Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentleman from Nevada for recognizing me to talk about something that is very important, and that is what is going on with America's future as it relates to this Republican government shutdown, the Affordable Care Act, and jobs.

While Republicans refuse to bring a clean CR to a vote on the House floor to end this Republican shutdown, our Nation, our cities, our States continue to suffer. Every single day, we are losing millions of dollars, wasting time and resources by furloughing government workers and limiting the public's access to government. And as we approach day eight of this reprehensible Republican shutdown, Republicans continue to bring bills to the House floor that will only fund pieces of the Federal Government.

This cynical effort to make headlines and cover themselves for causing such shameful dysfunction is resulting in a historical loss of confidence in Congress and causing undue economic uncertainty for families and businesses all across our country.

To my Republican friends, please understand this is not a game. These political gimmicks are not a responsible approach to governing. Each problem resulting from the Republican government shutdown can be taken care of if we simply pass the Senate's clean continuing resolution.

In north Texas, in the area that I represent, the 33rd Congressional District, families may miss out on over 300,000 meals because the USDA may have to cancel food truck shipments to the North Texas Food Bank. It's ridiculous. And millions of Americans may be affected by the flu this year due to the closing of the CDC's flu tracking program. These are only two examples of the widespread direct effects of the Republican shutdown.

And here's what Republicans need to know: they should go in their districts and talk to people, talk to workers who work in the defense industry, that work at our military bases, that are government employees. Talk to people that have been furloughed. Talk to the people that, because of the sequester problems that we've been unable to solve here because of the lack of Republican leadership, have already been laid off, including the over 400 at Bell Helicopter in Tarrant County in Fort Worth.

And if they talk to people and they go into their districts and speak with everyday common people that are out there working hard every day, what they'll find out is that it hurts to lose your job. And when you lose that job--particularly at this time of the year, as we get closer and closer to the Christmas season--and when you lose that job, then something happens to your car, some medical emergency pops up that ends up costing you a lot of money, then you really start to struggle as a family, and it really starts to hurt. That is what is so shameful about this Republican government shutdown. It doesn't take into consideration the real people that are out there struggling every day.

Speaker Boehner claims there aren't enough votes to reopen the government, but we know that's not true: 200 Democrats, including myself, have signed a letter to Speaker Boehner, making it clear that there are enough votes to pass the bill and reopen our government now.

Republicans claim they started this shutdown to defund, delay, and deny health care insurance to millions of Americans. Such a move would work to deny health care coverage in my home State of Texas to 6 million uninsured residents. We have the highest uninsured rate in the Union. In the district that I represent, alone, over 265,000 are uninsured. That's over a third in the 33rd Congressional District, in Dallas and in Fort Worth.

To Members wishing to deny health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, I want them to explain to those constituents in the district that I represent and in their own districts. It's a myth that it is only happening in our districts. They have people in their districts that are uninsured also, and they need to start representing them.

The most ridiculous reality of this political stunt is that the ACA is the law of the land, which means that this shutdown will be fruitless in repealing the law. And in the end, Republicans will have to behave like adults and stop simply saying ``no'' and come to the table with solutions for matters we can address in good faith.

Until then, House Democrats have a clear message: We demand a vote to reopen our government so Americans can move on with their lives, get back to work, provide for their families.

I ask my Republican colleagues to let reason overtake ideology, and let's get our government open again. Let's get it running. Enough is enough. Let's do the right thing. Let's stop with these games, stop the obstruction, and let's get back to work. These families are depending on us.

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