OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 17, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Government Operations

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Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, Ms. Granger, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am sad to again rise in opposition to this bill. It is now 27 days into this shutdown and almost 1 million people are out of work, and we are still bringing bills to the floor that have no chance at all of passing.

It is well past time for a compromise to be found, but, Mr. Speaker, that requires a reasonable negotiation.

Many Members in this Chamber, myself included, have expressed frustration over this political process and the lack of negotiation taking place here in the people's House when President Trump has made it completely clear--in fact, he has offered negotiated positions and compromise, with no response from my good friends across the aisle.

The leader, I think, made some great points about our adversaries, our peer adversaries like China and Russia, and why this shutdown is a bad thing, which is why I ask them to come to the table and negotiate.

Everything he said, almost everything he said, I would agree with. Those are the reasons we need to come together and reasonably negotiate. And I think at the basis of all that, we should remember what this legislative body is all about, which is security for and service to our hardworking, taxpaying citizens. We are 435 different voices from different walks of life, and we know the perfect agreement is rarely possible.

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Mr. RUTHERFORD. However, making compromises and trading ideas would do us a whole lot of good right now, but that requires reasonableness. It is time to come together on behalf of the American people and stop this political bickering that is befalling this conversation.

Our country is in desperate need of border security, but we aren't even talking about that now. We are not talking about the humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Speaker, we can do better. I ask the Speaker to come to the table, find a compromise, and let's get back to the work of the American people.

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