[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 15223-15225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mullin). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of talk about ObamaCare, as 
most people call it. It's just difficult after the hundreds of stories 
we're getting from back home--not just me, but so many Members of 
Congress. It's just hard to call it the ``Affordable Care Act'' when 
we're hearing from so many that are saying, it's so very unaffordable.
  It was interesting, so many members of the media were chomping at the 
bit to find somebody who was able to get online and sign up for 
ObamaCare successfully. They grabbed a young man, Chad Henderson. He 
talked Thursday about his Internet experience, applying for insurance 
through the Affordable Care Act, through the Web site. So he was kind 
of a media icon.
  Gee, this young 21-year-old kid, this young man from Georgia got 
right on, and signed up for ObamaCare. Then we find the rest of the 
story. So many were using his story. Oh, Chad Henderson. He got signed 
up very easily.
  But here's a story by Kate Harrison today, on Friday, that says:

       A day after a 21-year-old Flintstone, Georgia, man became 
     the subject of national media attention--including a front 
     page Times Free Press story--for being one of the first 
     Americans to actually get through ObamaCare's glitchy Web 
     site and enroll for coverage, he acknowledged that he hadn't 
     completed that process.
       Amidst the initial publicity, Chad Henderson was hailed by 
     supporters of the Affordable Care Act as an example of the 
     new system working and was attacked by those against the law 
     for buying into the plan and for being a volunteer for 
     Organized for Action, a nonprofit promoting President Barack 
     Obama's agenda.
       Today, a libertarian magazine, Reason, called Henderson's 
     account into question after a conversation with Henderson's 
     father, who said that he and his son had not actually bought 
     a plan off of the ObamaCare site yet.
       In an interview today with the Times Free Press, Chad 
     Henderson confirmed that he hadn't actually purchased a plan, 
     but he insisted he hadn't lied. He said the confusion was in 
     the wording.
       ``I never actually said I purchased a plan,'' he said. ``I 
     said that I submitted an application, and so I enrolled. I 
     haven't actually paid for a plan, though I found one that I 
     liked. I never meant to mislead anyone.''
       When he first talked with the Times Free Press on Thursday, 
     Chad Henderson said he had ``picked'' a bronze plan from Blue 
     Cross Blue Shield of Georgia that had a premium between $175 
     and $200. He said that the specific plan fit into his budget, 
     though he wished it covered more.
       In his initial tweet, Henderson said ``Enrolled in 
     #ObamaCare just now! Looking forward to having affordable 
     health care for the first time!''
       Today, Henderson said he stood by those comments, but 
     repeated that he never specifically said he had purchased a 
     plan.

  Then Ace of Spades apparently does a lot of online looking and comes 
up with some interesting things. He posts this today:

       Chad Henderson actually disclosed that he was a partisan 
     paid to post ``advocacy things'' on social media.

  So who's the bad guy here? Chad Henderson was not coy about his 
passionate support of Barack Obama or his volunteer (?) position with 
OFA. And here he says, ``Something you should know about me,'' and then 
discloses he's paid to post advocacy stuff.
  And then it has an inset where the following is quoted from his 
posting:

       I'm often labeled ``the guy who always talks about 
     politics.'' And it normally has negative affects LOL. So I'm 
     here to clear things up. If you were to hang out with me one 
     night, you'll see I'm not that obsessed with politics at all. 
     Yes, I do post political stuff on here and other social 
     networking sites, but it's for good reason. For one, I think 
     it's good if people get some insight into the world they live 
     in. Secondly, I work for an organization that pays me 
     quarterly to post the political stuff as advocacy. So it's 
     kind of my job.

