[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 145 (Monday, October 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6587-H6594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and my privilege today to 
stand in the House of Representatives, along with my distinguished 
colleague from the Silver State, Representative Steven Horsford, to 
coanchor the CBC Special Order, the hour of power, where, for the next 
60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have an 
opportunity to talk directly to the American people about the situation 
that we face in this country right now related to both the government 
shutdown and the impending debt ceiling crisis that we confront.
  Mr. Speaker, this is day 14 of a government shutdown brought to us by 
reckless, irresponsible, and unreasonable behavior by our friends on 
the other side of the aisle. It is a government shutdown that is 
hurting the American people. It is hurting children, placing their Head 
Start programming at risk. It is hurting seniors who rely on the Meals 
on Wheels program. It is hurting expectant mothers who may be unable to 
receive the nutritional assistance that they are otherwise qualified 
for. It is hurting the more than 800,000 hardworking civil servants who 
have been unceremoniously cast out of their jobs, uncertain as to when 
they may be able to return. It is hurting America.
  But as bad as this government shutdown has been, we are also faced 
with a crisis that might be even worse if we are unable in this House 
to raise the debt ceiling within the next several days. The Treasury 
Secretary has indicated that the United States effectively will run out 
of the capacity to pay all of its bills and its creditors if we do not 
raise the debt ceiling by Thursday, October 17, just a few days from 
now.
  Now, the debt ceiling has been a vehicle that all too often has been 
mischaracterized, perhaps intentionally, perhaps out of ignorance. I am 
not certain. But let's just clear the record as to what the debt 
ceiling actually represents. It is a backward-looking vehicle, not a 
forward-looking vehicle designed to give the President the ability to 
spend more. That is a gross mischaracterization. The debt ceiling is a 
backward-looking vehicle designed to give the President and this 
administration the capacity to pay bills that this Congress has already 
incurred.
  We just want the Congress to undertake its constitutional 
responsibility pursuant to the 14th Amendment, where, in section 4, it 
makes clear the validity of the public debt authorized by law shall not 
be questioned. And it is Congress, in section 5 of the 14th Amendment, 
that has the responsibility to adhere to that constitutional 
requirement.
  We are going to explore this theme and the consequences of a debt 
ceiling default during this Special Order. And I am very pleased that 
we have been joined by the dynamic leader of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, the distinguished chairperson from the great State of Ohio, 
Representative Marcia Fudge.
  Ms. FUDGE. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I would like to 
thank my colleagues, Congressmen Jeffries and Horsford, for once again 
leading the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour.
  Mr. Speaker, here we stand, nearly 72 hours before the United States 
Treasury reaches the debt limit. We are 72 hours away from compromising 
our

[[Page H6588]]

ability to make Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans 
benefits payments. We are 72 hours away from risking default on our 
international debt obligations; 72 hours away from the potential of 
stocks plummeting and interest rates soaring, reversing recent gains in 
the housing, automobile, and banking markets. Our Nation is 72 hours 
away from the possibility of a severe economic disaster both at home 
and abroad.
  Unfortunately, the House majority's inability to move beyond partisan 
politics has created one economic crisis after another. Our country is 
still feeling the effects of the economic downturn and subsequent 
recession that began in 2007. Communities around the country continue 
to struggle with high unemployment, less access to loans for small 
businesses, and a fragile housing market. It is irresponsible to do 
further damage to our economy by even threatening to allow America to 
default on its bills.
  We must first do no harm, Mr. Speaker. Yet that is exactly the 
position we are in because of House Republicans.
  Now, don't be misled by Republican talking points that would lead you 
to believe that raising the debt limit leads to more spending. This 
only allows us to pay debts that have already been accrued, debts that 
have already been authorized by this Congress.
  While both parties have politicized the debt limits in the past, we 
have never--and I repeat, never--seen this degree of brinkmanship. 
Prior to this dysfunctional Congress, the debt limit debates never 
contemplated an actual default. Members of Congress never faced the 
impact of crossing that threshold and artificially forcing the Nation 
into the depths of economic disaster. And ultimately, when legislative 
language was attached to the debt limit, it was a part of a package 
that passed with strong bipartisan support.
  We simply cannot afford the catastrophic consequences of a government 
default. It is time for Congress to put the American people first, work 
together to find a solution, and put partisan bickering behind us. Our 
Nation has worked too hard to put us on the path to recovery.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to move forward. The American people expect 
Congress to do its job. The CBC stands ready--ready to work with our 
colleagues to raise the debt ceiling, reject the politics 
of brinkmanship, and get our economic house in order.

