[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6146-H6155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OPERATIONS, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, NATIONAL
GALLERY OF ART, AND UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM CONTINUING
APPROPRIATIONS RESOLUTION, 2014
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 370, I call up
the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 70) making continuing appropriations
for National Park Service operations, the Smithsonian Institution, the
National Gallery of Art, and the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes, and ask for its
immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 370, the joint
resolution is considered read.
The text of the joint resolution is as follows:
H.J. Res. 70
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are hereby appropriated, out of any money in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and out of
applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts, and funds,
for National Park Service operations, the Smithsonian
Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum for fiscal year 2014, and
for other purposes, namely:
Sec. 101. (a) Such amounts as may be necessary, at a rate
for operations as provided in the Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2013 (division F of Public Law 113-6) and
under the authority and conditions provided in such Act, for
continuing projects or activities (including the costs of
direct loans and loan guarantees) that are not otherwise
specifically provided for in this joint resolution, that were
conducted in fiscal year 2013, and for which appropriations,
funds, or other authority were made available by such Act
under the following headings:
(1) ``Department of the Interior--National Park Service--
Operation of the National Park System''.
(2) ``United States Holocaust Memorial Museum--Holocaust
Memorial Museum''.
(3) ``Smithsonian Institution''.
(4) ``National Gallery of Art''.
(b) The rate for operations provided by subsection (a) for
each account shall be calculated to reflect the full amount
of any reduction required in fiscal year 2013 pursuant to--
(1) any provision of division G of the Consolidated and
Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-
6), including section 3004; and
(2) the Presidential sequestration order dated March 1,
2013, except as attributable to budget authority made
available by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
(Public Law 113-2).
Sec. 102. Appropriations made by section 101 shall be
available to the extent and in the manner that would be
provided by the pertinent appropriations Act.
Sec. 103. Unless otherwise provided for in this joint
resolution or in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal
year 2014, appropriations and funds made available and
authority granted pursuant to this joint resolution shall be
available until whichever of the following first occurs: (1)
the enactment into law of an appropriation for any project or
activity provided for in this joint resolution; (2) the
enactment into law of the applicable appropriations Act for
fiscal year 2014 without any provision for such project or
activity; or (3) December 15, 2013.
Sec. 104. Expenditures made pursuant to this joint
resolution shall be charged to the applicable appropriation,
fund, or authorization whenever a bill in which such
applicable appropriation, fund, or authorization is contained
is enacted into law.
Sec. 105. This joint resolution shall be implemented so
that only the most limited funding action of that permitted
in the joint resolution shall be taken in order to provide
for continuation of projects and activities.
Sec. 106. Amounts made available under section 101 for
civilian personnel compensation and benefits in each
department and agency may be apportioned up to the rate for
operations necessary to avoid furloughs within such
department or agency, consistent with the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2013, except that such
authority provided under this section shall not be used until
after the department or agency has taken all necessary
actions to reduce or defer non-personnel-related
administrative expenses.
Sec. 107. It is the sense of Congress that this joint
resolution may also be referred to as the ``Open Our National
Parks and Museums Act''.
This joint resolution may be cited as the ``National Park
Service Operations, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery
of Art, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The joint resolution shall be debatable for
[[Page H6147]]
30 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
The gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) and the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Moran) each will control 15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Idaho.
General Leave
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.J. Res. 70, and that I may include
tabular material on the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Idaho?
There was no objection.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Well, here we are again, Mr. Speaker. We were here yesterday, with
the Republicans trying to open the government back up and the Democrats
opposing opening the government back up. But, Mr. Speaker, I rise today
in support of this important legislation to fund the operations of the
National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Holocaust
Museum, and the National Gallery of Art.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke yesterday about some of the effects of the
government shutdown, which began a couple of days ago. With each
passing day, we hear of more and more impacts resulting from the
shutdown across the country and in our Nation's Capital.
I want to remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that all
401 National Park Service units in the United States, 19 Smithsonian
museums and galleries, including the National Zoo, the Holocaust
Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, remain closed to the public.
This legislation, if adopted, would reopen these national treasures to
the American public.
Mr. Speaker, the government shutdown is having a real impact on real
people and on the national economy. I remind my colleagues that it is
estimated that the local economy is losing up to $200 million a day,
with the National Zoo, Smithsonian museums, Holocaust Museum, the
National Gallery of Art, and other popular attractions closed to the
public. This doesn't even begin to measure the national and
international impacts of these closures.
Think of the families, the veterans groups, the groups of students
who all have saved for months and, in some cases, years to travel to
our Nation's Capital from across the country to visit the Air and Space
Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the National
Zoo, Ford's Theater, or the National Gallery of Art.
This government shutdown has a real impact on real people. Think of
the families who made reservations to visit Yosemite or Yellowstone or
the Statue of Liberty and now find these national parks shuttered
today. This government shutdown, again, has real impacts on real
people.
Think of the impact the government shutdown is having on Ford's
Theater, one of the most hallowed National Park Service historic sites
in our country. Not only are tourists denied entrance to the historic
theater, but the shutdown has forced evening performances of the
theater to be moved to another location because of the budget impasse.
Think of the young people who have a National Park Service permit to
get married at the Jefferson Memorial this Saturday. Their families are
arriving from all over the country, over 130 people, for what should be
the happiest day of this new couple's life. But because of the
government shutdown, they are not able to get married at the Jefferson
Memorial and are now scrambling to find an alternative location to get
married.
Let's pass this bill so this couple and millions of Americans across
this country can enjoy our national parks and this couple can get
married at the Jefferson Memorial.
There's a photo on the front page of today's Washington Post showing
National Park Service employees putting up barricades around the Martin
Luther King Memorial on The National Mall. Remember, this is open air,
accessible to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a
year, and we are putting barriers around it.
