[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 137 (Saturday, October 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, through the looking glass, ``curiouser and 
curiouser,'' said Alice. I'm confused. It started out as: We're going 
to shut down the government until we repeal ObamaCare. Then it was: 
We'll shut down the government until we delay ObamaCare or the 
individual mandate or repeal the device tax, or something. Now, I just 
heard the gentleman from Texas say we're shutting down the government 
because we're concerned about the deficit. What is it? Which is it?
  Come on, you're concerned about the deficit. We have a process. It's 
called the annual budget process in appropriations. It's a law. We 
should follow the law, which means temporarily continue the government. 
We don't shut down the government to deal with our differences in how 
much money we want to spend each year for what agencies.
  This is getting absurd. We're now going to pay Federal employees to 
not work. Let's just declare them all ``essential,'' make them come 
back to work, and then we'll pay them later. Maybe in the Republican 
world that makes sense.
  No. Let's just end the shutdown, bring them all back to work, give 
them their regular pay now, let them have their leave, and move forward 
with negotiations over the budget.

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