Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should refrain from conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the taking of action relating to non-germane legislative matters.

Let me thank the Speaker for his courtesies and thank my friends on the other side of the aisle who engaged in an hour- long discussion that I am sure many of my colleagues were certainly interested in.

I want to congratulate the organization in my constituency, Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities in Houston is 70 years old and has a storied history of service.

I had the privilege of being inspired by a wonderful mass led by Cardinal DiNardo that catapulted that special day into the understanding of who we are in this country and how our service is guided by the principles of our faith. I remember that, in his words to the congregation, he offered these phrases: ``The just live by faith,'' ``even a little faith can do great things.'' He added, ``When you are acting in faith, you are serving.''

I think those are powerful words for all of us, whether we are Republicans or Democrats or other in our political beliefs. That is what we are sent here to do. We are really sent here to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, to speak for the vulnerable, and to ensure that the United States of America remains an umbrella on a rainy day, for our country's principles are vested in a wonderful Constitution that says that we all are created equal, with a number of rights that allow us the pursuit of great things, such as liberty and health--if we interpret the term ``happiness'' to mean that we have a variety of rights, certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

So where we find ourselves on October 10, in the midst of this government shutdown, the 10th day, does not comport with the very principles of this Nation and our Constitution that says that we have organized to create a more perfect Union.

As I listened to my friends have a long discussion, they had some very vital points about the importance of the farm bill, a bill that we have not been able to bring to closure because the government is shut down. But even more importantly, we have not been able to put the phrases of ``just'' and ``acting by faith'' in the midst of that legislative initiative.

Our friends did not take note of the fact that $40 billion was cut out of food stamps. They didn't take note of that--$40 billion for people who are hungry. Forty-six million Americans live in poverty. They are poor, but they are Americans. They deserve equality. Sixteen million of those are children. But yet someone says it is the dependency group. Maybe the 47 percent. I say those are the next astronauts, captains in the military, Presidents of the United States, teachers, inventors, scientists who may need food stamps.

So I would like to talk this afternoon in the short period of time that I have in finding the truth, also recognizing the difficulties that we are now in with the government shutdown.

Let me pause for a moment and say that I know, as I speak, Republicans are meeting with the President. We met yesterday and the President made it very clear and was very strong on wanting to see America move forward, but was very strong on the fact that we needed to come together around a clean bill, a bill that could be put on the floor with 200-plus Democrats here in the House and a sturdy amount of Republicans. That is just.

We know that Republicans were invited, the whole Conference. Of course, they decided that they wanted a few to come and meet with the President. Of course, it is their choice. In a sense of humor, I say there is an IOU to my other Republican friends that didn't make it to the White House today.

But I hope the discussion doesn't center around leaving the government closed. I hope it doesn't center around a 6-week raising of the debt ceiling, though I am open to any way forward; but I would hope in my discussion you would see why that is faulty thinking.

I do want to thank my original cosponsors who joined me today to introduce this very important legislation, H. Res. 375, which now makes a statement that this House will never--I want to say it again, never-- I want to say it again, never--tie a nongermane legislative issue to the running and opening of this government.

What does that mean? We will never do what we have done, which is to defund a law approved by both Houses of Congress, the President of the United States, and the United States Supreme Court--the Affordable Care Act--and hold up the government while we are fighting against it because we don't like it.

H.R. 375 is legislation to have this House go on record to ensure that we do not ever do that and tie the government's hands and void the services that are relevant to my constituent who, again, I will call in a few moments, who is a cancer patient coming out of a hospital and is fearful of losing her disability checks because of the government shutdown.

We are getting any number of phone calls on that matter.

So here is why I hope many of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, will support H. Res. 375, which will put us back in regular order and do things in the right way.

My friends, I will acknowledge that all States are hurting, but let me first of all just cite for you the State of Texas, one of the largest States in the Union, and show the faces of those who are looking to go to Head Start, our children. This is what they are facing. This is all over America; 57,000 Head Start seats are lost because of the shutdown, because of the furlough, because of sequester. And now we continue down this road. Sequestration cuts are forcing Marlen Rosas to defer her preschool dreams for her 3-year-old Hector, who may be the next captain in the United States military, who may be the next pediatric surgeon, who may be the next outstanding professor of law, who may be the next wonderful teacher in an elementary school. But right now the Head Start program for 3-4 year olds in Houston is being cut by $5.34 million, 109 employees, 699 slots for children. This is in Texas. This is in Houston, not even in the entire State. This is what we get when we begin to think of the dependency crowd, and it is important that we understand the results of what is happening.

So I want to keep this particular poster in mind. I just want you to look at those faces and what is going on across America. We have got the government shutdown. We can't fix the sequester, which by the way, the Van Hollen Democratic budget is not only growth for jobs, but it also fixes the sequester. It gets people back to work. It is well known that we are losing jobs here, and 1 percent of the economy is going down because of sequester. We can't fix it because the government is shut down.

Now, if you want to know what is happening across America, $2.24 billion in Title 1 grants have been cut, and so our young people who attend high-poverty schools and who need to be able to have Title 1 grants to help them in education, Mr. Speaker, it is simply gone. And Title 1 funding at current levels does not merely reduce the level of services to our poorest and lowest-achieving students, but would likely cause the elimination of services to millions of students. The teachers know that. They know what is happening by losing $2.24 billion. So Hector and Ms. Rosas don't get Head Start. Then we take it beyond the pre-K to the K-12 and to our high school where we are looking for these young people to take their rightful place in society, and here we are cutting them again. I guess it is the dependency crowd.