  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished chairwoman for her 
insightful, thorough remarks.
  I now yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of 
Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who has joined us today to 
share her remarks and observations as to this debt ceiling crisis that 
we are confronting right now.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank the gentleman for his courtesies and 
look at this in a somewhat unique fashion to speak to the pending 
crisis and to join with my colleagues, and particularly in following 
the chairwoman, Congresswoman Fudge, and thanking her for setting the 
tone of the interests of the Congressional Black Caucus to be 
collaborative and to be problem solvers.
  Let me thank the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) 
for his timeliness in bringing us to the floor tonight and the 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for recognizing the vital 
importance of speaking to the American people and certainly to our 
colleagues.
  I do want to offer to my colleagues a legislative initiative that I 
hope all of my friends--Republicans and Democrats--will join in 
sponsoring, H. Res. 375, which commits this House to refraining from 
conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the 
taking of action related to nongermane legislative matters.
  As I listened to my friends on the other side of the aisle, one 
person sought to refute the representation that all of us have made, 
which is that we have never been in a position to hold hostage the 
whole budgeting process through the idea of a legislative fight, and I 
would beg to differ on the interpretation of my Republican friends that 
that has occurred. It did not occur during the shutdown dealing with 
President Clinton and the Speaker of the House, then-Speaker Gingrich; 
and, in fact, we had passed a number of appropriation bills that had 
already been passed. So even though the government was shut down, there 
was not this dire, complete collapse of the government that we are 
facing now.
  In addition, there is a representation that we have passed any number 
of pointed appropriations during this shutdown. Mr. Speaker, those were 
only political votes. The reason why they were ineffective and members 
of our party voted against them was because they were political votes. 
They were meant entirely to get Democrats on the record for half-
funding Health and Human Services, half-funding Indian Services, half-
funding Homeland Security, half-funding any number of departments that, 
in fact, did not make sense.
  So let me give you the real cost, if you will, of where we are today 
and give it from the perspective of my committee, and that is, the 
Judiciary Committee. And one of our major agencies, the FBI, that 
clearly has focused on the security, domestic security of this Nation, 
very vital work of field agents that I work with every day, just about 
72 hours ago, FBI agents joined with my local officials in Houston and 
busted a heinous and horrific human trafficking operation, little girls 
sexually used and abused and manipulated, if you will--the FBI.
  Well, here is a quote from the FBI:

       The impact of sequestration, which is part of the budgeting 
     process, puts us further behind enemies and criminals that 
     pose threats to national security and public safety.

  And they list a whole litany of issues that are impacted. Let me just 
read a few: undermining counterterrorism investigations, exposing 
vulnerable populations to greater risk, halting counterintelligence 
cases, closing white collar cases has been delayed, limiting mortgage 
and financial fraud cases, constraining use of official vehicles, 
losing informants, impeding surveillance, harming local cooperation, 
reducing field time, increasing retirements.
  All of this impacts on the very basic responsibilities that we give 
to them; and it seems sad that we are putting these individuals who are 
putting themselves on the front lines of criminal enforcement, that we 
are, in fact, causing that to be halted.
  Lastly, on the FBI, Quantico, we all know, is a training ground for 
agents and others all across America:

       Quantico is quiet. I have no new agent classes going 
     through there. I can't afford it.

  There are any number of other issues, of course, that we could 
comment on, but let me continue by moving to my State, the State of 
Texas.
  But before I do that, here is a document from the administrative 
Office of the United States Courts. Again, something that the Judiciary 
has concern for. And we are told, as of tomorrow, possibly, that 
judicial matters may be shut down, may be stopped because of the 
restraints on our article III judges, and that is shameful.
  That means justice is stopping. That means public defenders are not 
being paid. Although all of those folks are continuing to come, in some 
instances, there may be major impacts in the court system.
  But I would like to turn our attention to the discourse that is 
occurring here; and as I do that, let me make mention for my friends of 
one answer to why we should not be holding ObamaCare and the American 
people hostage.
  First I want to say, coming from my district, I met with over 40 
navigators. They have concerns. We all want to make sure this works 
right, which is what I wished my Republican friends would do. But they 
had smiles on their faces because what they are saying is the people 
are eager. They are eager in Texas, a State where we have denied the 
expanded Medicaid. We don't have our State exchange. We have done 
damage to those who need insurance. It is a shame what we have done in 
Texas.
  But those who have been assigned to get an outreach are smiling, not 
because they get paid a whole lot of money, but because they are 
reaching people who are desperate and who want to be insured.

                              {time}  2045

  And so I will put in the Record an article called, ``ObamaCare Saved 
My Family From Financial Ruin.'' It talks about a young boy with a 
brain tumor and leading up to the point of losing all of his insurance. 
He might have been

[[Page H6589]]

born with this tumor, but he was only diagnosed at about 6 years old. 
Mason is his name. He played basketball and did a lot of things until 
they determined in later years--I think he was age 14--that he had this 
horrific brain tumor. It is only because of ObamaCare that his life now 
will have the kind of coverage of insurance that we are all desirous 
of.
  But I want to sort of finish my remarks. There is a lot I can say 
about Texas, and I may offer one point if I might, Mr. Jeffries, to 
make sure that I have that in the Record. We all are concerned about 
our individual States. And so for my friends back home, this is a State 
that has some 36 Members of Congress, two Senators, and I am on the 
floor fighting against this shutdown.
  The reason that Texans need to be aware that it is important that you 
fight against this shutdown and put out a clean CR is that this will 
cost 582,829 Texas residents who took out a home mortgage or refinanced 
an existing mortgage last year $36,000 over the life of a typical 30-
year loan. And I am jumping to if we go into default over the next 2 
days.
  The Republican debt default will put at risk the retirement plans of 
4.473 million Texans, and 300,000 vets would have a concern about their 
disability compensation for November 1; and 24,000 or 25,000 poor and 
disabled vets would be questionable about the pension they live on.
  But I want to close with something that has disturbed me as we have 
watched the rhetoric. I have pages and pages. We all are emotional. We 
all have the talent of rhetoric. We all have, if you will, the 
affection for the use of words--hyperbole, metaphors, using examples, 
and making our point. Mr. Speaker, I respect that. I am not a thin-
skinned person. I am as much engaged in the debate on this floor as 
many of my friends, but all of us should be sensitive to the words that 
suggest that we have other motives.
  So I come to the floor today to raise issue with what is perceived in 
many communities of the different treatment of Barack Obama. You can 
read between the words why he is treated so differently and why he is 
cast about with such utterly ugly and demeaning suggestions. And in 
demeaning him, you are demeaning a whole body of other folks. I take 
issue with that.
  And so let me see if maybe Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch will call 
us back and give us a response to his words uttered yesterday that I 
find totally out of order. Protected by the First Amendment, 
absolutely--I have no quarrel with that. But I believe it is important 
to put this in the Record as we talk about this government shutdown 
because if we are going to get where we need to go, we need to all 
realize that we have a greater cause--and that is America's cause.
  So I finish on these words.
  Apparently, he was moved yesterday in front of the Vietnam Veterans 
Memorial--which many in the Million Vets movement denounced yesterday, 
and he said:

       We are ruled by a President that bows down to Allah.

