[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    DAY 9 OF THE REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, today marks the ninth day of the 
Republican government shutdown. There are only 8 more days until we hit 
the debt ceiling.
  I was back home in Rhode Island this past weekend, and heard from 
many of my constituents who are disgusted with what they are seeing 
here in Washington. The American people expect their elected leaders to 
work together to get things done for our country, but there has been 
absolutely no cooperation since this shutdown began from our friends on 
the other side of the aisle who are committed to ending ObamaCare.
  If the House voted right now on a clean funding bill, it would pass 
with support from both parties, and the government would reopen 
immediately; but instead, we are spending another day trading political 
rhetoric instead of working on the serious challenges facing our 
country.
  Just yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education released a study of 
23 industrialized nations that found Americans fall below international 
averages in basic problem-solving and reading and math skills. This 
problem demands a solution, but Congress can't work on this and so many 
other important issues until the partisan games end.
  Let's open the government, raise the debt ceiling, commit to 
addressing the long-term budget challenges facing our country, and get 
back to work for the men and women who sent us here.

                          ____________________