TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - The longest government shutdown in American history nears its conclusion Wednesday night after 43 days.

TSA agents, air traffic controllers and hundreds of thousands of other federal workers will get back pay once the federal government officially reopens.

“We were thanking every one of the TSA agents for showing up to work today,” traveler Heather Westmoreland said. Westmoreland is on her way back to Minnesota. She believes the shutdown was necessary.

“Absolutely, it was,” she told News 4 Tucson. “I have friends who saw their health insurance that was $170 a month, was going up to $800 a month. They were not going to be able to afford to have health insurance so it was very important.”

Randy Graf lives in Southern Arizona. He was on flight home from Green Bay th

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