Today, thousands of Americans will have their paychecks put on hold. This is no fault of their own – but instead the fault of our Congressional leaders.

This shut down, the first in 17 years, is opposed by 72% of Americans as an opposition to Obamacare, according to a Quinnipiac Poll (shout out to my alma matter).

72%... 

That’s 72% of Americans – not Democrats, not Republicans. Not Patriots fans or Giants fans. Not 72% of individuals that cut their sandwiches on the diagonal or of those that cut them down the middle.

It is time to recognize that as Democrats, as Republicans, we have fundamentally different ideologies in the role of the government. We innately believe that the purpose of our governing body is different.

This will always be true; this will always be the case. Our experiences will point us one way or the other, our social culture, our professional experiences, our educations will each play a role in sending us to either side of the political line.

These differences are, dare I say, necessary. We need both sides to contribute. We need both threads to weave our national fabric.

How can our Congressional leaders ask the American people to walk on common ground on issues of race, and gun control, public education, or health care – if they do not, and in so fail to do what they have been so elected to do.

How can we do our jobs, if they do not do theirs? For the following offices, agencies, and staff members that is a very literal statement:

Department of Defense:

400,000 (civilian employees) except those deemed essential to “provide for the national security” – this includes many veterans that are still employed by the D.O.D. but are no longer active military.

Department of Commerce:

40,234 (exports and imports personnel and those that review weather and shipping – 6,186 of them to be exact will be back at work today)

Department of Energy:

12,700 (if you’re overseeing the national nuclear arsenal don’t forget to pack your lunch – you’re expected in the office today!)

Department of Transportation:

18,481 – while “most” of these employees will be reporting today, silly things like facility security inspections, personnel background investigations, and employee drug testing will all be suspended)

Staff of National Parks, including the Statue of Liberty, Yosemite National Park, and Alcatraz – 21, 379 Americans from coast to coast will be hitting the snooze button today, they’re staying home. Only emergency management staff will report to the work today.

19 Galleries and Museums and we can’t forget the National Zoo (panda cam included) 3,514 – not only are these paid employees taking an unexpected (and unwanted vacation) but these galleries can not accept any volunteer services to keep programs operating … Shout out to the millions of 8^th grade students that won’t get to play National Treasure: The Home Game

Department of Homeland Security:

31,295 are calling in their own Code Red today while 199,822 are still expected to arrive at 0900 hours.

Department of Justice:

All FBI agents as well as DEA agents working on active investigations in addition to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, firearms, and Explosives will also be checking in on FourSquare… although they may have 17,742 fewer friends to check in with them.

Department of Health and Human Service:

40,512 will not have to use a sick day to stay home today… the CDC stated they will use “minimal support to protect the health and well-being of US citizens.” … Oh, okay,

Department of Education:

Some of the $22 billion in public school funding that was to be distributed will, however, not all of it will make its way where it belongs – including money that covers the cost of educating children living in low-income areas and those with disabilities.

Environment Protection Agency:

Only 1,069 staff members will be at work today… good news? More parking spots for their low-emissions vehicles? 15,136 will be working in their victory gardens until further notice.

US Postal Services: will continue as normal but make sure you buy some stamps this week – since they will not be receiving funding from tax revenue and will be dependent on your purchases to keep the doors open.

Thanks to some nifty and creative language in the 27^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, our elected officials will still be getting paid today – and all the others days too… However, unlike our Congressional leaders, average American Joe and Jane only get paid when they do their jobs.

The passing of a federal budget is one of the most principle responsibilities of Congress – it is a non-partisan, routinely foundational item on the to-do list of the U.S. of A.

Party politics are not an American value; binding of party lines is not a means to an effective end. It’s time our Congressional leaders reevaluate their priorities.

Sexual assault and rape are crimes that not only effect an individual's physicality, but ones that traumatize their victims far beyond the end of the physical act. They violate an expectation of safety, and security, they break trust and self-confidence. These are crimes that compromise the dignity and integrity that all persons are entitled to: the exclusive choice to engage in sexual relationships that is an innate right of every human being.

