Floor Statements

Day No. 12--Mr. Speaker, today is the 12th day of a government shutdown and 1 day closer to defaulting on our debt. In the history of our great Nation, we have never failed to pay our bills. We are Americans. We always pay our bills.

Mr. Speaker, enough with the gamesmanship, the finger-pointing, the name-calling. It is time to get back to business. We can do it in three easy steps.

Step one: let's open the government.

Step two: let's pay our bills.

And step three: let's negotiate a real budget that begins to rebuild jobs and an economy that rebuilds middle class America.

Mr. Speaker, everyone wins--especially the American people.

Mr. Speaker, it is day No. 10. Mr. Speaker, today is day No. 10 of a government shutdown, a totally unnecessary government shutdown. This is a manufactured crisis, Mr. Speaker. It is time that we open the government back up.

Mr. Speaker, if our leadership is not able to get together, if the House, the Senate, and the President are not able to sit at the table, then maybe it is time to turn to rank-and-file Members.

This morning over 50 of us came together, Democrats and Republicans, from all over America, from Kansas, from New York, from Florida, from California. We came together not to fight, but we came together to fix problems. We came together as no-labels problem-solvers.

Mr. Speaker, we are ready to get America back to work. We are ready to start moving this country forward. We need to start solving problems, Mr. Speaker, and I would suggest that there is an easy three- step solution to get the country back on track.

Mr. Speaker, number one, let's open up the government.

Mr. Speaker, number two, let's pay our bills. We have always done that. So let's raise the debt ceiling.

Number three, let's come together as Democrats and Republicans and let's negotiate. Let's actually put a real budget together, a budget that starts to address our debt and the deficit; a budget that starts to make sure what we hand off to our children and grandchildren is the same as the country we inherited from our parents and grandparents--a country that thrives, a country that leads the world.

We have to get serious about the challenges that we face and we have to stop these manufactured crises. We have to stop the bickering. This is divided government. It means Democrats and Republicans coming together.

Mr. Speaker, I urge you to join with the no-labels problem-solvers and do what our motto is, let's fix problems, not fight. We are ready to go and get America back to work.

Day No. 9, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is day No. 9 of the government shutdown.

Enough with the games, the name calling, the finger-pointing. It's time we come together, open the government, pay our bills, and then begin negotiating a real budget. Yes, let's negotiate a real budget that begins to address our debt and the deficit. But first, we've got to open up government.

In my district, in Rancho Cordova, they've shown us what working together looks like. I spoke with Darcy Brewer, the executive director of the California Capital Airshow. They faced some challenges--high winds, bad weather--but they came together, worked into the night, and didn't shut down. They put on a spectacular airshow.

Mr. Speaker, that's what we do as Americans. When times get tough, we pull together, and we show up. We don't shut down.

Day No. 8, Mr. Speaker.

Today is day No. 8 of a government shutdown. Enough of the gamesmanship. Enough with the name-calling. Enough with the blame game. It is time we opened up the government.

Real Americans are getting hurt, like Brian from Carmichael. Brian has been out of work for 2 years. He recently got a job offer that requires him to get a class B driver's license. Well, he went to the DMV. He was told he needed a Social Security card, which he lost a couple years ago. He went to the Social Security office to get a card. Do you know what he was told: the office is closed. They have been furloughed.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to open up the government. Real Americans like Brian are getting hurt. Let's get Brian his job, and let's open up the government.

Mr. Speaker, day No. 5 of the government shutdown--day No. 5.

Yesterday you said something that I couldn't agree with more, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday you said, ``This is not a game.''

Last night, my staff gave me a letter from one of my constituents, Sarah from Folsom. Her close friend is battling a rare bone cancer. She has been in chemotherapy and she is fighting for her life. She has a 1- year-old daughter.

She was recently accepted into a clinical trial, a last chance to try to save herself and save her life. Now Congress has shut down that trial and put the trials on hold. Here's what Sarah says:

Please don't let her daughter grow up without a mother.

Mr. Speaker, I couldn't agree with you more. This is not a game. This is real life.

Mr. Speaker, day No. 4 of a government shutdown, day No. 4 of not doing our job.

