[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15851]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           END THE NIGHTMARE

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, the worst-kept secret in Washington, D.C., 
is there is a majority in the House of Representatives to reopen the 
government today, to reach that grand compromise that Father Conroy 
spoke about a few minutes ago.
  Over 30 House Republicans have said that they would join Democrats to 
pass a clean CR, which the President has said he would sign on the 
spot. It has already cleared the Senate, and we could end the damage 
that is being inflicted on this country every passing day.
  Day 14 is where we are today. Our National Guard, our veterans, Meals 
on Wheels--the list goes on and on--the National Institutes of Health, 
they are being crippled in this shutdown; and the power is here in this 
Chamber to end it by signing a discharge petition which was filed on 
Saturday morning.
  If the Speaker won't bring the bill to the floor, then the Members 
should do it. We are elected to represent the people of our district, 
not to represent the leaders of our caucus.
  End the shutdown. Sign the discharge petition. End the nightmare that 
this country is going through.

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