These cuts come after the number of children living in poverty has grown from 16.3 percent, as I said earlier. So let me update it to 21.9 percent--losing opportunities for our children.

Here is a more tragic feature. For our special needs children because the government is shut down, we cannot fix the $1.73 billion that we have lost out of for helping our special needs children, the very children who need a stair step to help them climb up and to be all they can be. Some parent is out there feeling the pain of not having the services for their special needs child because the government is shut down, and we cannot get back to the business of appropriations, fixing the sequester.

Child care and development block grant, another problem where we are losing dollars, $142 million in real per capita dollars. To be able to say that we don't have child care, developmental block grants, I just want to refer you to my good friend, Hector, and his mother. These are the problems that we are facing because we have a shutdown of the government.

A good friend, the Speaker, is meeting with the President as we speak. He is entertaining the idea of a debt ceiling increase to pay our bills, the full faith and credit, to save us from a mortgage collapse, to save us from our interest rates on credit cards shooting through the roof, to hopefully start small business loans and young families trying to get mortgages on their homes or get a home. What a country if that happens. But, Mr. Speaker, they are suggesting that, in fact, we will not open the government. How is that possible? How is that possible?

I see my good friend here, and I am going to yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny Davis), who has been a champion on childhood development, on dealing with the special needs child, on dealing with assisting in developmental issues of children, dealing with rehabilitating families, giving a second chance to some of our individuals who have found a different path. As I do that, I want to remind my colleagues that we are not too far away from Veterans Day. And as of October 15, and this is probably happening around America, veterans cemeteries will reduce their staff and reduce their burials. This is the friend that we talk about over and over again. In fact, we have heard a constant refrain: Why are you giving me accolades and you are cutting my veteran service centers? You are not allowing homeless veterans to be placed or get job training, and here we are telling families that there will be a slow process in burying and honoring your loved one because of the government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, let us unlock these doors and let the workers work. I have heard from them personally. They want to get back to work.

I now yield to Danny Davis from Illinois, who served on the Ways and Means Committee, served on the Education Committee, and we have cochaired a number of summits or seminars and sessions, brain trusts on the issue of childhood development.

What a significant, enlightened presentation by Congressman Davis, if I might summarize his very broad and effective presentation and the educating of our Members.

He has spoken about the collateral damage, and the collateral damage, Mr. Davis, is spreading like wildfire. You added that it is parking garages, it is the CTA or the MTA or the Metro. It is the restaurants. It is the District of Columbia that is collateral damage, a city that has to keep its doors open, but lo and behold, it is being impacted by the shutdown. Again, workers are shut out and shut down.

If I might ask the Speaker how much time is remaining.

Mr. Davis may want to comment as I proceed on some facts. I know that he has been a leader on some of these issues of SNAP and WIC.

Texas is just viewed as a well-to-do State and we don't need anything. Again, the previous dialogue and debate on the floor struck me that it talked about the dependency crowd on food stamps. I have already said that there are 46 million people living in poverty, and growing. I did not say they were nondeserving. I did not say that they were deadbeats. I did not say that they were making up their poverty. I didn't say they weren't working. I said there are 46 million people living below the poverty line, and large numbers of them are children.

It bothers me for individuals to talk about that we have got a dependency crowd and we have got to have these reforms, and what we are doing with reforms and sequester is we are taking food out of the mouths of children. We can't say it in any other way. So I just want some of our friends to know that even though there is a bemoaning about getting the agriculture bill passed--and I am out of Texas and have always voted for the agriculture bill because my district is surrounded by ranchers and others who need the farm bill. We have never separated on the farm bill in the State of Texas. We have had a lot of support. But when you cut $40 billion out of food stamps and you begin to talk about the deadbeats, that gets to be a problem.

With regards to SNAP and WIC, 47.8 million people are on SNAP and 8.6 million are women, infants, and children on WIC. Funding for these programs needs to be assured.

I have no problem with the documentation of everyone and ensuring that the one or two that are violating the requirements--nobody is arguing for maintaining those individuals. What we are saying is that there is collateral damage. Farmers are being impacted.

By the way, regarding Rural Development and Farm Service agencies, 99 percent of those employees are furloughed; and my good friend just got through talking about the commodities.

Let me just say these points. I am going back to Texas again, which is noted as a big and well-to-do State. In actuality, in a couple of days, Mr. Davis, we are standing to lose and have an impact or cutback of $64.7 billion. The government is shut down. $518 million of that is on Federal highways.

We were just in a meeting with the Texas Department of Transportation. We have got 1,200 people a day moving into Texas with $411 billion for interstate highways--shut down; $130 million in home energy assistance for the poor--shut down; $71 million in homeland security grants and our ports--shut down; our borders--shut down; $55 million in coordinated border infrastructure. When I say the border is shut down, what I mean is resources that they need. And $97 million is something very important that I have worked with Senator Landrieu on, Federal adoption assistance to help our children.

I started by saying that we organized to form a more perfect Union. I am aghast that the wheels of justice have come off. The Department of Justice is in a complete dilemma. There are people keeping the lights on and doing what is needed for the absolute necessity of making sure the principles of our Constitution are not destroyed, but we have lost 950 lawyers who have cases pending, 4,000 U.S. attorneys.

