[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 129 (Thursday, September 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H5836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UNBUDGED IN OUR TRACKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, lately, the people's House, this House of 
Representatives, has been called a lot of other things--dysfunctional, 
unpopular, and gridlocked--but one word, inspired by Charles Dickens, 
seems particularly fitting these days: bleak.
  In 1852, Charles Dickens wrote the novel ``Bleak House'' about the 
dismal failures of the British judicial system. The title ``Bleak 
House'' refers to the main courthouse, above which reads the warning:

       Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come 
     here.

  Given the recent inaction, and perhaps dysfunction, I feel a similar 
moniker may need to be placed above our own door.
  This body has reached a point where our inaction is no longer 
harmless. Our inability to act and govern is having real and harmful 
effects. We are on the verge of causing great suffering.
  Take, for example, health care. We passed health care reform 3 years 
ago. While everyone does not like all of its provisions, the fact is 
it's the law of the land. It's not going away. But rather than working 
together to improve the bill, as has been done with every other major 
piece of legislation, such as Medicare part D, many in this House are 
not only refusing to make adjustments; they are trying to stop its 
implementation altogether. There are efforts under way to dissuade 
young people from signing up for insurance, to prevent assisters from 
helping folks access insurance, and to scare seniors. Rather than 
coming together to improve our health care system, the dysfunction of 
this body is actually harming the health and well-being of millions of 
people.
  Take the inability to pass a continuing resolution as another example 
of how the gridlock of this body is hurting our country. What was once 
a routine act of debating funding levels and priorities and passing a 
budget has devolved into a hijacking of government and the funding of 
health care. This is a game of chicken that risks shutting down the 
entire government and injuring millions of Americans.
  Leaders on the other side of the aisle understand the devastating 
effect of such a shutdown. Speaker John Boehner said in April 2011:

       If you shut down the government, it'll end up costing more 
     than you'll save because you interrupt contracts.

  Yet despite such warnings, we continue to risk a deeply damaging 
government shutdown.
  Finally, efforts to increase the debt limit should serve as another 
sober reminder of how dysfunctional and harmful this body has become. 
The debt limit has been raised 78 times, including 49 times by 
Republican Presidents and 29 times by Democratic Presidents. Once 
again, what was once standard operating procedure has become a hostage 
for extreme positions.
  Many in this House are willing to risk the full faith and credit of 
the United States in order to push their extremism. Defaulting on our 
debt would cause irreparable damage to our recovery and risk sending us 
back into recession. As George W. Bush's chief economic adviser, Keith 
Hennessey, put it:

       Not raising the debt limit could lead to ``a catastrophic 
     event.''

  Still, we continue down this dangerous path.
  And these are just a few of the most topical examples. The list of 
items we are unable to tackle goes on and on: tax reform, entitlement 
reform, reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, transportation and 
infrastructure, immigration reform, postal reform, a decent farm bill, 
and commonsense gun violence legislation. We are indeed making Truman's 
do-nothing Congress look positively busy.

  Yesterday, Senator Cruz quoted Dr. Seuss. Today, I would like to do 
the same. But I am drawing from a different Seuss tale, the story of 
``The Zax.'' For those not familiar, the Zax is about two Zaxes going 
two different directions and who meet face-to-face. Each Zax refuses to 
go any direction but the direction it was headed. The Zaxes stand so 
long that a highway overpass is built over them, and the story ends 
with each Zax still standing there ``unbudged in their tracks.''
  From Dickens to Seuss, great writers can teach us and warn us about 
the dangers of obstinacy and intransigence. Refusing to act has surely 
led us to a very bleak place indeed. Let's not end up like the Zaxes, 
``unbudged in our tracks,'' and unable to tackle the great challenges 
of our time.

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