To the folks in the gallery, if you sit here all day, you're going to hear people throwing the blame game and playing that blame game-- Democrats blaming Republicans, Republicans blaming Democrats, the House blaming the Senate, the Senate blaming the House, and the House blaming the President. Let's stop this madness, and let's stop the blame game. Let's stop pointing fingers at one another, and let's just do our job.

Mr. Speaker, it's time we did our job. You're the Speaker of this House. This is the House that has both Democrats and Republicans. It's time that you were Speaker of this House.

Yesterday, one of our colleagues said that we're being disrespected by the other party and we won't be disrespected by the other party. This can't be about Democrats looking for respect from Republicans and Republicans looking for respect from Democrats. That's the problem. We've lost the respect of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, this body, Congress, has lost the respect of the American people, and that's who we should be looking for respect from. Eighty-seven percent of America feels like Washington, D.C., is going in the wrong direction.

Mr. Speaker, let's spend time working to earn the respect and the trust of the American people. This has to be bigger than political parties. It has to be about America.

Here is who deserves our respect: the United States Capitol Police. Did you see how great they were yesterday? They performed admirably. They did everything that they had to do, and they did so without getting paid. They're not getting paid. They show up, though. They do their duty, and they do their work. They deserve our respect, and they have the respect of everyone in this body and the United States because they're doing their job. Mr. Speaker, if we want to get their respect back, we'd better do our job.

Here's some other people who deserve our respect. When I visited our troops in Afghanistan earlier this year, those are some of the most professional young men and women that I've ever met. When they're called and asked to serve, they just show up for duty. They do what they have to do--one tour, two tours, three tours. They are doing their jobs. They deserve our respect.

Mr. Speaker, if we want the respect of the American people, we need to do our job as Democrats and Republicans. You're Speaker of the House. Bring us together. The leadership needs to start coming together and doing their job. That's how we get the respect back.

Mr. Speaker, the men and women behind us, they show up every day. They're doing their job, but they're not getting paid. The way we can show our respect for them is let's open the government up, and let's make sure that the men and women in America get paid. Let's start rebuilding jobs. That's how we can earn their respect. Let's do our job.

Mr. Speaker, every year, thousands of Americans show up, young college students show up in Washington, D.C., to serve their country. They show up as unpaid interns. They show up as low-paid staff members. In my office, we have a young college graduate, Kelvin Lum. He shows up for work every day. He helps me deal and talk and manage the constituent requests that are coming in. He's not getting paid. Let's show our respect to those folks that care deeply about our country, about the United States of America. Let's open government up again.

Mr. Speaker, it's time that we work to get the respect of the American public. Let's do our job.

My father taught me a little bit about respect. He said: Son, the way you get respect is you don't ask for it. The way you get respect is you go out and do your job. You work hard. You do it with integrity. You don't blame others when things fail; you just work harder.

Mr. Speaker, let's get the trust and the respect of America back again by doing our job, which is opening up government, which is starting to put together a real budget that relieves our children and grandchildren of crushing debt that's coming at them. Let's do our job as Democrats and Republicans, listening to each other, taking the best ideas out of both parties and doing our job.

Mr. Speaker, if we want to get the respect of America back, we will do our job. The Democrats and Republicans in this body are ready to open government. We have the votes. It's up to you now just to bring legislation to the floor to let us open government again, to make sure our Capitol Police are paid, to make sure the men and women serving this country are paid, and to make sure that tourists that are coming to the United States Capital to visit and show their respect for America are able to visit the monuments.

Mr. Speaker, it's in your hands. Let's do our job, and let's get that respect back.

Mr. Speaker, day No. 3--day No. 3--of a government shutdown that doesn't need to happen.

Mr. Speaker, we need leadership, we don't need the blame game, and yet that is what we are seeing. Republicans blaming Democrats, Democrats blaming Republicans, the House blaming the Senate, the Senate blaming the House, and the House blaming the President.

That isn't getting us anywhere. And to the American people, they're not saying: Oh, it's the Democrats' fault or it's the Republicans' fault. They're looking at Congress and saying: Why can't you do your job? Why can't you come together as Democrats and Republicans, bring your best ideas forward and compromise and negotiate?