We are seeing immigration review cases where people are fighting to keep their loved ones who legitimately should be here and 950 are gone; in the environmental division, 350 lawyers; the tax division, 200. People are expecting their refund so they can pay their bills. The U.S. Marshals, what a disgrace, 500 are gone. Why? Because the government is shut down.

Before I close, if the gentleman wants to offer a word on this, where are we in this shutdown?

I thank you so very much.

Let me just say that I am on the sugar farm side of the issue, but we are on the same side of the coin on opening the government. And I want to thank Congressman Davis.

I also want to make mention of my fellow Texas Democratic colleagues who stood together at 1 p.m. today, all of them calling for a bipartisan solution, actually calling upon our good friends, our Senators in the other body out of the State of Texas to come and stand with us and follow in the tradition of the Catholic Charities mission of helping our brothers and sisters, the most vulnerable, of the words of ``just live by faith,'' of the words that ``this government is an umbrella on a rainy day,'' cancer victims, children who need Head Start seats, the justice system of America, the interstate highway of America, sick patients in hospital beds needing disability checks,

veterans who need service centers and need the resources of hospitals, all of these and beyond; teachers who are living under the pressure of a sequester that cuts off the money for their impoverished students and the services for special needs children, all tied into the sequester, all at a standstill because of the shutdown.

What is our plea today? Our plea today is to recognize that we can't live in this world alone, and that it is imperative that we unshackle ourselves. I have even gotten a Koch brothers letter that was sent to the Senators. The Koch brothers, the Koch Industry, said, Don't blame us. We never tied defunding ObamaCare to the funding of the government. I consider that a get-out-of-jail card. I hope all the Senators are getting it. I hope all the Members of Congress here are getting it. It means that you can vote on a clean bill and lift the debt ceiling for a period of time that allows America to pay her bills, young couples to get mortgages, young families to get loans. That is what we should be doing, and I will take in the words of my good friend, We want a way forward in a bipartisan manner.

But what I would offer to say to you, that America, the greatest country in the world, has a Constitution that has said we are organized for a more perfect Union, and, in fact, we have that perfect Union if we can open this government. We all are created equal with certain inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak. I believe that tomorrow we may have something on the floor that opens the government. Vote. Put it on the floor, a clean bill, so that we can vote and open the government and that we have a method for lifting the debt ceiling.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Let me thank the gentleman for his courtesies and look at this in a somewhat unique fashion to speak to the pending crisis and to join with my colleagues, and particularly in following the chairwoman, Congresswoman Fudge, and thanking her for setting the tone of the interests of the Congressional Black Caucus to be collaborative and to be problem solvers.

Let me thank the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) for his timeliness in bringing us to the floor tonight and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for recognizing the vital importance of speaking to the American people and certainly to our colleagues.

I do want to offer to my colleagues a legislative initiative that I hope all of my friends--Republicans and Democrats--will join in sponsoring, H. Res. 375, which commits this House to refraining from conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the taking of action related to nongermane legislative matters.

As I listened to my friends on the other side of the aisle, one person sought to refute the representation that all of us have made, which is that we have never been in a position to hold hostage the whole budgeting process through the idea of a legislative fight, and I would beg to differ on the interpretation of my Republican friends that that has occurred. It did not occur during the shutdown dealing with President Clinton and the Speaker of the House, then-Speaker Gingrich; and, in fact, we had passed a number of appropriation bills that had already been passed. So even though the government was shut down, there was not this dire, complete collapse of the government that we are facing now.

In addition, there is a representation that we have passed any number of pointed appropriations during this shutdown. Mr. Speaker, those were only political votes. The reason why they were ineffective and members of our party voted against them was because they were political votes. They were meant entirely to get Democrats on the record for half- funding Health and Human Services, half-funding Indian Services, half- funding Homeland Security, half-funding any number of departments that, in fact, did not make sense.

So let me give you the real cost, if you will, of where we are today and give it from the perspective of my committee, and that is, the Judiciary Committee. And one of our major agencies, the FBI, that clearly has focused on the security, domestic security of this Nation, very vital work of field agents that I work with every day, just about 72 hours ago, FBI agents joined with my local officials in Houston and busted a heinous and horrific human trafficking operation, little girls sexually used and abused and manipulated, if you will--the FBI.

Well, here is a quote from the FBI:

The impact of sequestration, which is part of the budgeting

process, puts us further behind enemies and criminals that

pose threats to national security and public safety.

And they list a whole litany of issues that are impacted. Let me just read a few: undermining counterterrorism investigations, exposing vulnerable populations to greater risk, halting counterintelligence cases, closing white collar cases has been delayed, limiting mortgage and financial fraud cases, constraining use of official vehicles, losing informants, impeding surveillance, harming local cooperation, reducing field time, increasing retirements.

All of this impacts on the very basic responsibilities that we give to them; and it seems sad that we are putting these individuals who are putting themselves on the front lines of criminal enforcement, that we are, in fact, causing that to be halted.

Lastly, on the FBI, Quantico, we all know, is a training ground for agents and others all across America:

Quantico is quiet. I have no new agent classes going

through there. I can't afford it.

There are any number of other issues, of course, that we could comment on, but let me continue by moving to my State, the State of Texas.

But before I do that, here is a document from the administrative Office of the United States Courts. Again, something that the Judiciary has concern for. And we are told, as of tomorrow, possibly, that judicial matters may be shut down, may be stopped because of the restraints on our article III judges, and that is shameful.

