An area lawmaker is speaking out for an end to the government shut down.  During her appeal on the House floor, 5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty said the piecemeal approach is not acceptable for families that need the entire federal government open and that benefits taxpayers have paid for with their hard earned tax dollars should be available to them. 

Esty says across the district and the country veterans and seniors are seeing their earned benefits delayed.  She wants the Veterans Affairs Department reopened so veterans can have access to the benefits they have earned. 

She added that people in Connecticut are suffering the consequences of this reckless and unnecessary shut down in very real ways.

Esty said she wants the Federal Aviation Administration reopened and the contract air traffic control towers funded.  She also wants the Small Business Administration workers back on the job because loans for small businesses, to help them grow and create jobs, are being delayed.  The average loan approved per day in the 5th District is about $188,000.

Esty says taxpayers will be paying unemployment instead of paying workers to work.  More than 800 claims have been filed in Connecticut by furloughed employees.