What this House is doing, what Congress is doing, is reckless. It's irresponsible. We need to start putting the American people's interests first because they're the ones that we work for. That's who sent us here.

We're not asking anyone to give up their convictions. We all have our convictions, and we all have our districts and the people back home. What we're asking for, the Members in this body, the Republicans and the Democrats, is to think about the country. Now is the time for us to put the American people first. That means we've got to be able to come forward and understand and learn how to listen. It's hurting real people.

I'm a doctor by training, and I look at this from the perspective of being a doctor and the American patients. As reported in my hometown newspaper, the Sacramento Bee, at my hometown hospital where I'm still a clinical professor, UC Davis Medical Center, here is what they said:

For cancer patients, government help--in the form of

clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute--

can be a matter of life and death. And the NCI, a Federal

agency, has closed its doors for the duration.

One of my colleagues, Dr. David Gandara, a UC Davis Cancer Center lung cancer specialist, said this:

We have California patients from our center who have been

going through clinical trials there and have been told to go

home. The program has been shut down.

Now, I know yesterday you brought a bill to the floor, a resolution that restored partial funding to the NIH for 3 months, through December. But as a doctor, cancer patients are not looking at 3 months. They need some certainty. We need some certainty in the practice of medicine when we're sitting with our patients. So I implore this body to come together as Democrats and Republicans to think about those patients and to think about those Americans who are being hurt by our inability to do our job.

Now, as a Democrat, I'm going to continue talking to my Republican colleagues and looking at ways that we can move forward, but inflammatory rhetoric and the blame game is not going to get us anywhere. We've got to learn how to listen to one another, we've got to learn how to speak to one another, and we've got to learn how to put the American people ahead of political parties. That's who we work for.

The oath I took as a doctor is borne on a foundation of two solid principles: benevolence, to do good; nonmalfeasance, to do no harm.

Mr. Speaker, Congress' inability to get the job done is doing irreparable harm to Americans and to American patients, and we certainly are not doing any good by not getting a budget put together and getting America back on track. Let's do our job. Let's do what the American people sent us here to do. Let's work together as Republicans and Democrats and learn how to listen to one another again and do the work of the American public.

Mr. Speaker, the public is watching.

Mr. Speaker, it's day number two of a government shutdown. The American public is watching, and they're not happy with what they're seeing.

Mr. Speaker, you are the leader of this body, the House of Representatives. You're the Speaker of the House. This is a House that's made up of both Democrats and Republicans. We need leadership at this juncture; and, Mr. Speaker, you are the one person who can bring it, but you're not showing that leadership. You need to take Democratic and Republican ideas and help us move forward.

I'm here to work. I'm a freshman, and I came here with the mandate to get Washington working again, to get people working again. That's what I intend to do. But, Mr. Speaker, you've got to reach out to Democrats and invite us in to bring our ideas forward. You are the one person who can do it.

I talk to my colleagues on the Republican side, and I'll talk to the Republicans right now. We want to get the country moving forward, but we can come up with the best ideas possible, and there's only one person who can bring that legislation to the floor. Mr. Speaker, that's you. We need leadership at this juncture, and the country is watching. Enough with the Washington politics.

We hear that you may shut the government down to play more Washington politics for 17 days to tie this to the faith and credit of the United States of America. You are the one person who's going to do that, Mr. Speaker. Don't take us down that path. Too many Americans are suffering.

We need leadership at this juncture, Mr. Speaker. There is a clean funding bill on your desk. Bring it to the floor. Bring it to the floor and let us have a chance to vote up or down. That's regular order. Give us a chance. It will keep government open for 6 or 10 weeks. But give us a chance to vote up or down on that. If the Republicans don't like it, fine. They're going to vote against it. But give us a chance to bring it to the floor. And it's not a bill that Democrats like, but we understand it'll keep the government open and it'll give us a chance to do what we were elected to do--pass a real budget, put a budget together.

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough with the Washington politics. Now you're going to continue playing politics and bring little pieces of legislation here and there forward when what we need is a big plan and leadership. Bring the funding bill to the floor. Let's continue to pay our debt and let's keep moving forward, because people are hurting.