That means justice is stopping. That means public defenders are not being paid. Although all of those folks are continuing to come, in some instances, there may be major impacts in the court system.

But I would like to turn our attention to the discourse that is occurring here; and as I do that, let me make mention for my friends of one answer to why we should not be holding ObamaCare and the American people hostage.

First I want to say, coming from my district, I met with over 40 navigators. They have concerns. We all want to make sure this works right, which is what I wished my Republican friends would do. But they had smiles on their faces because what they are saying is the people are eager. They are eager in Texas, a State where we have denied the expanded Medicaid. We don't have our State exchange. We have done damage to those who need insurance. It is a shame what we have done in Texas.

But those who have been assigned to get an outreach are smiling, not because they get paid a whole lot of money, but because they are reaching people who are desperate and who want to be insured.

And so I will put in the Record an article called, ``ObamaCare Saved My Family From Financial Ruin.'' It talks about a young boy with a brain tumor and leading up to the point of losing all of his insurance. He might have been

born with this tumor, but he was only diagnosed at about 6 years old. Mason is his name. He played basketball and did a lot of things until they determined in later years--I think he was age 14--that he had this horrific brain tumor. It is only because of ObamaCare that his life now will have the kind of coverage of insurance that we are all desirous of.

But I want to sort of finish my remarks. There is a lot I can say about Texas, and I may offer one point if I might, Mr. Jeffries, to make sure that I have that in the Record. We all are concerned about our individual States. And so for my friends back home, this is a State that has some 36 Members of Congress, two Senators, and I am on the floor fighting against this shutdown.

The reason that Texans need to be aware that it is important that you fight against this shutdown and put out a clean CR is that this will cost 582,829 Texas residents who took out a home mortgage or refinanced an existing mortgage last year $36,000 over the life of a typical 30- year loan. And I am jumping to if we go into default over the next 2 days.

The Republican debt default will put at risk the retirement plans of 4.473 million Texans, and 300,000 vets would have a concern about their disability compensation for November 1; and 24,000 or 25,000 poor and disabled vets would be questionable about the pension they live on.

But I want to close with something that has disturbed me as we have watched the rhetoric. I have pages and pages. We all are emotional. We all have the talent of rhetoric. We all have, if you will, the affection for the use of words--hyperbole, metaphors, using examples, and making our point. Mr. Speaker, I respect that. I am not a thin- skinned person. I am as much engaged in the debate on this floor as many of my friends, but all of us should be sensitive to the words that suggest that we have other motives.

So I come to the floor today to raise issue with what is perceived in many communities of the different treatment of Barack Obama. You can read between the words why he is treated so differently and why he is cast about with such utterly ugly and demeaning suggestions. And in demeaning him, you are demeaning a whole body of other folks. I take issue with that.

And so let me see if maybe Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch will call us back and give us a response to his words uttered yesterday that I find totally out of order. Protected by the First Amendment, absolutely--I have no quarrel with that. But I believe it is important to put this in the Record as we talk about this government shutdown because if we are going to get where we need to go, we need to all realize that we have a greater cause--and that is America's cause.

So I finish on these words.

Apparently, he was moved yesterday in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial--which many in the Million Vets movement denounced yesterday, and he said:

We are ruled by a President that bows down to Allah.

I am already insulted because I believe in the freedom of religion. I respect the dignity of all religions.

He is not a President of we the people, says Mr. Klayman of Freedom Watch, but a President of his people.

I don't know who that is. All I know is that the President was elected to be President of all of the people of the United States of America.

He goes on to say:

We should wage a nonviolent revolution.

I have never been ashamed of the nonviolent civil rights movement. We didn't call it a revolution. We called it a movement to give dignity to people and move them from second-class citizenship.

But he says:

We should wage a nonviolent revolution. This President

should get the Koran out of his hands.

This is denigrating a religion that I believe is absolutely appalling.

Get off his knees--

Is there some documentation about the President's private prayer allegiances or responsibilities or desires that this gentleman knows what he is talking about?

--and get out of town.

That is, I believe, one of the most appalling statements that we have heard charged against a President of the United States in a time of crisis, when the American people are looking for hope, looking for serious response.

I would hope that there will be Members of the Republican Conference that will come to the floor tomorrow and join in with the solution that may be offered as it is being discussed in the Senate; and I hope they will denounce these words, as I am denouncing them tonight. For we will never get a solution to move this Nation forward if we are to denounce religions that are respected and given the privilege of being worshipped by those who worship--by the First Amendment--and to try to denigrate a President by denigrating a religion and going in the circle of diminishing all of us.

I want to thank the gentleman for giving me this opportunity. I may ask for some more time if I am able to stay around, as we go forward, because there is a long list of what I think we are being deprived of.

But I do want to let everyone know that when I was home in the district for the short period I was, I know that those in Texas who are suffering are happy about Barack Obama. They want us to get it together right like we did with Medicare part D, which did not work when it was first put in place, but they are happy.

I would hope that, as I indicated these words on the floor, that we would take the words of Chaplain Barry Black and ``stop sowing in the wind'' and stop, in essence, doing things that undermine our very leadership. Thank you, Chaplain Black, for giving us these words of inspiration. Maybe we will take notice. And when words are said that are ugly, inappropriate, and without any truth, I am looking for my friends tomorrow to come on the floor and denounce these ugly words that were said by this gentleman that have no bearing in truth and have the audacity to denigrate faiths that are, in essence, respected and show their love for a higher power.

