[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 132 (Monday, September 30, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6041-H6049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RELATING TO CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 59, CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS
RESOLUTION, 2014
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 368 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 368
Resolved, That the House hereby (1) takes from the
Speaker's table the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 59) making
continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014, and for other
purposes, with the House amendment to the Senate amendment
thereto, (2) insists on its amendment, and (3) requests a
conference with the Senate thereon.
Sec. 2. Any motion pursuant to clause 4 of rule XXII
relating to House Joint Resolution 59 may be offered only by
the Majority Leader or his designee.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 1
hour.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield
the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Slaughter), my friend, the ranking member from the Rules Committee,
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose
of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 368 directs the House of
Representatives to go to conference with the Senate to resolve
differences between the two Chambers on how to appropriately fund the
Federal Government. Like any other time the House goes to a conference,
Mr. Speaker, the minority will have an opportunity to instruct
conferees and have their ideas heard.
For nearly 3 weeks, this body, the United States House of
Representatives, has made numerous legitimate efforts to find a
compromise to avoid a government shutdown. Unfortunately, Senate
Majority Leader Reid and Senate Democrats have been unwilling to
negotiate and have stonewalled any attempt to find common ground.
No one wants a government shutdown, but Mr. Reid's unwillingness to
work with House Republicans to find a solution is what brings us to a
point now this evening. I know that we want to get our work done
tonight. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the
customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me be clear: the proposal before us is nothing but another way to
run out the clock. I think while we're speaking here, in just a little
while we will find in 20 minutes--21 minutes, because I think we will
go 1 minute after midnight--that this government will shut down.
This amazing government that we are supposed to be overseeing--
America, the United States--can't manage its business and shows that to
the rest of the world over the fact of trying to stop the bill you hate
that is the law of the land, that has already been verified by the
Supreme Court as to its constitutionality and where our President won
election handily when this was the main idea.
I don't believe anymore that this is the product of a few people with
strange ideas. This is the Republican Party. I think people who watch
the news, jaded--I do; every idle moment I have to be finding out
what's going on in the world--were quite stunned to watch a Republican
conference over, and the Members coming out absolutely gleeful, many of
them expressing glee--one of them said that he was almost giddy with
joy about closing down the House.
Earlier this evening, I saw after the 2010 elections some new Members
who were saying on the news that their intention was to shut down the
House. Well, they've done it.
At any time we could have taken up a clean bill for the Senate. All
we had to do was vote for that Senate amendment resolution and pass
that here, which could have been done easily with bipartisan votes. It
would then have gone to the President of the United States. Government
workers could sleep easier tonight if we had done that. They wouldn't
have to worry about paying the rent, or being able to buy groceries, or
being able to pay the tuition for their child in college.
What we are doing to the psyche of America--not ``we.'' I'm not going
to say that again, the universal ``we.'' What Republicans are doing to
the psyche of America will be a long time in healing.
I think the absurdity knows no bounds. We want to say again that if
anybody has any mistaken notions that the Democrats were involved in
it, there are no Democrats' fingerprints on any of these bills. I'll
say that again: Democrats had no input at all at any time on what any
of these bills were going to say in the greatest matter before the
House of Representatives to keep the government going, to meet our
obligation to fund the government.
In fact, by cutting out the people's Representatives on my side of
the House, almost half of the people in the United States' voices were
stilled throughout this whole process. The only time we got to talk was
when we were up here, and we were trying to run and catch up to see
what was going on. We had no idea what this was about, that this was
coming tonight. We were able to pick up bits and pieces maybe off the
floor, and people passing around some things that maybe they heard. But
the whole Democrat side has been shut out--not just on this measure,
but on everything in the world that we have done in this term and last
term as well. Now, I don't want anybody to forget that because
everybody is going to yell if something goes wrong here, they're going
to try to blame it on us. It's not on us. I have never seen anything
like this.
In addition, for well over 6 months this Democratic side has begged,
cajoled, done everything they could to try to get this House to appoint
conferees and to go to conference with the Senate of the United States
on bills that each Chamber had already passed. We couldn't do the farm
bill--couldn't do much of anything. And I said earlier today one of the
reasons is sequestration. So we had only gotten two appropriations
bill. They've run out of money, and there was no way in God's Earth we
could have ever done the 12 that we needed to do.
But even that hasn't caused any idea of changing what we're doing.
And we want to be a part of that. We would like to take the 6 weeks--
imagine, on one hand, we are appointing conferees for a 6-week measure
when we wouldn't do it for the budget of the Federal Government.
Now we would like to be as much a part of it as we can while we're
trying to deal with the debt limit and certainly to do away with
sequestration that even my friend, Mr. Rogers, the chair of the
Appropriations Committee, said was far too draconian and that the
government would be seriously underfunded.
{time} 2345
But tonight, here we are, tragically here. Let me see now, it's 15
minutes
[[Page H6042]]
away from time where it will be useless; so I am not going to say
anything more about we could take up another bill, we could pass it, it
would go to the President, he would sign it, and we could avoid it.
It's simply too late. How could you, with any common sense at all,
think that, as we have moved to this point without changing from the
left to the right with moving ahead, throwing up every kind of thing on
a clean CR that would kill it when it arrived at the Senate.
We are hearing--and I hope it's not true--that when we get to the
debt limit in about 2 weeks, that the Christmas list that they want to
pass--everything that they wanted all their lives and couldn't get--
again, holding the country hostage, is what we have ahead of us.
Now, given a clear choice between serving our country and serving
ideology within these ranks, the majority has chosen to stand against
the country and shut the government down. Make no mistake about it,
there is going to be a lot of hurt.
At this point, all I can do is urge everyone on our side of the House
to vote ``no'' for no other reason than because of the rules in the
House being broken and regular order being so far from reality. The
rules of the House say that any Member can call for a vote on the
Senate bill, but this rule takes that away from everybody but the
majority leader. Only the majority leader can call for that vote.
