[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 141 (Thursday, October 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6476-H6482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN THE GOLDEN STATE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, today, I will be hosting a number of Members
from my home State of California, a State in which the population is so
diverse and in which the culture is so rich that it is often described
as a microcosm of America.
Every language, every nationality, every ethnicity is represented in
the Golden State--a State that is the 12th-largest economy in the
world. California's economy is so big that its GDP rivals that of some
full-blown, industrialized nations, including those of Australia,
Spain, Mexico, and South Korea. The economy in California is crucial to
the national economy.
I am here tonight with my colleagues to speak against the government
shutdown that has been manufactured and orchestrated by the House
Republicans--a shutdown that is harming the national economy, a
shutdown that is harming the California economy and a shutdown that is
harming the very communities that we represent.
In my district, the 41st District, which represents Riverside, Moreno
Valley, Perris, the largest employer is March Air Reserve Base, with
8,500 people working at the base in some capacity. When the shutdown
hit, 500 of these workers were affected by the furloughs. While
Congress passed legislation allowing these employees to go back to
work, roughly 1,000 National Guardsmen at the base still will not be
able to drill this month and will not receive pay.
It is not just our servicemembers who are hurt by this reckless
shutdown. Low-income children in my district are suffering, too. The
Riverside County Office of Education receives Federal funding through
the Head Start program in order to provide childhood development
services and to promote school readiness for children under the age of
5. Because of this shutdown, the county is not able to draw down their
grant money, jeopardizing these vital services for nearly 3,500 young
children in my county.
About an hour east of my district is Joshua Tree National Park, where
92 park employees were given furlough notices. When the shutdown
happened, park rangers were forced to notify campers that they had to
vacate the park within 48 hours. There are 7,000 people a day who visit
Joshua Tree National Park, and this shutdown is estimated to cost
nearly $8,000 a day.
Not just the park and its employees are going to suffer; local
businesses will suffer as well. A cafe next to the park normally has a
line out the door. The other day, the manager reported that the cafe
made only $39. This is a small business, Mr. Speaker.
We have to end this shutdown, not just for the furloughed public
employees but for small businesses like that cafe.
I am very pleased to be joined by several of my California
colleagues, the first of whom is from southern California, the
distinguished gentleman, Alan Lowenthal. He represents the cities of
Long Beach, Garden Grove and Cypress. He sits on the Foreign Affairs
Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources.
I am happy to yield to the gentleman from California's 47th District.
Mr. LOWENTHAL. Thank you, Congressman Takano.
[[Page H6477]]
Our economy, as you pointed out, is being held hostage by Speaker
Boehner for his refusal to put forth a clean budget funding bill, what
is called a ``continuing resolution,'' after we Democrats agreed to use
his number. This is keeping us from really dealing with the real job of
Congress also, which is to create jobs and to grow the economy.
I've been talking to people in my district to get some specific
examples of some of the impacts of this irresponsible shutdown. Then I
would like to also talk about some of the personal experiences that
people have called me and told me about.
For example, in terms of one of my cities, the largest city in my
district--the city of Long Beach--I will talk about the Small Business
Administration, the SBA. In the 47th Congressional District, the SBA
gives approximately $308,000 in loans per day. It has not given out one
loan to small businesses in California's 47th Congressional District
since the government was shut down.
What about Women, Infants, and Children, the WIC program? In Long
Beach alone, 25,000 women and children use WIC vouchers. That is to
keep people from starving. That is to provide food. That funding runs
out this month, and there is no other money to provide any funding for
the WIC program.
What about housing? There are 23,000 people in the city of Long
Beach, and 6,600 housing units receive section 8 vouchers. They pay
their rent once a month with these vouchers, and those apartments and
those units get reimbursed by the government. There will be no payments
to landlords in the city of Long Beach with section 8 vouchers.
{time} 1445
But that is just kind of the overview. What about some of the
specifics?
Over 20 years ago, a dear friend of mine opened a card shop right
near our house in part of the revitalization. I don't want to mention
his name, but he opens this shop in the city, works very well, part of
the revitalization.
About a year and a half ago, he hurts his leg, goes to the hospital,
and finds out that he has, unfortunately, ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
This past December, he loses his business because he can no longer
operate, and today he lies in his living room almost totally paralyzed
and barely able to breath on oxygen.
His partner of 24 years--he and his partner adopted a child 19 years
ago, who is now 19--his partner is employed by the Department of
Defense. He was furloughed. So my dear friend and his partner do not
know how they are going to pay their mortgage as he lies in his living
room gasping for air. This is not the America that we know.
