Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the benefits of ObamaCare.

Dennis Denbo, a 63-year-old constituent of mine, spoke to our local newspaper, the Press-Enterprise, to share his story.

Mr. Denbo, who was laid off recently from his computer sales job, went to the Covered California Web site and found that he and his wife Jean will save $300 a month on a plan comparable to what they have now.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Denbo wrote to my office to tell me personally about his experience and how deeply he believes in America's ability to achieve great things.

In his letter he said:

We are Americans. We can solve whatever issues or tactical

challenges that come up in the implementation of a nationwide

health care solution. We can make it efficient, cost-

effective, accessible, and a valuable service for all

Americans.

I couldn't agree more, Mr. Denbo.

The benefits of ObamaCare are real. This body should be concerned with finding ways to improve access to affordable health care instead of delaying and defunding.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time.

I rise today in support of H.R. 3547, the Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act.

As a proud member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I am encouraged to hear about the exciting and innovative ways that the commercial space industry is pushing the bounds of space exploration. The legislation on the floor today helps to ensure that the industry will flourish and continue to create new, high-tech jobs.

In southern California, the Hawthorne-based SpaceX company employs nearly 4,000 workers and has cemented itself as one of the premier commercial space enterprises by developing several launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft. In 2012, SpaceX successfully delivered cargo to the international space station using its Dragon capsule.

The Mojave Space Port is another bright light in the commercial space industry. At Mojave, more than 70 companies are working on highly advanced aerospace design and flight test research. Just 2 months ago, the Sierra Nevada Corporation completed its first free-flight test of the Dream Chaser, a winged spacecraft that could one day take astronauts to the international space station.

But as commercial space companies such as SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Virgin Galactic, and others continue to test new technologies, it is important for the Federal Government to help alleviate some of the risk involved in undertaking such projects. By providing third-party indemnification, these companies can continue their work without risking their entire assets. In fact, Russia, China, France, and Japan all offer liability protections that exceed the United States' standard. Without this important protection, some companies could be forced to exit the market, costing the United States hundreds, if not thousands, of high-tech jobs. We cannot allow that to happen.

I am proud to support this legislation so that American commercial space companies can continue to grow and expand the possibilities of what mankind can achieve. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tout the very real benefits of ObamaCare.

Karrie Brooks, a resident in my district, wrote to me saying:

The individual coverage that I could afford as a healthy

54-year-old woman has been $418 a month with a $5,000

deductible. I avoided going to the doctor mostly for fear

that if I used the insurance, my policy would be canceled.

She goes on to say:

Recently, Anthem let me know that I would have to change to

a compliant plan. The plan they suggested is similar, but it

will cost me $53 less each month. Yes, less. Most important,

I know that it cannot be canceled. The peace of mind and

security that these changes have given me is huge.

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in decades, a single illness or accident will not plunge American families into financial ruin. The positive effects of ObamaCare are real, and Americans like Karrie Brooks are evidence of that.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding time.

The issue of immigration reform is a top priority for our Nation and rightly so. It will not only help our economy grow, but it will also help families stay together.

I was taken aback earlier today when Speaker Boehner said that the Republican-controlled House has ``no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate immigration bill.''

That is clearly at odds with what the American people want and what the American people need.

I just want to recount a bit of my own history.

I believe so. Just bring it directly to the floor. We can bring that Senate bill directly to the floor and let the House work its will.

The topic of our Special Order had to do with immigration reform in the military and veterans.

I recount a very poignant part of my own family's history. All of my grandparents, both my parents were interned during World War II without trial in Japanese American internment camps.

Despite this great injustice, many children of these immigrants, young men, volunteered for military service. They fought in the 100th Infantry, in the 442nd, suffered some of the greatest casualties, and were most recently awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service. These were young men who wanted to demonstrate their loyalty to this country and were given an opportunity to fight for our country. I think it is tragic that young DREAMers under deferred action are not allowed to serve the country that they love, where the language of English is mainly the language they speak, and the culture they know is that of our country, America.

Just like the men of the World War II generation, Japanese Americans who fought for this country and all Japanese American fighting units, I believe that the children of immigrants today want that opportunity.

