Government Shutdown Prevention Act Of 2011
Floor Speech
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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
April fools, America. This is a joke, America. This is not real, America. As a matter of fact, Mr. Woodall of Georgia says it's not real. It's not going to pass the Senate. He made that very clear. The majority leader just said if the Senate won't take what we give them, we're going to shut down the government. That's what he just said. And that's what I believe to be the case.
The last time the government shut down was not when we had a Republican President and a Democratic Congress but when we had a Democratic President and a Republican Congress. They shut down the government in 1995 and 1996. They shut down the government over Christmas, as a matter of fact, the Grinch who stole the government's operations for almost 3 weeks. We're about to do it again.
The gentleman from Georgia, who has been here now a few months, was 10 years old when I came to the Congress of the United States. He mentioned something about the debt, this $14 trillion of debt. Well, I've only been here, I tell my friend, 30 years, but during the course of those 30 years, Republican Presidents have signed bills spending $4.8 trillion in deficit spending. During the course of the Clinton administration, we had a surplus, as the gentleman probably knows. Now he will say, presumably, because we had a Republican Congress. But, of course, the Republicans not only took the Congress but they took the Presidency in 2001, and they ran up 2 1/2 trillion dollars of deficit and increased the national debt by 115 percent, notwithstanding the fact that they inherited a projected $5.6 trillion surplus.
And now they pass this April fools joke on America that the gentleman who is one of the cosponsors says won't pass the Senate. We know it won't pass the Senate. But they pretend in their language what is clearly contrary to the Constitution, because they say if it doesn't pass, the provisions of H.R. 1, the bill they have sent to the Senate, passed by the House on February 19, 2011, are hereby enacted into law. In other words, we're going to deem it passed.
Let me tell you what Eric Cantor said about deeming it passed:
``Malfeasant manner. Did not discharge the duties of their office.''
Then Speaker Boehner said this about these deeming pieces of legislation, which this is. He said it was a scheme and plot that set a precedent and was, quote, one of the most outrageous things that he had seen since he had been in Congress and erroneously claimed that it had never happened in American history. In fact, it had happened before. This has never happened, where the House of Representatives took the position if you don't pass what we want, ours goes into law anyway. I'm sure our Tea Party friends are shocked, because they will find nowhere in the Constitution, my friends, does that provide for.
Furthermore, Mike Pence denounced deem and pass as, quote, trampling on the traditional rules of the House and Senate and even on the Constitution of the United States of America.
MICHELLE BACHMANN, who apparently may be a candidate for President, said this, that deem and pass, quote, ignored the Constitution and warranted the impeachment of the House Speaker. Quote, there should be people that are calling for impeachment off of something like this.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. CLYBURN. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
Mr. HOYER. This resolution says, contrary to the Constitution, if the Senate doesn't act, this bill becomes law. Nobody on your side surely believes that that can happen. Nobody believes that that joke that we are trying to play on the American people on April Fool's Day will be believed by any of them.
And, my friends, do not tell me about your concern about the deficit, because the deficit during my period of time, except for the last 2 years, trying to deal with the deep depression in which the last administration left this economy--don't try to tell me that we are responsible for the debt, the $14 trillion of debt. Surely my friend knows that's not the case. And if my friend doesn't know it, I would be glad to set up a time when we can debate that issue in any forum he chooses because the facts belie his representation.
My friends, reject this bill. Reject this bill because it is a fraud on the American public. Reject this bill because it's an attempt to shift blame from the House of Representatives passing a bill that can, in fact, pass; not to say to the Senate, Our way or no way, and we will shut down the government, because that's what this bill says.
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