[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              MOVING TOWARD A PLACE AMERICA SHOULD NOT BE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we are now on the precipice, moving 
toward a place that America should not be. I stood on this floor a few 
days ago and said, Mr. Speaker, we are facing a crisis; and for some, 
the argument is we haven't seen the market take a fall.

                              {time}  1030

  Let me suggest that we, as custodians of this great Nation--Members 
of the United States Congress--are like parents. Therefore, I ask any 
parent who is listening how long do they wait before they see a toddler 
fall, or do they leap toward that toddler so that they know the 
strength of that parent is always there.
  We have an important challenge today. The headline of this newspaper 
says:

       Senate Leaders See Deal on the Horizon.

  And so I make a plea today, Mr. Speaker, that our Republicans, 
however distracted they may be, join Democrats so that the Senate bill 
will be on the desk of our President today before midnight. We are 
parents holding onto America.
  I remind my friends of the words of Abraham Lincoln in his first 
inaugural address:

       We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. 
     Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds 
     of affection.

  We are close to breaking those bonds of affection because we have 
thrown the American people into a downward spiral. I hope that Members 
of Congress will join me on H. Res. 375 in which I have this House go 
on record to never, ever again tie a nongermane legislative matter into 
the budgeting process: ObamaCare.
  The reasons are many. Oh, there is much talk about the challenges we 
are having with the technological infrastructure. I met with almost 40 
members of navigators in my area. I will tell you, when I left the 
meeting, they were smiling and they were encouraged; they were ready to 
move forward. They know there are technological glitches, and we will 
fix those; but they also know there are stories that are important, 
such as ``ObamaCare Saved My Family from Financial Ruin,'' by Janine 
Reid:

       House Speaker Boehner and his Tea Party friends shut down 
     the U.S. Government because of people like me. I am the 
     mother of an insurance hog, someone who could have blown 
     through his lifetime limit of health insurance by the time he 
     was 14. My son has managed to survive despite seemingly 
     insurmountable challenges, and he wears his preexisting 
     condition like a Super Bowl ring. Mason, now 16, was probably 
     born with his brain tumor.

  It goes on to talk about, We discovered it 6 years ago through 
biopsies. Over and over again, he has had any number of surgeries until 
the point that he reached where he was reaching his lifetime caps. But 
yet Mason came up toward the Affordable Care Act, which lifted his 
lifetime caps. He is a young man now who plays basketball and argues 
with his siblings. ObamaCare saved Mason's life and will allow Mason to 
go forward.
  Join in H. Res. 375, never again to be mired in the opposition of a 
legislative initiative that can go through regular order to be able to, 
in essence, stop and shut down the government.
  This default, which can occur, which we shouldn't play with, some 
people are talking about it can be 2 weeks from now or we will pay the 
bondholders so other folk won't suffer. Watch my words: interest rates 
and mortgages go up; access to small loans, business loans will not be 
able to survive, and interest rates on credit cards. Working America 
will literally crumble before us.
  I hope that we will take the words of Chaplain Black, a dear friend 
of all of ours and mine:

       Gracious God, we praise You that although we have merely a 
     feeble hold on You, that You have a mighty grasp on us. Use 
     Your mighty hands to lead our lawmakers to Your desired 
     destination, making them instruments of truth and justice.

  Mr. Speaker, there is a rum maker in Pittsburgh who was just getting 
his business together. After 2 years of work, he had lined up 
everything. He was ready to produce legally good rum in Pittsburgh, 
Maggie's Farm Rum. He was shut down because he could not get ATF, 
Alcohol and Tobacco, to come forward and be able to help him.
  Mr. Speaker, the impact is egregious and horrific, and what I would 
just simply say to you is don't listen to those who are saying it is 
going to be okay. We have lost $22 billion already. I am asking--I am 
pleading--to put the Senate bill on the floor, to waive the rules and 
vote on this. Put it on the President's desk tonight. Don't let Fitch, 
S&P and others send us downhill. This is a great country. This is a 
great Nation, and we deserve to show America that we care for them.

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