Very little is left on our side except to vote ``no'' and to express
our great displeasure and hope to goodness that when this is over and
all that pain is out there, that we can move as quickly as possible to
try to right this dreadful wrong that is about to land on the American
people.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I hope we really find a way to avoid that
by agreeing to a conference. I think a conference is important. The
United States House of Representatives will be on a vote here in a few
minutes where we are asking for that. I believe the American people see
what we are doing is trying to legislatively resolve the differences
that we have.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, our first CR was a clean CR at sequester
levels and simply defunding ObamaCare. Our second CR was a clean CR at
sequester levels with a 1-year delay of the entire ObamaCare law. The
third CR was a clean CR with a 1-year delay of the individual mandate
and removal of certain benefits for Members and congressional staff.
I have, during these times, found that some of the wise counsel that
I have received in the deliberations that I have had, in the duties and
responsibilities as the chairman of the Rules Committee, leaned upon
several people. One of them is here, the chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Hal Rogers.
Hal Rogers has provided me--and I hope I have provided him--some bit
of working knowledge of what we were trying to accomplish, a desire to
accommodate House and Senate Members to complete more work on
appropriations. That is still a part of the goal that we are going to
tonight, to go to conference so that we can fund the government and get
it done right.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the chairman of the
Appropriations Committee.
Mr. ROGERS OF Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, thank you for those kind words.
It is likewise. I have relied upon the gentleman for advice all through
this process as well, and I appreciate his leadership in this body,
especially as chairman of the very important Rules Committee.
Mr. Speaker, the Senate has just rejected the House's third attempt
to avoid a government shutdown. This body has voted time and time again
to keep the lights on in our government and to stop the train wreck
that is ObamaCare. Unfortunately, our colleagues in the Senate have
rejected these offers and have refused to come to the table to find a
solution.
To be absolutely clear, the House has debated and approved three
separate continuing resolutions. These bills do what they are named
for--they continue government. We do not want a shutdown, and we have
done what we can to avoid it. Given the situation at hand and the late
hour, we will now vote to send the CR we just passed and a request for
a conference to the Senate.
Our challenges are great, but they are not insurmountable. This
conference will provide a venue to discuss the differences between the
House and Senate, having productive negotiations, and come to a final
agreement that most can support.
In some ways, Mr. Speaker, this is a logical next step. When the
House and the Senate are unable to resolve their differences on other
pieces of critical legislation, the appropriate action is to appoint a
conference. That is the time-honored way of this great body.
I understand that this is not the first or the second or the third
choice of many Members here tonight. It is not my first choice either.
But I believe this motion can help us move forward and provide at least
a gleam of light at the end of this very long tunnel.
I urge an ``aye'' vote.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Polis), a member of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, as we watch this train wreck in slow motion,
this Republican shutdown of government, I ask myself, in trying to
understand what the Republican majority is doing: Why--why are they
seeking to close down government? Is it because some of them are
against government and want to see it closed and--I think it's been
quoted--this is exactly what they wanted?
That might be the case for a few of them, Mr. Speaker, but I don't
think most Republicans want to abolish the United States of America
Government. I think that's a position that very few Republicans hold.
So why are they closing the government? Now, I understand that many
of them don't like the health care reform, the Affordable Care Act, a
law that was passed by the House and Senate, signed by the President,
upheld by the Supreme Court; it's the law of the land. Some of them
don't like that.
Do you know what? Some Americans are uncomfortable with that. They
want to learn more about it: What does it mean to them? How does it
help them afford health care? How does it help their families?
But the American people don't want to see our government close down
over disagreeing with a particular law. That seems to be what my
friends on the other side are arguing. They are arguing: Do you know
what? We've been unable to repeal this law under the process set up by
our Constitution. We've been unable to pass a bill in the House, pass a
bill in the Senate, send it to the President, and have the President
sign it. We've been unable to follow the Constitution to get what we
want. So instead of doing that, we're just going to shut down
government until we get what we want. By the way, we want a lot. We
want to change a law that was passed by the House and the Senate and
upheld by the Supreme Court that helps middle class Americans afford
health care. We want to change the way that benefits are conducted. We
want to change different tax systems.
These are all policy discussions to be had through our process. In
fact, some of these things have actually been passed by the House of
Representatives and either have been rejected by the Senate or are
awaiting action in the Senate.
But that is the genius of the Founding Fathers in setting up our
constitutional system in the separation of powers. It was to provide
for a way to pass laws that had broad buy-in from the American people
and had the checks and balances that have kept our democracy strong for
over two centuries. Yet here today we are short-circuiting that. The
Republicans are seeking to say: We are going to close down the entire
Federal Government.
This is the most powerful, strongest country that the Earth has, the
freest democratic Nation. We are going to shut down the government. We
are going to shut down because we can't pass our laws the way we want
them.
Do you know what? The country has had an election. The country has
elected a President. This was discussed in the Presidential election.
This was discussed in Senate elections over and over again.
In 5 minutes, the government will shut down. This bill does nothing
to
[[Page H6043]]
prevent that. Until the Republicans change their mind, we won't have an
operating Federal Government.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, we just entertained a piece of legislation
that came from the Senate. There is a lot of business that needs to be
done. We had the gentleman from Kentucky, Hal Rogers, chairman of the
Appropriations Committee, who was here, who spoke very favorably not
only about his optimism of being able to work through this with his
colleagues, not only the gentlewoman Nita Lowey, his ranking member,
but also the working relationship that the Appropriations Committee has
with our Senate colleagues.
