[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 134 (Thursday, September 17, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H6083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              NO SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Nolan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, we have 6 
legislative days until the Government of the United States shuts down 
for lack of funding.
  Why? It is because the Republican leadership here in the House has 
failed to bring forth critical appropriations bills to fund the 
government. As a result of that, we are faced with the need to pass a 
continuing resolution to fund the government; yet we have leading 
Members of the Congress here threatening to shut down the government 
rather than to put forth on the House of Representatives here a 
bipartisan bill for a continuing resolution to fund the government.
  Instead, we have partisan after partisan after partisan legislative 
measures brought before the House here under closed rules that the 
leadership knows isn't going to go anywhere, but it is introduced for 
the perceived notion of partisan gain.
  The hard simple truth is that the American people want the Congress 
to put their partisanship aside and to go to work, start fixing things, 
finding common ground, rebuilding the middle class, creating jobs, and 
restoring the American Dream. They surely don't want another government 
shutdown that puts people's jobs, families, our government, and our 
national security at risk.
  Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, the Congress of the United 
States needs to come to Washington and to go to work. If the Congress 
doesn't do its job and get its work done, then Congress shouldn't get 
paid. The working men and women of America don't get paid when they 
don't come to work, why should the Congress get paid?
  That is why I have introduced the No Government No Pay Act to 
prohibit Members of Congress from getting paid during a shutdown of the 
Congress' own creation--because people in this country, they don't want 
a shutdown.
  They want to see the Congress go to work, find common ground, fix 
things, get things done, rebuild America with a transportation bill, 
not another kick-the-can-down-the-road, short-term fix. They want jobs 
with good-paying benefits, not a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement 
that sends their good-paying jobs overseas.
  The American people want accessible health care for our veterans, as 
indeed they should be receiving, not a trip to ``kingdom come'' every 
time a veteran needs some medical care.
  The American people, they want to see protection from Social Security 
and for Medicare and the recognition these are not entitlements, that 
these are benefits that people worked hard for and started paying for 
the first day that they ever went to work. They surely don't want to 
see those benefits turned over to Wall Street and to the big insurance 
companies.
  Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, if the Congress doesn't go to 
work, it shouldn't get paid.
  More importantly, the Congress needs to go to work and bring these 
measures under open rules before the full House of Congress because 
that is how you find common ground, that is how you get things done, 
that is how you fix things in America.
  The American people want it; they deserve it, and they have every 
right to expect it.

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