Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank the Speaker for his courtesies and thank my friends on the other side of the aisle who engaged in an hourlong discussion that I am sure many of my colleagues were certainly interested in. I want to congratulate the organization in my constituency. Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities in Houston is 70 years old and has a storied history of service. I had the privilege of being inspired by a wonderful mass led by Cardinal DiNardo that catapulted that special day into the understanding of who we are in this country and how our service is guided by the principles of our faith. I remember that. in his words to the congregation. he offered these phrases: "The just live by faith." "even a little faith can do great things." He added. "When you are acting in faith. you are serving." I think those are powerful words for all of us. whether we are Republicans or Democrats or other in our political beliefs. That is what we are sent here to do. We are really sent here to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. to speak for the vulnerable. and to ensure that the United States of America remains an umbrella on a rainy day. for our countrys principles are vested in a wonderful Constitution that says that we all are created equal. with a number of rights that allow us the pursuit of great things. such as liberty and healthif we interpret the term "happiness" to mean that we have a variety of rights. certain unalienable rights of life. liberty. and the pursuit of happiness. So where we find ourselves on October 10. in the midst of this government shutdown. the 10th day. does not comport with the very principles of this Nation and our Constitution that says that we have organized to create a more perfect Union. As I listened to my friends have a long discussion. they had some very vital points about the importance of the farm bill. a bill that we have not been able to bring to closure because the government is shut down. But even more importantly. we have not been able to put the phrases of "just" and "acting by faith" in the midst of that legislative initiative. Our friends did not take note of the fact that $40 billion was cut out of food stamps. They didnt take note of that$40 billion for people who are hungry. Fortysix million Americans live in poverty. They are poor. but they are Americans. They deserve equality. Sixteen million of those are children. But yet someone says it is the dependency group. Maybe the 47 percent. I say those are the next astronauts. captains in the military. Presidents of the United States. teachers. inventors. scientists who may need food stamps. So I would like to talk this afternoon in the short period of time that I have in finding the truth. also recognizing the difficulties that we are now in with the government shutdown. Let me pause for a moment and say that I know. as I speak. Republicans are meeting with the President. We met yesterday and the President made it very clear and was very strong on wanting to see America move forward. but was very strong on the fact that we needed to come together around a clean bill. a bill that could be put on the floor with 200plus Democrats here in the House and a sturdy amount of Republicans. That is just. We know that Republicans were invited. the whole Conference. Of course. they decided that they wanted a few to come and meet with the President. Of course. it is their choice. In a sense of humor. I say there is an IOU to my other Republican friends that didnt make it to the White House today. But I hope the discussion doesnt center around leaving the government closed. I hope it doesnt center around a 6week raising of the debt ceiling. though I am open to any way forward. but I would hope in my discussion you would see why that is faulty thinking. I do want to thank my original cosponsors who joined me today to introduce this very important legislation. H. Res. 375. which now makes a statement that this House will neverI want to say it again. neverI want to say it again. nevertie a nongermane legislative issue to the running and opening of this government. What does that mean? We will never do what we have done. which is to defund a law approved by both Houses of Congress. the President of the United States. and the United States Supreme Courtthe Affordable Care Actand hold up the government while we are fighting against it because we dont like it. H.R. 375 is legislation to have this House go on record to ensure that we do not ever do that and tie the governments hands and void the services that are relevant to my constituent who. again. I will call in a few moments. who is a cancer patient coming out of a hospital and is fearful of losing her disability checks because of the government shutdown. We are getting any number of phone calls on that matter. So here is why I hope many of my colleagues. Republicans and Democrats. will support H. Res. 375. which will put us back in regular order and do things in the right way. My friends. I will acknowledge that all States are hurting. but let me first of all just cite for you the State of Texas. one of the largest States in the Union. and show the faces of those who are looking to go to Head Start. our children. This is what they are facing. This is all over America. 57.000 Head Start seats are lost because of the shutdown. because of the furlough. because of sequester. And now we continue down this road. Sequestration cuts are forcing Marlen Rosas to defer her preschool dreams for her 3yearold Hector. who may be the next captain in the United States military. who may be the next pediatric surgeon. who may be the next outstanding professor of law. who may be the next wonderful teacher in an elementary school. But right now the Head Start program for 34 year olds in Houston is being cut by $5.34 million. 109 employees. 699 slots for children. This is in Texas. This is in Houston. not even in the entire State. This is what we get when we begin to think of the dependency crowd. and it is important that we understand the results of what is happening. So I want to keep this particular poster in mind. I just want you to look at those faces and what is going on across America. We have got the government shutdown. We cant fix the sequester. which by the way. the Van Hollen Democratic budget is not only growth for jobs. but it also fixes the sequester. It gets people back to work. It is well known that we are losing jobs here. and 1 percent of the economy is going down because of sequester. We cant fix it because the government is shut down. Now. if you want to know what is happening across America. $2.24 billion in Title 1 grants have been cut. and so our young people who attend highpoverty schools and who need to be able to have Title 1 grants to help them in education. Mr. Speaker. it is simply gone. And Title 1 funding at current levels does not merely reduce the level of services to our poorest and lowestachieving students. but would likely cause the elimination of services to millions of students. The teachers know that. They know what is happening by losing $2.24 billion. So Hector and Ms. Rosas dont get Head Start. Then we take it beyond the preK to the K12 and to our high school where we are looking for these young people to take their rightful place in society. and here we are cutting them again. I guess it is the dependency crowd. These cuts come after the number of children living in poverty has grown from 16.3 percent. as I said earlier. So let me update it to 21.9 percentlosing opportunities for our children. Here is a more tragic feature. For our special needs children because the government is shut down. we cannot fix the $1.73 billion that we have lost out of for helping our special needs children. the very children who need a stair step to help them climb up and to be all they can be. Some parent is out there feeling the pain of not having the services for their special needs child because the government is shut down. and we cannot get back to the business of appropriations. fixing the sequester. Child care and development block grant. another problem where we are losing dollars. $142 million in real per capita dollars. To be able to say that we dont have child care. developmental block grants. I just want to refer you to my good friend. Hector. and his mother. These are the problems that we are facing because we have a shutdown of the government. A good friend. the Speaker. is meeting with the President as we speak. He is entertaining the idea of a debt ceiling increase to pay our bills. the full faith and credit. to save us from a mortgage collapse. to save us from our interest rates on credit cards shooting through the roof. to hopefully start small business loans and young families trying to get mortgages on their homes or get a home. What a country if that happens. But. Mr. Speaker. they are suggesting that. in fact. we will not open the government. How is that possible? How is that possible? I see my good friend here. and I am going to yield to the gentleman from Illinois . who has been a champion on childhood development. on dealing with the special needs child. on dealing with assisting in developmental issues of children. dealing with rehabilitating families. giving a second chance to some of our individuals who have found a different path. As I do that. I want to remind my colleagues that we are not too far away from Veterans Day. And as of October 15. and this is probably happening around America. veterans cemeteries will reduce their staff and reduce their burials. This is the friend that we talk about over and over again. In fact. we have heard a constant refrain: Why are you giving me accolades and you are cutting my veteran service centers? You are not allowing homeless veterans to be placed or get job training. and here we are telling families that there will be a slow process in burying and honoring your loved one because of the government shutdown. Mr. Speaker. let us unlock these doors and let the workers work. I have heard from them personally. They want to get back to work. I now yield to DANNY DAVIS from Illinois. who served on the Ways and Means Committee. served on the Education Committee. and we have cochaired a number of summits or seminars and sessions. brain trusts on the issue of childhood development.