[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15337-15338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    SHUTDOWN'S IMPACT IN MY DISTRICT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Good morning. I thought it was important to come as 
soon as I arrived after 24 hours in my district. After voting to 
restore the payment compensation to our Federal employees--some 
800,000-plus who are now laid off, which means that Americans are not 
receiving vital services--I wanted to go home for a moment to be able 
to interact with my constituents.
  In that period of time, I met doctors; I met carpenters and 
millwrights; I spoke to those in the arts community. I commemorated the 
70th anniversary of Catholic Charities at a mass at Sacred Heart 
Cathedral. I listened to our cardinal talk with great faith, the 
cardinal of our community in the Houston-Galveston Diocese, and the 
cardinal that is named by the previous Pope, who now resides in our 
community, who gave us the words the just live by faith.
  I indicated that I would come back to let this body know that the 
people who are being affected are not Republicans or Democrats or Green 
Party or Independents, or any other definition other than Americans. 
And I was overwhelmed by those who came up to me and indicated--from 
airline pilots--that negotiation and interaction is important, but 
don't break on the issue of the Affordable Care Act and getting this 
government open.
  They understand it. These are people who are being impacted, like the 
workers today of an aircraft company in Connecticut that is laying off 
2,000 people, the Pentagon contractor that will soon be laying off 
thousands of people, the tax deadline for those who haven't filed 
coming up on October 15, needing IRS workers to help them with issues 
that they have in terms of filing their tax forms, or even the Federal 
courts, which will be assessing on October 15 whether or not they can 
keep their doors open for the moving of justice in this Nation.
  So I think it is extremely important that whatever is tying you up, 
whatever is keeping you from looking at the common good--and I would 
offer to say to the American people everyone knows that we are not 
Greece. We wish the best for the people of Greece. But America is the 
richest country in the world, $4 trillion in economy, and a country 
that is looked to from all around the world.
  Our economy is bigger than the European Union. That means countries 
like Spain, Germany, France, England, all those members who as well are 
our allies, but look to America--how shameful it is for someone to be 
held, and if you will, tied up by their own individual personal 
interests.
  One would ask if the Founding Fathers, as imperfect as America was as 
she began, had come from the 13 Colonies and various districts, and 
probably interests, and had held to those specialized interests, would 
we have created a Nation that started out by saying we organize to 
create a more perfect Union? Albeit that there were

[[Page 15338]]

groups of populations that did not have dignity and justice and 
citizenship at that time, something that I could look back at in 
bitterness, but I do not, because this is the greatest Nation in the 
world. But we are not showing ourselves that way.
  It is not the truth to suggest that there are not enough voters, 
Members of Congress, that would vote right now today to open this 
government. It is something called a continuing resolution, but it's a 
bill that you put on the floor that has been passed already by 
Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate.
  This is not an idea of anyone over another person. Republican and 
Democratic Senators have already voted for this clean bill that we 
could vote on today. We have martial law. What that means--and my 
colleagues know what it means--is that you can put a bill on in just 
minutes.
  So, rather than deciding amongst your children which ones to feed, 
which is the approach that my Republican friends in leadership are 
doing--squeezing out one little skinny bill versus another, squeezing 
out bills that leave out the FAA inspectors, leaving out ICE that deals 
with immigration, leaving out those who are dealing with young people 
who are undocumented, leaving out those who are helping young couples 
who want to get a home with mortgage processing. Who knows whose homes 
are going to be impacted by the heavy rains that are up and down the 
east coast who may need Federal assistance? All of that is being dumbed 
down--lost--because we have not opened the government.
  I come today, Mr. Speaker, to ask all of us to turn to our American 
card, and hold up the American card--I am an American--and vote to open 
this government right now.

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