[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 137 (Saturday, October 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I 
rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges 
of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:

       Whereas, the BBC News, on October 1, 2013 in England, 
     published the following: ``For most of the world, a 
     government shutdown is very bad news--the result of 
     revolution, invasion or disaster. Even in the middle of its 
     ongoing civil war, the Syrian government has continued to pay 
     its bills and workers' wages. That leaders of one of the most 
     powerful nations on earth willingly provoked a crisis that 
     suspends public services and decreases economic growth is 
     astonishing to many.'';
       Whereas, the state-run Xinhua news service, on October 2, 
     2013 in China, published the following: ``With no political 
     unity to redress its policy mistake, a dysfunctional 
     Washington is now overspending the confidence in its 
     leadership.'';
       Whereas, The News of Mexico, on September 25, 2013 in 
     Mexico, published the following: ``They squabble over the 
     inconsequential accomplishment of a 10-week funding 
     extension. It isn't serious, but it certainly isn't funny.'';
       Whereas, the Australian, on October 1, 2013 in Australia, 
     published the following: ``The irresponsible way in which 
     Congress . . . played the politics of partisan petulance and 
     obstruction . . . does them little credit. Neither does it 
     say much for the budgetary processes in the world's largest 
     economy.'';
       Whereas, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, on October 2, 
     2013 in Germany, published the following: ``The main actors 
     in this dispute, which brings together many factors, both 
     ideological and political, took a huge risk and, unhindered, 
     proceeded to validate everyone who ever accused the political 
     establishment in Washington of being rotten to the core . . . 
     The public is left wondering how things could have been 
     allowed to get to this point and why there is so much poison 
     in the system.'';
       Whereas, the Suddeutsche Zeitung, on October 2, 2013 in 
     Germany, published the following: ``What has already been 
     apparent in America for a few years now is the self-
     destruction of one of the world's oldest democracies. And the 
     great tragedy here is that this work of destruction isn't 
     being wrought by enemies of democracy, greedy lobbyists or 
     sinister major party donors. America's democracy is being 
     broken by the very people who are supposed to carry and 
     preserve it . . . the politicians . . . At the moment, 
     Washington is fighting over the budget and nobody knows if 
     the country will still be solvent in three weeks . . . What 
     is clear, though, is that America is already politically 
     bankrupt'';
       Whereas, the Washington Post, on September 30, 2013, quoted 
     Justice Malala, a political commentator in South Africa as 
     saying the following: ``They tell us, `You guys are not being 
     fiscally responsible' . . . And now we see that they are 
     running their country a little like a banana republic . . . 
     there is a lot of sniggering going on.'';
       Whereas, the headline of the New York Daily News, the 
     fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United 
     States, on October 1, 2013, read: ``House of Turds'', and the 
     bylines stated: ``D.C. cess-pols shut down government'' and 
     ``They get paid while nation suffers'';
       Whereas, these reports call into question the dignity of 
     the House; and
       Whereas, the resulting reduction in the public's perception 
     of the House's dignity has culminated in a 7% Congressional 
     approval rating in the most recent Economist/YouGov poll: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House--
       (1) without seeking to effect a change in the rules or 
     standing orders of the House or their interpretation; and
       (2) without prescribing a special order of business for the 
     House--
       that a government shutdown is a mark upon the dignity of 
     the House and that the House would be willing to pass a 
     ``clean'' continuing appropriations resolution to end it.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution offered from the 
floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader 
as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence 
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after 
the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Florida will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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