Over the past few months, I have received hundreds of letters from residents in my district, letters from business owners, husbands, wives, and perhaps even most distressing, children. One letter I received is from a local teenager who wrote to me about her mother who will likely be deported back to Mexico in 2015. She said:

It is going to be very hard to bring her back to

California. Her four kids need her back. She is a single

mother. She is the only person we have close to us.

Another letter I received said:

My stepfather's mother died of heart problems, so he had to

go back to Mexico to her funeral. He was there for a couple

of days, and when he tried to come home, it was hard for him

to come back over to California. It has been a while since we

have seen him. My mom misses him terribly. She cries every

time she talks to him on the phone. It has been 2 months

since he left to Mexico, which probably means he lost his

job. He is the main provider for our family. This is very

stressful and hard on my mom because she is not able to pay

the bills. It is hard for her to support us and be strong at

the same time. I hate to see her suffer and be sad all the

time. Families should not be ripped apart like this. Other

families should not have to go through what my family is

going through.

Madam Speaker, these are letters from children whose families are being ripped apart.

I also received a letter from a wife and a mother saying:

I myself am one of those many families that unfortunately

have to go through this injustice. My husband was deported on

his way to work about 3 years ago, and during these few

years, it has been really hard for my new 5-year-old daughter

and me. The stress I go through every day is unhealthy, and,

unfortunately, my daughter has to go through it, as well. My

daughter really wants to be with her father, and it really

hurts to see her go through this situation.

These are American families that we can help by passing immigration reform.

The last letter I would like to read is from one of the largest employers in my district, the Blue Banner Company, a grower and shipper of California citrus. They wrote to me and detailed the difficulties of a recent crop of theirs when they faced a 30 percent to 35 percent labor shortage. Because of the labor shortage, less fruit was harvested from the trees in a timely manner. Because the fruit was harvested not at peak time, it was sent to be juiced instead of sold fresh for eating by consumers. This resulted in a total loss for their growers of $3.4 million to $3.8 million.

The letter goes on to say:

We, California agriculture, desperately need a legal

workforce from which to hire.

Reforming our immigration system will help businesses such as Blue Banner by providing a workforce that is ready and willing to work. Let's pass immigration reform and help families stay together and help businesses obtain the workers they need.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great joy that I recognize the marriage of two outstanding, loving Riverside residents, Joshua Delgado and Marvin Tucker, who have waited 19 years for their union to be recognized.

Shortly after the Supreme Court struck down Proposition 8, California's marriage equality ban, and the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that barred same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits, Josh and Marvin decided to get married. Now, with the legal recognition of the State of California and the guarantee of federal protections, Josh and Marvin will be married equally, as their peers have been for years.

Serving the United States Air Force for more than thirty years, Marvin Tucker currently works as the Emergency Management at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, where he's served since 1997. Finding comfort in a familiar place, Josh and Marvin hosted their wedding at the March Air Reserve Base Chapel on August 3, 2013.

Although Josh and Marvin aren't the first same sex couple in the Air Force, their wedding is the first same sex union with the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, the first on March Air Reserve Base, and the first in the Air Force Reserve Command.

It is with great honor that I wish peace, joy, and happiness to Joshua Delgado and Marvin Tucker in matrimony.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I stand today with my colleagues in recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The unfortunate reality is that domestic violence is something that affects every community in America, as

it touches every race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Millions of domestic violence incidents are reported each year, and many more go unreported. Too often, domestic violence remains within the confines of the household, as many victims do not contact law enforcement or go public, often out of fear.

When it was first observed 26 years ago, Domestic Violence Awareness Month sought to shine a light on this tragic reality by educating the public, empowering the victims, and punishing the offenders. And in the 26 years since, we have made great progress, partly due to the Violence Against Women Act, which provides critical support to programs for victims and their families, as well as resources for law enforcement and community organizations.

With a 51 percent increase in reporting by women and a 37 percent increase in reporting by men, the results have been nothing short of incredible. Domestic violence is wrong, and no victim should be hesitant to report it. I encourage every American who feels threatened or who knows someone in a dangerous situation to contact law enforcement or a community organization. Together, we can strive to end domestic violence abuse in our communities.