I have another constituent who is a young lieutenant in a local
police agency, local law enforcement agency. After 2 years of applying
and going through all the applications to enter the Federal Bureau of
Investigations, an 11-week training program here in Washington, 211 of
the most selected and highly chosen people throughout 48 States and 24
nations arrived last Monday and Tuesday--they closed down the FBI
training facility. All the instructors were furloughed. He will lose
his opportunity, the one opportunity to move forward that he had,
because we and the Speaker will not bring up--this Congress cannot act,
and the Speaker will not bring up a clean funding bill.
I will close by bringing up one other email that I received:
Currently, an exempt Federal employee working but not being
paid, I will be defaulting on my mortgage, unable to pay
several obligations. However, stay strong in your resolve. Do
not succumb to extortion. We, the people, are suffering. Your
colleagues are clueless and, apparently, heartless as well.
Please remind them who they work for--we, the people. I am a
civil servant. So are Congressmen and Congresswomen. It is
time for a wake-up call in the Capitol.
Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Lowenthal. I appreciate it. I know you
have to run on to a committee, and good luck.
Next, I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman), my
friend and colleague from the Second District, a great leader in the
environment, somebody who, in the California Legislature, authored some
landmark bills that have improved the environment. He is also among one
of the most progressive Members of this body. I sit with him in the
Progressive Caucus. Representative Jared Huffman of California's Second
District, which includes the cities of Crescent City, Fort Bragg, San
Rafael, and other cities. He sits on the Budget Committee as well as
the Committee on Natural Resources.
Mr. HUFFMAN. I want to thank my friend from inland southern
California very much for including me in this Special Order hour.
There are so many ways in which this Republican government shutdown
is hurting the people of California, hurting the people of my district.
But I just wanted to speak for a few minutes about some very particular
ways in my district that people are feeling the pain.
The Second District of California is an amazing place. I am honored
to represent it. One of the things that makes it special are the
abundant public lands. We have protected coasts, parks, recreation
areas, forests, and wilderness areas. These public lands are essential
to our region's tourism, recreation, and resource economy.
The north coast's tourism economy is a big deal. It creates $3.5
billion in annual tourism spending, more than 42,000 jobs, and nearly
$225 million in local and State tax revenue. Visitors from all over
America--and, in fact, all over the world--come to our public lands.
Thanks to the Republican shutdown, much of that economic activity is
grinding to a halt.
The Point Reyes National Seashore is closed. In 2011, this seashore
received 2.1 million visitors and brought in $93.3 million in economic
activity to the area. The shutdown is starting to impact small business
owners in and around the park in West Marin. These are folks who
subsist on the tourism dollars that this world-famous seashore and
working landscape attracts.
Nearby, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is also closed. That
collection of lands welcomes 14.5 million visitors a year. The spending
on an annual basis is nearly $300 million for the region because of
that visitation. The commissaries and vendors right now are shut down.
They aren't purchasing the locally-sourced food that they serve. They
are further hurting the Marin and Sonoma County farms and dairies
because of that shutdown.
Tourism is one of the most important drivers of Mendocino County's
economy further to the north. It pumps in $314 million directly to that
county's economy. That was in the year 2011. Seventy-four percent of
the visitors to the county come to the public lands--lands that are now
closed.
What about California's redwood coast further north in Humboldt
County? You guessed it: Redwood National Park is being forced to turn
away visitors.
Yet, in response to the shutdown, this House has spent the last week
voting on Band-Aid bills that attempt to pit one part of government or
one program against all the others. This is a surreal proposition: the
idea that our economy is hemorrhaging more than $300 million a day
because of this political stunt and our GOP majority offers these Band-
Aid bills that aren't going to end it. The Senate is not going to take
up and approve these bills, and the President has made it clear that he
would veto them even if they did. So this is not going to solve the
problem; but that, unfortunately, is how we have been spending our
time.
These are not honest attempts to restore funding for our public
lands. They wouldn't begin to undo the damage that this shutdown is
doing to our resources and our recreational industries. The House
majority is pursuing a cynical PR strategy. It is creating Hollywood
storefronts rather than seriously trying to reopen our government.
Even if these piecemeal bills were to pass, let's not pretend that it
would solve the problem. To give you just one example, one of the Band-
Aid bills that we debated and voted on over the last week pretended to
reopen our parks, and yet it would not reopen--it completely ignores,
in fact--the 2.4 million acres of National Forest Service land. There
are many other examples of park and recreation areas and public lands
that would have been left behind and still subject to the government
shutdown.
