[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 8, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6355-H6356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New Mexico (Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, it is now day 
8 of House Republicans' reckless, irresponsible government shutdown. In 
that time, America has been demanding to hear one reasonable, 
responsible proposal from House Republicans about how they plan to 
reopen the U.S. Government.
  While House Republicans refuse to capitulate, New Mexicans are still 
hurting. They're hurting because one radical faction of one party in 
the House stands in the way, holding the entire Congress and the entire 
country hostage.
  First, this band of radicals forced a government shutdown just to get 
its way. They have caused significant economic harm and are wasting 
hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every day. These are the same 
Republicans who promised fiscal responsibility.
  Now they're dangerously close to forcing an economic shutdown by 
threatening a catastrophic debt default if they don't get what they 
want. The problem? They don't even know what they want. As my 
Republican colleague from Indiana said last week:

       We have to get something out of this, and I don't know what 
     that even is.

  As Speaker Boehner admitted the other day, he committed to Senate 
leadership that he would support the very same bill--a clean continuing 
resolution--for which he now refuses a vote on the floor.
  On Sunday, I was back in Albuquerque, meeting with Federal employees 
who have been furloughed. I heard heartbreaking stories of families who 
say that because of the shutdown, they're worried about paying their 
mortgages and utility payments and car loans and credit card bills. 
That's what they're concerned about. That's what keeps them up at 
night.
  I heard from a civilian air traffic controller at Kirtland Air Force 
Base who was worried about the safety of the airmen because he's not 
allowed to work. Federal employees are demoralized and feel abandoned. 
They don't understand why they are being blamed for House Republicans' 
failure to pass a clean funding compromise.
  But in a 2\1/2\-hour meeting, not one of the furloughed New Mexicans 
told me he wants to see the Affordable Care Act repealed. Not one. I 
think that shows how far removed from reality House Republicans are. 
They're willing to continue harming hardworking, innocent Americans 
because of their obsession with destroying the Affordable Care Act.
  Mr. Speaker, this is reckless behavior.
  As this shutdown carries on into week 2, we keep learning of more 
negative impacts. Sandia National Labs, one of the largest employers in 
my district, has started notifying its more than 10,000 employees that 
they are likely to experience furloughs if the government doesn't 
reopen soon. That

[[Page H6356]]

will have an absolutely devastating ripple effect on our local economy 
that we may never recover from.
  Instead of voting to end the shutdown, House Republicans have wasted 
time with false and misleading attempts to reopen the government bit by 
bit. After all, they didn't shut down the government piece by piece, so 
we shouldn't open it that way either.
  The one bill that House Republican leadership should be bringing to 
the House floor today is the Senate-passed, clean funding compromise, 
which would go directly to the President and immediately open up the 
entire government for all New Mexicans and Americans.
  We know that there are enough votes right now to pass a clean funding 
compromise. So why won't the Republican leadership allow a vote on it?
  I understand that some of my Republican colleagues say part of the 
reason they got elected was because they pledged to dismantle the 
Affordable Care Act. We were all sent here to represent our 
constituents. I know that.
  I'm here to represent constituents who are being hammered by the 
sequester. I've said many times in this Chamber that we need to 
immediately replace the sequester with a balanced approach to deficit 
reduction, but I'm not prepared to keep the government shut down 
because of it, inflicting further harm on people, not only in my 
district, but around the country.
  In spite of the damaging effect the sequestration continues to have 
on my State, I am prepared to vote right now for a temporary compromise 
bill that funds the government at sequester levels. I am prepared to 
vote for it as is virtually every Democrat in the House. The Senate has 
already passed it. The President says he'll sign it immediately.
  We want to get rid of the sequester, but we're willing to vote for a 
compromised funding bill at sequester levels, and I'll tell you why--
because, at this time, it's a reasonable path forward.
  So to my Republican friends who don't like the Affordable Care Act, 
here's a proposal for you: let's reopen the government now with a clean 
funding bill. Let's put all the furloughed Federal employees back to 
work. Then we can work together to determine what parts of the 
Affordable Care Act work well and which parts need to be addressed. 
After a reasonable amount of time, we can make the necessary 
adjustments to the law.
  That's how you effectively represent your constituents who still have 
serious concerns about the Affordable Care Act. That's a reasonable 
path forward.
  Mr. Speaker, let's reopen government right now. Then let's work 
together on a long-term solution that addresses the serious and 
significant fiscal issues facing our Nation today.

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