OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Government Shutdown Prevention Act Of 2011

Floor Speech

Date: April 1, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Operations

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Mr. WELCH. I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, there is no stronger supporter of H.R. 1 than Mr. Gohmert from Texas, and he made a very simple, very elegant, very eloquent statement of principle about adhering to the Constitution.

This legislation has to be interpreted by its own words, not by what people say is in it. What it explicitly says is that, if the House has not received a message from the Senate before April 6 stating that it has passed a measure providing for the appropriation for the departments and agencies of government for the remainder of the fiscal year--and this is the language of your legislation--the provisions of H.R. 1, as passed by law on February 19, 2011, are hereby enacted into law.

That's absurd. It's a pretend bill that says, if the House acts and the Senate doesn't, our action becomes law. It's absurd. It says, if the House acts and if the Senate doesn't and if the President doesn't sign this piece of legislation, it's law. That's the document that you've presented to this body to vote on.

Now, Mr. Gohmert took the higher road here. Instead of taking out his frustration with the United States Senate at the expense of the Constitution, he stood up

for the Constitution. That's what each and every one of us has the opportunity to do. All of us have had frustration with the other body because they sit on bills and kill them. In the eyes of the beholder, it's a good or bad bill, but it does not entitle us to essentially pretend that the Constitution doesn't apply to the legislation that we have to consider.

Also, if we have the political and practical problem of moving ahead on a piece of legislation in the House, is it right for us, in effect, to mislead the people who sent us here by suggesting that we're passing a law that has any impact when we know it has absolutely no impact? Is that a fair, appropriate or honorable thing for a Democrat or a Republican to do?

I urge us to vote ``no'' on this legislation.

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