In my congressional district, we have major Forest Service lands and
a Forest Service presence. Many people in
[[Page H6478]]
businesses rely on our national forests being open for business. Just
this week, I got word that a salvage logging operation in the Shasta-
Trinity National Forest is at risk of being shut down because of where
we are with this Republican government shutdown. This is a salvage
logging operation in the wake of a serious fire that we have seen. It
is a consensus project to harvest trees, to avoid public hazards, to do
something that is good for the forest, good for the local economy, and
it is at risk of not happening because of this political stunt. This is
causing real economic damage and potentially real fire safety damage to
the communities that I represent.
So let's stop posturing. Let's stop the PR stunts. Let's stop the
Hollywood storefronts. Stop deflecting, stop insulting the intelligence
of the American people. Let's have an up or down vote to reopen our
public lands and, indeed, to reopen our government.
Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Huffman. If you want to--care to stay just
a few minutes to have a little back-and-forth.
Mr. HUFFMAN. I would.
Mr. TAKANO. We come from different parts of our great State of
California. I know we both share a deep love for our State. I have been
to your district, to Sonoma and the great forests that you have in your
district. It is a terrible thing to see, just as California is coming
out of this recession--I don't know about you, but I visited a number
of these businesses during the congressional break, during the work
period, during August and early September, and there were so many
hopeful stories about people saying, We have gotten through this hump,
we have gotten through the worst of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 recession.
There was even talk that real estate in my area of the State, which was
hit hard, was coming back. I told all these folks I am so glad to hear
these wonderful stories.
I just hope that we don't, in Washington, end up, through any
unnecessary actions, irresponsible and reckless actions, set back the
gains that we have made. I don't know about you, but in my district,
certainly, I can see how shutting down the government and threatening
to not raise the debt ceiling would have just tremendous adverse
consequences on the twelfth largest economy in the world.
Mr. HUFFMAN. There is no doubt about it. I think you are exactly
right. Of course, prior to my election in Congress, I spent 6 years in
the California Legislature, where we had our own fiscal crises and,
yes, at times the government practically shut down. We worked through
it. We found compromise.
You are absolutely right, Congressman. California is on the verge of
a tremendous comeback. Jobs are coming in; investment is coming into
our State. Things are really beginning to happen in a great way in the
State of California after a tough period.
Just as it seems we are getting started, along comes this Federal
Government shutdown with so many impacts to our economy. The debates
that we have here in Washington don't even scratch the surface of how
this is hurting people and undermining consumer confidence and setting
us back in places like California, where we have the potential to do
enormous things in terms of research and so many other ways we
contribute to the national economy.
Mr. TAKANO. Thank you so much for coming down to speak about how this
shutdown, this GOP-imposed shutdown, manufactured shutdown, and how
this threat to not raise the debt limit is jeopardizing our entire
Nation. But we in California are a tremendous engine behind the whole
big picture of the economic mind of our country. An economy which
represents 12 percent of the global economy is nothing to be cavalier
about.
Mr. HUFFMAN. Absolutely. As we talk about this incredible economic
damage and risk that politicians are taking with our economy, what I am
hearing from my district is how incredulous people are because there is
such an obvious and simple solution and way forward.
Let's have an up-or-down vote on whether we should continue this
government shutdown or end it, and even end it, at least temporarily,
on Republican budget numbers. That seems so eminently reasonable and
sensible. In fact, it was the deal that one House struck and advanced
out of that House with bipartisan action. Yet here we are in the House
of Representatives with a small faction rejecting that deal, holding
the entire country's economy potentially hostage for political reasons.
It is just something my constituents can't understand.
Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentleman.
Now, I would like to recognize the distinguished gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Negrete McLeod), a Representative from a neighboring
district, California's 35th District. I have known Congresswoman Gloria
Negrete McLeod, gosh, more than 20 years, when we both began our
careers as community college trustees. It is such a great honor to
serve alongside her and sit in this Chamber sometimes when we are
voting. She sits on the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, on which I also sit. We are both committed to the
huge veterans population that we have in the inland empire of the
region of California that we both represent in inland southern
California.
Mrs. NEGRETE McLEOD. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, with each day that passes that the Nation is in
government shutdown, we put the very livelihood of Americans and the
economy in uncertainty: like the over 3,800 Federal employees who live
in the 35th Congressional District, these are all hardworking men and
women in the Federal Government workforce; like the constituent who
wrote us asking why death benefits for veterans were not being paid
out; like the dairy owner that called this very morning and wanted to
know why they had not received money that was owed to them from the
Federal Government.
{time} 1500
These are just a few of the cases that are going on in my district;
and while progress has been made in the Nation's economic recovery from
the greatest recession since the last depression, the Federal
Government's shutdown hampers that very recovery. The shutdown sends a
bad message to the business community, that government is unreliable.
The 35th District's constituents are not being helped by the Small
Business Administration because of the shutdown. The SBA is currently
approving zero general small business, real estate, and equipment
loans. This hurts the economic development of California's 35th
Congressional District.