Just down the street, barricades were put up around the World War II
Memorial--again, a memorial accessible to the public 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. Fortunately, these temporary barriers
didn't stop a large group of visiting World War II veterans, members of
the Greatest Generation in their eighties and nineties, many of them in
wheelchairs, from storming the barricades so that they could witness
the memorial built in their honor of courage and sacrifice.
{time} 1715
Tourists visiting Washington, and, indeed, many furloughed Federal
employees are, today, finding actual physical barriers to prevent them
from experiencing our open-air national monuments honoring Lincoln,
Jefferson, King, and our World War II heroes.
At some point, Congress and the President will overcome their
differences over Federal funding. But, isn't it ironic and even cynical
that when the government shuts down, the President's administration
actually builds physical barriers at sites that are otherwise open 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year?
How cynical is that?
Now, some people say they put those barriers there to protect them
from vandalism. So we use the Park Police to put up and protect the
barriers, but not the monuments. That doesn't make a lot of sense to
me.
To my friends on the Democratic side of the aisle and to the
President, I say this: If you seek a solution to this government
shutdown, if you seek a bipartisan solution, Mr. President, you can
start by tearing down these barriers.
Let's open our national parks. Let's open the Smithsonian, the
National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum and the National Gallery of Art.
Why are the House and Senate Democrats denying the American people
the right to visit these treasured sites?
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I will close with
this thought. By opposing this legislation, you are voting to keep our
national parks closed, to keep Yellowstone closed, to keep Yosemite
closed, to keep the Statute of Liberty closed, to keep Ford's Theater
closed.
You are voting to keep the Smithsonian closed. You are voting to keep
the National Zoo closed. You are voting to keep the Holocaust Museum
closed. You are voting to keep the National Gallery of Art closed.
We should not be using our national parks, the Smithsonian, the
National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum and the National Gallery of Art as
hostages for the Democratic ``my way or the highway'' shutdown, and
that's exactly what this is. This is the Democratic ``you either agree
with us, or we will shut the government down.''
We just simply wanted to go to conference, but no, that's not good
enough either. We can't go to conference to talk about these
differences, so let's shut it down, and that's exactly what the
Democratic Party has done.
Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill, and I encourage my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. Let's reopen these
national treasures.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as Yogi Berra would say, it's deja vu all over again.
Yesterday, the majority rushed to the floor this very bill to
partially open the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, the
Holocaust Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. We had a spirited
debate, and the House failed to pass this bill.
But now, here we are back again, debating the very same bill. It was
a bad idea yesterday, and it certainly hasn't improved over the last 24
hours.
I'll explain why. Because, instead of reopening the entire Federal
Government, or even the entire Interior Department, the majority has
resorted to singling out publicly visible programs for action, while
leaving thousands of important functions of government shut down and
hundreds of thousands of Federal employees furloughed.
It's time to stop using Federal employees as pawns in this cynical
game.
Mr. Speaker, this GOP act of desperation is evidence of how
politically
[[Page H6148]]
bankrupt this position has become. It's degenerating down to picking
winners and losers among Federal workers. The American public is
getting burned, and some of the political heat is finally getting to
the Republican majority.
So now they would allow workers at the Smithsonian, the Holocaust
Museum, and the Gallery of Art, and a few of the employees directly
involved in the operation of our National Park System, to return to
work.
Do they really think that this is going to save them from the
public's wrath?
Under this bill, thousands of National Park Service employees
involved in historic preservation and national recreation programs and
maintenance and construction still remain furloughed.
And what about the 10,200 furloughed employees of the Bureau of Land
Management, the 7,751 furloughed employees at the Fish and Wildlife
Service, the 18,800 furloughed employees of the Forest Service, the
16,000 furloughed employees of the Social Security Administration?
Doesn't the majority value their work or support the important
programs that they carry out?
We should value all of our Federal employees. We should value the
scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and the health professionals
at the Infectious Disease Control and Immunization Program at the
Centers for Disease Control just as much as the park ranger and museum
workers.
How do you explain to the Library of Congress workers that they are
less important than their Smithsonian counterparts?
I want to see our national parks and museums reopened, as do all of
the Democrats on this side of the aisle. We want to open the
government, and we would vote today to do so if you'd let the bill come
to the floor, because we want to see all 561 units of the National
Wildlife Refuge System opened, 155 national forests, the 866 areas of
the National Landscape Conservation System reopened. But you're keeping
all those closed.
Does the majority really believe that those are not important, that
they don't deserve to be opened, that the public doesn't deserve to be
able to use those national assets?
This bill is a bandaid, and it won't stanch the open rage that the
public is beginning to feel. This shutdown is disrupting the work of
all Federal workers and the American public that depend on the work
that they do. It's an attempt at a quick fix to deflect the political
heat the majority is facing.
This idea that we'll pick and choose among Federal activities, which
ones are allowed to operate and what has to remain shut down, is
politically bankrupt, and it's morally bankrupt as well, Mr. Speaker.
I implore my Republican colleagues to abandon the junior Senator from
Texas' plan to play politics with the economy for a dead-on-arrival
idea from an extremist ideologue.
The President has reaffirmed that he would veto these cherry-picked
bills. We know that the Senate will reject them. So this is a waste of
time. People are out of work, and we're wasting our time on this.
If we could just have 20 Republicans, less than that, vote on a clean
CR, it would pass. The government would open today. And you won't do it
because you're afraid of this ideological extremist faction within your
party. You don't want to get them upset.
It's time to stop these games. The House GOP needs to let our
hostages go and get on with the real business of governing.
Let's vote on a clean CR. Reopen the whole government.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, it just stuns me that the gentleman from
Virginia is unwilling to put his constituents back to work in opening
and working in our national parks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr.
Hastings), the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
rise, again today in support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, while it's understandable that, during this shutdown,
some services would be limited in some parks and visitor centers, I
believe this administration is going out of its way to take
unreasonable and unnecessary steps to block public access to parks and
monuments.
There is absolutely no reason why open-air parks and monuments here
in Washington, D.C., should be barricaded off. These are places without
doors, gates or fences where people are allowed 24/7, 365-day access to
these memorials. Why are they closed now?