Sexuality is an innate part of a person, and an innate part of the human experience. A person’s sexuality belongs to no one but himself or herself. That innate part cannot be separated from the self – when that part of a person is violated, their whole person is violated, when self-hate touches that part of a person, it touches them as a whole. Sexuality is bound in relationships, and interactions; it is gaged and valued in choice: the choice with whom it will and will not be shared, and the surrounding experience of how those relationships develop and when.

Known at the STOP Act, H.R. 1593, was reintroduced to the 113^th Congress this past April by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) . First introduced in 2011, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act died after being referred to committee.

Sexual Assault and rape are epidemics in the American military. They are crimes that touch all branches of the military, they are not limited to a class of commissioned or non-commissioned, nor are they unique to one sex or biology. Rape in the military affects men and women of every age and from every decade. It finds its victims at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland as well as the Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio, Texas. It takes place in foreign lands, and right here at home.

While these are issues that may be gaining political momentum, sexuality, sex, gender, and orientation are nothing new to be considered by the armed forces - it is only now that their way and means of being considered and evaluated is changing.

The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy which reigned from February 1994 to September 2011 deemed the intent to engage in homosexual “behaviors” as “an unacceptable risk t the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.” (10 U.S.C. § 654 [b]).

While the past two years have given way for our nation to recognize gay and lesbian members of the military as what they truly are – American heroes – there are still calls and questions. DADT held so much more power than just the prevention of social justice in the ultimate duty and honor, but it also gave way and has been cited again and again within the game of power and control that is military rape.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell affected rape victims in two ways – first, it created an environment of risk: if you relayed or reported the assault, you risked being labeled “homosexual” – loosing your job and livelihood in a game where competing ranks told two different stories. This created an environment in which victims did not tell others the weight they carried, nor were they asked, if it had been reported, if they were okay. Second, it created a scapegoat for discharge that was virtually untraceable: had male or female victims alike not engaged in sexual relationships with superiors, the threat to “cry wolf” was all too great, and all too real. 

The Department of Defense released an anonymous survey in May 2013 surrounding sexual assault. They found that sexual assault is on the rise – with 26,000 cases having occurred in 2012 as compared with the 19,000 in 2010. While women make up only 15% of all military personal, they make up 47% of the victims. Of the 13,900 male victims found in this survey – 76% went unreported. Unreported to ranking superiors, unreported to doctors, kept in the hearts and minds of the victims, many of whom had lasting physical and emotional damage to show for it.

The STOP Act would amend the United States Code Title 10 in the creation of a Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Council that would be comprised of mostly civilians and would be independently established from the chain of command within the DOD. Members of this council would be selected and appointed by the President and the Secretary of Defense. Their most significant duty? They would be responsible for the reviewing of each case stemming from a sexual-related offense that have been referred to an appellate court within the military or that has been referred by the Department of Justice.

What does this mean?  It means it would take the fact-finding out of the hands of the military chain-of-command and place it in third party hands. It would create and develop specific sexual assault reporting protocols, develop risk-reduction and response training, file the formal policy on sexual assault, and advise the effectiveness of the Director of Military Prosecution.

The Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office would coordinate to carry out criminal investigations, it would coordinate the oversight of the three fundamental rights of rape victims: safety and security, a place to communicate, and to be validated. In lay terms this means – victims of sexual assault in the military will have the right to a criminal investigation of their claims and not just a response from a hierarchy of leadership. This means that individuals that are victim to these heinous crimes will have a team working to ensure their physical, mental, and emotional safety, and get the help and treatment they need, and not after the fact.

Sexual assault and rape victims in the military are isolated by the trust and comradery that are so prevalent and necessary. Its victims are violated in a way that separates them from “unit cohesion” so essential to line and field.

This is a crime that has touched some of the bravest men and women of every generation. This is a battle that they were not prepared to fight. This is a violation of the most innate rights of those who honorably called to stand up for ours.

It is time we do something to protect those, to honor those, and to serve those who so willingly have done it for us today, tomorrow, and in so many years passed.