[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H620-H621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               APPROPRIATIONS AND CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Moskowitz) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MOSKOWITZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I am deeply 
concerned that we are headed toward a government shutdown on March 14. 
It is not

[[Page H621]]

about whether Democrats or Republicans would win politically. It is 
because we know the American people would lose.
  Mr. Speaker, let me tell you why I am deeply concerned that we are 
headed for a government shutdown on March 14. I am worried because the 
Speaker has not brought the 12 individual spending bills, which is the 
way we should fund the government. In fact, it is the promise that was 
made by my Republican colleagues on how we would fund the government.
  Republicans have made the argument that the last election was about 
the status quo disappearing, that it can't exist and that people are 
fed up.
  They created DOGE, which is going through the Federal Government and 
finding fraud, waste, and abuse, so they say and so they claim. If that 
is true, Mr. Speaker, if Elon Musk and DOGE have found all that fraud, 
waste, and abuse, the hundreds of billions of dollars as they claim, 
then, Mr. Speaker, we can't fund the government by CR anymore because 
the CR would refund all of that waste, fraud, and abuse that DOGE has 
found. That means the only way to fund the government is to fund it by 
individual spending bills, but we are running out of time, Mr. Speaker.
  We have a month before the government shuts down. We have to get back 
to the process of individual spending bills. If we don't, then the 
Speaker will be the one who will have closed the government for the 
American people.
  I am concerned, and I am here to work with the Speaker on the 12 
individual spending bills. Democrats are at the table to do that, but 
we have to be honest. We can't tell the American people we are for 
reducing fraud, waste, and abuse, that we are for government efficiency 
and to look at all these things we have found, and then say that we are 
going to refund them all with a clean CR.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to say: I am here. I am willing to stay weekends. 
I am willing to work for the next month so that we can fund the 
government appropriately with the 12 individual spending bills, a 
promise that my Republican colleagues made.
  The Speaker has to start getting that train moving. Otherwise, he 
will close the government.

                          ____________________