Furthermore, memorials that weren't closed during the last government
shutdown in 1996 have been barricaded today. This administration is
choosing to do this. It wants the effect of this government shutdown to
be as painful as possible.
And the worst example of this is how the Obama administration erected
steel barricades to keep our World War II veterans out of the memorial.
These men are national heroes who flew here from across the country.
The Park Service knew that they were coming. The veterans didn't
deserve to be greeted by armed National Park Police at the entrance.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't cost the Federal Government a single
penny to let these veterans walk around this outdoor, open-air
structure. But ironically, the Federal Government is spending money to
proactively keep them out. It may very well be costing more money to
keep these visitors out than it would to simply let them in.
To add further insult to injury, the Obama administration isn't even
applying this policy consistently. While highly visible monuments are
barricaded off, others remain open. The Obama administration is
selectively choosing which memorials to keep open and which to close,
further proof, in my mind, that they're just playing politics.
So this bill today would end these type of political games.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SIMPSON. I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I want to say that, as chairman of the
House Natural Resources Committee that has jurisdiction on our national
parks, we have started investigations into why this administration did
these precise actions.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have on either side?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 10 minutes
remaining. The gentleman from Idaho has 6\3/4\ minutes remaining.
Mr. MORAN. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the very distinguished
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the ranking member of the
Appropriations Committee.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican
shutdown. Of course we support funding for our national parks. But the
House has not had that opportunity because Republicans couldn't even
advance their own Interior bill out of the committee.
Why is opening parks now more important than investments in job
training centers that are dependent on their expected allotment of
funds, or allowing all of our food inspectors to continue to protect
the American food supply?
Today's bill doesn't even include funding for essential firefighting
efforts for the Park Service. Funding one budget item at a time, while
doing nothing about other critical services, is no way to fulfill our
constitutional responsibility to keep the government running or to grow
our economy.
The bill we are considering is nothing more than a Republican ploy.
It would not be necessary if Republicans had not been so reckless
throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown.
We could end the Republican shutdown today if the majority will only
allow a vote on the Senate-passed bill to keep the government running,
which includes the funding levels Republicans support and would be
signed by the President.
Pass the bill today, and the couple can get married at the Jefferson
Memorial, and the 200 patients who would have been admitted to the NIH
clinical trials each week will not be turned away.
The House majority apparently can't take the heat from the fire they
lit, so now they have put forward this reckless political attempt to
shift blame for the shutdown. End the shutdown now.
[[Page H6149]]
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, it is now my pleasure to yield 1\1/2\
minutes to the gentleman from Riverside, California (Mr. Calvert), a
valuable member of the Interior Subcommittee.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, today marks the second day of the
government shutdown, a shutdown that I and my Republican colleagues
absolutely oppose. The shutdown has been made necessary because our
friends on the other side of the Capitol refused to negotiate or
compromise. So, in an effort to find some common ground, House
Republicans are introducing narrow funding bills for government
services that are completely noncontroversial.
Americans who planned their vacations around a national park are
severely disappointed this week. I was pleased that I was able to take
constituents from my hometown on a tour of the Capitol this morning
because all the other D.C. tours had been canceled.
Many Americans around the country have been simply forced to cancel
their plans. Yesterday a group of World War II veterans that you heard
about, American heroes, bypassed the barricades outside the World War
II Memorial in order to see the memorial that was built in their honor.
Other World War II veterans scheduled to visit the memorial next week
were told by the National Park Service that they would be arrested if
they attempted to view their memorial. This is not right.
We have a chance to come together on a bipartisan basis, to alleviate
some of the hardship of this shutdown.
The bill before us, H.J. Res. 70, would fund the operation of the
National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the Holocaust
Museum, the National Gallery of Art.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill, reopen our parks, honor our
veterans, show the American people we can work together.
Mr. President, tear down these barricades.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address all remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I'm honored to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the very distinguished Democratic
whip of the House.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
My friends on this side say they want to keep the government open. We
say we want to keep the government open.
My friends on this side sent a bill over to the Senate that had $986
billion in funding. We agreed to $986 billion in funding.
What's the problem?
We need to open all of the government, as the gentleman from Virginia
said.
{time} 1730
We have a responsibility to reopen all of our government, not just a
little here and a little there. House Republicans shut the government
down, and now they're worried about having to answer for it.
These piecemeal bills are on this floor because Republicans are
realizing, yes, there are real-world consequences to a shutdown. Now
they're engaged in a gimmick to fund only those pieces of government
that the media or their constituents notice immediately. But by picking
winners and losers, Republicans are ignoring critical agencies and
functions across our Nation.
We need a full reopening of government in order to provide Head Start
for our children. Are Head Start children less important than somebody
visiting our parks? Perhaps those are your priorities. Nutrition
assistance to women and families, training for law enforcement agents
who keep us safe. Seventy percent of the CIA are on furlough today--
now--right now.
We need to put people back to work to ensure that our food is safe
and small businesses can get the loans they need.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. MORAN. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, put the Senate's clean compromise bill that
gets our government open--the government of the people of the United
States--and then let's go to conference on the budget, as Democrats
have long called for, to resolve our differences and achieve a long-
term solution.
A shutdown is not a political strategy; it is a failure for our
country. We need a government that is open and that works for all of
our people. Let us have a vote on the Senate's bill to reopen our
government--at the number you put in your bill and that you sent to the
Senate, on which we will now agree.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 2\1/2\
minutes to the gentlelady from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it seems that every time there's any sort of
disagreement with Congress, President Obama does everything he can to
make it hurt the American people as much as possible.
Earlier this year, when the sequester took effect, the White House
immediately slammed the door on the American people and ended public
tours at the White House. And yesterday, the Obama administration even
tried to slam the door on the World War II Memorial to the heroes who
stormed the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima; but just as the Japanese
and Germans found out, these men would not be denied, and they pushed
past those barriers. What great patriots they are.
