of compromise on both sides," Newton said. "It's going to be a benefit not only to the federal employees but the nation as a whole if we get that settled."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) Visit The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) at .theeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉最平
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