We should all be grateful that the different faiths we grant in this Nation under the First Amendment of freedom of religion can pray to their God--pray to God--and ask for the blessings of God on this Nation.

With that, I thank the gentleman for his courtesies.

[From the Washington Post, Oct. 9, 2013]

Obamacare Saved My Family From Financial Ruin

(By Janine Urbaniak Reid)

House Speaker John Boehner and his tea party friends shut

down the U.S. government because of people like me. I am the

mother of an insurance hog, someone who could have blown

through his lifetime limit of health coverage by the time he

was 14. My son has managed to survive despite seemingly

insurmountable challenges, and he wears his preexisting

condition like a Super Bowl ring.

Mason, now 16, was probably born with his brain tumor. We

discovered it six years ago. Biopsies showed a slow-growing

mass, which was the good news. The bad news was that the

tumor could not be removed because it had grown around

essential structures in his brain. Under the care of some of

the country's finest specialists, Mason had frequent scans.

There was little we could do between tests but hope for the

best. Like other children his age, Mason played basketball,

argued with his siblings and avoided cleaning his bedroom. He

managed to undergo chemotherapy for eight months without

getting too sick. He insisted on finding ways to laugh,

saying things like: ``I have brain cancer. What's your

problem?'' It was an uneasy peace--until the tumor ruptured

in December 2010, three years after his initial diagnosis,

and Mason suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

Mason spent most of eighth grade in the hospital. In the

six months he was hospitalized, he spent 65 days in the

pediatric intensive care unit. He underwent four brain

surgeries. Halfway through his hospitalization, the

Affordable Care Act was passed, alleviating lifetime limits

on coverage and saving us from the financial abyss. Mason

moved to a rehabilitation hospital where he was retaught the

most basic skills--sitting up, eating and standing. We

faithfully paid the premiums on the employer-sponsored plan

through which our family is covered, along with the rest of

our bills, thanking God and whoever else would listen for our

good fortune to have coverage.

The biggest fear for families such as mine is that we will

lose our health insurance and be rendered uninsurable because

one of us has been sick. The Affordable Care Act does away

with dreaded clauses barring preexisting conditions. It also

enables us to keep Mason on our insurance until he is 26;

then, he will be able to purchase his own coverage on an

insurance exchange. At least, that was the plan until last

Tuesday, when the government was shut down in protest of such

excesses.

As far as the brain tumor goes, our family might have drawn

the short straw. Maybe our story lacks a certain universal

appeal. People might thinking to themselves, ``I'm so sorry

that happened to you, but odds are it won't happen to me.'' I

hope it doesn't, really.

But having lived in hospitals with Mason for months, I have

seen that bad things--accidents, freak illnesses--happen to

smart, cautious and otherwise undeserving people. It's one

thing we all have in common. We are fragile beings. So what

is wrong with allowing us to purchase a financial safety net?

What's so un-American about that?

If I could get John Boehner and Ted Cruz on a conference

call, I would explain this to them. I would tell them that,

while they were busy trying to derail the Affordable Care Act

over the past two years, Mason has again learned to walk,

talk, eat and shoot a three-point basket.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on H. J. Res. 59, the ``Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 and Pathway for Sustainable Growth in Medicare Reform Act of 2013.''

On the positive side: Republicans--and the bipartisan deal does not cut Medicare, Social Security, or Medicaid benefits by a penny even though our friends across the aisle went into the talks insisting on cuts to programs like Head Start, Housing, Social Security, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs that sustain children, families, and seniors.

The agreement increases discretionary spending caps under the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) for FY 2014 and FY 2015 to partially restore spending cuts that would otherwise be made those two years under the sequester required by the BCA.

Under the measure, the sequester for FY 2014 and FY 2015 would be reduced to restore $63 billion in spending authority for those two years--while $85 billion in cuts to mandatory programs and revenue increases would be made to more than offset that increased spending and provide for a net $23 billion in deficit reduction.

Budget Caps & Sequestration

The budget proposal increases FY 2014 discretionary spending by $45 billion and FY 2015 spending by $18 billion compared with their scheduled sequestration levels, with the increases equally split each year between defense and non-defense spending (a $22.4 billion increase for each category this year and a $9 billion increase for each in FY 2015).

Those increases would set a $1.012 trillion limit on discretionary spending for FY 2014 and a $1.014 trillion limit for FY 2015. Under the current stopgap funding law, discretionary spending set at the woefully inadequate sequestration level of $986 billion.

Under the new caps, defense spending for FY 2014 would be set at $520.5 billion (about $2 billion more than current funding), while nondefense spending would be increased to $491.8 billion.

Because of the circumstances that led to the budget impasse during the first session of the 113th Congress, I introduced H. Res. 375, a bill expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should refrain from shutting down the Federal government or conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the taking of action relating to non-germane legislative matters.

I invite members from both sides of the aisle to co-sponsor H. Res. 375.

The budget proposal before us is not perfect--far from it--but it is a modest and positive step toward preventing Republicans from shutting down the government again and manufacturing crises that only harm our economy, destroy jobs, and weaken our middle class.

A self manufactured crisis by the Republican majority resulted in a government shutdown that lasted 16 days and cost taxpayers $24 billion.

The cost to Federal employees and the people they serve cannot be calculated.

As with any compromise there are some things in the agreement that I support and some things that I strongly oppose.

