Coast Guard Commandant Speaks on Shutdown: What Members Are Going Through Is ‘Unacceptable’

Your Coast Guard leadership team & the American people stand in awe of your continued dedication to duty, resilience, & that of your families. I find it unacceptable that @USCG members must rely on food pantries & donations to get through day-to-day life. #uscg pic.twitter.com/TZ9ppUidyO

— Admiral Karl Schultz (@ComdtUSCG) January 23, 2019

Coast Guard members are bracing to miss another paycheck as the government shutdown continues. And tonight the head of the Coast Guard is speaking out with a message to those service members.

Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz posted a video to Twitter expressing admiration for members’ “continued dedication to duty and resilience and that of your families.” He acknowledged the “anxiety and stress” they are facing while not getting paid and said that they should not be the ones to “shoulder this burden.”

“Ultimately, I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through day-to-day life as service members,” Schultz said. “This week we’ll hit another sobering milestone, and that’s potential nonpayment to our civilians on Friday.”

When service members missed their first paychecks earlier this month, Schultz expressed his dismay at what marked “the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in appropriations.”

[image via screengrab]

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