[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 133 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HARD CHOICES TO MAKE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Conaway) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, we're here during--I would not call it 
historic, because historical things simply happen every once in a 
while--a shutdown of our Federal Government. It's come because our 
colleagues on the other side of the building have simply taken an 
attitude of ``it's my way or the highway.'' That's a wonderful way to 
look at life. It rarely works in the life you and I live in and that 
most of our colleagues and our constituents live in back home.
  If you look at the Constitution by which we govern this country, it 
was a series of compromises--big States, little States, unicameral, 
bicameral. Across the board, there were compromises within that 
document that have allowed us to try to prolong and preserve this 
wonderful experiment that we call the American Dream and self-
governance. This ``my way or the highway'' attitude that the leadership 
of the Senate has taken is calling that into question.
  The statements made over the last several days by the folks who 
support the leader in the Senate must make them feel really good. But 
to those of us on the receiving end of those comments, it is insulting 
to be treated this way. It is insulting to have every opportunity we've 
put over there to try to reach a compromise on this issue to have it 
simply dismissed out of hand, not taken up on its merits but simply 
looked at and said: Never mind. It's the lower body over there. We'll 
treat these folks like children. Their ideas are unworthy of 
consideration and unworthy of debate. Let's just put them on the table 
with all the other hundreds of bills that this House has passed over 
the last 2 years and 8 months to try to move this country into a better 
position to move it along.
  JFK said, ``Let us never negotiate out of fear.'' We agree with that. 
But he also said, ``Let us not fear to negotiate.''
  Why is Harry Reid fearing the negotiations? We've got our conferees 
ready to go. They've been named this morning--all good men and women. 
And the simple question is: Mr. Reid, where are your conferees? Why are 
you afraid of getting into a room with House Republicans and House 
Democrats--if they'll ever appoint their conferees--and work this issue 
out? Why are you fearing that option? You're fearing it because you 
know that the American people are behind House Republicans in this 
effort to rein this in.
  The core of this issue is the Affordable Care Act. It is without 
question that this country is on an unsustainable fiscal track. We 
cannot afford the promises we've already made to each other over the 
next 75 years. Our grandchildren are at risk for not being able to 
self-govern because of the spending plans that we've got in place right 
now. The Affordable Care Act adds a new, third entitlement to this mix. 
It also is unsustainable. So why would we want to continue this process 
in the face of the threats that we already have with respect to the 
spending plans that are now in place for Medicare, Social Security, and 
Medicaid? They will bankrupt this country soon.
  We've got hard choices to make with health care. There is infinite 
demand for health care, unquestionably, and there are finite resources. 
That requires a reconciliation.
  At the core of the Affordable Care Act is: Who does that 
reconciliation? Should it be government? Should it be 15 bureaucrats in 
a room, nobody knows who they are, that are deciding what that care 
should look like? Or, should it be patients and caregivers making some 
of the most difficult decisions we will ever make in life to decide on 
health care issues? My money is on the folks in the fight. My money is 
on the families and the caregivers. They can make far better decisions 
in this difficult reconciliation process than anything that could be 
done here in Washington, D.C.
  At its core, that's the fight--who makes your health care decisions 
at the end of the day, and how can this country afford the promises 
we've already made, which this President has said over and over he will 
not negotiate with respect to Medicare and Social Security. Where are 
his plans? Where are Harry Reid's plans for those two entitlements? And 
now they've taken that same mantra with respect the Affordable Care 
Act. They're refusing to negotiate anything about that.
  It's unseemly. It's un-American. And, quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, my 
constituents are demanding that we fix this and that we stop this 
shutdown that's unnecessary, but they also demand that the Senate come 
to the table with their conferees and let's begin the process of 
working that out. It is unseemly, as I said, for the Senate to continue 
to dismiss out of hand every attempt.
  Quite frankly, those of us on the House Republican side are getting 
criticized for having to look like we're negotiating with ourselves, 
finding time and time again we're trying to find some middle ground 
that the Senate could, in fact, come to work with us; and this ``my way 
or the highway'' attitude the leadership has taken is beneath the 
dignity of this body.

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