Pappas: ‘People don’t support shutdown’

CONWAY — It’s been quite a first week on the job for 1st District Congressman Chris Pappas (D-Manchester). In seven days, he voted to reopen the government; announced he won’t accept a paycheck while the shutdown goes on; has delivered his first speech on the House floor; and has put in a number of long days. But he’s even more proud to be representing the Granite State in Washington.

“This is not the start that I envisioned,” Pappas said by phone Thursday afternoon. “I never thought that I would be coming into Congress in the middle of a shutdown, and I think this is a first, but it is indicative of the challenges that we face in our political system — the challenges that we face relating to one another to get the job done. I think that it’s really important that we continue to capture the voices of the people of New Hampshire who are saying, ‘We’ve got to change the way Washington works and we’re in this shutdown because of the breakdown of the political system.’ We’ve got to all work to get things reopened and have conversations about where we might disagree.”