Mr. Speaker, I'm a doctor. The oath I took has two critical elements. One is to do good. Well, Mr. Speaker, right now you are not doing any good. You are not doing the American public any good. And to do no harm--the failure of this body and you to bring this legislation to the floor for us to vote on is doing irreparable able harm.

And as a doctor, do you know what's happening to the NIH? Do you know that they have to turn patients away--patients who have no place else to go? This is their last-ditch effort to get in there. That isn't what we do in America.

Mr. Speaker, you're the one person who can bring this legislation to the floor--and do it.

As a doctor, do you know what's happening in the CDC? We're about to enter flu season. God forbid we have an epidemic of anything. They're laying off almost 70 percent of their staff. This is putting America in harm's way.

Mr. Speaker, do what my oath says as a doctor: do good and do no harm. Right now, you are doing the exact opposite.

Let's get Washington working again, and let's put the American people first. We the people. This is the United States of America, united. That means we've got to come together as a country and put the people first.

Mr. Speaker, the American public is watching you.

Mr. Speaker, last night, just after midnight, you allowed the government to shut down.

Enough with the gimmicks. I'm not up here to play the blame game, to blame Republicans, to blame the President, to blame the Senate, to blame Democrats. That isn't what the American people want to hear. They want us to do our work. They want us to come together.

Mr. Speaker, we need leadership at this juncture. You're the Speaker of the House, and this is a House that has both Democrats in it and Republicans. We need your leadership at this moment to open the government and serve the American people. That's what they want to see.

Mr. Speaker, you must be willing to work with Democrats in this body. We are ready and waiting to work with you. My office is open. I'm a doctor, and I'm happy to work with you on the Affordable Care Act and make this about taking care of patients, make this about the American people. We stand ready to do the country's work, but we need your leadership and your willingness to work with Democrats.

The Senate has passed a bill that will keep the government open. Bring it to the floor. If the Republicans don't like it, they'll vote against it. But bring it to the floor and give us a chance to vote up or down. That's how government should work. Give us a chance, as a full body, to vote up or down. We're here to work with you, Mr. Speaker, but bring that clean bill to the floor. Don't attach gimmicks to it.

Keeping government open isn't about attaching a gimmick like access to birth control pills. That isn't what this is about. Stop attaching gimmicks. We are ready to work with you to strengthen and fix the Affordable Care Act and make it about the American patient, but this is about keeping government open. Do your job, Mr. Speaker. We need your leadership.

We've got to stop playing the blame game. This is surreal right now. This is not an episode of ``The West Wing.'' This is real life. In fact, I'm going to read a letter from two constituents of mine, Matthew and Michelle. This is the real world.

Representative Bera, I realize you're not the cause of the

looming shutdown, but I'm begging you to do everything you

can in your power to keep the shutdown from happening. My

wedding is literally going to be ruined if the shutdown

happens as we are to marry in Glacier National Park on

October 13 . . . It is messing up so many people's lives . .

. because some elected people in Washington can't compromise.

Here's what Matthew wrote:

The constant bickering and self-interest rather than the

interests of the general public seem to be a common focus for

many in Congress. Start working together and getting things

done.

Mr. Speaker, this is not the time for bickering. We need to step up and do our job for all the Matthews and Michelles in America. They're watching, and they're the ones who are suffering. We need to put their interests ahead of political parties, ahead of individual interests.

We got elected to do a job and put the people's interests first. ``We, the people.'' This is the United States of America. We have to start working together in a united way. Mr. Speaker, let's do our work. We stand ready to work and reopen the government. Bring the bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, 12 hours. In about 12 hours, we threaten to shut this government down.

Now is the time to exhibit leadership, Mr. Speaker. You are the leader of this body. It has Democrats and Republicans, so we've got to take the best ideas out of both parties. Negotiations can't take place just between conservative Republicans and Tea Party Republicans.

I stand here ready to work with you, Mr. Speaker. We've got ideas. Let's take the best ideas out of both parties. Let's put them together, and put the American people first.

This is the United States of America. The first name in our country is ``United.'' We've got to stop fighting, and we've got to start fixing these problems. We've got to come together and put we, the people, first--the American people.

Take the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans, and let's start working together. Mr. Speaker, my office is open, and I stand ready to work.

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.