I think if there is one thing that is a takeaway from tonight, that
is that Hal Rogers, a man who has been in this body for a long period
of time and who has great wisdom about not only the intricacies and the
running of the government but also, I think, a good bit of esprit that
comes with it, not just optimism, but his desire to make sure that good
things happen, that is what Hal Rogers was on this floor talking to us
about.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Lewisville, Texas, Dr. Michael Burgess, a member of the
Rules Committee.
Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, you have to ask yourself--most Americans do understand
the concept of fairness--when did fairness become a partisan issue?
Certainly tonight it seems that is the case.
Now, look, no secret I have opposed the Affordable Care Act ever
since I heard the first stirrings, the first musings about it in our
Energy and Commerce Committee. I opposed it in committee, opposed it
here on the floor of the House, opposed the Senate bill that came over
to the House. I have opposed it at every opportunity.
Yes, there have been multiple attempts to repeal it since the
Republicans took majority in January of 2011. Seven of those times
actually got passed by the Senate, went to the President, and he signed
them into law. So there have been some restrictions on the Affordable
Care Act over the past 3 years.
But honestly, the changes that have occurred to the Affordable Care
Act that have been the most dramatic and the most profound are those
changes that are brought about by the President himself, by the
administration itself. They are sort of like the delayer in chief for
parts of the Affordable Care Act.
I've had constituents email me, text me, and say: What blog post do I
need to follow if I'm going to keep up with the changes in the
Affordable Care Act? I had an HR director say: What Twitter feed should
I keep up with? I have had other constituents ask me: Is there an
Instagram place I should look at to keep up with the changes that are
occurring with the Affordable Care Act? We are all familiar with them.
We have discussed them the past several days.
The fact that the preexisting condition program--the Federal
preexisting condition program--that the President and Speaker Pelosi
talked about with such high regard, the sign-up window has been closed
since February 1. No one can sign up for the Federal preexisting
program.
There was supposed to be caps on out-of-pocket expenses starting in
2014. Well, guess what? Those got delayed by a whim.
We are all familiar with July 2, when on a blog post the employer
mandate was just suddenly set aside, and then 3 days later, all of the
reporting requirements were sort of laid aside.
So people are concerned that parts of this law seem expendable, but
they just don't know which parts are.
The most egregious one was what happened in the early part of August,
right before this body went back to their district work period, where
the fundamental fairness, where a different set of rules were going to
apply to Members of Congress. Constituents do not understand that.
So this week we have had an opportunity to repair that damage, repair
that credibility with our constituents. That went over to the Senate
tonight and, unfortunately, it failed. I wish that it hadn't. Perhaps
we could be talking now about the funding of the government to December
15 and things could continue on as planned, but it didn't work out that
way.
{time} 0000
But this issue of fundamental fairness is not going to go away; it's
going to be a recurrent theme. People are going to be asking us
questions: Why couldn't we settle on the issue of fundamental fairness
and do what's right for the American people and, in the process, keep
the government open?
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, it is midnight, and the great Government
of the United States is now closed.
I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern),
a member of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. McGOVERN. I thank the gentlelady for yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, this is a joke that we are having this debate at all at
this particular time now that it's midnight and the government is
officially shut down.
My Republican friends say they're coming here to try to keep the
government open. They're here, and they're presiding over a Congress
that has now shut the U.S. Government down. After 6 months of refusing
to go to conference on the budget--18 times I've been told the
Republicans objected to going to conference on the budget with the
Senate--now they say they want a conference committee. It's too late.
It's past midnight now. The government has been shut down. This is both
cynical and disgraceful. Republicans have shut down the Government of
the United States of America.
I would say to my Republican friends that you own this. This is your
shutdown. This represents an absolute failure of your leadership. Real
people in this country--your constituents--are going to be hurt by your
inability to do your job.
Now, the funding levels in the continuing resolution are unbelievably
low. They are at your beloved sequester levels. You should be declaring
victory that the Senate actually agreed to your low numbers, but that's
not enough. You had to overreach. You had to add in the dismantling of
the Affordable Care Act and 1,000 other things that were pet projects
of the Tea Party right wing in your party.
The fact of the matter is you knew all along that the President would
never sign a bill that dismantled the Affordable Care Act--nor should
he--nor would the Senate go along with that, but you did it anyway. You
are shutting down this government because you didn't get your way. You
didn't get your way, so you're shutting down the government.
I would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle that
elections in the United States of America still do matter. Your
candidate for President lost badly, and this was his No. 1 issue--to
repeal the Affordable Care Act. Your Senate candidates lost badly. In
fact, you lost seats in the House, and the Democrats got a million more
votes than you did in House elections, but because of some very clever
redistricting, you were able to hold on to the majority.
The American people rejected your call to overturn the Affordable
Care Act, and the American people overwhelmingly do not want you to
shut this government down, which you just did 2 minutes ago.
This is the people's House. We are supposed to be doing the people's
business. We are not supposed to be doing the business of some right-
wing Senator from Texas who somehow wants to run for President and
wants to get the Tea Party all excited. You are supposed to represent
your constituents. We all are. Our constituents--the people of this
country--do not want the United States Government to shut down.
This is a failure of your leadership, and I would say there is one
way for us to kind of make things better at this point, which is to let
us bring a clean continuing resolution to the floor--a clean bill, a
clean CR. Even with those low levels that I have some problems with, I
guarantee you that it will pass with Democratic votes and Republican
votes. We can reverse this shutdown now by bringing a clean continuing
resolution to the floor. Please do it. Please don't shut this
government down.
Mr. SESSIONS. At this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
New
[[Page H6044]]
York, Congressman Reed, a second-term Member and one of the clearest
thinkers in our party.
Mr. REED. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear as to what we did tonight.
We sent a request to the United States Senate to simply treat all
Americans equally under ObamaCare. We sent a request to the Senate to
keep the government open. Because the President has chosen to give a
pass to Big Business for 1 year, we are asking to give that pass to
American individuals for 1 year.
