[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OPEN

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, Republicans have got to start working with 
Democrats to govern. We can't keep moving from one shutdown crisis to 
the next.
  Here is what we can do today, right now:
  First, we can work together to keep the Federal Government open by 
pursuing bipartisan priorities of the American people; funding 
community health centers, permanently reauthorizing CHIP, providing 
disaster relief, and protecting DREAMers. Let's do that, not for 
politics, but for people.
  Second, we can work together on a Federal budget that raises caps for 
domestic spending. We should increase veterans funding so there is not 
a single veteran left behind in our great Nation.
  We need to protect pensions, provide the disaster relief funds for 
hurricane and wildfire victims, create good-paying jobs and full-time 
jobs for American workers, and protect healthcare.
  Let's create a bipartisan budget that is a better deal for the 
American people.
  Mr. Speaker, it is too easy these days to be partisan and cynical. 
Let us, instead, work together to keep the Federal Government open and 
functioning for the American people.

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