[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 133 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6064-H6065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I just met some of 
my constituents who had been to a wedding and decided to drive to their 
Capital, the Capital of the United States of America. It was good to 
see them, good to welcome them, good to see their smiling faces and 
their faith in this Nation.
  I think it is important to lay out the real facts, for some of us who 
had the honor of serving in this House and have seen the previous 
shutdown for the debate over the last 72 hours might give the 
impression that in actuality there has been no attempt at compromise by 
the Democrats or by the President of the United States.
  Let me disabuse you of those horrible myths. First of all, there are 
many Democrats who voted for an ugly term by the name of ``sequester,'' 
which means that it was a ``compromise'' to Republicans to not shut 
down the government 2 years ago, to take an ugly number that has hurt 
families across America, that has closed Head Start seats, that has 
underfunded major infrastructure projects when cities and counties 
across America in States have been crying out and begging for the 
fixing of the national highway system long overdue, airports long 
overdue. But we accepted this ugly word called ``sequester'' because 
the original team of Members again could not find a compromise--
Republicans and Democrats--because, again, Republicans were listening 
to the far right voices and did not want the government to operate, 
simply did not want a Federal Government.

                              {time}  1130

  So the American people should know that, right now, we are operating 
under sequester--our staffs are furloughed; we are operating with 
shortened staffs when lines of cases are in our offices; our staffs are 
being penalized, and their jobs are to serve the American people, to 
answer those phones--the desperate calls from around the world of 
constituents who are stranded, of families who need help for their 
soldier sons and daughters or husbands and wives, or of seniors who 
need to be helped or to be straightened out in the confusion of the 
Medicare and Social Security system sometimes.
  That is the work that we do. We make the government work. But yet, 
right now, we are operating under furloughs. The government, itself, is 
operating under furloughs, and that's an ugly term for some people. 
``Well, let the government fall.'' I don't view it as a government; I 
view it as people.
  So, last night, it looked as if there were no compromise, but you 
have to understand that the last ditch effort of the Republican 
Conference was a save face, knowing full well that they had every 
opportunity to stop the shutting down of the government by supporting 
something called a ``CR.'' There are all of these acronyms. So, for our 
constituents who ask, ``What is that? What the heck is it?'' it simply 
means we would keep the doors open until November 15, and reasonable 
men and women--reasonable minds, constituents--could have input, and 
discussions could be entered into about what are the pros and cons of 
running this government, about what is the value of the government, 
about how do we meet the Founding Fathers' values and the Constitution 
that said, We formed this Union to make it more perfect so that all 
men--and women, I might add--would have the right for the great values 
of this Nation. But each time over the weekend, there was one obstacle 
after another. One Republican Member put up a silly amendment about 
denying women preventative health care when dealing with their 
gynecological health needs.
  I think it is important to be able to know the truth. They say that 
the truth will set you free, and the truth is that we now have a sense 
of rebels who really don't have a cause, because the cause should be 
the American people.
  I note that, in my own community, a base of services of the National 
Guard was shut down immediately at midnight last evening, or early this 
morning. These are the consequences--veteran service centers, Mr. 
Speaker, senior citizens not getting Medicare processed.

[[Page H6065]]

  So you have an opening, my friends, and the opening and the solution 
are to have a CR until November 15. Then we can address the needs of 
the American people. We are looking for solutions and are prepared to 
work for the American people right now. Mr. Speaker, put it on the 
floor of the House, and let us vote.

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