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. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, today marks the second day of the government shutdown, a shutdown that I and my Republican colleagues absolutely oppose. The shutdown has been made necessary because our friends on the other side of the Capitol refused to negotiate or compromise. So, in an effort to find some common ground, House Republicans are introducing narrow funding bills for government services that are completely noncontroversial.

Americans who planned their vacations around a national park are severely disappointed this week. I was pleased that I was able to take constituents from my hometown on a tour of the Capitol this morning because all the other D.C. tours had been canceled.

Many Americans around the country have been simply forced to cancel their plans. Yesterday a group of World War II veterans that you heard about, American heroes, bypassed the barricades outside the World War II Memorial in order to see the memorial that was built in their honor.

Other World War II veterans scheduled to visit the memorial next week were told by the National Park Service that they would be arrested if they attempted to view their memorial. This is not right.

We have a chance to come together on a bipartisan basis, to alleviate some of the hardship of this shutdown.

The bill before us, H.J. Res. 70, would fund the operation of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the Holocaust Museum, the National Gallery of Art.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, reopen our parks, honor our veterans, show the American people we can work together.

Mr. President, tear down these barricades.

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