Date: 2013-10-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I thank you and Ranking Member SLAUGHTER for the opportunity to speak in support of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2775 which: Reopens the government. Averts a catastrophic default that would risk the full faith and credit of the United States. and Clears the way for the House and Senate to appoint conferees to start the budget negotiations that Democrats have called for since April. The government shutdown has lasted 16 days making the beginning of fiscal year 2014 an extremely difficult time for Federal employees and the people they serve. It has also imposed tremendous hardship on the dedicated employees of the House of Representatives as well as for each Member of the House of Representatives. The bipartisan Senate compromise would: Extend the continuing resolution through Suspend the debt limit through February 7. with congressional disapproval process. Require certification by HHS that there is income verification for those applying for premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. a provision supported by the administration. Allow for the appointment of budget conferees. who will report to Congress by December 13. Madam Speaker. this should not have taken 16 days to accomplish. Federal workers are our Nations greatest resource because they provide the knowhow and expertise to meet the needs of this great Nation. Madam Speaker. I consider all of our Federal workers as essential. not just the 1.3 million who are designated as such. A healthy Federal government does not function as dismembered parts but as a single unit. The plot by the Republican majority to pass funding for only those agencies the public might miss immediately following the self imposed shutdown while leaving others to languish was wrong. The Congress has learned a very costly lesson for the American Taxpayer. The 16 day shutdown has cost taxpayers $24 billion dollars. The 14th Amendment provides that "The validity of the public debt of the United States. authorized by law. including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion. shall not be questioned." Some scholars have suggested that this provision empowers a President to take appropriate action to prevent default. I agree with President Obama that this is a question that requires much thought and reflection. The important thing is that we must never ever risk defaulting on the public debt and injury to the full faith and credit of the United States. There are also the events over the last 16 days that made it clear that we need the Nations Federal agency workforce: Foodborne illness outbreak that sickened hundreds in several States not being addressed. An unexpected blizzard was reported to have killed 5 percent of the cattle in the State of South Dakota. The nearly dozen transportation accidents that were not investigated. I urge all members of the Rules Committee to vote in support of this bipartisan effort before us. Madam Speaker. I rise to speak in support of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2775 which: Reopens the government. Averts a catastrophic default that would risk the full faith and credit of the United States. and Clears the way for the House and Senate to appoint conferees to start the budget negotiations that Democrats have called for since April. I would like to thank the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate for their stewardship in crafting a resolution to this crisis. The Government shutdown has lasted 16 days. making the beginning of fiscal year 2014 an extremely difficult time for Federal employees and the people they serve. It has also imposed tremendous hardship on the dedicated employees of the House of Representatives as well as for each Member of the House of Representatives. Because of the circumstances that led to the budget impasse. I introduced H. Res. 375. a bill expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should refrain from conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the taking of action relating to nongermane legislative matters. I invite members from both sides of the aisle to become a sponsor of H. Res. 375 as a way to make amends to the American people and assuring through its passage that Congress will not place the Nation in the situation we found ourselves in ever again for the reasons that this budget impasse occurred. Madam Speaker. this is an extraordinary time to be in America. We have seen the Legislative and Executive Branches of our government and the constitutional balance that the framers of the Constitution intended regarding matters related to public purse tested. It is extraordinary when a matter that should be dealt with in the regular order of the business of the House and Senate becomes a matter so grave that a broad and diverse coalition call on Members of this body to do what we were elected to domanage the business of the people through cooperation and compromise. I have heard from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. the NAACP. United States Conference of Mayors. the National Education Association and the Coalition on Human Needs. each calling for the passage of the Senate bipartisan budget compromise. The bipartisan Senate compromise would: Extend the continuing resolution through Suspend the debt limit through February 7. with congressional disapproval process. Require certification by HHS that there is income verification for those applying for premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. a provision supported by the Administration. The appointment of budget conferees. who will report to Congress by December 13. Madam Speaker. I would like to request unanimous consent to place into the RECORD an editorial that was published in "The Hill." Federal workers are our Nations greatest resource because they provide the knowhow and expertise to meet the needs of this great Nation. The Federal government for many may have been a faceless nameless entity. but these last two weeks have taught us that they are people who have specific skill sets that cannot be replaced or ignored. Madam Speaker. I consider all of our Federal workers as essential. not just the 1.3 million who are designated as such. This fact was made apparent by what the American people experienced over the last 16 days the: National Park Service. Veterans Affairs. Department of Defense. Men and women of the armed services. CDC. HHS. NASA. and FDA. are only 10 of the hundreds of essential agencies. not including the thousands of essential offices that comprise the Federal government. A healthy Federal government does not function as dismembered parts but as a single unit. The plot by the Republican majority to pass funding for only those agencies the public might miss immediately following the selfimposed shutdown while leaving others to languish was wrong. The Congress has learned a very costly lesson for the American taxpayer. The 16 day shutdown has cost taxpayers $24 billion. I want the American people to know that I do understand what the cost of that education has been to them both in hard earned dollars that were withheld or forgone due to the cascading economic impact of the shutdown on small and midsized businesses as well as the personal costs in worry and frustration at watching the events of the last three weeks unfold. These costs should not be forgotten. such as the: Additional pain caused to the grieving families of our Nations fallen heroes. Delay in Veterans benefits and services. Trips of a lifetime that did not happen. Wedding plans interrupted or cancelled. U.S. astronauts on the International Space Station without Houston Mission Control at full staff capacity. and Hundreds of thousands of Federal workers and their families put out of work. and over a million more working without pay. There are also the events over the last 16 days that made it clear that we need the Nations Federal agency workforce: Foodborne illness outbreak that sickened hundreds in several states not being addressed. An unexpected blizzard was reported to have killed 5 percent of the cattle in the state of South Dakota. The nearly dozen transportation accidents that were not investigated. I urge all Members of the House of Representatives to join me in voting in support of this bipartisan effort before us. [From The Hill. Sept. 16. 2013]