[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 117 (Thursday, July 24, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6752-H6753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SENATE INACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Byrne) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, I have been in this House now for 6 months, 
and I regrettably rise today to express my frustration, and I know the 
frustration of thousands of people in my district in southwest Alabama 
and, I believe, people all over the United States of America.
  People are tired of the stagnation coming from Washington. Just look 
at the disapproval rating of this Congress and the disapproval rating 
of our President.
  The people of this country want to see action, action on growing our 
economy, action on cutting spending, action on health care, action on 
immigration, action on the crisis at the VA, action on foreign policy 
and all the problems we see around the world that involve our 
interests. They want to see action.

                              {time}  1030

  Just earlier this week, I was at the White House for a bill-signing 
ceremony of the Workforce Investment Act, or the SKILLS Act, as we 
called it here in the House.
  The SKILLS Act was a great example of Democrats and Republicans in 
this House and the Senate coming together behind a common goal of 
improving our Nation's workforce training programs, which is so 
important at this time in our recovering economy.
  During the bill-signing ceremony, the President implored us to send 
more bipartisan job-creating bills his way. The problem is the 
President doesn't need to lecture this House on that. The President 
needs to look no further than the majority leader in the Senate, the 
gentleman from Nevada.
  In the House, we have passed nearly 300 bills that are sitting in the 
Senate, waiting for action--at least 40 of those bills are job-creating 
bills. We have continued in this House to do the people's work, making 
our way through seven of the appropriations bills that we are required 
by the Constitution to pass to fund the government. The Senate has not 
completed a single one.
  Now, some may say the issue is that Republican Senators have demanded 
to have amendments considered. I don't think that is too much to ask. 
Here in the House, we have considered at least 180 minority amendments 
to appropriations bills alone, 180.
  One of my colleagues in the House from the other side of the aisle 
was quoted in an article as saying that she wanted ``to thank the 
Republicans for their generosity. I am just grateful for the 
bipartisanship here.''
  That is not the same message coming out of the do-nothing Senate. One 
Democratic Senator was quoted as saying that he has ``a hard time 
getting on the train in the morning.'' Former Senate leaders Tom 
Daschle and Trent Lott have said the Senate ``has degenerated into a 
polarized mess.''
  Now, this probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise because, yet 
again this year, the Senate failed to even pass a budget.

[[Page H6753]]

  I was just elected this past December. Prior to that, I was in the 
Alabama State Senate, and in our State, the State of Alabama, as in 
most States, our legislature is required to pass a budget and 
appropriations bills every year on time, and they have to be balanced.
  So every year, the Alabama Legislature passes budgets with 
appropriations in them on time, and they are balanced. The United 
States Congress can't do that, the greatest debating body ever known to 
the world, the United States Senate can't do that?
  I can't imagine what the people in my district would think if they 
saw the inaction coming from the United States Senate, but they see the 
results of it, and it troubles them greatly.
  We have heard this song and dance before, and most of us now know how 
it is going to end. At some point--sooner, rather than later--the House 
will be forced to consider a continuing resolution to prevent a 
government shutdown.
  The Senate can prevent this by following the House in regular order, 
doing the people's work, making the hard decisions, and advancing 
individual appropriations bills, as we have done in the House.
  That is how government is supposed to work, and that is the only way 
we are going to be able to make serious reforms to spending programs.
  I have come to this body a number of times to offer amendments to 
pending bills that would have cut spending, and I am going to keep 
pushing for these types of strategic spending reductions, but when the 
Senate refuses to do its part, it makes this process impossible.
  The Senate's inaction is going to force those in the House to make an 
unfair choice, and I ask them to act differently for the people of this 
country, so we can get things done.

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