we fought the good fight. we didn't win. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of government employees who had been furloughed returned to work. back to critical medical research programs, to national parks even the panda-cam at the national zoo. >> we will begin to open our government immediately. >> reporter: this country went without a shutdown for 17 years until it shut down under president obama. the last two were in 1995 under president clinton. >> it is particularly unfortunate that the republican congress has brought us to this juncture because we share a central goal balancing the federal budget. >> reporter: the first shutdown