[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 7 (Thursday, January 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DO YOUR JOB

  (Mr. GALLAGHER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I don't often make these 1-minute 
speeches, but I am concerned about where we might we headed next week 
in terms of the budget.
  Last week, the House took another weeklong break instead of staying 
here in order to talk about fulfilling our fundamental duty of passing 
a budget and funding the government. Yet here we are once again, for 
the third time in 2 months, just 10 days away from government funding 
running out, and once again we are scheduled to leave town.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress is paid to do a job, and so we shouldn't leave 
town until that job is done. This constant cycle of careening from one 
budgetary deadline to the next is irresponsible and embarrassing. Only 
in Washington is doing a basic task like keeping the lights on 
considered such a difficult achievement.
  It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is simple: No more 
breaks. Lock us on the House floor until we reach a budget deal that 
does right by our constituents, does right by the military, does right 
by all these different programs.
  Passing a budget is not just our job, it is the law, and no one, 
including this body, is above the law. I urge my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to end the partisan stall tactics. Let's work 
together and do the job we were elected to do.

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