I yield back to the gentleman.

I thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act, which would designate the Distinguished Flying Cross Memorial currently under construction at March Air Field Museum in Riverside County as a national memorial.

Established by Congress in 1926, the Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded to tens of thousands of Americans and gives recognition to members of our Armed Forces for heroism in aerial flight. This legislation could not be more important as there is no national memorial for these brave men and women. I believe that it is our duty to properly honor our heroes for their service.

In addition to its bipartisan support, this legislation also has the backing of countless veterans and military organizations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, the Military Officers Association of America, the Air Force Association, the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Association of Naval Aviation, and the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.

I was proud to introduce this legislation with my Republican colleague from the Inland Empire, Representative Ken Calvert, and hope we can continue to work together on issues such as this because our region has deep military roots.

I would also like to express my gratitude to California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, along with Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who introduced the Senate version of this bill.

Let's honor these heroes, Mr. Speaker, and pass the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding the time.

Reforming our immigration system is one of the top issues in our Nation. I was happy to see the Senate act this past June when it passed a comprehensive immigration bill with an overwhelming bipartisan vote.

The Senate bill solves many of the problems with our current immigration system. It creates a pathway to citizenship, secures our borders, addresses the current backlog, and helps the DREAMers, who were brought here through no fault of their own. Unfortunately, the push for immigration reform hit a brick wall when the legislation moved over to the House and Speaker Boehner flatly refused to bring it up for a vote.

Sadly, this is not the first time Speaker Boehner and his irresponsible faction of the House Republican caucus have stood in the way of what is best for the American people, even though

there is a clear governing majority that is ready to act. Despite Speaker Boehner's desperate attempt to follow the so-called rule which requires him only to allow votes supported by a majority of House Republicans, the governing majority has been able to pass several pieces of substantive legislation this year.

Just who is this governing majority? It is made up of nearly the entire Democratic Caucus and a handful of moderate, sensible Republicans.

In January of this year, a governing majority of 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans came together to avoid the fiscal cliff, saving our economy from ruin.

Several weeks later, when a majority of the Republican caucus stood opposed to relief for the victims of Superstorm Sandy, it took overwhelming support from Democrats and a small group of Republicans to help those in need.

Shortly thereafter, the House passed the Senate's version of the Violence Against Women Act, providing protections for victims of domestic violence, with unanimous Democratic support and a portion of the Republican caucus.

Then, in March, facing the deadline of a government shutdown, a temporary budget extension to keep the government funded until September 30 also needed the support of the Democrats to pass the House.

Finally, despite claims indicating that the votes weren't there to pass a clean CR, the House reopened the government and avoided default with the unanimous support of Democrats and a group of Republicans.

The reality is, to pass anything with substance, Speaker Boehner needs to stand up to the extreme faction of his party, stop blocking important legislation, and get out of the way and let the House of Representatives work its will. America needs Democrats and Republicans to come together. We have seen what can be accomplished when we are united.

And who are we kidding about the Hastert rule? The Speaker has already violated it multiple times this year.

In the lead-up to the most recent crisis, he said that he didn't want the government to shut down or default on its debts. If Speaker Boehner truly meant that, he would have turned to the governing majority and we would have avoided a 16-day shutdown that cost our country $24 billion in economic activity.

The governing majority has done its job with the fiscal cliff, with aid to Superstorm Sandy, with the Violence Against Women Act, and the recent government shutdown and debt ceiling negotiations. We have escaped manufactured crisis after manufactured crisis. I know that the American people are eagerly waiting for the House of Representatives to pass meaningful legislation that addresses our challenges.

The governing majority is ready to do its job once again with comprehensive immigration reform. As millions of Americans and aspiring Americans are waiting for this body to act, it is time to put aside the theatrical displays, Mr. Speaker. Let us govern so we can bring our brothers and sisters out of the shadows.

I believe that if the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill came to the floor of the House, the governing majority would once again do what is right for the American people and pass this important legislation. Let's vote on the Senate's bill and fix our broken immigration system. The time is now.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maine, the ranking member of our committee, for yielding time, and I thank Chairman Flores of the subcommittee for his hard work.

