Providing For Consideration of H.R. 1255, Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I raise this point of order, not necessarily out of concern for unmet, unfunded mandates, although there are likely many in this bill; I raise the point of order because it's the only vehicle we've got to actually talk about this rule and this bill and how we're being denied the ability to actually offer the amendments that we would like to to illuminate what's actually in this bill.

Republicans are playing partisan political games with America's future, America's seniors, and Americans veterans with the following: with America's government.

Since taking control of Congress over 13 weeks ago, Republicans have failed to introduce a single bill, not one single bill to create one single job. Instead, the Republican majority has hatched an unconstitutional scheme to fire nearly 1 million Americans and foreclose on the middle class.

Madam Speaker, I think it's ironic that today is April Fool's Day, because the Republican majority is playing an April Fool's joke on the American people. This unconstitutional Washington ``tricknology'' and ``trickeration'' reflected in the underlying bill would destroy at least 700,000 jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economics, and even Goldman Sachs.

Let's be clear. The underlying bill of which Mr. Woodall is a cosponsor implies that the Senate has passed a bill which has already failed there. It assumes or deems that the President has signed a bill which he threatened to veto.

April Fool's, America. There is no Senate or Office of the Presidency today under the Republican majority bill. The Republican spending bill badly damages our fragile economic recovery, according to 300 economists of all political stripes, and threatens to send us spiraling into another Republican recession. And as we have heard earlier this week, the Republican answer to 14 million Americans who lost their jobs and can't find new ones is: Stop talking about jobs.

At this time, I would like to ask the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall) a simple question: How many jobs does this bill create?

Mr. WOODALL. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. ELLISON. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. WOODALL. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would be happy to answer that question.

By eliminating the crushing Federal deficit that we have today? By taking the first steps we have seen in a generation to take the government out of the capital market and put the private sector back in?

Mr. ELLISON. Reclaiming my time, I do appreciate the gentleman's decision not to answer my question.

Mr. WOODALL. I would be happy to try again, Mr. Ellison.

Mr. ELLISON. I have the time and I have reclaimed it. I do appreciate the gentleman's decision not to answer how many jobs this bill is going to create because it certainly creates none. In fact, it destroys jobs. And it is really a shame. And I think that if the gentleman wanted to give us a number, even an estimate, just some sort of an estimate as to how many jobs this bill is going to create, we certainly could have a good dialogue about how America goes forward.

But unfortunately, Madam Speaker, the gentleman cannot answer that question because the Republican majority has been exposed. They have a no-jobs agenda. And this bill they propose to deem and pass today would cut upwards of 1 million jobs and as low as 700,000. This is a no-jobs agenda.

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Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I would ask the gentleman, would he be amenable to stripping out all but the Member pay issue that's contained within the bill? Would he be willing to do that?

Mr. WOODALL. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. ELLISON. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. WOODALL. You want to remove the most debated provision we have had in this entire Congress? You feel that hasn't been debated enough?

Mr. ELLISON. We will deal with the Member pay issue. Are you willing to do that?

Mr. WOODALL. The Member pay issue is critically tied to the inaction of the folks on the funding bill. The answer is no, Mr. Ellison, I cannot agree to that.

Mr. ELLISON. Reclaiming my time, thank you for finally getting around to that ``no.''

Well, I think that makes the point here, Madam Speaker. The fact is that this particular Republican action is yet another opportunity to degrade and take away the basic social safety net of America while doing nothing to get Americans back to work.

Americans deserve to work. Americans thought that they were going to get a majority that would help them get back to work back last November, but they were sorely surprised when the Republican majority got in and decided to do nothing to help Americans get back to work. All the majority has done is strip away programs and things that will help Americans do better, to take programs and money away from police officers, to fire public employees. This has been their agenda, and this is too bad. I think that this is a shame, and it certainly is an abandonment of what people thought they were getting in November.

So, Madam Speaker, this particular point of order raised today does address the critical issues that must be addressed. But, at the bottom, we are still looking at 13 weeks with no jobs and Republicans offering legislation that literally would put nearly 1 million people out of work.

So I ask my colleagues to stand with the American people. Let's move America forward. Let's reject the rule and the underlying bill by voting ``no'' on this motion to consider this unconstitutional Washington trickery.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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