  I am already insulted because I believe in the freedom of religion. I 
respect the dignity of all religions.
  He is not a President of we the people, says Mr. Klayman of Freedom 
Watch, but a President of his people.
  I don't know who that is. All I know is that the President was 
elected to be President of all of the people of the United States of 
America.
  He goes on to say:

       We should wage a nonviolent revolution.

  I have never been ashamed of the nonviolent civil rights movement. We 
didn't call it a revolution. We called it a movement to give dignity to 
people and move them from second-class citizenship.
  But he says:

       We should wage a nonviolent revolution. This President 
     should get the Koran out of his hands.

  This is denigrating a religion that I believe is absolutely 
appalling.

       Get off his knees--

  Is there some documentation about the President's private prayer 
allegiances or responsibilities or desires that this gentleman knows 
what he is talking about?

     --and get out of town.

  That is, I believe, one of the most appalling statements that we have 
heard charged against a President of the United States in a time of 
crisis, when the American people are looking for hope, looking for 
serious response.
  I would hope that there will be Members of the Republican Conference 
that will come to the floor tomorrow and join in with the solution that 
may be offered as it is being discussed in the Senate; and I hope they 
will denounce these words, as I am denouncing them tonight. For we will 
never get a solution to move this Nation forward if we are to denounce 
religions that are respected and given the privilege of being 
worshipped by those who worship--by the First Amendment--and to try to 
denigrate a President by denigrating a religion and going in the circle 
of diminishing all of us.
  I want to thank the gentleman for giving me this opportunity. I may 
ask for some more time if I am able to stay around, as we go forward, 
because there is a long list of what I think we are being deprived of.
  But I do want to let everyone know that when I was home in the 
district for the short period I was, I know that those in Texas who are 
suffering are happy about Barack Obama. They want us to get it together 
right like we did with Medicare part D, which did not work when it was 
first put in place, but they are happy.
  I would hope that, as I indicated these words on the floor, that we 
would take the words of Chaplain Barry Black and ``stop sowing in the 
wind'' and stop, in essence, doing things that undermine our very 
leadership. Thank you, Chaplain Black, for giving us these words of 
inspiration. Maybe we will take notice. And when words are said that 
are ugly, inappropriate, and without any truth, I am looking for my 
friends tomorrow to come on the floor and denounce these ugly words 
that were said by this gentleman that have no bearing in truth and have 
the audacity to denigrate faiths that are, in essence, respected and 
show their love for a higher power.

  We should all be grateful that the different faiths we grant in this 
Nation under the First Amendment of freedom of religion can pray to 
their God--pray to God--and ask for the blessings of God on this 
Nation.
  With that, I thank the gentleman for his courtesies.

                [From the Washington Post, Oct. 9, 2013]

             Obamacare Saved My Family From Financial Ruin

                       (By Janine Urbaniak Reid)

       House Speaker John Boehner and his tea party friends shut 
     down the U.S. government because of people like me. I am the 
     mother of an insurance hog, someone who could have blown 
     through his lifetime limit of health coverage by the time he 
     was 14. My son has managed to survive despite seemingly 
     insurmountable challenges, and he wears his preexisting 
     condition like a Super Bowl ring.
       Mason, now 16, was probably born with his brain tumor. We 
     discovered it six years ago. Biopsies showed a slow-growing 
     mass, which was the good news. The bad news was that the 
     tumor could not be removed because it had grown around 
     essential structures in his brain. Under the care of some of 
     the country's finest specialists, Mason had frequent scans. 
     There was little we could do between tests but hope for the 
     best. Like other children his age, Mason played basketball, 
     argued with his siblings and avoided cleaning his bedroom. He 
     managed to undergo chemotherapy for eight months without 
     getting too sick. He insisted on finding ways to laugh, 
     saying things like: ``I have brain cancer. What's your 
     problem?'' It was an uneasy peace--until the tumor ruptured 
     in December 2010, three years after his initial diagnosis, 
     and Mason suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.
       Mason spent most of eighth grade in the hospital. In the 
     six months he was hospitalized, he spent 65 days in the 
     pediatric intensive care unit. He underwent four brain 
     surgeries. Halfway through his hospitalization, the 
     Affordable Care Act was passed, alleviating lifetime limits 
     on coverage and saving us from the financial abyss. Mason 
     moved to a rehabilitation hospital where he was retaught the 
     most basic skills--sitting up, eating and standing. We 
     faithfully paid the premiums on the employer-sponsored plan 
     through which our family is covered, along with the rest of 
     our bills, thanking God and whoever else would listen for our 
     good fortune to have coverage.
       The biggest fear for families such as mine is that we will 
     lose our health insurance and be rendered uninsurable because 
     one of us has been sick. The Affordable Care Act does away 
     with dreaded clauses barring preexisting conditions. It also 
     enables us to keep Mason on our insurance until he is 26; 
     then, he will be able to purchase his own coverage on an 
     insurance exchange. At least, that was the plan until last 
     Tuesday, when the government was shut down in protest of such 
     excesses.