The law isn't ready. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle
know it's not ready. Why can't we just treat American citizens--
individuals--the same as our President, who, by his executive order,
has said Big Business should get a pass?
Most egregiously, why wouldn't you agree with us that Members of
Congress should not be treated any differently under the law? You know
the truth, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Mr.
Speaker: Members of Congress are getting special treatment under this
law because of what Harry Reid and the President did through the OPM.
Our contributions for our health insurance premiums as we go into the
exchanges are different and are not allowed to every other American
citizen.
So what we stood up for tonight was a simple request: we will keep
this government open, but let's just treat American citizens no
differently--no special treatment for Members of Congress, American
citizens no different than Big Business.
Why don't you join us. Why don't you join us in those commonsense
reforms by which Americans across the country are saying, We don't want
this law. It's not ready to go.
At a minimum, just treat us the same as Big Business America. Treat
us the same, and don't give Members of Congress--yourselves--to my
friends across the aisle, special treatment under the law.
That simple agreement would have kept the government open, and I hope
that you will heed that fundamental call for fairness. Yet you turned
your ear to the American people. In the U.S. Senate, you turned a deaf
ear to the American people and said we are going to continue the status
quo and that somehow we in Washington, D.C., should be treated
differently.
I reject that message. I reject that notion. I stand for equality for
all Americans.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am compelled to say that, if the
Members of Congress are going to be treated like everybody else in the
country, we would be the only group that's forced not to take our
employer's health insurance.
I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van
Hollen), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on the
Budget, who has tried valiantly to do away with sequestration.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank the ranking member.
Mr. Speaker, since the very moment the Affordable Care Act was
passed, we have heard a massive campaign of misinformation and
distortions from our Republican colleagues. From the beginning, we
heard about death panels. Then we heard it was going to be the
government takeover of health care. That earned them the independent
PolitiFact lie of the year in 2010.
Tonight, Mr. Speaker, on the floor, we just hear massive distortions,
and what's shameful is that they want to use that now as the cover to
shut down the United States Government. They want to use that so that,
tomorrow, millions of Americans can't sign up for or access affordable
care. Members of Congress--all of us--we have affordable care, but,
tomorrow, you want to deny that affordable care to millions of
Americans and take it away from the millions of Americans who already
have protection as a result of the Affordable Care Act. That is
shameful.
Now, this notion that they are going to go to conference on the
continuing resolution is a fig leaf that's not going to get them any
political cover. The only way to have kept the government open tonight,
which is now closed, was to take up the Senate's continuing resolution
and fund the government. Yes, then we should go to conference on the
budget.
Mr. Speaker, we have been trying to go to conference on the budget to
negotiate our differences since March, when this House passed a budget
and the Senate passed a budget. In fact, back in April, I and my
Democratic colleagues introduced a very simple resolution saying that
the Speaker should obey the regular order and appoint budget
negotiators here from the House to meet with the Senate. What did the
Speaker do? Nothing. He blocked the ability to have those budget
negotiations.
We actually voted on it three times in this House. My Republican
colleagues voted against the opportunity to appoint budget negotiators.
In the United States Senate, what happened? On 18 occasions, Senator
Lee and other Republican Senators blocked the effort to go to budget
negotiations.
Now, Senator McCain said that was insane for Republicans in the
Senate to do because he pointed out that our Republican colleagues
claimed that they wanted to work on these budget negotiations all
along. They said ``no budget, no pay.'' What they forgot to tell the
American people was that they didn't mean a Federal budget. They meant
the House passes a budget and the Senate passes a budget, but then they
were going to block the effort to negotiate the differences.
Now, why would you block that, Mr. Speaker? Because, when you go to a
budget negotiation, you've got to compromise, and you've got to meet
the other party halfway. You've got a Tea Party right wing in this
House that refuses to compromise. So what did they say? We're not going
to go to conference. We are going to vote three times against
negotiations. In May, in June, and in July, no negotiations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman another 30 seconds.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank the gentlelady.
So what do you do if you don't want to negotiate, if you don't want
to compromise? You back the country up against the wall, and here we
are with that strategy.
The idea is, since you don't want to compromise in the regular order,
let's try and get what we want by threatening to shut down the United
States Government. If that doesn't work, we are going to make sure the
United States Government can't pay its bills on time so that we can
enact our radical agenda that way because you're not willing to do it
through the regular process of compromise.
So nobody should be fooled about this idea of trying to get fig leaf
cover on going to conference on this. We should have voted on the bill
and kept the government open. It is a shameful day for the United
States Government and especially for this Congress.
Mr. SESSIONS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Republicans came to the floor of the House several
weeks ago--we've done it lots of times and have probably had 41 votes
on ObamaCare. We've talked about how $716 billion was cut from senior
care, Medicare. We think that's a problem. We think that was wrong. We
think pushing this off on seniors is the wrong thing to do. We know the
cost to employers.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Will the gentleman yield on that point on Medicare?
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, it is my time.
I do appreciate the gentleman because I know what he is going to tell
me. He's going to say, Well, we used that money in our budget. In fact,
we did, because this was an action that was done 3 years ago, and we
are trying to repeal the bill that took $716 billion from seniors. We
disagreed with it, but after 3 years, you have to use the money. We
promised at that time that we would stay after it.
Look, the gentleman is the one who voted for it. Not one Republican
voted to take the money. I know what their dialogue is, and I
appreciate the gentleman. He is a very dear friend of mine. I know
they're frustrated when we tell the truth about how bad this bill is.
With regard to the cost to employers, Delta Air Lines marched up to
the White House in February and said, Hey, guys. Just so you know,
you're
[[Page H6045]]
going to cost Delta Air Lines over $100 million this year. In the first
year, it's going to cost $100 million.
Trust me. They were listening over there. That may be why they said,
Whoops, we'll let business off the hook.
