[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 143 (Saturday, October 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H6559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           VOTE ON A CLEAN CR

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Republican leadership 
pulled H.J. Res. 80 from further consideration today. It is the 
American Indian and Alaska Native, Health, Education, and Safety Act.
  The Affordable Care Act, which the Republicans are demanding be 
eliminated in exchange for allowing the government to reopen, includes 
the permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement 
Act. As the author of the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act, I know the challenges that the reauthorization faced 
and just how long it took for us to finally get it passed into law--a 
decade, in case you are wondering.
  If we yield to Republican hostage-taking and throw out the Affordable 
Care Act, we throw out the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act. That would be devastating to Indian country.
  This bill, H.J. Res. 80, continues the damaging sequester cuts that 
the National Congress of American Indians have said pose particular 
hardship for Indian country and the surrounding communities that rely 
on tribes as employers.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to stop this nonsense. If you truly do 
believe in the sacred trust and responsibility our government has to 
tribes, then let's have a vote on a clean CR and reopen the government.

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