[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19396]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FUNDING BILL RIDERS

  (Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle to end their calls for shutdown and to 
work in a bipartisan manner to pass a funding measure without riders.
  This body has gotten into the habit of using last-minute Hail Mary 
votes to save us from one manufactured crisis after another, and it is 
taking our attention away from the list of things we need to get done--
things like reforming our criminal justice system, addressing gun 
violence, or creating jobs.
  There is just 1 week left before funding runs out, and it looks like 
we are heading into yet another crisis. In the midst of growing threats 
to national security, we need to take politics out of this equation. We 
need to take poison pills that threaten working American families off 
the negotiating table.
  Mr. Speaker, I am ready and willing to work to keep the government of 
the greatest nation in the world open, and I know my Democratic 
colleagues will as well. I hope every Member of this body is ready to 
do the same.
  I want to express my condolences to San Bernardino and its families 
on their loss. I urge Congress to get moving on gun safety legislation.

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