It's interesting to note that the World War II Memorial is open 24
hours a day, but it's only staffed part of that time. So instead of
actually leaving the memorial open, the Obama administration actually
spent extra money to build the barricades to keep our heroes out, and
then paid the Park Police to enforce that.
We are, Mr. Speaker, about to vote to fix that problem by passing
legislation to open up our parks, to open up our memorials, and to open
up the Smithsonian Institution.
Now, I know our Democratic friends are saying that they will vote
against this bill because they want an entire clean CR or nothing at
all, and yet they are accusing us of being the absolutists. I would
just ask this, Mr. Speaker: Who are the absolutists? Really? Is it
those of us who want to open the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone Park
today, or those of us who want to keep those closed until they get
everything they want?
Who are the absolutists? Is it those of us who want to have the
Statue of Liberty's light shine bright or those that want to keep that
light snuffed out until they get everything that they want?
I would hope that the Senate will join us in allowing those who drove
through the barricades put up by the German Army at Normandy the
opportunity to visit the World War II Memorial without having to drive
through the barricades that have been put in place by the Obama
administration.
I hope my friends on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, put
aside their absolutist demands and put the American people at the head
of the line. Open up their parks and open up their memorials and let
them celebrate this great, great Nation of ours.
Mr. MORAN. It is my great pleasure to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
distinguished gentlelady from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) on the Interior
Appropriations Committee.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, last night, this Congress rejected this
Republican piecemeal approach. But here we go again.
It's clear that the GOP doesn't have a coherent solution to the
shutdown crisis they've created. With this bill, they are proposing
funding for our national parks and certain museums, but not the Bureau
of Land Management or the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Invasive species efforts have been halted, including research to stop
the spread of Asian carp. Families hoping to visit the Minnesota Valley
National Wildlife Refuge this fall are being met with a ``closed''
sign. Nothing in this bill will change that.
I'm confident that every Member here wants our national parks open,
and I applaud the Tea Party commitment for funding the National Gallery
of Art.
But I have a better idea: the House should pass a clean CR to fund
the entire Federal Government for all of America. We can do that today
with the support of commonsense Republicans and Democrats to end this
GOP--Grand Old Party--shutdown.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 1 minute to the
[[Page H6150]]
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), who represents what may be
one of the most beautiful places in this country, Yosemite National
Park.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Last night, Mr. Speaker, the House attempted to reopen our National
Parks, and 22 Democrats defied their party leaders and joined with the
majority to provide for this vital relief.
The little towns around Yosemite National Park depend on tourism for
their economy. They're still reeling from the Yosemite Rim fire that
brought tourism to a near standstill last month.
When tourists are needlessly barred from our national parks, all of
the vendors, all of the concessionaires, the lodgekeepers and
shopkeepers in all of the surrounding communities are devastated. They
have to lay off employees and often have to close. And unlike
government employees, these taxpaying, job-generating private sector
working people never get paid back when it's all over.
Having already agreed to spare our military from the effect of this
impasse, why would anybody object to funding other critical functions
while we wait for the larger issues to be resolved?
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining on this
side?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 5\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Idaho has 2 minutes remaining.
Mr. MORAN. At this point I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the ranking member of the National Resources
Committee.
Mr. DeFAZIO. I thank the gentleman.
So when the Republicans passed their shutdown bill, did they not know
it was going to close down the national parks? No, they knew that. But
in their little bizarre echo chamber they thought the American people
would rise and applaud their move to shut down everything that relates
to the government. Instead, they've gotten a big raspberry, if not an
invitation to read between the lines. They're a little bit surprised
and shocked.
Now, what did they leave out of this bill? Yeah, we'll reopen some
national parks and other iconic places. They left out 155 national
forests, 20 national Grasslands, seven national monuments, and 28 Job
Corps Civilian Conservation Centers shut down. That's thousands of kids
working hard to get an education, get skills, and not get thrown out in
the street. Have you ever visited one? I've been there. I can't believe
you guys would shut that down.
There's 440 Wilderness Areas, 560 National Wildlife Refuge units,
including locking out hunters and fishermen. Come on, guys--all BLM-
managed campgrounds.
There's only one reason this bill is on the floor, and it's because
their constituents love iconic national parks and monuments, as the
Republicans just learned, much to their chagrin.
They can't take the heat from the government shutdown they're
responsible for. What's next? This is whack-a-mole. What is tomorrow?
CDC preparations for flu season. That's kind of important. Still shut
down.
How about our Capitol Hill Police keeping us alive and guarding us
every day, who are having their leave canceled and they're not getting
paid, and they're still standing out there. Are you going to put them
on the list? When are you going to take care of them?
Put the whole government back to work now.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded that they are to
address their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I am now happy to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).
Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of reopening our national
parks and museums.
This morning, I met with some of our great World War II veterans down
at the World War II Memorial on our National Mall. One of these
veterans, 97-year-old Eugene Morgan of West Memphis, Tennessee, came
with his son, Jeff. When they arrived, they were met by
``Obamacades''--a series of rented barricades intended to keep our
veterans from visiting the memorial--their own memorial.
The closure of this memorial is hard to comprehend. It is an open-air
memorial that is normally accessible to the public 24 hours a day, all
year long, with little or no staff. It was built using private money.
Veterans have been planning for months to visit this memorial. This may
be the last time they come back east to see it.
Other Americans are trying to visit national parks all around the
country, including in my home State of Colorado, but it's unacceptable
that we are closing parks, some of which don't even need staff.
For many of our elderly veterans, this might be their last
opportunity.
Mr. President, these parks belong to us. Take down your barricades
and let the people in.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill to open our national parks
to the American people.
Mr. MORAN. It is my great pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member on the
Education and Workforce Committee and former chair of the Natural
Resources Committee.