The agreement allows Congress to move forward in meeting its obligations to the American people by alleviating some of the damage being caused by sequestration.

It is useful to chronicle the severity of the suffering and pain inflicted by sequestration on the most vulnerable residents of Texas and the Constituents that I serve.

Sequestration Impacts on Texas

Head Start and Early Head Start services were eliminated or severely impacted with approximately 4,800 children being impacted throughout the state of Texas.

Families in my district who rely on Federal Government programs like Head Start are hurting. The pain did not start with the shutdown, but with sequestration which hit Head Start programs for 3 to 4 year olds in the Houston area hard: $5,341 million cut; 109 Employees cut; 699 Slots for children cut.

Head Start and Early Head Start Programs were further stressed by the federal government shutdown.

On October 2, I joined hundreds of Head Start supporters from across the country and many of my colleagues to protest the closing of Head Start programs due to the federal government shutdown.

I picked up one of the tiny blue chairs that represented the thousands of Head Start children from around the nation and said that an empty Head Start chair represents a future doctor, engineer, president, or teacher who is at risk because of the Federal Government shutdown.

My support of Head Start and Early Head Start is based on what I have seen and heard about programs like the AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start program serving parents and children in the 18th Congressional District.

The AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start is a program serving low income families in my Houston Texas District.

I visited with AVANCE-Houston administrators earlier this month because I wanted to get an update on how low-income families with infants and toddlers and pregnant women served by the program were doing.

The AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start's mission is simple: AVANCEHouston works for healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance the development of very young children, and promote healthy family functioning.

AVANCE-Houston serves nearly 1,800 children city wide. Each of these families and their children are suffering the effect of the legislative malpractice of the House majority.

Sequestration has cost AVANCE-Houston $842,518 Head Start and Early Head Start in lost funding for ending the harmful effects of Sequestration on programs like Head Start had to be a priority.

Sequestration and House Budget Bill's Negative Impact on the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP)

The House Republicans' Farm Bill proposed cutting our nation's food assistance programs, known as SNAP, by $20.5 billion to stay within the unrealistic funding limitations set by sequestration even though a cut of this magnitude would deprive millions of children, seniors, disabled persons, and families of the benefits they need to survive in an economy that has not yet fully recovered from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

SNAP Facts

In the 18th Congressional District an estimated 151,741 families live in poverty.

According to the Census my city of Houston more than 442,881 persons live near the poverty level.

The percentage of Texas households experiencing food insecurity (18%) ranked second only to Mississippi.

We know that there is hunger in America

For more than 40 years, SNAP has offered nutrition assistance to millions of low income individuals and families. Today, the SNAP program serves over 46 million people each month. Households with children receive about 75 percent of all food stamp benefits. 23 percent of households include a disabled person and 18 percent of households include an elderly person. The FSP increases household food spending, and the increase is greater than what would occur with an equal benefit in cash. Every $5 in new food stamp benefits generates almost twice as much ($9.20) in total community spending.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 16.7 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food for a healthy life.

Food Insecurity

16.7 million Children lived in food insecure households in 2011.

20 percent or more of the child population in 37 states and D.C. lived in food insecure households in 2011.

Emergency Food Assistance

Nearly 14 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America, over 3 million of which are ages 5 and under.

54 percent of client households with children under the age of 3 participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Poverty

In 2011, 16.1 million or approximately 22 percent of children in the U.S. lived in poverty: Participation in Federal Nutrition Programs.

In fiscal year 2011, 47 percent of all SNAP household contained children.

During the 2011 federal fiscal year, more than 31 million low-income children received free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program.

Unfortunately, just 2.3 million children participated in the Summer Food Service Program that same year.

This proposed budget protects SNAP programs from crippling cuts for 2014-2015.

In addition to providing relief from sequestration there are a number of other good provisions in the Budget Agreement. For example:

The Budget Agreement Protects Social Security and Medicare

The budget agreement blocks a scheduled 23.7 percent reduction in the Medicare reimbursement rate for physician services set to occur January 1, in order to meet the sustainable growth rate. Instead, the measure's so-called ``doc fix'' provides a 0.5 percent increase for the first three months of 2014, and it also extends more than a dozen Medicare- related programs.

The budget deal makes sure that doctors who treat seniors have a guarantee of payment for the medical services they provide.

The budget agreement also addresses the issue of payments to hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured patients.

The budget also makes changes to payment rates for inpatient services in long-term care hospitals.

Congressional Budget Office estimates that the three-month doc fix would cost $7.3 billion and that the efforts to reduce the burden to taxpayers would reduce spending by $9 billion.

The net direct spending for health care related programs, after factoring expansion of health care programs, would be an overall budget reduction of $300 million over 10 years.

The agreement scales back the proposed cuts to federal employees sought by Republicans and exempts current federal employees.

Federal employees under the budget agreement would receive a pay increase--the first in three years.

Sequestration cuts would be diminished under this budget agreement, which opens the Federal government up for new hires in the coming year.

Federal employees are making contributions toward budget reduction considering the three years of no cost of living increases and the increased contributions toward retirement plans for new government hires and military retirees.

On the negative side:

Mr. Speaker, it is outrageous--it is scandalous--that the budget agreement does not include an extension of unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million jobless workers will have their benefits cut off on December 28, and nearly another 1.9 million will lose their unemployment benefits over the first half of next year.