Last year, the SBA approved almost $500,000 a day in small business,
real estate, and equipment loans in my district. This money enabled job
growth and benefited the community by spurring economic development in
the region. This equates to more than $1 billion not currently being
lent to small businesses across the country in 1 month. Businesses in
my district, the State, and across the Nation are losing money every
day because of the government shutdown. We should be helping businesses
start up and grow. We should be doing everything we can to grow jobs
and grow our economy. Congress should not be an impediment that slows
prosperity in America.
Without a solution to the Federal Government shutdown, low-income
women and children will suffer without programs that Congress fought
hard to secure. Federally funded programs like the Women, Infants, and
Children program, commonly known as WIC, is at risk of having its
funding diminished under a government shutdown. WIC provides nutrition
education and healthy foods, enabling families to make lifelong healthy
eating and lifestyle choices.
In California alone, 1.5 million low-income women and children will
be impacted should Congress not act to end this shutdown. This is at a
time when 27 percent of California's children are considered to be food
insecure, children lacking access to enough food or nutritionally
adequate food.
Letting a government shutdown occur when children's nutrition is at
risk is irresponsible. Let us be part of the solution and end political
gamesmanship that hurts average Americans. Let us feed America's hungry
children. Let us get businesses back to business and help America
prosper.
Mr. TAKANO. I thank my friend and colleague, the gentlelady from
California's 35th Congressional District, Gloria Negrete McLeod.
[[Page H6479]]
Now I yield to a true champion of small business. She sits on the
Small Business Committee, as well as the Judiciary Committee.
Representative Judy Chu has been a friend of mine in California. I know
her from various roles we have played in California governance. She
represents California's 27th District, which includes Pasadena,
Rosemead, Monterey Park, and many other communities. I yield to the
gentlelady.
Ms. CHU. I thank Congressman Takano.
Last week, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers all
across the country got a notice from the Federal Office of Justice
Programs that as of last Friday, thanks to this Republican shutdown,
they will not be able to draw down the funds they normally rely on and
may have to stop operating.
The shelters in my district showed me the notice, and it gave us all
chills. They would be forced to shut their doors, leaving abused
victims and children with nowhere else to turn.
Just yesterday, I was in a Judiciary hearing in which an advocate
said that their agency had just seen a young girl who was beaten,
tortured, and raped for 5 hours. If these centers are not open, where
is a girl like this to go?
As a former rape crisis counselor, I know firsthand the damage that
domestic violence and sexual assault causes. We can't just leave these
victims to fend for themselves, vulnerable to their abusers at the most
critical times of their lives. That is why agencies in my district,
like YWCA Wangs Haven House, the San Gabriel Valley Center, Asian
Women's Center, and House of Ruth, exist, to help victims get their
lives together.
This GOP shutdown is beyond shameful; it is disgusting. Enough
already. It is time to end the shutdown. It is time to let us vote.
General Leave
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the very distinguished ranking
member of the Committee on Financial Services. I have known
Representative Maxine Waters also for a number of years, more than I
care to even sort of count. She represents California's 43rd District,
which includes south Los Angeles, Hawthorne, and Inglewood.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Takano for organizing
this very special Special Order so that we can talk about what is
happening with our great State of California.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to once again call for an end to this
unnecessary government shutdown and talk about the significant
consequences it is having for the people of my district, California's
43rd.
The recession hit the people of my district hard. Delinquencies,
foreclosures, and job losses crippled our economy and our
neighborhoods. Five years later, we are just beginning to emerge from
these hard times.
But the irresponsibility of the Republican Party has threatened our
fragile recovery. Their strategy, planned and financed by extremists
like the Koch brothers, Heritage Action, and the Club For Growth, is to
hold the American people and the economy hostage in order to push an
extremist ideology.
Their desire to eliminate the Affordable Care Act is misguided,
wrong, and harmful to the American people. The Affordable Care Act is
the law of the land. It has been validated by the reelection of
President Obama and supported by the Supreme Court of the United States
of America. It is settled law, and we should not be threatening
American jobs and the American economy to repeal it.
Mr. Speaker, veterans in my district are being harmed by the
shutdown. If this unnecessary stalemate does not end by November 1, the
Veterans Affairs Department will not be able to issue checks to more
than 5 million beneficiaries. This is unacceptable.
In addition, small businesses in my district are being severely
harmed. The Small Business Administration's lending program has been
stopped, and the process to obtain government contracts has also been
halted. In 2012, the SBA approved over $366,000 in small business, real
estate, and equipment loans every day in my district. Each day this
senseless shutdown continues, hundreds of thousands of dollars in
economic development all across my district is being undermined.
