Government Shutdown

Floor Speech

Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Speaker, in 3 days, this body threatens to shut down the government.

A government shutdown is going to affect millions of Americans. A government shutdown is going to affect middle class families at a time when our economy is slowly recovering, at a time when people are just starting to feel a little bit better about their home values, at a time when my constituents in Sacramento County are just now starting to feel a little bit better.

Mr. Speaker, we can avoid this. Let's do what our history has shown us we can do. President Ronald Reagan was able to work with Speaker Tip O'Neill and get something done. That's what happens in divided government. President Bill Clinton was able to work with Speaker Newt Gingrich and get something done. That's what happens in divided government. You work together. You listen to each other. You don't play this blame game. You act like adults.

Let's start talking and let's start listening to one another. That's what the American public wants. They want Democrats and Republicans to bring their best ideas forward, put those ideas on the table, and put the people first. It's not that hard to do. That's what we teach our kids to do. That's what we do for those of us that have worked in the private sector. That's what American families do every day. They learn how to work together.

The House is controlled by Republicans, the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and President Obama was reelected as a Democratic President. This is divided government. Mr. Speaker, sit down with the President, sit down with the leadership, put the best ideas forward, and compromise. We can't operate in a my-way-or-the-highway mentality, a winner-take-all mentality because that's killing this country.

The public is watching. In these next 3 days, I hope this body acts like adults and we don't start playing the blame game and saying, Oh, it's the Republicans' fault; oh, it's the Democrats' fault. That's not going to get us anywhere.

Yesterday, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for 2 months. That isn't a solution, but at least it gives us 2 months to act like adults and put together a real budget. At its core, that's what we need to do. The number one job for elected officials, for all of us in this body, is to put

together a real budget that takes the best Democratic ideas and the best Republican ideas, puts them together and puts the American people first.

We can listen to all of the rhetoric that says the House has passed a budget and we did it on time, the Senate has passed a budget, the President has passed a budget. The sad fact is all three budgets are different. How do you operate a business like that? How do you manage your household like that? Let's act like adults, and let's go to conference. Let's take those three budgets, let's figure out a solution and a compromise and agree on one budget, and then bring that back to this body.

Yes, the Senate passed a continuing resolution. Mr. Speaker, I urge you to bring it to this body today. Give us a chance to vote up or down. If you don't like that resolution, then the Republicans who control the House will vote down on it. But give us a chance to vote up or down. That's how this should work.

The Senate has passed a farm bill that is important to this country and it's important to my constituents in California and Sacramento. Give us a chance to vote on that bill up or down. That's how government should work.

We've got to start coming together.

There is a group of us that are working together. I'm a leader of a group called ``The Problem Solvers.'' It's now up to 83 Members. It's Democrats and Republicans. We don't agree on everything, but we listen to one another. We put our ideas forward. We want government to work. We want to fix problems, not fight. We want to actually take those ideas.

One of the first bills that I passed and I cosponsored was No Budget, No Pay, which says if we don't actually put a budget together, why should Members of Congress get paid? Nobody else in America gets paid if they don't do their job. This body is not doing its job. No Budget, No Pay, we passed it. The Senate passed it and the President signed it into law. Let's actually pass a budget. If we get 2 months, if we get 3 months in funding the government, let's use those 3 months wisely to pass a budget. The public is watching.

Here are three things that we could do: number one, go to a conference committee. The Senate has appointed folks to talk about their budget. The House has not appointed those folks. Let's get this done, and let's start moving America forward and relieving the debt burden on our kids and grandkids. We can do this. The public is watching. Three more days.

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