(Mr. GEORGE E. MILLER of California asked and was given permission to
revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House,
the chairman of the committee says that we should think of the impact
before we act; that we should think of the impact on the parks before
we vote against this bill.
Did you think about the parks when you voted to shut down the
government? Did you think about the impacts?
The gentleman from Montana yesterday came to the floor and said it's
hurting the local economy. The gentleman from California came and said
it's hurting the towns around Yosemite. Was he thinking about that when
he voted originally to shut down the government? He was prepared to
sacrifice the local economy. He was prepared to sacrifice the towns
around Yosemite when he was on the jihad against American citizens
getting access to health care. He was fully prepared to sacrifice the
parks and the economy and fire recovery.
But you know what you found out in the last 24 hours? That millions
of Americans went to find health care, to sign up for health care, to
get access to health care. And millions of Americans decided that
you're doing the wrong thing in shutting down their government.
So when you were on the jihad against Americans' access to health
care, shutting down the parks wasn't a problem. Shutting down NIH
wasn't a problem.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I was telling them, Mr. Speaker,
that they thought it was okay to shut down----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time has expired. The
gentleman is out of order. The gentleman is out of order. The gentleman
is not recognized.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. * * *
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I am disgusted that the gentleman from
California would actually use the word ``jihad'' on the floor of the
House. We should all reject his comments and he should be censured, but
I won't call for it.
I'm the last speaker, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MORAN. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan)
on the Appropriations Committee.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, we've heard in the last hour or two people worried about
lab rats at NIH, the zoos closing down. They're worried about cancer
patients at NIH. Just a few. But if we want to provide health care to
all children so that no family has to worry about it, we don't hear
anything but a defunding proposition from the other side.
You want kids to go to the zoo, but if we want to provide them health
care, you guys are MIA.
Now you've been infighting. You've been called lemmings. You've been
called wacko birds by your own party.
[[Page H6151]]
So it seems to me that there is one zoo open in the Nation's
Capital--and that's the House Republican Conference.
Mr. MORAN. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Meeks).
{time} 1745
Mr. MEEKS. You know, many Americans were born at night, but they
weren't born last night. You can't fool them. There is an old saying:
You can run, but you can't hide.
We're here for one reason. The members of the majority party don't
like the Affordable Care Act, and that's the whole reason we're here.
They want to stop the Affordable Care Act. It has nothing to do with
anything else. So all of America is held hostage because they do not
like the Affordable Care Act.
But you can run, but you can't hide. You can't hide from the fact
that you closed down the government. You can't hide from the fact that
by just now suggesting you put a few up, that all of the government is
not shut down. We need to open up the entire government.
You can run, but you can't hide.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield 30 seconds to the
distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I very much thank the ranking member of the
subcommittee.
Now, why, the Republicans say, are we not eagerly endorsing their
plan? Now suppose someone comes into your neighborhood, builds a
barrier around your house, a fence, locks you and your family out,
won't let you in. Two days later, they come to you magnanimously and
say we've modified your house; we'll let you into one room. And they
can't understand why we don't enthusiastically embrace that deal.
That's what you're offering here.
Of course we should be funding the National Park Service. Of course
we should be funding the CDC and food inspections. Bring up the clean
CR and we will do it.
Mr. Speaker, today the Tea Party continues its reckless and damaging
government shutdown. Yet in an effort to distract from their
irresponsibility, they have offered what they claim is a compromise: to
reopen only those agencies of government which they deem, for their own
political reasons, to be necessary.
This notion--that the Tea Party can pick and choose which agencies of
government to reopen--proceeds from a false premise. It is based on the
idea that the Tea Party, which represents one faction of one party in
one house of Congress, possesses the unilateral authority to choose
which parts of government are worthy and which are unworthy.
This idea is wrong-headed, it is arrogant, and it is astonishingly
irresponsible.
The members of the Tea Party are not dictators, nor are they
inventing a new government from scratch. They are, rather, the latest
in a centuries-long line of democratically elected representatives who
have, with the people's mandate, established our entire government.
Yes, that government includes the functions that the Tea Party today
has deemed worthwhile: the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National
Institutes of Health, the National Parks Service, and so on.
But it also includes many other functions that the Tea Party has no
right to unilaterally reject. Our government includes the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. It includes loans for small businesses
seeking to expand and for students seeking to attend college. It
includes food safety inspections and public health research and Head
Start. It includes grants to help towns build roads, bridges, and
schools. It includes public servants who process applications for
Social Security and visas and passports.
If the Tea Party truly believes that the functions they seek to
defund today are unnecessary, there is a clear, democratic process by
which they can dismantle them. They could introduce a bill to abolish,
say, Head Start. That bill could be considered by this House, by the
Senate, and by the President--and if it were to pass and were to be
signed, it would become the law of the land. That outcome would be, to
my mind, catastrophic, but it would at least be constitutional and
democratic.
The Tea Party is right about one thing: this government shutdown--
which they demanded, incited, and celebrated--is causing great pain. I
hope that they are, as they claim to be, dismayed by the suffering they
have created. And I hope they will act upon their dismay by finally
bringing to the floor a bill to put the entire government back to work,
which the Senate already has passed and the President has promised to
sign into law.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Ben Ray Lujan).
Mr. BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, the House Republicans
are not fooling anyone. Right now is hunting season in New Mexico. The
Republican bill does nothing to keep open access to hunting on Federal
lands, on the BLM or Forest Service. The Republicans are keeping
hunters stranded and turning a blind eye to the small business owners
and guides that depend on hunting season.
Hunters across America, call the House Republicans and tell them to
let us vote on the clean Senate CR.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
share with the House the fact that the National Wildlife Federation,
America's largest conservation organization, said it best. They just
sent us a letter:
House Members from both sides of the aisle say the votes
are there to pass a clean continuing resolution. Speaker
Boehner should do the right thing and allow an up-or-down
vote on that bill.
