[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14394-14395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE DO-NOTHING CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, we only have 24 legislative days left 
in the 113th Congress, yet the Republican majority has failed to pass 
any meaningful legislation. The last 2 years have been wasted with 
partisan rhetoric and legislative initiatives that amount to nothing 
more than talking points. House Republicans have made this the least 
productive Congress in recent memory.
  They have waged a sustained war against low-income citizens by 
blocking commonsense legislation that would raise the minimum wage and 
restore emergency unemployment insurance. They continue to oppose 
efforts to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. For the first 
time in the history of our Nation, they are pursuing a frivolous 
lawsuit against the President at taxpayer expense, and I continue to 
fume about that lawsuit. Republicans seem proud that this prestigious 
body has been labeled the Do-Nothing Congress.
  For the past 2 years, Democrats have repeatedly called on the 
Republicans to tackle a pro-jobs, pro-middle class agenda. Democrats 
have consistently put forth proposals that would grow jobs, provide 
workers with a living wage, and fix our broken immigration system. 
Instead of working with Democrats to bring about the change supported 
by the majority of Americans, Republicans have refused to act.

[[Page 14395]]

  Instead, the Republican majority has spent the 113th Congress 
appealing to the fringes of the Republican Party. They wasted hundreds 
of thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to defend the Defense of 
Marriage Act. They held hearing after hearing after hearing to pursue 
conspiracy theories about Benghazi at the expense of our Nation's 
delicate work in a volatile region. And for the first time in the 
history of our Republic, the Republicans voted to sue the President of 
the United States for delaying a health care mandate that they 
themselves have long opposed.

                              {time}  1045

  My Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, routinely walk away from key 
discussions and negotiations, failing to lead, but worse, failing the 
American people. They have, however, succeeded in making this 
Republican-controlled House one of the least productive and most 
divided in our Nation's history.
  In the Senate where 60 votes are needed to pass any bill, Republicans 
have also been successful in blocking important proposals that have the 
overwhelming support of the American people. As a result, Americans' 
confidence in Congress has fallen to less than 10 percent.
  The American people desperately need their elected representatives to 
come together to advance policies that benefit our citizens. The 
American people don't care about Republicans or Democrats. They care 
about us working to improve their lives, but Republicans insist on 
driving us further apart.
  Instead of doing the work we were elected to do, House Republicans 
have scheduled another 5-week break beginning in October. I guess 
obstruction must really be exhausting to all of them.
  There is so much work that remains to be done. I pray my Republican 
colleagues hear me. Now is the time to work the will of the American 
people. That is what we were sent here to do.
  I urge the majority to end this Congress on a high note. Cancel the 
5-week break. I am serious. Cancel the 5-week break. I can handle it if 
you can handle it.
  Let's raise the minimum wage, reform our immigration system, and 
ensure equal pay for equal work. It is what the American people expect 
and deserve.

                          ____________________