They should have done the same thing for everybody. Mr. Speaker,
that's part of why we're here--we are here for fairness.
What do Members of Congress hear when they go back home? They hear a
lot of things, but here is the one that we hear more than anything.
What we hear about is that there have been seven part-time jobs created
for every one full-time job in America.
Now, Mr. Speaker, that is not what we were promised. We have talked a
lot about what Republicans have said and not said and what's right and
wrong. What is true is that the President of the United States stood
right here and said: not one dime of taxpayer money, and you can keep
the insurance that you've got if you want it. That's our promise to the
American people.
{time} 0015
Mr. Speaker, since ObamaCare has passed, there have been for every
seven part-time jobs that were created, only one full-time job. We're
becoming a part-time job Nation. Mr. Speaker, you cannot be the
greatest Nation in the world as an economic power, you cannot get kids,
our young children, to want to go to college for a part-time job. It's
just not working well.
That's why the Republican Party is here. That's why we have Members
here tonight. That's why we've sent three CRs. That's why we have
meeting after meeting after meeting trying to determine how do we best
get after this. We didn't stay after the same way. We sent one offer, a
second offer, a third offer. We're now asking something very simple: a
chance to appoint conferees, get together face to face, talk about the
issues and ideas, find room for compromise, and do something better.
That's what we're asking for.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, although what we're doing here is an
exercise in futility, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman
from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished ranking member of the
Appropriations Committee, who has been doing a wonderful job.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, now Republicans want to negotiate. After the
shutdown clock has struck the witching hour, after weeks of making
threats of insisting on your way or the highway, of arrogantly
demanding repeal or delay of affordable health care, now the
Republicans say, Please negotiate.
This is not a motion to go to conference or a motion to negotiate.
There's no time left for that. This is a motion to shut down our
government. There's been plenty of time for negotiation, and
Republicans said ``no'' at every turn. Forgive me if I remain skeptical
that Republicans actually want to negotiate now.
Republicans can stop this shutdown right now if they bring to the
floor the Senate-passed continuing resolution that removes divisive
provisions that House Republicans insist upon.
This stunt tonight doesn't do one thing to end the government
shutdown. We should call it what it really is: a pathetic, last-ditch
attempt to not be blamed for a government shutdown. This is too little
too late. We should greet this motion with the same cynicism with which
it was offered.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Ennis, Texas, Congressman Joe Barton, the dean of the Texas Republican
delegation.
Mr. BARTON. I thank the chairman of the Rules Committee as I rise in
support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, it is past midnight. Officially, the government is shut
down. That is not a good thing, whether you're a Republican or a
Democrat. We have been arguing politically the last several weeks
various proposals to fund the government short term in a continuing
resolution. We've been having some debates on the debt ceiling. If
you're like me, most of your constituents, regardless of whether
they're Republicans or Democrats, they're saying, Why can't you guys
just get together in Washington and work things out. I think the
Republican leadership in the House has been trying to do that. I know
there's some disagreement on the other side about that.
In any event, we've come up with the novel idea of going to
conference. I know a lot of the junior Members on both sides of the
aisle don't know what a conference is. It's where the Speaker of the
House and the House minority leader each appoint a certain number of
Members, normally senior Members of the committee of jurisdiction, and
the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate minority leader appoint
Members of their respective parties. If they actually do it, according
to regular order, lo and behold, the Members meet and they discuss
things.
House Republicans would put a proposal on the table, House Democrats
would; Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans. They would argue over it
and debate it, maybe amend it. Then you take a vote. The House Members
vote. If they agree, that's the House position, if the majority agrees.
The Senate votes, and if they agree, that's the Senate position. If
they don't agree, they have a stalemate. At least we'd be talking, and
it would be Members, not leadership, rank-and-file Members. And it's
just possible, if they open the conference, C-SPAN could cover it and
the American people could see what's going on. There's no preordained
outcome, Mr. Speaker, but it would be good for democracy.
I can see no reason why my friends on the minority side don't want to
go to conference with the Senate. I would assume that the distinguished
ranking member, Nita Lowey, would head the Democrat conferees and that
Hal Rogers, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, would head
us. That's up to the Speaker and the minority leader to appoint that,
but I assume that. I trust them. We can disagree on what the solution
is, but for Heaven's sake, I can't see why we can't agree that actually
doing what the rules say we should do is somehow partisan and somehow
is a negative thing.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule, and I rise in
strong support of the resolution that we should go to conference with
the other body and hopefully make it an expeditious conference and work
this out.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the ranking member of the
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science.
Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady.
I've seen this act before, but most Americans don't recall the
shutdown under the Clinton administration. What they recall is the 25
million jobs moving our economy forward, having peace and prosperity.
And I would bet 20 years from now, this fleeting moment is not going to
be recalled by many people in our country. They're going to think about
the 42 months of straight employment gains, the return of the housing
market, the auto industry, and bringing our young people home from
Iraq.
This majority has managed this brilliantly. Now the ObamaCare
affordable health care exchanges are open all across the land, but
they've managed to shut the national parks and to do a lot of other
damage to our reputation even by this meaningless shutdown. Senator
Mikulski has said she'd be glad to go to conference once we pass a CR
so that the government stays open.
What the majority comes to the floor with is, Well, we don't want the
government to stay open; we want to go to conference. This is not going
to work. The Obama record, from eliminating Don't Ask, Don't Tell, to
Wall Street reform, to the stimulus, and, most importantly, for opening
the door to health care for tens of millions of Americans who have
never had the access to be able to go to a marketplace--those
marketplaces are open. They're going to stay open no matter what this
majority does. Never again is health care going to be denied to people
who are American citizens here in the greatest country on the face of
the Earth.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, our Republican Members come from diverse
districts all over this country. Men and women get together, we meet,
we talk, we have clear voices. We listen to each other about what
people are hearing from back home.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Dallas, Texas
(Mr.
