[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 125 (Friday, September 20, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AVOIDING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. KILMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, as we all know, on September 30, the 
government will run out of funding. And I rise today to urge my 
colleagues here in Congress to stop the partisan bickering, to stop the 
games, and to work to avoid a government shutdown.
  For folks back home on the Olympic Peninsula and around Puget Sound, 
a shutdown would have serious consequences. Troops at Joint Base Lewis-
McChord and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard could go without pay. The 
Olympic National Park could close to tourists. Senior citizens could be 
delayed in receiving checks for Social Security. Veterans may go 
without the benefits and the care that they have earned.
  Madam Speaker, I've spent the last 10 years working in economic 
development. The main thing that employers want from government is 
trust and predictability. And now, between sequestration and a 
potential government shutdown, Congress is on the cusp of fracturing 
both. What my constituents want is for us to get to work to solve our 
Nation's problems, not to make them worse. That's why we need to pass 
legislation as quickly as possible to avert this shutdown and then move 
forward on a bipartisan balanced budget that the American people 
deserve.

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