In Torrance, Inglewood, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, and Los Angeles
itself, retail stores, restaurants, and small businesses are hurting
because of the shutdown. Prominent business groups in my district, such
as the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Torrance Chamber of
Commerce, California Chamber of Commerce, California Manufacturers and
Technology Association, and 14 other local chambers of commerce across
the State have all said that the impacts of a shutdown could be harmful
and disruptive to their businesses.
The Republican Party likes to talk about how much they support small
businesses, but when extremist billionaires like the Koch brothers
start throwing their money around, Republicans tell small business
owners, You are on your own.
The Head Start program, which has put thousands of children on a
solid path to a well-rounded education, has effectively closed services
in many States and regions across the country. California is no
exception. I am outraged that our Nation's children are suffering the
consequences of these Republican games. The Republican sequester
already cut 57,000 children from Head Start. This program is a crucial
lifeline in my district, combating poverty and making our communities
safer, better places to live. We need to restore it today.
Finally, I want to discuss the shutdown's serious impact on
California's fledgling housing market. My district's housing market is
finally finding its footing after years of instability. The Republican
shutdown is throwing a massive wrench in that process. A prolonged
shutdown will cause tremendous harm to home buyers seeking to close on
mortgage loans. These delays are detrimental to all home buyers, but
particularly those who are buying for the first time.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow will mark the first paycheck many affected
employees will miss as a result of the shutdown. These are hardships
many in my district cannot afford. Each day this senseless shutdown
continues risks further irreparable damage to my district's economy,
families, and businesses. It must end now.
Just yesterday, we heard more bad news for our State. Governor Jerry
Brown announced that he will soon be forced to make the difficult
decision of whether the State will pay for the continued operation of
Federal programs used by millions of Californians. These include
programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
subsidized school meals, and nutrition assistance for pregnant women
and infants, all of which could be interrupted in November.
I urge my Republican colleagues to stop using the American people and
the American economy as pawns in this debate. It is time for the
Republican Party to end this ridiculous game and open the government
today.
I thank Congressman Takano for organizing this very important Special
Order.
Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentlelady for participating. We both love
our State. It is such an honor to serve with you in this body.
I now yield to the distinguished gentleman who represents
California's 29th District. He sits on the Committee on Natural
Resources, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the
Committee on the Budget, Representative Tony Cardenas, who was also
formerly of the California State Legislature. His district includes the
cities of Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and other areas of the San
Fernando Valley.
Mr. CARDENAS. I thank my colleague for yielding me this time, and
thank you for putting this opportunity together, Congressman Takano.
It is a great opportunity to speak here today. I would like to speak
to what this is costing my district, and this is just a microcosm of
what this Republican shutdown is costing all districts in America, all
communities in the United States of America.
[[Page H6480]]
Recently, some of my colleagues here in the House have chosen to harm
America, harm American families, seniors, veterans, and businesses
across the country. They have refused to do their job of providing a
budget for America, a budget which would simply pay our Nation's bills.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is something every family in America has to
do. We must pass a reasonable budget. We must reopen our government.
Every day we sit on the sidelines, American families and businesses are
losing. They are suffering. There is $300 million in economic loss
every day. That is $300 million a day, poof, gone.
When I am at home talking to the people I am proud to represent,
their number one concern is creating well-paying American jobs. This
Republican shutdown demonstrates how out of touch the party is with the
needs of working-class families who are focused on feeding their
families and making ends meet. This Republican shutdown hurts America.
In my district alone, the shutdown has stalled the completion of a
major project for the Mission City Community Network, a health network
that provides medical, dental, and mental health services. Once
construction is completed--eventually--they will be able to help 10,000
patients a year going forward. However, this program is stalled because
Republicans refuse to allow a vote on a budget.
Congress needs to stop the fighting and should focus on growing our
economy. The uncertainty about how long the shutdown will last is
crippling our economy. The possibility of defaulting on America's bills
is having a serious and negative impact on our position as the greatest
country in the world.
{time} 1515
It is important for the government to provide stability and security
for the people and businesses in our country, and the world is watching
us.
This shutdown has sent 800,000 Americans home, telling them don't go
to work. For example, in my district, I have a Federal building where
hundreds of Americans work every single day serving my community. I
went to that building just a few days ago, and it is closed down. The
only person that I found working there now is one security guard.
American families cannot afford to wait on Republicans who are
holding the Nation's economy hostage. For example, even children are
affected. Head Start programs in my district are wondering how long
they are going to be able to keep their doors open before they turn
those children away. Every time we say that those 800,000 people are
not going to work, those government workers, just ask the corner
grocery store, the restaurants how they feel about this shutdown. It is
affecting everybody, public and private businesses alike.