[[Page H6590]]

       As far as the brain tumor goes, our family might have drawn 
     the short straw. Maybe our story lacks a certain universal 
     appeal. People might thinking to themselves, ``I'm so sorry 
     that happened to you, but odds are it won't happen to me.'' I 
     hope it doesn't, really.
       But having lived in hospitals with Mason for months, I have 
     seen that bad things--accidents, freak illnesses--happen to 
     smart, cautious and otherwise undeserving people. It's one 
     thing we all have in common. We are fragile beings. So what 
     is wrong with allowing us to purchase a financial safety net? 
     What's so un-American about that?
       If I could get John Boehner and Ted Cruz on a conference 
     call, I would explain this to them. I would tell them that, 
     while they were busy trying to derail the Affordable Care Act 
     over the past two years, Mason has again learned to walk, 
     talk, eat and shoot a three-point basket.

  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from the great 
State of Texas for her observations and certainly hope that all people 
of decency on both sides of the aisle will denounce the hateful words 
that we saw on display here in the Nation's Capital this weekend.
  We are pleased to have been joined by the distinguished 
Representative from the great State of Virginia, Representative Bobby 
Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman from New York and the 
gentleman from Nevada for organizing this Special Order, and the 
gentlelady from Ohio for her leadership in the Black Caucus, and the 
other Members who are participating tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, our economy has been improving very slowly over the last 
few years, and we need to do everything we can to make sure that we 
create as many jobs as possible.
  Thursday, the United States faces a crisis, and that is whether we 
will pay our debts or whether we will, for the first time in our 
history, default on our debts. The debate on the debt ceiling really 
isn't much of a debate because every credible economist has already 
concluded that failure to adjust the debt ceiling will cause serious 
adverse consequences to the domestic economy, and even the global 
economy. That conclusion really ought to end the debate.
  For those who want a little more information, you only have to look 
back a couple of years. The Republicans made a credible threat on the 
debt ceiling, and the S&P, just based on the credible threat--although 
we raised it in time--downgraded the creditworthiness of the United 
States for the first time in history.
  So we really don't know exactly what would happen. We know none of it 
is going to be good, but we would be looking at possible increases in 
interest rates, lost jobs, stock market collapse and people's pensions 
at stake, government checks like Social Security and veterans benefits, 
and doctors not being paid under Medicare. All are adverse consequences 
for failing to adjust the debt ceiling.
  My Republican colleagues have threatened to use this crisis as an 
opportunity to gain legislative advantage to pass legislation that they 
can't pass through the normal process. Unfortunately for them, the 
Nation Magazine published their wish list. It starts, of course, with 
undermining ObamaCare, but then it goes on to entitlement reform, 
better known as cutting Social Security and Medicare; Keystone 
pipeline; corporate tax cuts; sabotage EPA clean air regulations; 
offshore drilling. It goes on and on. They published the list.
  But the full faith and credit of the United States should not be a 
bargaining chip held hostage unless some legislative ransom is paid.
  Suppose the Democrats played the same game and put on the table 
immigration reform, gay rights, a jobs bill, or gun safety, and we are 
going to shut down the government or mess with the debt ceiling unless 
we get our way on that legislation. How dysfunctional a government 
would we have then?
  In the past, there have been debt ceilings; and people have referred 
to the fact that in the past, there have been negotiations over the 
debt ceiling. But those are different negotiations. Those are 
negotiations on the debt ceiling in the context of, Of course we are 
going to adjust the debt ceiling. And then you put things on the bill. 
So if you can get your amendment on the bill, you know you are in good 
shape because that bill is going to pass. You will get over the line.
  It has never been in the context of, If I don't get my way, we will 
explode the economy--until 2 years ago when the Republicans pulled a 
stunt and the S&P downgraded our credit rating. About 45 times since 
the 1980s we have increased the debt ceiling. It has always been in the 
context of, Of course, the debt ceiling will be increased.
  This isn't like a credit card where you increase your credit limit so 
that you can spend more. We have already spent it. We have passed the 
spending bills. We have already spent the money. The question is 
whether we are going to pay the bills; and if you are going to discuss 
fiscal responsibility, it ought to be at a time when you are deciding 
whether to spend the money, not after you spend it and then decide 
whether you are going to pay the bills that you have already incurred.
  We are discussing this debt ceiling while the government is shut 
down. And shut down for what reason? It started off on ObamaCare. Many 
Republican Senators have already said that this wasn't going to happen, 
and it wasn't a good idea to shut down the government over ObamaCare. 
Apparently, they have pretty much given on that and some have said, 
Well, we have shut down the government; we have got to get something.
  The problem with giving something for shutting down the government is 
that there is apparently a fundamental concept in psychology of 
positive reinforcement. If you reward somebody for doing something, 
they will probably do it again. If they get a reward for shutting down 
the government, this will become part and parcel of the legislative 
process that if you can't get a bill passed, you will shut down the 
government until you get it passed.