  It's kind of the way it seems things go around here. You have people 
with the Tea Party who seem to have one thing in common--they all pay 
income tax. Different races, age, national origin. I've met people at 
Tea Parties from countries all over the world, as I've been around the 
country. They pay income tax. They want the government to be 
responsible.
  And as we've been out each day to the World War II Memorial, where 
somebody in the administration thought it would be cute to make 
veterans suffer, would create a good visual image of how much 
suffering, since they knew 21 out of 21 stories by the mainstream media 
would blame the Republicans, which they did. I thought, Wow, if they 
will all blame the Republicans even though they appointed negotiators, 
ask us to just negotiate, we wouldn't negotiate. We told them we 
wouldn't negotiate because we knew the mainstream media would blame 
everybody on the Republican side so we could do whatever we wanted. So 
let's create as much pain in this country as we possibly can because 
the mainstream media will help us ensure that the American people are 
duped into believing Republicans are to blame.
  So this was the game from the beginning. There were no paid veterans 
out there from World War II to see the memorial that was constructed to 
them. They were out there hoping to roll in their wheelchairs down the 
granite open sidewalks, around the outdoor open air memorial that was 
constructed in such a way it would never have to be closed, that it 
could be open 24/7.
  And I can tell you, I've been down there all hours of the day and 
night--10 p.m., 10 a.m., 2 a.m., 4 a.m. And no, I don't drink. I just 
go down there sometimes with folks to see the memorials that were 
constructed for America. And most of the time, I don't see any park 
rangers, no Park Service people.
  But someone in this administration, some people in this 
administration thought it would be really cute to put barricades up at 
the World War II Memorial, the open air granite sidewalk, open 24/7 
without guards most of the time, that would be cute. Because that would 
really play well in the media.
  Then we find out, as protesters came down there as we were getting 
some more veterans in this week, Patrick Poole, a reporter, had his 
camera going when he saw these protesters, these union protesters 
coming, protesting supposedly because they're Federal workers who were 
put out of a job and are out there protesting, demanding Republicans 
get them back to work.

[[Page 15224]]

  When one with a McDonald's employee shirt on was asked about--they 
saw the McDonald's shirt, Patrick said, How much are you getting paid 
to come protest? And he says into the camera, $15. Well, it took an 
SEIU supervisor, who must have put the whole thing together, to come 
running over eventually to explain, Oh, but he works as a franchisee in 
a museum. He was not a Federal worker. He worked for McDonald's, and he 
got paid $15 to go protest down where these World War II veterans in 
wheelchairs were just trying to enjoy a moment which for so many of 
them was very poignant, very emotional as they thought about their time 
in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, fighting for freedom in lands so far 
from home.
  To some, it's a game. We heard the leak from the administration that, 
Why would we bring this shutdown to an end in this Obama administration 
when we're winning, as if it were a game.
  People know that right here at this podium, I have criticized Speaker 
John Boehner. Let me tell you, he had it right today when he said, This 
is not a game. You're playing with people's lives. But apparently, it's 
a game to some.
  In the Organizing for America, the new-found ACORN that's gotten all 
this money to support the President's agenda, they're organizing, 
they're lobbying like crazy and, apparently, paying people to come 
protest and create havoc where some World War II vets are just trying 
to observe their memorial. It's not a game to them.
  It's apparently a game to some in this administration who are not 
satisfied to close the Normandy Cemetery. We heard from some from Texas 
who had been scraping their money together because they knew the 
patriarch of their family may not have long--certainly would not have 
another chance in his life to go back to Normandy, where he fought, 
where his friends died. They scraped together money and got him over 
there only to find that whoever it is in this administration--and it 
starts at the top, and it stops at the top--but whoever made the call 
decided, let's inflict emotional pain and suffering not only on the 
World War II vets--that will look good because the Republicans will be 
blamed--but how about over in Normandy. People get clear! Oh, yes, that 
will be great, won't it?
  Because the mainstream media, they'll blame Republicans. And then 
they'll be furious at them. And just like whoever it was in the 
administration today that said, You know, why would we stop the 
shutdown? We're winning. They think they're winning when Americans 
travel before the end of their lives to see where they fought for 
liberty and their friends died for liberty and their friends are buried 
there. Some kind of game. This is not a game. These are people's lives.
  Here's a report from Todd Starnes today entitled, ``Catholic Priests 
in Military Face Arrest for Celebrating Mass'':

       The U.S. military has furloughed as many as 50 Catholic 
     chaplains due to the partial suspension of government 
     services, banning them from celebrating weekend mass. At 
     least one chaplain was told that if he engaged in any 
     ministry activity, he would be subjected to disciplinary 
     action.

                              {time}  2030

  Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese said:

       In very practical terms, it means Sunday mass won't be 
     offered. If someone has a baptism scheduled, it won't be 
     celebrated.

  They were told they cannot function because those are contracted 
services and since there's no funding, they can't do it even if they 
volunteer.
  John Schlageter, general counsel for the archdiocese, said any 
furloughed priest volunteering their services could face big trouble. 
He said:

       During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to administer 
     on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do 
     so.