Five more days, Mr. Speaker. In just 5 days, this body threatens to shut down the government. The public and the American citizens are fed up with these shenanigans. They want us to do our job.

If the government shuts down, we are going to send our military to work, but we are not going to pay them. If the government shuts down, veterans who have been waiting months for benefits are going to wait longer. Let's do our job. This is totally unacceptable.

The people expect us to come together and put together a real budget. We passed ``No Budget, No Pay,'' but yet, we don't have a budget. The House has passed one budget; the Senate has passed another. Let's come together in a conference, agree on a single number, and move forward and set our priorities.

Enough kicking the can down the road. Let's keep the government open. Let's pass a budget. Let's start rebuilding the middle class for America and one that works, and let's get back on the right track. We can do this. We've done it before.

Madam Speaker, we have 10 short days before this government could shut down. Yet today, after working only 9 days this month, Congress is about to go on recess. We shouldn't be leaving here today. We should be staying, working, and coming to a real agreement, not some partisan ploy.

If the government shuts down, our Active Duty military could face working without pay. Their families could suffer. Our veterans who are already facing unreasonable wait times could go with delayed benefits. And seniors who have paid for years into Social Security and Medicare may not get the services that they need. This is completely unacceptable.

Americans are sick and tired of partisan fighting. They want Congress to do their job and work. Let's put their

economic security first. Let's actually pass a reasonable budget. Let's rebuild the middle class. Ten days, Madam Speaker. Let's do our work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn yet another manufactured crisis that House leadership has created. Americans are sick and tired of the fighting and of having their economic security put on the line repeatedly.

Instead of doing their jobs and serving the people, House leadership is holding the American people hostage to partisan politics and taking us down a path to a government shutdown. That means our military serving overseas would have to work without pay while they're sacrificing for us. Their families are going to struggle. It means benefits to our veterans, who are already struggling to get benefits and enduring a backlog, are going to have to wait longer for those benefits. It means Americans who count on Social Security, a program that they paid into their whole life, may not be able to get their payments.

This is absolutely shameful, Mr. Speaker. The clock is ticking. We've got 11 days. Let's do what is right and begin to work on a real budget--a budget that creates jobs, that secures a strong middle class and starts to reduce our debt and the burden on the next generation.

Eleven days, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to applaud the committee for addressing a critical issue not just to my own hometown but to our Nation.

Most know Sacramento as the capital of the Golden State. What many don't know is that the Sacramento region, which sits at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, where they converge near the bay delta, has the second highest flood risk in the United States. Only New Orleans is at greater risk for flooding. And we know what happened in Hurricane Katrina.

The Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project is vital to protecting the region from disaster. We must continue

to fund these improvements to take pressure off our overburdened levees and keep people who work and live in the region safe. A flood in Sacramento would be devastating to the 1.4 million residents in our metropolitan area. The flood risk could result in closures of evacuation routes like Interstate 5 and Interstate 80, a shutdown of our international airport, and destruction of homes and hospitals, not to mention the irreversible tragic loss of life. Additionally, flooding could result in billions of dollars in potential damage, and it could take weeks or months to pump the water out of the region.

Another area of crucial importance that I hope this body will soon address is the Sacramento-American River levee system. Many of the levees in my area date from the 1870s, when farmers began building nearly 1,100 miles of protection around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to control floodwaters and create farmland. Today, these levees are in desperate need of critical repair to help prevent a catastrophic disaster.

We all witnessed the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy this past November. However, unlike a slow-moving hurricane, a breach of the levees could occur with little or no warning. In fact, Robert Bea, professor of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, warns:

In terms of damage, deaths, and long-term costs, a rupture

in the delta levees would be far more destructive than what

happened in Hurricane Katrina. This is a ticking bomb.

In 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for California's levees. He signed an executive order directing agencies to identify, evaluate, and repair the levees. The citizens in Natomas levied themselves a tax; and they've already paid, along with the State of California, for 35 percent of the work. But we now need this body to allocate the rest to keep our region safe.

As the ranking member said, it is better to prevent a catastrophe than wait for that tragic loss of life. Addressing vital projects like the Sacramento-American River levees is crucial. It's what we should be doing. It puts people to work. It is time for us to come together as a body and get America working again and fund vital projects like the Sacramento-American River levees.