National Park Service Operations, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, we are 17 hours into the Republican shutdown of the Nation's government, and the Republican majority has come up with yet another bit of meaningless political theater. This is show business wrapped in spin. And don't take my word for it. Let me read to my colleagues part of a memo that was sent out by the Republican leadership earlier today.

And I quote:

Today the House will begin a strategy of passing limited and targeted funding bills with the goals of being on the offensive and taking away Democratic talking points.

Did you catch that, Mr. Speaker? The Republican goal is not to end the government shutdown. Their goal isn't to come to the table for serious negotiations on the budget. Their goal is to write another press release.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I love national parks. I support them fully, and I want full funding for these parks above the

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awful sequester levels. But what about the cancer drug trials at NIH? What about the low-income mother who has been cut off from WIC?

Mr. Speaker, when my kids were little, we used to give them trail mix as a snack. There was granola and raisins and nuts and all kinds of healthy things. But my kids always wanted to pick out the M&Ms. That is what this Republican majority has been reduced to, trying to pick out the M&Ms from the trail mix. Eventually, my kids grew up. I hope the Republican majority will do the same.

We can do this the right way. We can pass a clean CR that has already passed the Senate. It is time for them to put on their grownup pants and do their job.

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