[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14613-14614]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bera) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Speaker, in 3 days, this body threatens 
to shut down the government.
  A government shutdown is going to affect millions of Americans. A 
government shutdown is going to affect middle class families at a time 
when our economy is slowly recovering, at a time when people are just 
starting to feel a little bit better about their home values, at a time 
when my constituents in Sacramento County are just now starting to feel 
a little bit better.
  Mr. Speaker, we can avoid this. Let's do what our history has shown 
us we can do. President Ronald Reagan was able to work with Speaker Tip 
O'Neill and get something done. That's what happens in divided 
government. President Bill Clinton was able to work with Speaker Newt 
Gingrich and get something done. That's what happens in divided 
government. You work together. You listen to each other. You don't play 
this blame game. You act like adults.
  Let's start talking and let's start listening to one another. That's 
what the American public wants. They want Democrats and Republicans to 
bring their best ideas forward, put those

[[Page 14614]]

ideas on the table, and put the people first. It's not that hard to do. 
That's what we teach our kids to do. That's what we do for those of us 
that have worked in the private sector. That's what American families 
do every day. They learn how to work together.
  The House is controlled by Republicans, the Senate is controlled by 
Democrats, and President Obama was reelected as a Democratic President. 
This is divided government. Mr. Speaker, sit down with the President, 
sit down with the leadership, put the best ideas forward, and 
compromise. We can't operate in a my-way-or-the-highway mentality, a 
winner-take-all mentality because that's killing this country.
  The public is watching. In these next 3 days, I hope this body acts 
like adults and we don't start playing the blame game and saying, Oh, 
it's the Republicans' fault; oh, it's the Democrats' fault. That's not 
going to get us anywhere.
  Yesterday, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to keep the 
government funded for 2 months. That isn't a solution, but at least it 
gives us 2 months to act like adults and put together a real budget. At 
its core, that's what we need to do. The number one job for elected 
officials, for all of us in this body, is to put together a real budget 
that takes the best Democratic ideas and the best Republican ideas, 
puts them together and puts the American people first.
  We can listen to all of the rhetoric that says the House has passed a 
budget and we did it on time, the Senate has passed a budget, the 
President has passed a budget. The sad fact is all three budgets are 
different. How do you operate a business like that? How do you manage 
your household like that? Let's act like adults, and let's go to 
conference. Let's take those three budgets, let's figure out a solution 
and a compromise and agree on one budget, and then bring that back to 
this body.
  Yes, the Senate passed a continuing resolution. Mr. Speaker, I urge 
you to bring it to this body today. Give us a chance to vote up or 
down. If you don't like that resolution, then the Republicans who 
control the House will vote down on it. But give us a chance to vote up 
or down. That's how this should work.
  The Senate has passed a farm bill that is important to this country 
and it's important to my constituents in California and Sacramento. 
Give us a chance to vote on that bill up or down. That's how government 
should work.
  We've got to start coming together.
  There is a group of us that are working together. I'm a leader of a 
group called ``The Problem Solvers.'' It's now up to 83 Members. It's 
Democrats and Republicans. We don't agree on everything, but we listen 
to one another. We put our ideas forward. We want government to work. 
We want to fix problems, not fight. We want to actually take those 
ideas.
  One of the first bills that I passed and I cosponsored was No Budget, 
No Pay, which says if we don't actually put a budget together, why 
should Members of Congress get paid? Nobody else in America gets paid 
if they don't do their job. This body is not doing its job. No Budget, 
No Pay, we passed it. The Senate passed it and the President signed it 
into law. Let's actually pass a budget. If we get 2 months, if we get 3 
months in funding the government, let's use those 3 months wisely to 
pass a budget. The public is watching.
  Here are three things that we could do: number one, go to a 
conference committee. The Senate has appointed folks to talk about 
their budget. The House has not appointed those folks. Let's get this 
done, and let's start moving America forward and relieving the debt 
burden on our kids and grandkids. We can do this. The public is 
watching. Three more days.

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