Now, the problem with these votes, Mr. Speaker, is that they
shouldn't be necessary. If in fact we were going to open the government
and not keep it shut for weeks on end, you wouldn't be doing this. This
would all be moot. The reason you're doing this is to have some excuse
to continue the shutdown. That's the problem with these votes.
The other problem is that you voted to shut down the national parks.
You did it last week. You voted to shut down the National Institutes of
Health. You did it last weekend. You voted to shut down the Veterans
Administration, and now you want to reopen just them.
We voted against shutting down those agencies. We voted against
shutting down the government. That's what you should be doing. Give us
a clean vote. Let's get on about our business. Stop this nonsense.
I yield back the balance of my time.
House Plan to Reopen Only National Parks Falls Short
Washington, DC.--The House of Representatives is
considering several bills that would provide continuing
resolution funding for select parts of the federal
government, including one that would re-open National Parks.
Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife
Federation, said today:
``This bill fails to address the concerns of sportsmen.
While re-opening the National Parks is an element of our
displeasure over the government shutdown, there are a wide
range of public lands that this bill would leave shuttered,
including National Forests, National Monuments and National
Wildlife Refuges.
``House members from both sides of the aisle say the votes
are there to pass a clean continuing resolution. Speaker
Boehner should do the right thing and allow an up or down
vote on that bill.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address all remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have
remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Idaho has 1 minute
remaining.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, most people might not realize that Mr.
Moran from Virginia and I are pretty good friends and we share a lot
relative to our Interior Subcommittee. But I will tell you, what it
reminds me of, when I'm listening to my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle, is if you say something long enough and often enough, maybe
you will get the American people to believe it.
Nobody over here voted to shut down the government. In fact, every
time we passed a bill and sent it to the Senate, it was to keep the
government operating. Did it include more than that? Yes, it did. And
it was rejected by the Senate. So we sent them another one with another
offer. They rejected it. We keep sending them things.
Finally, what we said to them is: Let's go to conference and work out
our differences. But no, they won't even sit and talk to us. So the
distinguished minority whip from Maryland says: Let's do this; pass our
idea, do it my way, and then we'll negotiate.
Well, that's just backwards. We need to go to conference and settle
our differences and get a bill out here that keeps the government
operating. That's what everyone here wants to do.
It is not a Republican shutdown. It is a Democratic ``my way or the
highway.'' You agree with us or we will shut the government down.
That's exactly what the minority party has done here.
[[Page H6152]]
I would encourage my Members to support this bill, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the Continuing
Resolutions to re-open our National Parks. Today, 368 national park
sites were closed and we now see that the majority has noticed.
On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a law that is a
solemn promise to the public that our nation would ``conserve the
scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife,'' for all of
the people of this great nation for all generations to come.
The United States unlike many other nations does not allow our
national monuments and natural wonders to be privatized--they belong to
us all and should be treated with the utmost care and respect.
Over 22,000 Parks Service Personnel care for and manage the over 400
areas designated as under the management of the National Parks Service.
Here in our nation's capital we see the damage caused by the majority
of the House with insisting on a Federal government shutdown when
surviving veterans of World War II who came to see the memorial built
in their name and were nearly prevented from doing so.
Our nation's parks range from unimaginably large and majestic
manifestations of God's beauty on Earth to very small structures, but
each is served by dedicated federal employees. The nation's laws
regarding national parks do not treat some parks more special than
others.
Around the nation people are not able to complete vacation plans
because they will not be able to visit some of the nation's most
beautiful areas, which include our nation's first national park
Yellowstone National Park designated in 1872.
The National Parks Service's stewardship includes over 84 million
acres of park lands, 4 million in land around oceans, lakes and
reservoirs, 85,049 miles of rivers and streams, 68,561 miles of
archeological sites, 43,162 miles of shoreline, 27,000 historic
structures, which include presidential birthplaces, the preservation
and protection of over 121 million objects in museum collections,
21,000 buildings, 12,250 miles of Trails and 8,500 miles of roads.
Mr. Speaker, Texas is graced with 20 Federal Parks that include Big
Bend National Park, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Amistad
National Recreation Area, Big Thicket National Preserve; Chamizal
National Memorial; Fort Davis National Historic Site; Guadalupe
Mountains National Park; Lake Meredith National Recreation Area; Lyndon
B Johnson National Historical Park; Padre Island National Seashore;
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site; Rio Grande Wild and
Scenic River; and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park are all
closed during the shutdown.
Texas also has national Forests and grasslands: Angelina National
Forest; Davy Crockett National Forest; Sabine National Forest; Sam
Houston National Forest; Caddo and Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National
Grasslands; Black Kettle and McClellan Creek Grasslands; Kiowa and Rita
Blanca National Grasslands.
All of them are closed today because of the reckless behavior of the
majority in the House of Representatives.
Perhaps over the last few days members of the majority of the House
of Representatives received their first education directly from
constituents about our nation's national parks and how much our parks
and park lands are loved.
Federal parks also contribute to the local economies where they are
found and create tens of thousands of tourist related jobs. Because
they are closed today those jobs are at risk as well as the incomes of
the Park Rangers who are stewards of our nation's most precious
treasures.
It is not as simple as opening the gates and letting people enter--
people while enjoying these treasures, can become lost, injured, or
need assistance. The National Parks Service staff working at these
sites are there to protect these them and to be a resource for visitors
and more important to keep them safe while at Federal Parks.
The House should take up the clean Senate Continuing Resolution to
fund the entire government. Today, the Department of Homeland Security,
the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the ATF, the Office of the
Director of National Security, Military Reservists, Centers for Disease
Control, Health and Human Services, National Oceanographic Atmospheric
Administration and hundreds of other small and large agencies are being
impacted.
Mr. Speaker I have often heard members of the majority compare their
state to the entire United States as if the comparison are equivalent.
From what we have learned from the majority they will leave everyone
else behind if they get their way. They do not see the nation as large,
but as a small place with small minded people.