  Look, one thing we know for sure about the military, the Commander in 
Chief is in charge. And I know there are a lot of distractions, but 
somebody needs to get word to the Commander in Chief that his military 
members are not going to be allowed to get to mass if they are Catholic 
and their Catholic priest has been told that he can be arrested if he 
shows up on post because the Commander in Chief can give an order and 
that's gone, and every Catholic priest that wishes to volunteer that 
has got clearance will be back on that post or base to provide mass.
  For goodness sake, we have more suicides in our military now than at 
any time in the history of the country. You might have thought that 
would have been at Valley Forge. But, no, it's now and in this time in 
this country's history. Good grief, Mr. President, let the Catholic 
masses go. Rescind the order that you won't even let them volunteer 
there. They are people that are serving this President, Mr. Speaker, 
that deserve to have the comfort of their spiritual ministers.
  My friends here, I respect and I really do, I appreciated their 
comments because as they've indicated they're freshmen and they are 
new. They talked about the Democrats and they talked about to get 
budget conferees. Wow, after all these years, the Senate finally passes 
an unrealistic budget, after the President waited longer than any other 
time and violated the law to get a budget out, and he put it out at a 
time when it was past time to be helpful. We are way beyond budgets at 
this time.
  The Federal Government in this country is in a new year fiscally, so 
budgets are not what does it now. Now we are into appropriations; and 
before the shutdown we had a bill that after three compromises were 
offered, we said, okay, here's our negotiators, all you have to do, 
Harry Reid, appoint negotiators and we can have this done by morning 
and the people in the country won't even have to know. At least send 
negotiators. And as we have found out today, the administration does 
not want to end the shutdown because they believe they are winning this 
game while real people are suffering.
  I heard my friend, my heart went out to Joshua, a military member who 
was in the military for 5 years, 1 year longer than I served, and he 
couldn't find a job, and now he's told his benefits are about to end at 
the end of the month if the government is still shut down. He can't 
find a job, and he may have to apply for food stamps.
  Well, I would think my Democratic colleagues would come and say, you 
know what, ObamaCare clearly has done damage, just as the economists 
have said it would, and it has, and businesses have repeatedly told us 
it was going to create havoc in the workplace, and it has. And we have 
ongoing reports of businesses, because of ObamaCare, having to lay off 
full-time employees and put them to part-time so that they can continue 
to be competitive and stay in business. And some have said even doing 
that because of ObamaCare, they are going to be crushed. They may not 
make the year in business. So, yes, our hearts go out to Joshua. Let's 
at least stop ObamaCare for a year. It isn't working, and it has got 
people not working, and it is costing people more than they ever 
dreamed it would cost.
  Here's another from one of my constituents:

       I just ran quotes for one of my insurance clients in 
     Marshall, a family of four. I was shocked when their premiums 
     were not lower than their current rate. President Obama said 
     insurance rates would go down $2,500 per year in one of his 
     many speeches in the past. I have to quote one of my heroes 
     and one of your fellow Congressmen who said ``You lie.'' 
     Please note a $2,121.12 increase for this family if they 
     change their insurance to an approved ObamaCare plan for 
     2014.

  So that's about a $4,600 swing wrong from what the President said.
  This says:

       I did not attend Harvard, but I can add and subtract. This 
     family's current cost is $706 per month. The new and improved 
     government-approved plan is $882.76 per month, and this is 
     the lowest price for this family.

  He goes on. It's a lengthy letter. He's obviously upset for clients 
who are not going to keep the same insurance at the same rate. We have 
heard from so many who have lost their doctor, lost their insurance.
  Here's another. This one has quotes from a letter he got.
  ``Dear Paul.'' It has his full name. He's another one of my 
constituents.

       Thank you for trusting Anthem with your health plan. We 
     recently sent you a letter

[[Page 15225]]

     explaining how you can continue your coverage with us. If 
     you've already chosen to change your policy effective date 
     and extend your coverage through December 1, 2014, then we'd 
     like to thank you for your continued patronage. You can 
     disregard the message below. However, if you have not decided 
     on your health plan for the coming year, you need to know 
     that your current plan is being discontinued. Starting 
     January 1, 2014, we're no longer able to offer or renew your 
     plan because it doesn't meet the requirements of the new 
     health care reform laws. Your new plan, Anthem Core 
     DirectAccess, is available at $224.25 per month.

  Paul says:

       I currently have a plan that costs me $65 a month, and I 
     have a $5,000 deductible. It just covers me. The new plan 
     with the same benefits is 3.45 times what I am currently 
     paying.
  He's pretty upset so I won't read everything he says. But he says:

       My wife and I now have to make rather large sacrifices to 
     raise the extra $1,908 so we can keep a plan that is already 
     mediocre.

