Government Shutdown

Floor Speech

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the government has now been shut down for 3 days, the people's government that is formed to serve it and promote the general welfare and the national defense. That government has been shut down. Entirely? No, not entirely. There are some sporadic incidents where, for the public safety, we have people working.

I read the papers every morning, clips, as so many Americans do, so many Members do. I start discussion of where we are today because surely the public must be confused.

The Republicans say that they don't want to shut down the government. They say that President Obama wants to shut down government and that we Democrats want to shut down government for political advantage.

Having said that, 99 percent of us are prepared to vote for a resolution at 12:01 this day to open the government, because that is the rational, common sense, and right thing to do. I tell Speaker Boehner, Mr. Speaker, that we're prepared to vote on that today, as soon as this House opens.

Now, the Governor of Virginia is a Republican. The Governor of Virginia wrote an article today that said:

Budgets are documents born of many compromises. A government shutdown represents the antithesis of that approach.

We agree.

He went on to say:

In a shutdown, planning and forethought go out the window. Instead of rational governing, we get speeches and inaction. That's not how government should work.

So we stand ready on this side of the aisle, I will say as one of the leaders of my party, to vote now to open government and, yes, to do what, in a democracy, we ought to do--sit down and discuss compromises.

Now, the American people, Mr. Speaker, need to know where we are and how we got here.

The process is that the House adopts a budget for the spending which keeps government open, and the Senate passes a budget that funds the government and keeps it open and serving the American people.

Now, often there are differences between the House and the Senate, as there are now. And so what our process is is to go to conference, as the Speaker has talked about so often, to sit down at a table and discuss, as reasonable people, as Governor McDonnell says government ought to work, resolving our differences.

But for 6 months my Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, as you know, have refused to go to conference and sit down at the table. They have refused to try to bridge the gap. They have refused to do what Governor McDonnell says is necessary to do, compromise. And we are far apart.

Now, interestingly enough, we have only passed three appropriations bills out of the 12. All three of the appropriations bills that we passed through this House are at the Senate number--not the House-adopted number--at the Senate number. And so they have to slash the other nine bills very deeply. As a result, they have not brought them to the floor.

I have no power. I used to be the majority leader. I could bring a bill to the floor, as my colleagues know. I can't bring a bill to the floor now. One of those bills was brought to the floor and it was defeated. Actually, it was pulled from the floor because they couldn't pass it. So we are at a place where we are now, have shut down government.

The reasonable, rational, responsible thing to do is simply say we have enough votes to open government at the number that the Republican Party sent to the Senate. Not a compromise. We are telling them we will take your number. I don't like their number. But I like even less having government shut down, because it costs the economy money, it puts at risk our national security, and it undermines the confidence of the American people, not to mention the international community.

But we will take your number, I say to the Republicans, Mr. Speaker. We will take your number. The Senate has said we will take your number. But unfortunately, they haven't yet taken ``yes'' for an answer.

Now, earlier this week--and I don't know him--but Representative Marlin Stutzman, who is a Republican from Indiana, said this: ``We're not going to be disrespected.'' Now, by that I presume he means that the President and the Democratic Senate is not going to agree to undermining or repealing the Affordable Care Act that millions of Americans already are trying to access to get coverage and get health security in their families. He says, ``We're not going to be disrespected.'' Then he goes on to say this, ladies and gentlemen of the House and Mr. Speaker: ``We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is.''

Let me repeat that. He says, We have got to get something out of this, but I just don't know what it is. How are you going to negotiate in that context? I see Mr. McDermott here chuckling. I'm chuckling. We need to get something out of this, but I just don't know what it is.

Now, after being asked about the GOP leadership putting a clean government funding bill on the floor for a vote, Representative Tom Cole, one of the leaders, close to Speaker Boehner, former chairman of their campaign committee, said this. When asked about putting a clean government funding bill on the floor for a vote, he said this: ``Why in the world would we do that?'' Now, they've said they don't want to shut down government--that's why they'd do it. Why does he ask such a question, ``Why would we do that?'' To open government so it can serve the people. That's why you would do it. How confusing can that be?

He went on to say this, however. ``You know, that doesn't encourage anything. That's basically at this point a surrender to the Democratic position.'' Now, remember, ladies and gentlemen, I just told you that we took their number, their number that they passed through here. I don't like that number.

Hal Rogers, the Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee, doesn't like that number. The subcommittee chairmen don't like that number. But we're saying, okay, yes, we'll take your number, let's keep government working for our people.

Now, the House majority leader, I used to be majority leader, or as I refer to it, the good old days, he said this: ``We're trying to get the government open as quickly as possible.'' That's 12:05 p.m. today, ladies and gentlemen of this House.

Mr. Speaker, it's 12:05 p.m., 5 minutes after noontime, right now, you can get it open as quickly as possible. If that's what the majority leader wants to do, Mr. Cantor, bring that bill to the floor and our side will overwhelmingly help you pass it and get government open for the people.

Now, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee said this. He echoed CANTOR in an interview with the National Journal Daily, and he said this: ``I don't think anyone wants to stretch this out for 2 weeks.'' But what we'll see today is little tiny slices of bills. It will take weeks and perhaps months to open at the rate they're going. ``I don't think anyone,'' LANKFORD says, ``wants to stretch this out for 2 weeks.'' Now, this is the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee. Here's what he said: ``I'd like to resolve this this afternoon.'' We're ready. The American people are ready. It's the responsible thing to do. Get the government working for its people.

If Mr. Lankford and Mr. Cantor want to get this done as soon as possible, I tell them as a leader on my side of the aisle, I will help get them the votes to pass it this afternoon, early this afternoon, by 1 o'clock this afternoon. Let's get this government open.

Mr. Lankford goes on to say, ``I don't believe there's any argument for stretching this out for 2 weeks.'' This is their policy committee chair. ``I don't believe there's any argument for stretching it out.'' Why are we stretching it out if there's no argument to do so?

I close with this, Mr. Speaker. I also read the American people are angry. Let me tell the American people, Mr. Speaker, I share their anger. I am angry too. As Governor McDonnell said, this makes no sense, this is no way to run a government. We've taken the Republican number. Mr. Cantor says he wants to act quickly. Mr. Lankford says he wants to act quickly. We will support acting quickly. Let's do it. Let's just do it.

Open the people's government today, not slice by slice by slice by slice over the coming weeks and months, but today for the people, of the people, by the people. Open the government today.

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