Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 28, I call up the bill (H.R. 264) making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
Now that Democrats have taken the majority in the House, we have shown our intention to govern responsibly and have already illustrated real leadership at every turn, a welcome change after fighting through 2 years of chaos and obstruction, which culminated in a reckless shutdown.
At the end of the day, the President's beloved border wall is the issue solely responsible for this irresponsible shutdown, and it is an absolute disgrace and a disservice to all Americans to allow this broken campaign promise to hold all other key funding bills hostage.
From delays in the processing of Federal loan assistance applications for small businesses and the uncertainty created for taxpayers during tax season, to regulatory agencies like the FTC not being able to pursue the vast majority of consumer protection investigations, I have seen firsthand how this shutdown is impacting the communities around the country, as the chairman-designate of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Due to the shutdown at the SEC, companies have been announcing delays, and investors are concerned that IPOs for companies such as Uber will miss a key first quarter deadline.
We can put a stop to this chaos that is rattling our communities and our economy. This bill before us today is fiscally responsible and makes hard choices among competing priorities. It provides a total of $23.688 billion in discretionary resources, an increase of $265 million over the fiscal year 2018 level.
The bill rejects the President's proposed elimination of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and cuts to the Small Business Administration, which provides necessary resources to spur economic growth, particularly in underserved communities.
The bill provides a pay increase for civilian Federal employees in 2019, while putting a stop to the excessive raises to the Vice President and other high-ranking administration officials.
In addition, the bill includes backpay for Federal employees furloughed during this shutdown.
One key feature of this bill is the total lack of controversial policy riders. This is a clean appropriations measure squarely under the jurisdiction of this committee.
Again, most importantly, this bill will reopen the Department of the Treasury, which includes the IRS as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Small Business Administration, and multiple other agencies that have a direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of American families, businesses, and communities.
By passing this bill, we will be able to get more than 130,000 workers back to work and receiving a paycheck. It is long past time that we reopen government, and this bill does exactly that for a number of critical agencies that Americans rely on every day.
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Mr. QUIGLEY.
It is interesting to hear a discourse on functioning government as we look back at 2018 when my colleagues across the aisle operated under 103 closed rules. Circumstances today are of an exigent manner. The government is not functioning. Lives are at risk. The time for leadership, the time to not stymie ideas, and the time for functioning government is apparently gone. So we must act and we must act quickly.
If we are talking history, let's go a little further back. In the history of the United States, when one party was in control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, there has never been a shutdown until this administration.
So today, when all of those opportunities are passed, we now hear that it is somehow a shame that government isn't allowed to function. The government isn't functioning. It has to be open. Then we can begin operating under open bills and in a manner in which everyone would like to see on a bipartisan basis.
But right now, there is real danger out there for the American public. So we are now into the 19th day under this President's shutdown, the second longest shutdown in the Nation's history and already the third one under this administration.
Mr. Speaker, we are here to govern. We are here not to play games. Let's do our job for the American people. Let's support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.
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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, responsibly funding the Federal Government is one of the most important duties of Congress. The previous majority failed to do the most basic task of keeping the lights on.
On day 19 of the 116th Congress, we Democrats are here to reopen Federal agencies shuttered by the President's shutdown.
This legislation, which has already garnered strong bipartisan support in the Senate, will ensure that the Federal Government is open and working for the American people.
Now, as to perfection, it is not perfect. I have not been here for a perfect piece of legislation. What is critical to take from that argument, though, is the fact that any one of us can argue that there isn't some measure absolutely critical to them and they are not going to vote for it because of that.
Respectfully, someone has to be the adult in the room and get things done. Someone has to respect the process, the importance of what the government does, and the needs of the American people. You can't kick the ball in the forest preserve and go home. You have to move forward.
This is the way to operate, the manner in which the Senate has already done, a manner in which we can accomplish and move forward together to try to get this better, hopefully, next year.
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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I simply encourage my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
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