WATCH: In Rep. TJ Cox’s First Floor Speech, Cox Highlights Constituent Suffering from Shutdown, Pledges to Withhold His Pay

WATCH the full video here, and read his full remarks below:

Madame Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the federal workers in my district who are suffering because of the government shutdown.

I rise today for my constituent Raj Kaur, a single mother of two who is a breast cancer survivor and correctional officer at the Mendota Federal Prison.

Raj is currently on leave as she recovers from surgery. She went on medical leave believing she would be financially secure as she recuperated.

Now, not only is Raj worrying about her health and recovery, but as a single mother she’s faced with the burden of trying to figure out how to provide for her family on grit alone. Unfortunately, Raj doesn’t have a rich father to bail her out.

We say that we are a nation that values work and workers. But today we are demanding that thousands of working men and women work without pay because our colleagues in the Senate and the White House won’t do their jobs.

Today, in solidarity with Raj, and the hundreds of thousands of unpaid federal workers nationally, I am asking the Chief Administrative Officer to withhold my pay until the our government reopens.

This situation has gone on for far too long. It’s time to get back to work.