[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GOING HOME IS UNACCEPTABLE

  (Mr. WALZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I have a simple question: Why are we going 
home in August? It's really not a rhetorical question.
  All across southern Minnesota and across this country, farmers and 
ranchers have been up for hours quietly going about their business of 
feeding, clothing, and powering the world; and here we sit a year later 
without a farm bill to give them the certainty they've asked for.
  We disagreed on how the farm bill was done here, but this House 
passed one, the Senate passed one; and just like that Saturday morning 
cartoon, ``I'm just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill,'' we have to get 
together to finish that. That's called a conference. The Senate 
appointed their conferees. All you have to do, Mr. Speaker--very seldom 
do you get this simple choice--is appoint conferees and finish our 
business for America or go on vacation. That's the choice you get 
today.
  I taught sixth grade for many years. The rule in our class was you 
don't go to recess until you finish your work. I often hear from my 
friends that we need to run government like a business. What business 
owner shuts the door and goes home before finishing critical work?
  Appoint conferees, finish the farm bill, give certainty, do your work 
that we're being paid for, and finish the farm bill.

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