If Congress does not extend unemployment insurance, an additional 3.6 million workers will lose access to benefits in 2014.

In Texas, 68,900 jobless workers will lose their unemployment benefits on December 28th.

An additional 106,900 Texas workers will lose access to benefits in 2014.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and my privilege today to stand in the House of Representatives, along with my distinguished colleague from the Silver State, Representative Steven Horsford, to coanchor the CBC Special Order, the hour of power, where, for the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have an opportunity to talk directly to the American people about the situation that we face in this country right now related to both the government shutdown and the impending debt ceiling crisis that we confront.

Mr. Speaker, this is day 14 of a government shutdown brought to us by reckless, irresponsible, and unreasonable behavior by our friends on the other side of the aisle. It is a government shutdown that is hurting the American people. It is hurting children, placing their Head Start programming at risk. It is hurting seniors who rely on the Meals on Wheels program. It is hurting expectant mothers who may be unable to receive the nutritional assistance that they are otherwise qualified for. It is hurting the more than 800,000 hardworking civil servants who have been unceremoniously cast out of their jobs, uncertain as to when they may be able to return. It is hurting America.

But as bad as this government shutdown has been, we are also faced with a crisis that might be even worse if we are unable in this House to raise the debt ceiling within the next several days. The Treasury Secretary has indicated that the United States effectively will run out of the capacity to pay all of its bills and its creditors if we do not raise the debt ceiling by Thursday, October 17, just a few days from now.

Now, the debt ceiling has been a vehicle that all too often has been mischaracterized, perhaps intentionally, perhaps out of ignorance. I am not certain. But let's just clear the record as to what the debt ceiling actually represents. It is a backward-looking vehicle, not a forward-looking vehicle designed to give the President the ability to spend more. That is a gross mischaracterization. The debt ceiling is a backward-looking vehicle designed to give the President and this administration the capacity to pay bills that this Congress has already incurred.

We just want the Congress to undertake its constitutional responsibility pursuant to the 14th Amendment, where, in section 4, it makes clear the validity of the public debt authorized by law shall not be questioned. And it is Congress, in section 5 of the 14th Amendment, that has the responsibility to adhere to that constitutional requirement.

We are going to explore this theme and the consequences of a debt ceiling default during this Special Order. And I am very pleased that we have been joined by the dynamic leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, the distinguished chairperson from the great State of Ohio, Representative Marcia Fudge.

I thank the distinguished chairwoman for her insightful, thorough remarks.

I now yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who has joined us today to share her remarks and observations as to this debt ceiling crisis that we are confronting right now.

I thank the distinguished gentlelady from the great State of Texas for her observations and certainly hope that all people of decency on both sides of the aisle will denounce the hateful words that we saw on display here in the Nation's Capital this weekend.

We are pleased to have been joined by the distinguished Representative from the great State of Virginia, Representative Bobby Scott.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from Virginia for his observations and for reminding the American people that the President, the Senate majority, Democrats in the House of Representatives have always been prepared to sit down and attempt to find common ground as it relates to the challenges that we confront here in the country. We have been asking for a conference committee to be put into place so we can discuss the budget passed by the House and passed by the Senate and figure out how we can negotiate around those differences since March; but the House majority has refused to appoint Members to negotiate the budget differences.

But we are not going to be put into a position where essentially you say, Give us everything we want--the right-wing Republican agenda for this country rejected by the American people on

November 6, 2012. But notwithstanding that fact, give us everything we want or we are going to shut down the government or force a default that plunges this country and the world into a painful recession. We are not interested in negotiating on those terms because it is not in the best interest of the American people.

I am pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished Representative from the great State of California.

I yield to Representative Barbara Lee.

Congresswoman Lee, thank you for continuing to be an unyielding advocate for the downtrodden, the disaffected, and the disenfranchised in such a tremendous way.

I now yield to a distinguished member of the freshman class, also joining us from the great State of Texas, my good friend, Representative Mark Veasey.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from Texas for his observations and for his historical analysis, pointing out that raising the debt ceiling is something that has consistently occurred throughout the last century here in America.

I want to enter into the Record a White House correspondence that reads, in part, as follows:

This country now possesses the strongest credit in the

world. The full consequences of a default--or even the

serious prospect of default--by the United States are

impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration

of the full faith and credit of the United States would have

substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on

the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can

ill afford to allow such a result.

Mr. Speaker, this letter is dated November 16, 1983, and those words were written by then-President Ronald Reagan to Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker: The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result.

Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times during his two terms; and yet our good friends on the other side of the aisle want to come here and lecture President Obama as if he is being irresponsible, when the paragon of conservative Presidential leadership recognized the necessity on 18 occasions--and as memorialized in this correspondence-- of raising the debt ceiling.

The White House,

Washington, DC, November 16, 1983.

Hon. Howard H. Baker, Jr.,

Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Dear Howard: This letter is to ask for your help and

support, and that of your colleagues, in the passage of an

increase in the limit on the public debt.

As Secretary Regan has told you, the Treasury's cash

balances have reached a dangerously low point. Henceforth,

the Treasury Department cannot guarantee that the Federal

Government will have sufficient cash on any one day to meet

all of its mandated expenses, and thus the United States

could be forced to default on its obligations for the first

time in its history.

This country now possesses the strongest credit in the

world. The full consequences of a default--or even the

serious prospect of default--by the United States are

impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration

of the full faith and credit of the United States would have

substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on

the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can

ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the

disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one

conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the

Congress adjourns.