I represent a District in the State of Texas, one of our nation's
largest states with diversity in land and people that is rivaled by
only a few other states, but I would not say that everything done in
Texas would be the right decision for the entire United States.
The United States is a very large place with large minded people with
big hearts, who do not believe in leaving others behind.
Mr. Speaker, instead of exempting certain groups and persons from the
harm caused by a government shutdown, we should instead be focused on
reopening the government as soon as possible.
Texas is experiencing the impact of cutbacks in the $64.7 billion in
federal spending that it receives annually, including the threat that
the State may lose: $518 million in federal highway funds, $411 million
for interstate highway maintenance, $130 million in home energy
assistance for the poor, $71 million in Homeland Security grants, $55
million in coordinated border infrastructure and $97 million in federal
adoption assistance.
For these reasons, we cannot wait for the majority to discover all of
the reasons why we have a federal government or the importance and
purpose of each agency.
We have to pass a clean CR now--we do not need to wait, just bring to
the floor the bills sent to this body by the Senate.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, here we are day two of the
hurtful Republican Government Shutdown.
We still don't have a viable solution to reopen the government.
The Republican refusal to back off their extreme, ideological demands
has taken our country down a dangerous path with no solution in sight.
Mr. Speaker, while all of us believe it is important to keep the
government functioning, hostage taking is no way to run federal
departments and agencies.
Members of Congress are elected to make sure our government
functions.
Yet, instead of working on a serious option to reopen the government,
Republicans latest strategy is to exploit our National Parks and the
staff who work to keep them open by voting on piecemeal bills that will
not end impacts of a shut down that extend across our country.
Mr. Speaker, of course we want to keep our National Parks open. But
let's not pretend this is not part of a strategy to score political
points and advance an ideological agenda.
The Senate passed continuing resolution would fund the government for
an additional six weeks and all this House has to do is pass that bill
to end this manufactured crisis.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 370, the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint
resolution.
The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third
time, and was read the third time.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the joint
resolution?
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Yes, I am in its current form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. VanHollen moves to recommit the joint resolution H.J.
Res. 70 to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions
to report the same back to the House forthwith with the
following amendment:
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That upon passage of this joint resolution by the House of
Representatives, the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 59) making
continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014, and for other
purposes, as amended by the Senate on September 27, 2013,
shall be considered to have been taken from the Speaker's
table and the House shall be considered to have (1) receded
from its amendment; and (2) concurred in the Senate
amendment.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask that further
reading of the motion be dispensed with.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Maryland?
Mr. SIMPSON. I object.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard.
The Clerk will read.
The Clerk continued to read.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order on the
gentleman's motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. A point of order is reserved.
The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, if we really want to keep the National
Institutes of Health open, if we really
[[Page H6153]]
want to make sure we keep the national parks open, if we really want to
help our veterans, there's a very easy way to do it right now; and
that's for the Speaker of this House to allow the Members of this House
to have a vote, to have a vote on the very simple proposition: Are we
going to keep the entire Federal Government operating now? Because that
would pass if in the people's House we were given that opportunity.
So we have a very simple question, Mr. Speaker: Why is the majority
afraid of democracy? Why are they afraid of allowing this House to work
its will? Because if we had a vote, we could make sure the entire
government was kept open.
I mentioned earlier that I have the privilege of representing the
congressional district that's home to the National Institutes of
Health. These are scientists doing important work. They're not
Republican scientists or Democratic scientists, but they're all smart
people. I've heard from them and they've said: Are you kidding? We're
not going to be fooled by this piecemeal approach.
They understand if you want to help NIH, you vote to send the bill to
make sure the government stays open. And, by the way, they all have
kids. They want to keep the Department of Education open as well. And
they want to keep not just the National Institutes of Health open, but
the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Why is the Speaker not allowing a vote in this House? I think we all
know the answer. Here's what The Washington Post said just the other
day: ``House Republicans Hope to Use Cruz's Plan B''--that's Senator
Cruz. Here's what it says:
Adopting a strategy first suggested by Senator Ted Cruz,
House Republicans are pushing a new approach that would break
up the Federal spending bills.
Once again, Senator Cruz is in charge of this House, and you have a
reckless minority blocking a vote of the majority, a majority of
Republicans and Democrats.
Now, earlier today we learned that the Republicans in this House went
so far as to change the standing rules of the House to force this
through in an undemocratic way. The rules of the House, when you have a
situation like this, would allow any one of our Members to get up and
move and ask the House to vote on the bill that would keep the whole
government open. That's the standing rules. But our Republican
colleagues changed the rules. It says only a Republican Member--in
fact, only the majority leader can bring that up and allow us to vote.
That's not a democracy.
This is the same approach we're hearing from our colleagues when it
comes to paying our bills on time. They want to fund a little piece of
government at one time. They don't want to pay all our bills. They say
let's pay China first. Let's not pay Medicare doctors. Let's not pay
our troops in the field. Let's not pay all our bills; let's just pay
some of our bills. Let's pretend we're going to cherry-pick different
pieces of government to keep open so the rest of it can shut down and
die on the vine.
Well, my constituents are not fooled. My constituents who work at NIH
are not fooled. They don't want to be used as pawns in this game. And
they understand full well that we could get this done tonight, that we
could keep the whole government open now, and all that needs to happen
is the Speaker to let us vote.
If the Speaker and our Republican colleagues want to vote to keep the
entire government shut down, go for it. Do it in the light of day. Let
the American people see that that's what you want to do. But for
goodness sakes, explain to the American people why you won't allow a
vote to keep the government open right now. That's all we're asking
for. That's all we're asking for, Republicans and Democrats to come
together and have a vote.
The gentleman mentioned that, well, the House had voted on this, but
they also indicated that they had added these attachments, like
shutting down affordable care for all Americans. Let's have a clean,
simple vote, just like we should also have a vote to pay our bills on
time for goodness sakes.