  Several Republican legislators have praised the fact that we passed 
some piecemeal bills to reopen government one little agency at a time. 
It looks to me like every morning they read the newspaper and find out 
the latest disaster caused by their shutdown and then some things like 
servicemen not getting death benefits, the World War II Memorial, 
cancer patients not being treated at the National Institutes of Health, 
Head Start.
  Every morning, they read the tragic effects of their shutdown and 
then run to the House to address the disaster of the day and try to get 
some 30-second sound bite to cover up the fact all they are doing is 
cleaning up part of the mess that they already caused.
  Passage of these little piecemeal bills only serves to elongate the 
shutdown. We need to reopen the government and put an end to all this; 
and while some of us are working hard to produce jobs, this shutdown is 
costing hundreds of thousands of jobs.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have criticized Democrats for 
not negotiating. I just want to remind everybody we are talking about 
the budget. The Democrats started with one number, the Republicans with 
another number. The Democrats didn't come halfway or two-thirds of the 
way. They just agreed to the Republican number on a short-term basis so 
we can continue to negotiate without shutting down the government.
  So we need to reopen all of the government and stop losing jobs. 
Let's pay our debts, and then we can get to the real serious 
negotiations on the budget.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding and look forward to reopening 
government, paying our bills, and then getting into the tough 
negotiations.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Virginia for 
his observations and for reminding the American people that the 
President, the Senate majority, Democrats in the House of 
Representatives have always been prepared to sit down and attempt to 
find common ground as it relates to the challenges that we confront 
here in the country. We have been asking for a conference committee to 
be put into place so we can discuss the budget passed by the House and 
passed by the Senate and figure out how we can negotiate around those 
differences since March; but the House majority has refused to appoint 
Members to negotiate the budget differences.
  But we are not going to be put into a position where essentially you 
say, Give us everything we want--the right-wing Republican agenda for 
this country rejected by the American people on

[[Page H6591]]

November 6, 2012. But notwithstanding that fact, give us everything we 
want or we are going to shut down the government or force a default 
that plunges this country and the world into a painful recession. We 
are not interested in negotiating on those terms because it is not in 
the best interest of the American people.
  I am pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished 
Representative from the great State of California.
  I yield to Representative Barbara Lee.
  Ms. LEE of California. First let me thank you both, Congressman 
Jeffries and Congressman Horsford, for your tremendous leadership, your 
vigilance, and your diligence. We appreciate your conducting these 
Special Orders to make sure that the American people know the truth 
about what is taking place here in Washington, D.C.
  Also, I have to salute our chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
the gentlelady from Ohio, Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, for her 
leadership and ensuring that the entire Congressional Black Caucus 
continues to be the conscience of the Congress.
  Here we are 14 days into the Tea Party Republican shutdown and 3 days 
away from the Tea Party Republican government default, which would be 
the first in American history. Since taking control of the House of 
Representatives 2 years ago, the Tea Party has governed by 
brinksmanship. First, they were unable to accomplish their goals of 
decimating the government through legislation, so they have resorted to 
the type of tactics that eventually led to the sequester and to the 
shutdown of the Federal Government.
  Now, the last time that the Republicans refused to lift the debt 
ceiling and relied on brinksmanship to get their way, a supercommittee 
was formed as a way to reach compromise--which of course didn't work 
and led to the sequester, which has caused devastating, across-the-
board cuts to programs that the American people rely on, including 
57,000 slots which were cut from Head Start already, and services such 
as Meals on Wheels that our seniors depend on for a nutritious diet.
  As a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Budget Committee, 
I have joined Democrats in demanding an end to sequester and fought to 
restore the cuts to these vital programs. Yet even though we disagree 
with the funding level that these reckless cuts enacted--the sequester 
was a horrific action that we took, unfortunately. It has wreaked havoc 
on the lives of so many people. Even though we oppose that, we have 
agreed to vote for this budget, to reopen the government, and to put 
people back to work, and to provide the desperate services that people 
need.
  Then, of course, to add insult to injury, Republicans insisted on 
shutting down the government all because of an obsession with repealing 
and destroying the Affordable Care Act. Now, the Affordable Care Act is 
the law of the land. It has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and 
Americans are finally enrolling in coverage that they have been waiting 
for for years just to gain access to affordable health care. In fact, 
in its first week, the Covered California exchange in my home State had 
nearly 1 million visits to its Web site; and Californians have begun 
filling out nearly 44,000 applications for coverage.
  The only thing that the Tea Party Republicans have accomplished with 
this shutdown is the loss of nearly $4 billion in economic activity and 
misery and pain for the American people. They continue to deny Federal 
workers, the National Park Service, lifesaving cancer research, 
pregnant women, mothers, young children, seniors and veterans who have 
risked their lives for the Nation; they have denied them a fully 
functioning government. It is a shame and disgrace.
  In my own county, funds for the Women, Infant and Children nutrition 
program and funds for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, 
these funds will run out at the end of the month.
  Now, the consequences of the default: Republicans have simply refused 
to listen to what the vast majority of Americans are saying, and now 
the Tea Party Republicans are willing to risk the Nation's credit 
rating and the world economy to achieve their goal. If the Tea Party 
refuses to raise the debt ceiling and forces a default on this Nation's 
debt--which, mind you, are bills that we have already agreed to pay--
every American household will feel the impact. Retirement savings will 
be lost; mortgages will be harder to get.
  The full faith and credit of the United States is nonnegotiable. We 
are not a deadbeat Nation and should pay our bills. It is time for the 
Tea Party Republicans to end the brinksmanship, open the government up, 
put people back to work, pay our bills, and let's begin to negotiate on 
a real budget that will ensure the American Dream for millions of 
Americans for whom this dream now, quite frankly, is turning into a 
nightmare.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Congresswoman Lee, thank you for continuing to be an 
unyielding advocate for the downtrodden, the disaffected, and the 
disenfranchised in such a tremendous way.
  I now yield to a distinguished member of the freshman class, also 
joining us from the great State of Texas, my good friend, 
Representative Mark Veasey.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the time to thank my 
friend from New York and the gentleman from Nevada for helping to put 
together this special hour on what is really important in this country. 
We know just how vital and vibrant we want our economy to be, and it is 
hard to do that if we are not taking care of our credit. I appreciate 
both of these gentlemen for taking this hour to talk about this.
  I would also like to thank my colleague from Texas, Sheila Jackson 
Lee, who spoke so eloquently on so many different areas in government 
that would be affected if we were to have a shutdown and how the 
Affordable Care Act is helping Americans--helping working Americans do 
better.
  Whether you are from Houston, where she lives, or the north Texas 
area where I am from, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, people are 
concerned. People are starting to get very worried about the very 
dangerous prospect of approaching the legal debt limit since we are 
only 3 days away from default.
  In 2011, the credit agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. 
credit rating for the first time in history. S&P said this back then:

       The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights 
     what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming 
     less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what 
     we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the 
     threat of default have become political bargaining chips in 
     the debate over fiscal policy.

  Now, following that particular downgrade, it is estimated that job 
growth took a 28 percent nosedive. Can we afford a 28 percent nosedive 
right now? I think not.
  This also cost Americans more than 200,000 jobs right when we are 
starting to do better. The economy is starting to be kicked into motion 
from what was a very bad period over the last several years. We can't 
afford 200,000 jobs right now. We have to do everything we can to get 
ourselves out of the situation that we are in right now.
  Also important is that consumer confidence dropped to levels 
mirroring those during the Great Recession, which had a negative impact 
on economic activity. The GAO found that taxpayers paid $1.3 billion in 
additional interest. Let me repeat that: the GAO found that hardworking 
taxpayers paid $1.3 billion in additional interest costs because of the 
delayed 2011 debt limit increase. Is that what we want, the hardworking 
taxpayers of our country to have to pay additional taxes because we 
can't get our act together, because Republicans can't get their act 
together on the debt ceiling?
  Two years after S&P's bleak assessment and the clear economic data, 
here we are again brought to the brink. We must be clear on what 
exactly the debt limit is and what it is not. Increasing the debt limit 
does not increase the Federal debt. It does not give a blank check to 
our government to spend all it wants. Increasing the debt limit will 
simply allow the Federal Government to pay bills that Congress has 
already accrued.
  Some of the payments that the Federal Government must make are 
interest payments on Treasury bonds, Social Security and Medicare 
benefits, military Active Duty pay, retirement and VA benefits. If the 
Tea Party refuses to allow the government to honor these financial 
obligations that are so

[[Page H6592]]

dear to many Americans, to our family members, to people in our 
communities, then investors will likely lose faith in the government 
and demand higher interest rates for Treasury bonds. We cannot allow 
our country to become a deadbeat Nation that doesn't pay its bills.
  Let's move beyond these silly, partisan games. We have the American 
economy at stake here. And more importantly, we have the economic 
livelihood of every American in our hand. The full faith and credit of 
the United States should not be up for negotiation. It is time for 
Congress to raise the debt limit--like they have in the past so many 
times before--and for Republicans to end their losing game of 
brinksmanship and realize that they are damaging American lives every 
day.
  Let's do more for the hardworking taxpayers in our country that make 
our country great.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Texas for his 
observations and for his historical analysis, pointing out that raising 
the debt ceiling is something that has consistently occurred throughout 
the last century here in America.
  I want to enter into the Record a White House correspondence that 
reads, in part, as follows:

       This country now possesses the strongest credit in the 
     world. The full consequences of a default--or even the 
     serious prospect of default--by the United States are 
     impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration 
     of the full faith and credit of the United States would have 
     substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on 
     the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can 
     ill afford to allow such a result.

  Mr. Speaker, this letter is dated November 16, 1983, and those words 
were written by then-President Ronald Reagan to Senate Majority Leader 
Howard Baker: The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result.
  Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times during his two terms; 
and yet our good friends on the other side of the aisle want to come 
here and lecture President Obama as if he is being irresponsible, when 
the paragon of conservative Presidential leadership recognized the 
necessity on 18 occasions--and as memorialized in this correspondence--
of raising the debt ceiling.

                                              The White House,

                                Washington, DC, November 16, 1983.
     Hon. Howard H. Baker, Jr.,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Howard: This letter is to ask for your help and 
     support, and that of your colleagues, in the passage of an 
     increase in the limit on the public debt.
       As Secretary Regan has told you, the Treasury's cash 
     balances have reached a dangerously low point. Henceforth, 
     the Treasury Department cannot guarantee that the Federal 
     Government will have sufficient cash on any one day to meet 
     all of its mandated expenses, and thus the United States 
     could be forced to default on its obligations for the first 
     time in its history.
       This country now possesses the strongest credit in the 
     world. The full consequences of a default--or even the 
     serious prospect of default--by the United States are 
     impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration 
     of the full faith and credit of the United States would have 
     substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on 
     the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can 
     ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the 
     disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one 
     conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the 
     Congress adjourns.
       I want to thank you for your immediate attention to this 
     urgent problem and for your assistance in passing an 
     extension of the debt ceiling.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Ronald Reagan.