I want to thank you for your immediate attention to this

urgent problem and for your assistance in passing an

extension of the debt ceiling.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan.

We are pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished gentlelady from Columbus, Ohio, who has conducted herself with such intelligence and grace in her 10 months here in the United States Congress, and we are proud to call her a member of this freshman class.

I yield now to Representative Joyce Beatty.

I thank the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio for her very eloquent remarks.

Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining on the Special Order?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

We have also been joined by another distinguished Member of the freshman class, the always nattily dressed representative from the great State of New Jersey, my good friend, Congressman Donald Payne.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. Speaker, let me now yield to the gentleman from the great State of Nevada, Representative Steven Horsford, my good friend from the silver State, my co-anchor on the CBC Special Order Hour of Power, to close us out for the evening.

Mr. Speaker, let's reopen the government, raise the debt ceiling, and get back to doing the business of the American people.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank you and Ranking Member Slaughter for the opportunity to speak in support of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2775 which:

Reopens the government;

Averts a catastrophic default that would risk the full faith and credit of the United States; and

Clears the way for the House and Senate to appoint conferees to start the budget negotiations that Democrats have called for since April.

The government shutdown has lasted 16 days making the beginning of fiscal year 2014 an extremely difficult time for Federal employees and the people they serve. It has also imposed tremendous hardship on the dedicated employees of the House of Representatives as well as for each Member of the House of Representatives.

The bipartisan Senate compromise would:

Extend the continuing resolution through January 15;

Suspend the debt limit through February 7, with congressional disapproval process;

Require certification by HHS that there is income verification for those applying for premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, a provision supported by the administration;

Allow for the appointment of budget conferees, who will report to Congress by December 13.

Madam Speaker, this should not have taken 16 days to accomplish.

Federal workers are our Nation's greatest resource because they provide the know-how and expertise to meet the needs of this great Nation.

Madam Speaker, I consider all of our Federal workers as essential, not just the 1.3 million who are designated as such.

A healthy Federal government does not function as dismembered parts but as a single unit. The plot by the Republican majority to pass funding for only those agencies the public might miss immediately following the self imposed shutdown while leaving others to languish was wrong.

The Congress has learned a very costly lesson for the American Taxpayer. The 16 day shutdown has cost taxpayers $24 billion dollars.

The 14th Amendment provides that ``The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.''

Some scholars have suggested that this provision empowers a President to take appropriate action to prevent default. I agree with President Obama that this is a question that requires much thought and reflection. The important thing is that we must never ever risk defaulting on the public debt and injury to the full faith and credit of the United States.

There are also the events over the last 16 days that made it clear that we need the Nation's Federal agency workforce:

Foodborne illness outbreak that sickened hundreds in several States not being addressed;

An unexpected blizzard was reported to have killed 5 percent of the cattle in the State of South Dakota;

The nearly dozen transportation accidents that were not investigated.

I urge all members of the Rules Committee to vote in support of this bipartisan effort before us.

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2775 which:

Reopens the government;

Averts a catastrophic default that would risk the full faith and credit of the United States; and

Clears the way for the House and Senate to appoint conferees to start the budget negotiations that Democrats have called for since April.

I would like to thank the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate for their stewardship in crafting a resolution to this crisis.

The Government shutdown has lasted 16 days, making the beginning of fiscal year 2014 an extremely difficult time for Federal employees and the people they serve. It has also imposed tremendous hardship on the dedicated employees of the House of Representatives as well as for each Member of the House of Representatives.

Because of the circumstances that led to the budget impasse, I introduced H. Res. 375, a bill expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should refrain from conditioning the resolution of fiscal and budgetary disputes on the taking of action relating to non-germane legislative matters.

I invite members from both sides of the aisle to become a sponsor of H. Res. 375 as a way to make amends to the American people and assuring through its passage that Congress will not place the Nation in the situation we found ourselves in ever again for the reasons that this budget impasse occurred.

Madam Speaker, this is an extraordinary time to be in America.

We have seen the Legislative and Executive Branches of our government and the constitutional balance that the framers of the Constitution intended regarding matters related to public purse tested.

It is extraordinary when a matter that should be dealt with in the regular order of the business of the House and Senate becomes a matter so grave that a broad and diverse coalition call on Members of this body to do what we were elected to do--manage the business of the people through cooperation and compromise.

I have heard from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP, United States Conference of Mayors, the National Education Association and the Coalition on Human Needs, each calling for the passage of the Senate bipartisan budget compromise.

The bipartisan Senate compromise would:

Extend the continuing resolution through January 15;

Suspend the debt limit through February 7, with congressional disapproval process;

Require certification by HHS that there is income verification for those applying for premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, a provision supported by the Administration;

The appointment of budget conferees, who will report to Congress by December 13.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request unanimous consent to place into the Record an editorial that was published in ``The Hill.''

Federal workers are our Nation's greatest resource because they provide the know-how and expertise to meet the needs of this great Nation.

The Federal government for many may have been a faceless nameless entity, but these last two weeks have taught us that they are people who have specific skill sets that cannot be replaced or ignored.

Madam Speaker, I consider all of our Federal workers as essential, not just the 1.3 million who are designated as such.

This fact was made apparent by what the American people experienced over the last 16 days the:

National Park Service,

Veterans Affairs,

Department of Defense,

Men and women of the armed services,