I want to bring to your attention that it was just reported to me
that the districts around Los Angeles, including the one that I
represent, that every day the average amount of money that is lent to
small businesses is $360,000 in loans a day from the Small Business
Administration. That is more than $7.5 million per month. Last year in
our district, more than $84 million in loans were approved. That is the
equivalent of 2,400 new jobs last year. That is good government at
work. However, now that the Republican shutdown is in full force and in
place, zero dollars are being lent out through the SBA in my district.
That means zero new jobs every single day that the Republican shutdown
is in place.
I am very proud to say that I grew up in a family where my mother and
father made ends meet to raise us 11 American citizens, and I am very
proud that they raised us in a nice, clean, good environment. I have
brothers and sisters who have gone to college to get their doctorate
degrees, master's degrees, bachelor's degrees; and I am very proud to
say I worked with my engineering degree for a while, but then I decided
to strike out on my own and run my own business. I know what it is like
when a business is trying to grow. And when you don't have access to
capital, you don't grow; if you don't grow, you don't create new jobs.
I just wanted to make sure that people understand what it means when
the Federal SBA stops lending money. When they stop lending money, new
jobs stop in communities throughout America.
House Republicans must allow us to do the one thing Americans want
more than anything else from our Congress, and that is to let us pay
our bills, let us act responsibly, and let us put Americans back to
work. It is simply that, ladies and gentlemen.
Let's get back to work in this Congress. Let's get this government
back to work. Let's reinvigorate an economy that was barely starting to
get back on its feet but has been shut down.
Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentleman.
I now yield to my friend and colleague, Representative Mike Honda,
from the 17th District. I know you, Mr. Honda, have been a former
school principal. You have been in local government as a county
supervisor, I think, of Santa Clara County. You have served in this
body, I think, since 1996. It is an honor to serve with you, and I know
we both love our great State of California. We are very anxious and sad
over the potential impacts that both the government shutdown and this
threat to not raise the debt ceiling will have on this fragile recovery
that we are now, I think, beginning to see evidence of.
Mr. HONDA. I want to thank you, my friend, for this opportunity and
this dialogue.
It is a shame that we don't have the same dialogue across the aisle,
but our rules prohibit us from being able to create that dialogue and
debate in front of this country. As a result, we have this moment in
time where we are able to share as members of the California
delegation, but also as members of this Democratic Caucus.
We are here today, on day 10, of the Republican government shutdown
that has cost over $3 billion in lost economic activity so far. And
because of the compounding nature of the economic effects, it is
estimated that over a month's time, the economy will be drained of $50
billion.
Almost 1 million people should be working today, and they are not.
When our government is forced to shut down, it hurts our economy,
closes essential services for low-income families, and disrupts the
lives of real people in all of our districts, regardless of where we
represent. Important government services that benefit all of us are
suspended.
In my district, I have heard from young people that were furloughed,
the young employees of the NASA Ames facility. They are wondering how
they are going to be able to make rent to stay in their homes or to
make ends meet.
The investigators that were working on finding the underlying causes
of the Asiana crash and coming up with ways to make air travel safer,
we sent home.
I have also heard from those who are waiting to hear back on their
Social Security benefits appeals. Because the appeals office is closed,
they will not hear back on their cases until this shutdown is over,
which means they have less means to make ends meet.
There is no reason this should be happening. All of this pain is
absolutely and completely unnecessary. We do have the bipartisan votes,
however, to end this shutdown today if the Speaker would allow a clean
vote. That might be the most frustrating part of all of this.
Actually, it is the most frustrating part of all of this, that we
have the votes here on both sides of the aisle if the Speaker allows us
to vote. I am not sure what it is that he is afraid of, but if he let
that go and let us vote and let the people vote, then we may be able to
reflect the desires and the reflections of what people are feeling in
this country.
Speaker Boehner and the Republican majority in the House refuse to do
their job, and I think they really do believe they are doing their job.
I pray that they see and understand that there is real human suffering
and economic suffering that comes as a direct result of these
irresponsible political tactics, both on the government-wide shutdown
and on the debt limit.
For House Democrats, this is not a game. On the debt ceiling, the
full faith and credit of the United States should never be in jeopardy.
That is our position, and that is the position of economists and
business leaders, and that should be the attitude of this Congress.
Warren Buffett called the debt limit a nuclear bomb. Goldman Sachs
CEO Lloyd Blankfein said:
[[Page H6481]]
Economic damage associated with default or near default
will be severe and have serious consequences for the recovery
of the U.S. and global economy.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said:
There is no debate that the seriousness of the U.S. not
paying its debts is the most serious thing we have.
The president of the American Bankers Association and former
Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating, said a default would
cost ``hundreds of billions of dollars,'' and even the slightest impact
on interest rates ``would cascade throughout the economy.''