  We are pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished 
gentlelady from Columbus, Ohio, who has conducted herself with such 
intelligence and grace in her 10 months here in the United States 
Congress, and we are proud to call her a member of this freshman class.
  I yield now to Representative Joyce Beatty.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Thank you, Mr. Jeffries, and to Mr. Horsford.
  It is an honor for me to stand here on this floor with you as a 
colleague in our freshman class. But first let me thank you for your 
leadership, and also to Congresswoman Marsha Fudge from my great State 
of Ohio, as president of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  As I stand here tonight, I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther 
King when he said:

       The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in a 
     time of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times 
     of challenge and controversy.

                              {time}  2115

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today during this time of challenge and 
controversy to express my strong concern over Republicans' failure to 
immediately raise our country's debt limit. The failure to act is 
threatening an imminent default on our Nation's financial obligation.
  Raising the debt limit does not grow our deficit. Instead, it allows 
the Treasury to pay for what this Congress has already spent.
  What are the facts? Since 1917, the debt limit has been raised 103 
times. In recent history, it has been raised 45 times. As you have 
heard my colleague state, 18 times during Ronald Reagan's Presidency.
  In 273 years since our country's founding we have never defaulted on 
our financial obligation. Yes, never. But if Republicans refuse to 
increase the debt limit by October 17, the Secretary of the Treasury 
has indicated very clearly that we won't be able to pay our outstanding 
debts on time. Quite frankly, this is unthinkable.
  The ``full faith and credit'' clause of the United States 
Constitution directs that the United States will pay all its debts in 
full and on time every time.
  America's full faith and credit has been the basis for our global 
economic superiority for at least 100 years. Like ordinary Americans, 
if the Federal Government does not pay its bills on time, then when it 
comes time to borrow in the future, the interest rates we pay will be 
much higher. If the debt limit is not raised, Americans will feel the 
impact immediately, both directly and indirectly.
  Who loses? Payments owed to our soldiers and veterans for their 
services will be delayed. Nearly 4 million disabled veterans receive 
monthly payments in recognition of their sacrifice. If we default, they 
will not receive their benefits on November 1. In my home, the great 
State of Ohio, 1,183 veterans receive disability compensation. It would 
be unthinkable for us to fail to pay them, and the benefits that they 
have earned for their services.
  Who loses? If the debt ceiling is not raised more than $36 million, 
Social Security recipients will not receive their earned benefits. In 
Ohio, over 2 million residents rely on Social Security to make ends 
meet. A default in our obligations would force them to choose between 
paying their rent or buying groceries. It is not a choice that Congress 
should force on our constituents to make.
  Americans will also see a sharp spike in interest rates offered on 
home mortgages, credit cards, car payments, and student loans. The 
spike will have an immediate, devastating negative impact on our 
Nation's housing recovery, which has been a driving force in recent 
economic growth.
  If Americans default, the average homeowner will pay an extra $100 a 
month in increased interest rates. This will cost families $36,000 over 
the life of a typically 30-year home loan.
  As the stock market reacts to the most significant defaults in modern 
history, you can expect steep drops in your IRAs and your 401Ks.
  Just last week, the Secretary of the Treasury reported that if our 
Nation were to default on our debts, the consequences would be 
``catastrophic''--yes, catastrophic--``with many private sector 
analysts believing that it would lead to events of the magnitude of 
late 2008 or worse.''
  We are still recovering from the worst recession in 80 years. We 
simply cannot afford to go backward, to go to double-digit 
unemployment, declining housing values, the financial markets 
declining, and a climate of economic uncertainty for businesses.
  Americans deserve swift action. I implore House Republican leadership 
to bring to the floor a bill which will raise the debt limit so the 
Treasury can continue to pay all of its bills on time.
  And lastly, I turn to the other imminent crisis: reopening the 
Federal Government.
  Throughout this hour, you have heard my colleagues talk about the 
choices that you force Americans to make when you try to piecemeal our 
funding. It is worth me repeating to say: it is like having a family 
and having parents having seven children, and

[[Page H6593]]

decide that you are only going to feed three of them and watch the 
other four children starve before your eyes.
  We stand on this floor as Democrats and Republicans every day and we 
talk about how we care for this America, how we want to provide 
services, but yet we are making Americans make a choice between NIH 
funding for children who are cancer patients, who need to be in 
clinical trial, and we make a decision to pull the funding, Federal 
funding, in 11 States that they are losing their Head Start grants. The 
list goes on and on.
  This is not the America I know, this is not the America I love. 
Americans deserve better.
  Let's reopen the doors of government, and let's raise our debt 
ceiling.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio for her 
very eloquent remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining on the Special Order?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York has 9 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
  We have also been joined by another distinguished Member of the 
freshman class, the always nattily dressed representative from the 
great State of New Jersey, my good friend, Congressman Donald Payne.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New 
York and the gentleman from Nevada for having this Special Order 
tonight, and also our tireless and fearless leader, the Honorable 
Marcia Fudge, chairwoman of the CBC.
  ``Insane,'' ``catastrophic,'' ``chaotic,'' ``a nuclear bomb''--these 
are just some of the words our top economists and business leaders have 
used to describe what will happen to our economy if Congress chooses 
not to pay our bills on time.
  The last time we flirted with not paying our bills on time, the 
economy flew into a tailspin, the markets plummeted, consumer 
confidence took a nosedive, our credit rating was downgraded, and our 
economic recovery came to a screeching halt. That was when we only got 
close to a default. If we actually defaulted, the short-and long-term 
consequences would be unimaginable.

