To the Journal editor:

Congressman Jack Bergman’s letter to The Mining Journal (1/20/19) complaining that “little or no progress is being made in Washington” on ending the government shutdown, was disingenuous.

While his words in the letter appropriately say that “Congress has the constitutional duty and obligation to provide for the safety and security of our citizens and that we should put aside partisan games,” his recent actions and votes speak loudly otherwise.

According to govtrack.us and other website records, just this month, he voted “no” on 12 different Republican-crafted and Democrat-introduced House Bills that would have reopened government.

These include appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard and agriculture and rural development. Bergman is playing partisan games and hurting our country and the people in his district. I believe he is trying to cover for our current president in the White House who said Mexico, not the U.S. taxpayers, would pay for any “physical barriers (read: wall)” on our southern border.

His letter is a cynical and pathetic attempt at trying to reverse negative public opinion of Republicans and the president concerning this shutdown. People resent these types of shenanigans and it is dangerous for our country.

Jack, I do applaud your decision not to accept any pay during the shutdown and would encourage you to sponsor House Bills that would insure that no member of Congress, the executive branch or Judiciary get any pay during any government shutdown.

This would provide an appropriate negative feedback to prevent this in the future.

I am sure you could get bipartisan support on this.