  I won't read the rest of that. He's pretty upset.
  We got another insight into the strategy. Here's a story from Wesley 
Pruden:

       The games politicians play: Barack Obama is having a lot of 
     fun using the government shutdown to squeeze the public in 
     imaginative ways. The point of the shutdown game is to see 
     who can squeeze hardest, make the most pious speech and 
     listen for the applause. It is a variation on the grade 
     school ritual of ``you show me yours, I'll show you mine.''
       President Obama is not a bad poker player, but the man with 
     all the chips always starts with the advantage and he gets 
     all of the aces. He has closed Washington down as tight as he 
     dares, emphasizing the trivial and the petty in making life 
     as inconvenient as he can for the greatest number. It's all 
     in a noble cause, of course. Access to most memorials is 
     limited and often in curious ways. The Lincoln Memorial is 
     easy to reach, with the streets around it remaining open. But 
     the Martin Luther King Memorial is made difficult to reach, 
     relegating it, you might say, to the back of the bus. Not 
     very nice.
       The Park Service appears to be closing streets on mere whim 
     and caprice. The rangers even closed the parking lot at Mount 
     Vernon where the plantation home of George Washington is a 
     favorite tourist destination. That was after they barred the 
     new World War II Memorial on the Mall to veterans of World 
     War II, but the government does not own Mount Vernon; it is 
     privately owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The 
     ladies bought it years ago to preserve it as a national 
     memorial. The Feds closed access to the parking lots this 
     week even though the lots are jointly owned with the Mount 
     Vernon ladies. The rangers are from the government, and 
     they're only here to help. ``It's a cheap way to deal with 
     the situation,'' an angry Park Service rangers says of the 
     harassment. ``We've been told to make life as difficult for 
     people as we can. Its disgusting.''

  So for somebody here in Washington at least who is giving park 
rangers orders to make life as difficult as possible, it is a game. 
There was a time in America when we had a President, we had Congress 
Members who would encourage people in this country that there was 
always a way to make something happen. And the volunteer spirit across 
this land made us the envy of the world because people volunteered. We 
could do anything. And yet people around Washington have seen just what 
the park ranger said. They've been told make things as difficult as 
possible. So here is a playground in Washington, D.C., that never has a 
Federal officer there supervising it I'm told by people whose children 
play their constantly, but they found a need to go lock it up and 
somebody spent a bunch of money all over this town printing up new 
things to emphasize not just closed, I'm sure they have plenty of 
closed signs they could use, oh, no, we have to print up all new signs 
that say because of the Federal Government shutdown, this National Park 
Service facility is closed. And they're putting it in places that isn't 
even National Park Service facilities.
  Well, they're following their orders. They're making life as 
difficult as they can for as many as they can.
  Here's another: ``Because of the Federal Government shutdown, all 
national parks are closed,'' and this one is at the World War II 
Memorial. See the wide open sidewalks. They're made of granite. They're 
not going to hurt them. I can tell you, there are enough veterans, 
there are enough people, those of us who have served, we're not going 
to let people deface this. Yes, it is possible somebody could sneak 
down there in the night and do that. And I can tell you they could 
sneak down there and do it at night even with the barricades. So the 
only people that barricades like this stop are people like our World 
War II veterans in wheelchairs because somebody has given the order, 
the disgusting order, to make life as difficult as possible for as many 
people as possible, maybe they'll blame, they will surely blame the 
Republicans, even though we're the ones who refused to even appoint 
negotiators to negotiate, as called for in the Constitution, the law, 
and the rules of the House and the rules of the Senate. I didn't like 
the idea of appointing conferees. It was basically a capitulation. All 
right, all right, you didn't like our compromises, here's our people to 
compromise. You don't have to worry, I wasn't one of those that Speaker 
Boehner appointed, and you wouldn't even appoint people to come sit 
down and talk about it.
  Instead, rushing around all over the place, shutting places like the 
Moore Park, the Moore family farm that has been around since George 
Washington days in the 1700s. It hasn't taken a Federal dime since 
1980.

                              {time}  2045

  They sent park rangers over to Virginia Tuesday to run the McLean 
Chamber of Commerce out of the farm, costing the farm money, costing 
the Chamber all kinds of headaches as they tried to relocate, for no 
reason other than what we have learned is someone gave the order to 
make life as difficult as you can.
  So this farm that really gets a lot of business in fall--this is 
their prime time--the director says they have lost $20,000 because they 
rented barricades to put up to block a park that doesn't get a dime of 
Federal money.
  People all over the country are finding the same thing. And it's time 
it stopped. This is not a game. Let's help Americans for a change.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________