This government shutdown and the looming threat of an unprecedented
government default are doing significant harm to our economy. The only
ones that can't see that are Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party
Republicans.
House Democrats have started the process on forcing a vote on a clean
CR to reopen the government and will soon do the same with a vote on
the debt limit. Americans want a vote. A reasonable majority in
Congress want this vote. Speaker Boehner can call this vote today. But
since he won't, we will try to force a vote as soon as House rules
allow.
Let's not go 1 more day without a functioning government. Let's stop
these games, reopen the government, start the process of ending this
manufactured crisis, lift this cloud from over our economy, and have
the vote that Americans have been waiting for. Let us vote, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Congressman Honda.
I know that before you became a Member of Congress, you had
experience as a county supervisor, and I know that counties are often
the fiscal agents for major programs, like our nutrition programs, the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Women, Infants, and
Children nutrition programs. I understand that the stimulus funds that
we are supplementing, some of these assistance programs--let me try to
translate this into ordinary everyday language.
We are talking about food stamps. We are talking about people being
able to buy food in order to have the basic necessity of eating. I
don't know about your district, but in my district, I know that during
the height of the recession, we saw people who were middle class
families for the first time having to access these programs. As I say,
we are still not fully out of this recession. It is a fragile recovery.
The other effect that these assistance programs had is that they
serve as a kind of stimulus to the local economy. People on these
assistance programs have to spend the money locally, at local
supermarkets. It injects some stimulus effect on the local economies.
My understanding is that, come November 1, we are going to see a
significant reduction in those programs because we have not been
attending to reauthorizing the legislation that funds these programs.
We have grave doubt as to what is going to happen to the 47 million
people who rely on SNAP.
Mr. HONDA. That is true.
Mr. Takano, as you know, I represent a majority of the area that is
commonly called ``Silicon Valley.'' We were doing relatively well with
the shutdown; however, government contracts, entrepreneurship are going
to be affected, and that trickles down throughout the system, including
what we call the ``supply chains,'' where other companies throughout
this country, in other parts of the State are affected also. This is
almost like an arithmetic kind of extension of this impact when--I
guess Warren Buffett said it best, that it is a nuclear bomb, because
it just continues to spread its impact throughout our country and our
economy.
Mr. TAKANO. Isn't it true in Silicon Valley--let's kind of talk about
that for a moment--there has been a resurgence of investment, that we
are seeing our California budget sort of recovering with additional
revenues because your area of the State is helping to lead the
recovery?
There are two different subject matters here: the government
shutdown, and also this issue of the debt ceiling being raised. We have
seen on the Hong Kong markets the short-term debt or the premium that
they are charging for this uncertainty about our debt ceiling being
raised. In other words, interest rates are likely to raise. Raising
capital is going to be a problem.
Do you have any thoughts on what that is going to be doing to our
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs?
Mr. HONDA. It is a dampening effect. I think people are less likely
to invest, even though there is a great faith in the kinds of
activities we have in Silicon Valley. I think those who have the
resources to make the investments, they are going to be looking at it
twice before they can move forward. I think that they are very
concerned about the government's behavior in terms of how we
manufacture crisis around the debt limit, how we manufacture crisis
about the CR or the budget. All we need is what we proposed a few
months ago, and that is a good, balanced budget that would drive this
country forward economically and logically.
No family functions without a good budget. What we are doing is we
have created a budgetary crisis that guarantees--they have already done
it--closure of the government or the dysfunction of a family. When you
do that, all hell breaks loose. This is what is happening to our
elders, our children, our preschools. There is not a system that has
not been affected. The military, our veterans, they are all being
affected. So we have to really make sure that the public understands
what it is that is happening.
{time} 1530
Mr. TAKANO. Well, I don't think we want to normalize or make routine
a mode of governing where either party threatens to shut down the
government because of a political end they want to achieve or either
party decides that they want to threaten the full faith and credit of
the United States and threaten the establishment of the American dollar
as the world reserve currency because they want to achieve some sort of
political end.
We need to give the American people--every business, every family,
investors, whether they are domestic or whether they are international
investors who want to invest in our economy, including in Silicon
Valley, the certainty that we have a responsible government in the
United States.
Whoever would have thought we would come to a place where within a
year and a half, the last time that this issue came about was--I
remember seeing you on August 1 of 2011 when the Budget Control Act of
2011 was passed. But it was linked, I think, unfortunately, to the debt
ceiling raise. And the idea that we would normalize this practice, to
me, is something that we don't want to see our Nation continue to do.
Mr. HONDA. Yes.
