Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014
Floor Speech
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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Madam Speaker, the continuing resolution that we bring up today will keep the government operating into the next fiscal year. The base CR is straightforward, it's clean, it's short-term, it continues reductions in Federal discretionary spending. But most importantly, Madam Speaker, it will prevent a government shutdown.
The legislation also includes an amendment to the base bill, which adds the text of H.R. 2682, the Defund ObamaCare Act of 2013, and the text of H.R. 807, the Full Faith and Credit Act.
H.J. Res. 59 will fund the government for the first 76 days of fiscal year 2014, until December 15, 2013. It provides $986.3 billion in funding, approximately the same rate as the current post-sequestration level, with some minor adjustments.
The base bill is extremely clean. Additional provisions were only added in a very limited number of cases where adjustments were needed to prevent catastrophic shortfalls or unintended disruptions to critical programs or services. It simply keeps the lights on in our government to provide for the safety, security, and well-being of all Americans.
I'd like to remind my colleagues, Madam Speaker, both in the House and the other body, that a government shutdown is a political game in which everyone loses. It shirks one of our most basic duties as Members of Congress, and it puts our national security at stake.
To be clear, if this legislation is not enacted and we embark on a government shutdown, the consequences are severe. Our brave men and women in uniform don't get paid; our recovering economy will take a huge hit; and our most vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and the veterans who rely on critical government programs and services, could be left high and dry.
A government shutdown, even the illusion of the threat of a shutdown, says to the American people that this Congress does not have their best interests at heart.
This continuing resolution keeps this Congress moving in the right direction. It gives us time to solve the urgent fiscal issues facing our Nation, finding a balanced and attainable plan that eliminates sequestration, implements careful reforms for both discretionary and mandatory spending, and keeps our economy growing.
It is my hope that the House will pass this bill today, and that the Senate will act in short order so that this matter will be wrapped up well before the deadline on the 30th.
So I urge my colleagues to do their jobs as Members of the House, and to do what's best for this country, and vote ``yes'' on this bill today.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. First, I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado for all of his efforts to help Colorado through all of this turmoil, a terrible disaster, and to recover from the flooding, especially.
I am aware of the dire need to help Colorado and provide access to emergency resources, including access to emergency transportation dollars. I look forward to working with the gentleman to address this important funding matter as quickly and expeditiously as possible.
I know I speak for all of the House when we say to the people of Colorado that our hearts are with you and our prayers are with you, and thank you for your great service.
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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
We are doing a CR, even though the Appropriations Committee on the House side passed 11 of the 12 bills through the committee, four of them across the floor of the House and the remaining ones waiting for floor time as we've run out of time. Consequently, this continuing resolution will continue the government past the September 30 end of the fiscal year.
We were unable to pass the appropriations bill singly on the floor because of lack of floor time, but also because the House and Senate never agreed to an overall number to which we could mark. Consequently, we were not able to bring those bills out because of that limitation.
With this CR until December 15, if we are given a number common with the Senate to which we need to mark the individual 12 bills, we will do so. This is a hardworking committee. We are pragmatists. We know that we have to pass bills to fund the government, thus this bill.
If we were intending to close down the government and shut it down, we wouldn't be here with this bill. We would just sit there. But this is an effort by the majority party in the House to continue the government and avoid a shutdown while we work out the differences on these funding bills for fiscal year 2014.
Madam Speaker, this continuing resolution is straightforward, it's clean, it's short term, it continues reductions in Federal discretionary spending. I would point out we've actually cut discretionary spending the last 2 years by $120 billion, the first time that's occurred since World War II. We're trying to be responsible. This bill is responsible, and I urge a ``yes'' vote.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. This continuing resolution we spent the last hour debating is absolutely necessary to keep the lights on in our government. A shutdown is not what our businesses need, not what our troops need, not what our people need, and not what our country needs.
The CR is straightforward. It's short term. It gives us the time we need to sort out our fiscal differences with the other body. By funding the government until December 15, Congress and the President will have time to construct a budgetary path forward that deals with the most pressing fiscal issues we face, raising the debt ceiling and constructing one common discretionary number while we find true savings, especially through entitlement reform.
Now this motion to recommit picks out a few programs and would fund them for the entire next year, not the next 90 days, not until December 15. This motion would pick out a few programs to continue funding for the rest of the year. Well, that's not the issue. It misses the point. The issue is whether we can get agreement on an overall discretionary number and replace sequester for all programs, not just a few. To get the additional time to negotiate, we've got to pass this CR now.
The motion also addresses the importance of Social Security and Medicare. There's nothing in this CR that does anything but preserve these programs and protect the benefit payments for each and every recipient.
For better or worse, Madam Speaker, we have spending levels in place that are enforced by sequestration. Should my Democrat colleagues wish to do away with those limits, I would respectfully invite them to vote against this motion to recommit so we can keep the government open and negotiate a full debt package between the House, the Senate, and the President.
This bill is about keeping the government open, preventing a shutdown, and providing the important services that only the Federal Government can deliver for our people. The gentleman's motion is tantamount to shutting down the government because it will never allow for passage of the one thing critical to the functioning of government, which is the continuing resolution before us. So I urge my colleagues to vote against the motion and for final passage of the CR.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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