  So, if this is the case, then how did we even get ourselves here 
again? The answer is simple. An extreme group of the Republican Party, 
the Tea Party, is so obsessed with defunding the Affordable Care Act 
that they are even willing to shut down the government and hold the 
full faith and credit of the United States hostage.
  Now, what does that mean, the ``full faith and credit?'' Mr. Speaker, 
when I hear that, it makes me think about what this Nation has meant to 
the world, about what this Nation has done for its people--the full 
faith and credit of the United States. I wouldn't want that on my 
conscience, that I was part of this body when it defaulted, because 
that is what you will be remembered for. You were here during the 
darkest time in this Nation's history.
  It is irresponsible that a small group would hold the American 
economy hostage simply because they don't like one Presidential policy, 
or the man.
  The Affordable Care Act is already the law. Even now that the 
government is closed because of the Republican shutdown, the law is 
going into effect as we speak.
  So I urge my reasonable colleagues on the other side to listen to the 
American people, because the people in my district are still hurting 
from the economic recession. They don't need a manufactured crisis on 
top of it.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. Speaker, let me now yield to the gentleman from the great State 
of Nevada, Representative Steven Horsford, my good friend from the 
silver State, my co-anchor on the CBC Special Order Hour of Power, to 
close us out for the evening.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Let me thank my good friend. I am proud to co-anchor 
this Special Order hour each week with you, my good friend from the 
great State of New York (Mr. Jeffries), and to all of my colleagues who 
came out tonight to put a real face to the real issues that are 
affecting America this day. To our leader, the chairlady of the 
American Black Caucus, thank you for your steadfast leadership in 
making sure that all issues are addressed on this floor.
  I listened to the other side of the aisle for more than an hour 
before coming to our Special Order. I tried to make sense of the 
arguments that they were making tonight. But do you know what? Their 
piecemeal approach to funding the government makes no sense.
  This chart signifies just what a piecemeal approach to government 
looks like. This chart makes it look like the GOP has approached 
funding our government like a game of Pac-Man. Well, this isn't a game. 
There are real lives at stake. It is time for Speaker Boehner and the 
House Republicans to realize it is game over and to work with those of 
us on the Democratic side in the House and our leadership in the Senate 
and the President to reopen government.
  Americans across the country are already hurting from this 
Republican-led government shutdown. In my district alone, 11,000 
Nevadans have been furloughed, leaving families struggling to pay their 
bills on time while putting food on the table.
  I recently returned from my district and had a town hall with 
constituents to hear the effects that this government shutdown and the 
impending debt ceiling would have on the constituents of my district.
  One constituent, Fred Waggar, shared his story with me. He is a 
veteran who now works for the VA. He is worried that on October 25 he 
will not get his paycheck as a medical services coordinator for the VA. 
Then on November 1, he may not get his check and the benefits that he 
is entitled to as a veteran.
  Fred said he is living paycheck to paycheck, so what is he going to 
do come November 1 when the rent is due, when the utility bills come 
due, when it is time to put food on his table, because Republicans are 
now determined to hold the full faith and credit of the United States 
hostage because Speaker Boehner is too busy catering to a fringe of 
radicals in his caucus?

                              {time}  2130

  I also have received tweets from our #cbctalks from constituents in 
my district. Kevin Hooks, who is the president of the Las Vegas Urban 
League, says that with the impending debt ceiling not being lifted, if 
the Women, Infants, and Children program that the Urban League 
administers closes, 200 families per day will lose health services and 
15 employees will be furloughed. He goes on to say that the child care 
subsidy would affect upwards of 225 children per day, and some 60 
employees will be furloughed.
  Shaundell Newsome with the Urban Chamber says that Nevada businesses 
are being impacted by the government shutdown. It is killing small 
businesses. Open it.
  The fear is real.
  And then I got a question from the Clark County Black Caucus asking--
or saying that their members are nervous that they won't receive Social 
Security or unemployment checks on the first of the month; what should 
I tell them?
  Well, I stand here, my colleagues and I, along with 196 House 
Democrats, in support of a clean debt ceiling increase that insures 
that the full faith and credit of the United States of America is 
protected and avoids a Republican default. Our constituents have 
already suffered enough from this shutdown. We need to be representing 
the people's interest, not punishing them. Refusing to raise the debt 
ceiling carries serious implications, as all of my colleagues have 
discussed tonight.
  For an already fragile economy, if we allow the Republicans to 
default on our debt, middle class American families and the poor would 
be forced to pay higher interest rates for mortgages, auto loans, 
student loans, and credit cards. Veterans will be affected; disability 
benefits will not come on time. Is this any way to send a message to 
our veterans?
  So we call on our colleagues tonight, you have left the building, but 
we are here and we will stay and work as long as it takes to ensure 
that our obligations are met, that the government is reopened, and that 
we meet our obligations to pay our bills.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, let's reopen the government, raise the 
debt ceiling, and get back to doing the business of the American 
people.

[[Page H6594]]

  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, brinksmanship makes 
for poor politics, and defaulting on America's debts will make for a 
poor national economy and a poor global image. It should not be 
understated how devastating defaulting on the debt ceiling would be for 
America's growing economy. A default as a result of political games 
would be even more embarrassing.
  Most games have winners and losers, but if the political games being 
employed by the Republican party cause a default on America's financial 
obligations, everyone loses. To be clear, this is not a game. The 
consequences on the American economy, our country's global image, and 
the lives of all Americans will be very real.
  The Republican government shutdown has illuminated the party's 
willingness to put politics before people. If the Republican political 
brinkmanship causes a default on America's obligations, it will 
demonstrate their willingness to torpedo a growing American economy. 
This brinksmanship must end and we must raise the debt ceiling and 
continue advancing policies that have and will continue to allow our 
economy to grow.

                          ____________________