[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14963-14964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         REPUBLICAN MAJORITY HAS ABDICATED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority has abdicated 
their responsibility. Make no mistake: a small faction of the 
Republican Party is holding our economy hostage to get their way.
  Just 36 hours into this shutdown and the American people are already 
feeling the consequences. Hundreds of thousands of Federal workers 
across the country are being furloughed without pay. Soon, women who 
rely on WIC will begin losing benefits. Our national parks are closed. 
Important biomedical

[[Page 14964]]

research and environmental work is being delayed.
  Make no mistake: this could all end today. If leadership would allow 
a simple up-or-down vote on the Senate-passed CR, this would all be 
over.
  But this has never been about budgeting. This is about a single-
minded obsession with repealing a law Congress passed, the Supreme 
Court upheld, and that was reaffirmed by the American people in the 
last Presidential election.
  That fight is over. Even with the government closed yesterday, health 
exchanges were open and uninsured Americans began purchasing coverage.

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