I just want to close by thanking you for this opportunity. The
gentleman and I are both educators. And educators know one thing: how
to ask a question and come to a logical conclusion. And the logical
conclusion right now is that we should have never gotten to this point.
We should have never gotten to a point where we shut down this
government. We should have done the right thing to make sure that the
full faith and credit of our country, like our reputation, is honored.
So we need to get back to that point.
Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentleman.
Let me just go into my final remarks for this Special Order hour. And
I want to remind the American people that the Democrats did offer a
point of compromise when we accepted funding for the continuing
resolution, which is actually below the Paul Ryan budget figure. It is
a number that the President agreed to, the Senate agreed to, and the
House Democrats are willing to agree to. And we know that there was a
deal that was brokered by the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader
related to it, and we thought that the result would be a clean CR.
But what we cannot afford to do, what I cannot unconscionably do as
the Representative for the 41st District, is to bargain away the
Affordable Care Act. Twenty-four percent of my population of Riverside
County is uninsured. My constituents need the Affordable Care Act to
help them get the quality health care that they deserve.
The law includes important consumer protections that prevent
insurance companies from denying coverage for people with preexisting
conditions. It eliminates annual and lifetime caps on care and allows
young people to stay on their parents' plans longer. In addition, the
law requires insurance
[[Page H6482]]
plans to cover free preventative health services, and it lowers
prescription drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare part D
doughnut hole.
So, America, my community's seniors have a lot at stake. The
California State marketplace, Covered California, has already received
1 million unique site visits, more than 16,000 applications have been
completed, and another 27,000 are partially completed. That is more
than 43,000 Californians who have taken the step to get covered in just
10 days.
Well, Mr. Speaker, this is all very simple. Congress has a handful of
basic functions. Two of them are to keep the government open and to pay
our bills on time. These things Congress should be doing already.
The situation we are in reminds me of when my brothers and I thought
our parents should pay us an allowance for making our beds. My parents
argued that making our beds was something that my brothers and I should
be doing anyway, that an everyday responsibility like making our beds
wasn't something that was done for a payoff.
What should I get for brushing my teeth? That is obviously a personal
responsibility that I shouldn't get anything for. Refusing to fulfill a
responsibility should not be leverage for getting something that you
want.
The House Republicans are expecting to get something out of this.
They are expecting to get something out of refusing to fulfill their
basic responsibilities. They are expecting to get something out of
refusing to fund the government and refusing to be faithful stewards of
the full faith and credit of the United States. They are willing to
threaten the American dollar and its status as the world's reserve
currency.
There are several Members of this body who do not believe the chaos
that would be created by not paying our bills on time. One Member said
he believed it would ``bring stability to the markets.'' Others have
said that it is a ``scare tactic'' being used by the administration and
Democrats. They say this despite every credible economist stating that
America defaulting on its debts would be catastrophic.
Imagine, Mr. Speaker, imagine if Democrats were this cavalier about
an issue as serious as the debt ceiling. We would be run out of town,
and for good reason.
I thank my colleagues for joining me today. Let's end this shutdown.
Let's end this shutdown, Mr. Speaker. Let's make sure we pay our bills
and pay them on time. And let's give the American people the certainty
that they need and that they deserve.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I have spent my career in San
Diego, Sacramento, and DC working with all of my colleagues--no matter
the party--to get things done for my constituents in San Diego.
But now sadly, I stand on this floor and watch what I consider to be
the greatest show of political dysfunction I have seen during my time
in public service.
I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle speak of winning,
of putting points on the board. Winning? Mr. Speaker, there is no
winning to be had here.
But, I can tell you who is losing--hard working American families, my
constituents in San Diego, and the great state of California.
Every day that this shutdown continues more of my friends and
neighbors are harmed.
My city of San Diego loses $7 million a week every week that this
continues. $7 million. Imagine the investments in our schools, roads,
and small businesses that we could be making with that money.
Jobless claims are surging as the many San Diegan contracting
businesses are forced to lay off their workers.
Small businesses in San Diego are finding it difficult to sustain
their operations, as they lose thousands in stalled federal small
business loans and grants.
The many veterans who live in San Diego are finding their hard-earned
and well-deserved benefits delayed.
And now, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk of
negotiating?
The Senate passed a budget in March--in March. For months and months,
I have joined with my Democratic colleagues requesting that the House
appoint conferees to negotiate a compromise. Nothing. No willingness to
open up a dialogue, to negotiate. Nothing.
Now, the government is shut down, and my friends and neighbors in San
Diego are suffering. We can fix that right now. We can take a vote to
reopen the government right now.
Then we can get together and talk like adults about our differences
on the budget--and not use my friends and neighbors as leverage to
score points in a game that no one will win. This isn't a game, this is
lunacy.
____________________