SENS JAMES LANKFORD, MAGGIE HASSAN: Congress should suffer shutdown pain, not the American people

For the past decade, Americans have watched a wasteful Washington drama unfold each year: government shutdowns that threaten our economy, jeopardize our security and hurt families all across our country.

Each time there is a shutdown, the American people are caught in the middle. Make no mistake, government shutdowns are not a theoretical or a procedural exercise, they have real consequences all across the country. The last shutdown cost our country more than $11 billion.

In recent shutdowns...