We have stood by for months trying to have a negotiation on the
budget. At every turn, we've been blocked. The Speaker didn't allow us
to appoint budget conferees, budget negotiators. In the Senate, we were
blocked. So what did we do? They ran out the clock, ran the country up
against the wall and said: You know what? We want it our way or the
highway. We want you to shut down the Affordable Care Act or we're
going to shut down government. We want you to pay China first or not
pay our troops, or guess what? We're going to collapse the economy.
Mr. Speaker, I just ask that we vote ``yes'' on this to keep the
government funded now, and I yield back the balance of my time.
POINT OF ORDER
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I insist on my point of order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Idaho may state his point
of order.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the motion
to recommit. This motion is not germane and as such is a violation of
rule XVI, clause 7, which states:
No motion or proposition on a subject different from that under
consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment.
This motion deals with a proposition unrelated to the matter
addressed by the joint resolution and brings in a matter under the
jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules, which fails the committee of
jurisdiction test, and therefore is a violation of rule XVI, clause 7.
I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does any Member wish to be heard on the
point of order?
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to be heard on the point
of order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized on
the point of order.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I'm trying to understand why a motion to keep the
entire government open is not in order on this measure. Why would the
rules have been written in a way that a simple motion to keep the
entire government funded now would not be in order in the people's
House? Why would it be written in a way that this House cannot work its
will on keeping the government open?
This is the people's House. Why would a rule be written in a way that
we cannot have a vote to keep the entire government open now, tonight?
So we apparently have a rule in this House that says we're shutting
down democracy tonight. We can't have the opportunity to have a vote to
keep the government open. That's what's happening here. Let's not play
any games, my colleagues. That is what's happening here. You know if we
had a vote tonight, it would pass.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is prepared to rule.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I want to be heard, Mr. Speaker. I asked a question
related to the point of order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has heard argument and the Chair
is prepared to rule.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be further heard
because, as I understand what the ruling was, it was because this
measure before the House is limited to one little tiny sliver of the
government, that a motion to keep the entire government open is not in
order. Is that correct?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is hearing argument on the point
of order. There has been no ruling. Does the gentleman have an argument
on the point of order?
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Yes. My argument is that our government is a whole.
And the question is: How can you say that it would be totally
irrelevant to the purpose of funding government operations to offer a
motion that would keep all the government operations open now? How can
that be?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is prepared to rule.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I'm just trying to understand how it is
that in this House there was a rule that was written that would deny
the majority an opportunity to vote?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will not entertain questions in
advance of ruling.
The Chair is prepared to rule.
[[Page H6154]]
Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be heard on the point of
order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized.
{time} 1800
Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, my understanding of the principle of
germaneness is that the underlying subject matter of the bill has to be
the subject matter of the motion to recommit.
We have heard repeatedly from the offerers of this bill that they
believe it is necessary to fund what they view as vitally important
services for the United States of America. We have a difference of
opinion. We think everything in the budget in the Senate CR is vital
for the United States of America. We think it all should be funded.
Now, our view, our concept of what is vital is different than theirs.
But if the germane issue here is funding what is vital, then why isn't
the motion to recommit germane?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Idaho makes a point of
order that the instructions proposed in the motion to recommit offered
by the gentleman from Maryland are not germane.
The joint resolution extends a certain class of funding within a
portion of fiscal year 2014--namely, funds for the operations of the
National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the National
Gallery of Art, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The
instructions in the motion propose an order of business of the House
relating to funding for all other agencies and Departments subject to
the annual appropriations process for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Among the fundamental principles of germaneness is that an amendment
must confine itself to matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the
committees with jurisdiction over the pending measure.
The joint resolution addresses the appropriation of certain funds.
That subject matter falls within the legislative jurisdiction of the
Committee on Appropriations, and accordingly, House Joint Resolution 70
was referred to that committee.
The instructions contained in the motion to recommit propose an order
of business of the House. That subject matter falls within the
legislative jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules. For example, the
Chair would note the referral of House Resolution 424 of the 106th
Congress, a measure that contained a similar order of business, to the
Committee on Rules.
By addressing a matter within the jurisdiction of a committee not
represented in the joint resolution, the instructions propose an
amendment that is not germane. The point of order is sustained. The
motion is not in order.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Shall the ruling of the
Chair stand as the decision of the House?
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the appeal on the table.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule
XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to table will be followed by 5-
minute votes on passage of the joint resolution, if arising without
further proceedings in recommittal, and passage of House Joint
Resolution 73.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 230,
nays 194, not voting 7, as follows:
[Roll No. 512]
YEAS--230
Aderholt
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
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
Dent
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)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
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
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
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NAYS--194
Andrews
Barber
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
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
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matheson
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
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
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--7
Garcia
Herrera Beutler
Hinojosa
McCarthy (NY)
Pelosi
Rush
Sarbanes
{time} 1828
Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. DeGETTE, Messrs. BRALEY of Iowa, COURTNEY, BARBER,
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, and Mr. JOHNSON of
Georgia changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
Messrs. CRAWFORD, LATTA, and Ms. FOXX changed their vote from ``nay''
to ``yea.''
So the motion to table was agreed to.
[[Page H6155]]
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mr. GARCIA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 512, had I been present, I
would have voted ``no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the joint
resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 252,
noes 173, not voting 6, as follows:
[Roll No. 513]
AYES--252
Aderholt
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bera (CA)
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Braley (IA)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Bustos
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carson (IN)
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foster
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
Kilmer
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
Massie
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peters (CA)
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Polis
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
Ruiz
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schneider
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sinema
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tierney
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOES--173
Andrews
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
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
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Matsui
McCollum
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
Young (AK)
NOT VOTING--6
Herrera Beutler
Hinojosa
McCarthy (NY)
McDermott
Pelosi
Rush
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). There are 2 minutes
remaining.
{time} 1834
So the joint resolution was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated against:
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 513 I was delayed in
traffic and missed the vote. I would have voted ``no.'' Had I been
present, I would have voted ``no.''
____________________