[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 8, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GETTING BACK TO WORK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, just days before the United States 
Government reaches its statutory borrowing limit, let's be clear: this 
is not new spending. This is agreeing to pay the bills we've already 
accrued. Senator Alan Simpson said it best:

       If you're a real conservative, an honest conservative 
     without hypocrisy, you'd want to pay your debt.

  Eight days ago, a minority faction of the Congress chose to shut down 
the Federal Government. This was touching the fire. To refuse to lift 
the debt ceiling is to place our entire hand into the fire. A Reagan 
economist called this debate ``playing with matches around gasoline.'' 
Yes, that's the same President Ronald Reagan who raised the debt 
ceiling 18 times without the accompanying brinksmanship. And let's 
remember, during the 2011 debt ceiling debate, the mere threat of a 
default scared the markets and drove up interest rates. Retirees lost 
$800 billion in assets as markets tumbled. Home buyers lost $100 a 
month as rates spiked. The harm this time could be much worse.
  We need to pay our bills so we can start solving the real problems 
facing this country rather than fixing ones we caused ourselves. And, 
Mr. Speaker, what is most extraordinary about this fiasco is this: I 
thought budget negotiations were supposed to be about funding levels, 
but this Nation's most contentious budget fight in nearly 20 years 
isn't about funding levels at all; it's about using the budget as 
leverage to repeal or delay an existing law.
  Despite the destructive effects of sequestration, in an effort to 
compromise, we gave in to the demands to the majority and accepted 
their $986 billion spending limit. Just put this into context. The $986 
billion level is 17 percent below fiscal year 2010 spending and 10 
percent less than the original Ryan budget. It is below Simpson-Bowles. 
If that's not compromise, I don't know what is. Those on the other side 
of this aisle don't know how to take ``yes'' for an answer. We agreed 
to deeply slash government spending. Please accept a victory and 
restart the government so we can get back to the real work of this 
body.

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