[[Page H6046]]
Hensarling), the chairman of the Financial Services Committee. He is
one of the clearest voices in the discussion that we've had. He
represents a largely rural district--people who get up and go to work
every day, people who have a lot at risk, people who care about this
country, men and women who provide for their children, and their
children are part of the military. They believe in this country, and
they know that America's greatest days need to be in our future. It
requires vigilance, and every day you have to stay after it.
Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the
distinguished chairman of the Rules Committee for bringing us to this
point with his leadership in trying to get America back to work to take
us off the road to bankruptcy and to ensure that there is fairness for
all Americans.
Mr. Speaker, as I listened to this debate--I'm sure the Americans
perhaps on a little bit more Western time zone hopefully are still
following this. If they are, I understand how they could get confused.
But, Mr. Speaker, we're down to only debating two different matters
here.
Should the bosses in America get a better deal than their employees
in ObamaCare? That's what we're debating here. More importantly, Mr.
Speaker, we are debating should Members of Congress get a better deal
than every other American in ObamaCare? House Republicans say, No,
that's not fair. That's not equal protection under the law. Yet, our
friends on the other side of the aisle are now saying, No, no, no.
They're going to protect this sweetheart deal.
It's not in the law, ladies and gentlemen, yet they want to protect
this sweetheart deal. And people wonder why there's cynicism about
Congress, about why Washington elites get to have a better deal than
everybody else because they know more. Now Members of Congress, thanks
to the Obama administration, are going to be the only people in America
to get subsidies in the ObamaCare exchanges. Is this fair, Mr. Speaker?
I think not.
Clearly, the other side of the aisle wants to preserve this special
deal for Members of Congress granted by the President of the United
States. Where is the fairness in that, Mr. Speaker? Again, where is the
fairness in letting employers--no, no, we're going to give you a year
delay, but no fairness for the people who do the work, pay the taxes,
and pull the wagon to make America great. That's what this debate is
about.
Here we have one party who, because they won't treat employees as
well as their employers because they're preserving a congressional
sweetheart deal, are prepared to shut down the government. That's what
we're debating. We've got two matters.
Mr. Speaker, we've come time after time after time in the spirit of
negotiation, but, no, the President will negotiate with Iranians, he'll
negotiate with Syrians, he'll negotiate with Russians, but he will not
negotiate with Americans if they happen to be Republicans. No
negotiation.
Again, is it any surprise that America gets cynical? Why is this, Mr.
Speaker? Is it arrogance? Is it hubris? Is it pride? We know that this
law apparently is not perfect already. The President has signed several
changes into ObamaCare. Now we've had delay after delay after delay.
Income verification, delayed; high-risk pools, delayed; out-of-pocket
cost limitations, delayed; small business health options--just 3 or 4
days ago, as the President was extolling the virtues of the great
rollout of ObamaCare, 20 minutes later his own administration announced
yet another delay; small business health option.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SESSIONS. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. HENSARLING. It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that the President of
the United States has perhaps realized that his signature law is not
perfect.
All House Republicans are saying in a spending bill--and ladies and
gentlemen, this does spend money. This isn't some little sideshow. This
is what we do in the Constitution. The Congress has the power of the
purse. It's not the power of the rubber stamp. It is the power of the
purse. ObamaCare is about the purse.
We're saying two things, Mr. President. In a law that you have
already delayed time after time after time, if you're going to delay it
for the employers, delay it for the employees. And, Mr. President, how
can you decide that Members of Congress, to placate them, are going to
get a sweetheart deal? This has to end, and yet our friends on the
other side of the aisle are sitting here defending it, refusing to
support a conference.
We need fairness for the American people. We need to go to
conference. End the sweetheart deals.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address all remarks
to the Chair.
{time} 1230
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, over 3 years ago, the House and Senate
approved and the President signed the Affordable Care Act. Our friends
on the other side said it was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court said
they were wrong.
They nominated a candidate for President of the United States who
said that if he was elected, the first thing he would do would be to
repeal the Affordable Care Act. The voters said that was wrong.
And tonight their obsession continues, and they have shut down the
United States Government because of that obsession. The American people
rise up and join us in saying, you were wrong twice before, and you are
wrong again this time. This is the wrong thing to do for the American
public.
There's a way out of this debacle. It's to put on the House floor a
bill that passed the United States Senate, that the President said he
would sign, that most of us believe a majority of this House would vote
for right now.
So I want to ask the chairman of the Rules Committee if he would
agree with me that the right and decent thing to do would be to put on
this floor right now the Senate bill so that we can have an up-or-down
vote.
Will the chairman agree to do that?
Mr. SESSIONS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. ANDREWS. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SESSIONS. The House has attempted three times to send something
over, and it's come back rejected every time.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, will the chairman agree that the
fair thing to do would be to put the Senate bill on the floor so that
each Member could cast an up-or-down vote?
I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. SESSIONS. Well, the question I have is, Did the Senate pass the
bill?
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, the Senate passed a bill to keep the
government running at your numbers that you wanted in budget.
We are asking, give every Member of this House a fair up-or-down vote
on that bill. Will you do that?
I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. SESSIONS. If you put back in the language that we asked for, we
will be very pleased to agree to it.
And I thank the gentleman from New Jersey.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. ANDREWS. My colleagues, Mr. Speaker, when people in politics
don't want to say ``yes'' or ``no,'' they just keep talking.
We could do a lot more tonight than just keep talking. We could cast
a vote that would say to the American taxpayers, the services you are
still paying for you're going to get tomorrow morning. The absence of
that vote from the majority should tell you all you need to know. They
are afraid to put that vote on the floor because they would lose.
