[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 175 (Thursday, December 3, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H8974-H8975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FUNDING BILL RIDERS

  (Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle to end their calls for shutdown and to 
work in a bipartisan manner to pass a funding measure without riders.
  This body has gotten into the habit of using last-minute Hail Mary 
votes to save us from one manufactured crisis after another, and it is 
taking our attention away from the list of things we need to get done--
things like reforming our criminal justice system, addressing gun 
violence, or creating jobs.
  There is just 1 week left before funding runs out, and it looks like 
we are heading into yet another crisis. In the midst of growing threats 
to national

[[Page H8975]]

security, we need to take politics out of this equation. We need to 
take poison pills that threaten working American families off the 
negotiating table.
  Mr. Speaker, I am ready and willing to work to keep the government of 
the greatest nation in the world open, and I know my Democratic 
colleagues will as well. I hope every Member of this body is ready to 
do the same.
  I want to express my condolences to San Bernardino and its families 
on their loss. I urge Congress to get moving on gun safety legislation.

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