Government Shutdown

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, we have only 7 legislative days left until another unnecessary, costly, and entirely preventable government shutdown.

We need to negotiate an agreement to replace the sequester with a responsible alternative. Because Republicans have refused to start these negotiations, I have talked to Mrs. Lowey, the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, and I have talked to Mr. Van Hollen, the ranking member on the Budget Committee, and I have talked to Mr. McCarthy, but we have had no discussions on how to keep the government open just 8 legislative days from now.

If the government were to shut down, as it did in 2013, it would cost our economy billions of dollars and put our national security at risk. Hundreds of thousands of public service workers would be furloughed, and millions of people would be cut off from critical programs and services.

Many Republicans are urging their leadership not to risk a shutdown. Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania said, ``I don't think we need to do a replay of 2013. It would be an enormous tactical and strategic blunder.'' Indiana Senator Dan Coats, a conservative Republican, called a shutdown a failed tactic for political purposes that is not going to succeed.

I urge my Republican colleagues to stop threatening a shutdown--not all of them, but some of them--and to, instead, take action to keep the government open as we work to reach an agreement on a budget that replaces the sequester and funds our Nation's priorities responsibly.

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