Well, the American people are losing because of their bankrupt and
invalid choice.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, you know, our great government, on October
1, was going to be open for health care. Mr. Speaker, all anybody has
to do is to go online right now and try to sign up for this after years
of our friends in the Obama administration
[[Page H6047]]
getting ready. And the site says, I'm sorry, your account cannot be
done. The system is unavailable.
So here we are at the great day of October 1, at 12:30. Mandatory
funding by the government can't get in the way of that. Right here,
system unavailable for the American public. Why am I not surprised?
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), our side of the Texans.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentlelady.
Mr. Speaker, let me disabuse my friends of any myth. Right now, the
Republicans have shut the government down.
SOS message from Texas: we are a diverse State with different
opinions. One that says, with so many people that need health
insurance, we like ObamaCare.
But another SOS message: Ellington Field right now is shut down. The
towers in Ellington Field in Texas are shut down. Why? Because the
Republicans are on the floor of the House with a phony procedural vote
that is not going anywhere, and the government is shut down.
Hundreds of thousands of Federal employees, shut down. The SBA with
no loans, shut down. Projects to improve our transportation, shut down.
Federal economic reports and businesses, shut down. Workers in region 6
offices in the State of Texas, shut down. They will not be able to go
to work tomorrow.
I only hope that we will have a moment of reconciliation and common
sense to speak on behalf of the American people. Please know that Texas
recognizes that the American people are important. I don't want a
government shutdown. I want a vote on a clean continuing resolution
now. Texas believes in the best for America, not special interests.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).
Mr. KILDEE. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, you know, I've heard a number of the Members on the
other side make reference to the notion that we ought to have a
conference, and I have heard some eloquent commentary referencing the
point that we ought to talk to one another.
Well, I know it's been said before, but I'm a new Member; and I heard
a bit of a lecture, that maybe some of the new Members don't know what
a conference committee is. Well, we know. We understand. We know how
this works, so much so that many of us joined the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), on our side, on April 23 of this year asking
that a conference committee be appointed to reconcile the differences
in the budgets passed by the House and by the Senate. I didn't hear any
of those speeches then about the value of talking to one another. Not
until 15 minutes before the government of the United States was to be
shut down did suddenly something that a freshman has known for a long
time, did it occur to folks on the other side that it might be time to
have a conversation. It's too little. It's too late. Bring the Senate-
passed CR here, and we will adopt it.
Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).
Mr. ISRAEL. I thank the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, this is the latest gimmick in the latest game by people
who simply cannot govern, and the casualty will be American families
and the risk that they are inflicting on our economy.
Tomorrow in my home State and the ranking member's home State, the
Statue of Liberty will be closed. The last time the Statue of Liberty
was closed, Mr. Speaker, was when a hurricane struck it. And may I add
that the majority refused to pass a bill to provide relief assistance
when the Statue of Liberty was closed as a result of the hurricane.
This time, the Statue of Liberty is going to be closed by their
recklessness and their irresponsibility in order to advance a selfish
political agenda.
Mr. Speaker, the American people expect two things from us. They
expect the government to stay open and operate efficiently, and they
expect their Congress to communicate. Our position is that we should
keep the government open and operating efficiently while we communicate
and go to conference. Their position is, shut it down, close the Statue
of Liberty, and talk later.
The American people want us to talk now, and they want this
government to remain open. We have heard over the past several days and
over the past 2 weeks our friends on the other side saying, listen to
the American people. Our friends on the other side should listen to
themselves. They have asked us for a budget today. They said, We want a
budget. Take it or leave it. We gave them their figure. They said, Take
it or leave it. We said, We'll take it; and they left it.
Mr. Speaker, the Congress of chronic chaos continues every day, every
night; and the American people deserve better.
Open the Statue of Liberty tomorrow. Keep Small Business
Administration loans going to small businesses. Keep college loans
going to kids who need the college loans. Keep middle class families
afloat. And communicate while the government remains open.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise my colleague, the
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), that I have no further
requests for time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Let me advise my colleague, Mr. Speaker, that I have
one further request for time, and then I am prepared to close.
Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Larson).
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I thank the gentlelady.
Mr. Speaker, there is only one question before us this evening, and
that question has been proffered by so many on the other side of the
aisle. That question, as articulated by the gentleman from New Jersey
(Mr. Andrews), is to do what's fair, to do what's fair for the American
people--not Democrats, not Republicans, not Green Party, not Tea Party,
but the American people.
The American people in the greatest land, the greatest country in the
world deserve to have their government open; and they deserve to know
where their Members stand.
Do you stand with your country? Do you stand for your country? Or do
you want to take it down this evening?
Stand up for your country. Stand up for America. Stand with us this
evening, and keep this government going in the name of fairness.
Mr. SESSIONS. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I'll tell you, I feel such a combination
of both sadness and anger that it makes it really difficult for me to
express it. On the one hand, the chaos and the lurching from crisis to
crisis that this Congress has continually gone through leaves me not
just perplexed but absolutely bewildered.
At the same time, I think what overrides everything for me tonight is
a sense of terrible sadness that all of us here who have sworn to
protect and defend the United States of America have completely given
up on that idea. Because the majority has moved so assiduously towards
this moment, this is on them. This government shutdown belongs to them
for the rest of their lives.
And now, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you that the great country of the
United States, the beacon of light for almost everybody in the world,
the defender of all the people in the world is out of a government now.
The most important institution of government anywhere ever devised is
now closed.
And I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, tonight is a night that we will remember.
The things that will be remembered about this night are that our party
has attempted to work with, reach out, and deal with our colleagues in
the United States Senate.
We have sent a CR, a clean CR at sequester levels and defunding
ObamaCare. It was shipped back to us. A second CR, a clean CR at
sequester levels, a 1-year delay of the entire ObamaCare law. A third
CR at sequester levels, a 1-year delay, and removal
[[Page H6048]]
of certain benefits that we believe is fairness.
