[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
(Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute.)
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, we're now in our 37th hour of the House
Republican shutdown; 800,000 Federal employees have been furloughed
from their jobs; 800,000 Americans don't know how they'll be able to
pay their bills and provide for their families because Speaker Boehner
refuses to stand up to the extremists in his own party.
I keep hearing people say the Speaker is just doing what he has to do
because of the Tea Party, but the fact is that a real leader wouldn't
jeopardize the jobs and livelihoods of 800,000 Americans to save his
own.
That's what this is all about. This is about one man standing in the
way of ending the shutdown.
It's time for Speaker Boehner to find the courage to end the
Republican crusade against health care reform and Federal workers by
bringing a clean funding bill to the floor, which will pass with
bipartisan support, and demonstrate to the American people we can work
together to get things done.
It's time for the Speaker to do what's right for our country: reopen
the government and be the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, not simply the Speaker of the Republican Party.
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