But the overriding suggestion that we have made tonight goes back to
a little bit over an hour ago with the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Rogers), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
{time} 1245
He is asking for the opportunity for us to go to conference to
resolve our differences, people working together, people looking at
each other. As was suggested by the gentleman, Mr. Barton, yeah,
probably a TV would be in the room and the American people would get a
chance to weigh and balance both sides also. We think that's important.
That's what we're asking for. That's why we're on the floor of the
House of Representatives tonight, and this is what we stand for.
We're after fairness. We're after an opportunity to get these ideas
and the issues resolved for the American people. So I'm going to urge
my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the resolution.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, the House Republican majority has decided
that appeasing radical Tea Party extremists is more important to them
than providing necessary funding for the continued operation of the
federal government, even on a temporary basis. Passing a common sense
continuing resolution would ensure vital government services for
millions of American families and business. These are the basic
services provided everyday by federal agencies that keep our
communities and country strong.
It is now the early morning hour of October 1st and Fiscal Year 2014
has commenced, but the government is shutdown. Here we are and the
Republican majority in the House has failed to pass a simple, common
sense extension to fund the government that the U.S. Senate passed
three times.
The Tea Party GOP success in shutting down the government tonight
means that over 800,000 federal employees will immediately be
furloughed and vital federal services will be suspended indefinitely.
Government services and functions we all take for granted for things
like food inspections, government permitting, and essential scientific
research will all immediately stop. They don't need to stop, but
Republican House members have made this choice as part of a cynical,
dangerous and harmful political strategy intended to appease
conservatives, anarchists and those who disregard the value of
government.
Why? Why would Congress want the government to shutdown? Because Tea
Party Republicans are determined to repeal, defund, or delay the
implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), denying
healthcare to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, in exchange for
allowing the federal government to keep operating. This political stunt
is beyond irresponsible, it is irrational when considering the damage
it will cause to the economy, job creation, and families all across
America.
Despite the fact that ObamaCare is the law, upheld by the U.S.
Supreme Court as constitutional, and was the basis of President Obama's
re-election in 2012, House Tea Party Republicans still feel they can
``negotiate'' the dismantling of ObamaCare by holding the entire
federal government hostage.
Ironically, the Affordable Care Act's exchanges will open today and
this government shutdown will do nothing to deter, delay or derail this
critical health program from being implemented. ObamaCare is going
forward and millions of Americans will have access to affordable
healthcare. House Republicans have voted as many as 45 times, including
tonight, to repeal, replace or defund ObamaCare. They are obsessed with
this law and it has become a mania that has now resulted in a shutdown
of the U.S. government--it is outrageous and it angers me greatly. It
is a disgrace.
When will House Republicans end the dangerous game they are playing
and put the needs of our Nation above their narrow, backwards, and
irresponsible ideological demands? I was optimistic that Democrats and
Republicans could find common ground on a clean continuing resolution
that passed the U.S. Senate to fund the government for the next six
weeks.
It is clear to the American people that the Republican strategy has
been to create a crisis and use a government shutdown as a bargaining
chip to advance an extreme agenda regardless whether there are millions
of Americans who get hurt.
Yesterday in Politico my Republican friend and colleague from Idaho,
Rep. Mike Simpson, was quoted as saying, ``We bitched and moaned about
the Senate not doing a budget. Then they did, and we didn't go to
conference. You need a big plan, Democrats and Republicans in the same
room. We should have gone to conference.''
He is right. House Republicans refused to negotiate on the federal
budget. The ignored calls from Democrats to appoint conferees.
Tonight the New York Times reported, ``The House's most ardent
conservatives appeared ready to see their war over the health care law
through to its inevitable conclusion, a shutdown that would test
voters' patience. But cracks in the Republican caucus opened into
fissures of frustration.''
The Times article then goes to quote one of our colleages: ``You have
this group that keeps saying somehow if you're not with them, you're
for Obamacare,'' said Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of
California. ``If you're not with exactly their plan, exactly what they
want to do, then you're somehow for Obamacare, and it's just getting a
little old. It's moronic to shut down the government over this.''
That's right ``moronic.'' And I could not agree with my Republican
colleague more.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, the passage of a
continuing resolution is about funding the government--not re-writing
law to repeal, defund, or derail health reform. Democrats would like to
see a Farm Bill, immigration reform, and responsible gun safety
legislation passed into law, but we are not holding the federal
government and the American people hostage to advance our legislative
priorities. It is not responsible. Congress needs to pass a clean
continuing resolution, re-open the government, and govern responsibly.
The situation the American people find themselves in at this moment
is appalling, it is maddening. This Republican Congress has abdicated
its responsibility and duty to the citizens of this country. This
federal government shutdown is a manufactured crisis for political gain
propagated by the extremists who disdain government itself.
My job as a member of Congress is to govern. I am committed to work
With my Republican colleagues, my colleagues in the U.S. Senate, and
the Obama Administration to pass a clean continuing resolution that
funds the government without legislating radical riders or hostage
taking.
This great nation is being tested by the irresponsibility of a House
Republican majority that refused to govern. I sincerely hope the
American people voice their displeasure, disdain, and disgust at the
political game playing.
The previous question was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the 15-
minute vote on adoption of the resolution will be followed by a 5-
minute vote on approval of the Journal, if ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 228,
nays 199, not voting 4, as follows:
[Roll No. 505]
YEAS--228
Aderholt
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barrow (GA)
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Maffei
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peterson
[[Page H6049]]
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NAYS--199
Andrews
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bentivolio
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Dent
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Grimm
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
King (NY)
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Massie
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Wolf
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--4
Bachus
McCarthy (NY)
Rush
Velazquez
{time} 0110
Mrs. CAPPS and Mr. RUIZ changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.
Mr. PALAZZO changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________