I am pleased to see that the Veterans Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 is receiving a vote today on the floor, as every Member of this distinguished

body has servicemembers in his or her congressional district, and all of us believe that taking care of these heroes, when they complete their service, should be a top priority.

Bipartisanship in this Congress is rare, but Republicans and Democrats all agree that Congress should be making it easier for our servicemembers as they transition back to civilian life.

The House Veterans' Affairs Committee has a strong track record of being the least partisan committee in Congress, and this very bill is consistent with that record, as it passed in committee unanimously this past September.

I am especially proud that H.R. 331, which I originally introduced with my Republican colleague from California, Representative Calvert, was included in the final legislation. With Riverside Community College District campuses in both of our congressional districts and with Riverside County having the eighth largest veterans population in the country, I am proud that Representative Calvert and I joined forces to make it easier for veterans to receive their veterans education benefits.

Our legislation will help decrease education benefit processing times by eliminating unnecessary and duplicative paperwork for individual community colleges that are part of a group, district, or consortium. Specifically, it will allow a multicollege system, such as the Riverside Community College District, to verify a student's class enrollment number with the Department of Veterans Affairs instead of requiring each individual constituent college to do so. Centralizing the reporting for veterans enrollment at multicollege systems will be a great benefit to veterans in the Inland Empire, as unnecessary and duplicative paperwork delays benefits, increases processing times, and increases costs to the Department of Veterans Affairs and multicollege systems, such as the Riverside Community College District.

I am also pleased to see the Military Family Home Protection Act, of which I was a lead cosponsor, included in the final bill. This portion of the legislation will expand foreclosure protections to all servicemembers regardless of when they purchased their home and will stay home foreclosures for servicemembers who are receiving hostile or imminent danger pay. It will also prohibit banks from discriminating against servicemembers, veterans, and surviving spouses who are looking for home loans and mortgages. Finally, it will double civil penalties for mortgage-related violations.

The veterans who so bravely served this country deserve every opportunity for success and every protection possible.

I thank my Republican colleagues from the Veterans' Affairs Committee for pushing this legislation, and I look forward to its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, to open the government and go to conference on the budget so that we end this Republican shutdown now.

Mr. Speaker, today, I will be hosting a number of Members from my home State of California, a State in which the population is so diverse and in which the culture is so rich that it is often described as a microcosm of America.

Every language, every nationality, every ethnicity is represented in the Golden State--a State that is the 12th-largest economy in the world. California's economy is so big that its GDP rivals that of some full-blown, industrialized nations, including those of Australia, Spain, Mexico, and South Korea. The economy in California is crucial to the national economy.

I am here tonight with my colleagues to speak against the government shutdown that has been manufactured and orchestrated by the House Republicans--a shutdown that is harming the national economy, a shutdown that is harming the California economy and a shutdown that is harming the very communities that we represent.

In my district, the 41st District, which represents Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, the largest employer is March Air Reserve Base, with 8,500 people working at the base in some capacity. When the shutdown hit, 500 of these workers were affected by the furloughs. While Congress passed legislation allowing these employees to go back to work, roughly 1,000 National Guardsmen at the base still will not be able to drill this month and will not receive pay.

It is not just our servicemembers who are hurt by this reckless shutdown. Low-income children in my district are suffering, too. The Riverside County Office of Education receives Federal funding through the Head Start program in order to provide childhood development services and to promote school readiness for children under the age of 5. Because of this shutdown, the county is not able to draw down their grant money, jeopardizing these vital services for nearly 3,500 young children in my county.

About an hour east of my district is Joshua Tree National Park, where 92 park employees were given furlough notices. When the shutdown happened, park rangers were forced to notify campers that they had to vacate the park within 48 hours. There are 7,000 people a day who visit Joshua Tree National Park, and this shutdown is estimated to cost nearly $8,000 a day.

Not just the park and its employees are going to suffer; local businesses will suffer as well. A cafe next to the park normally has a line out the door. The other day, the manager reported that the cafe made only $39. This is a small business, Mr. Speaker.

We have to end this shutdown, not just for the furloughed public employees but for small businesses like that cafe.

I am very pleased to be joined by several of my California colleagues, the first of whom is from southern California, the distinguished gentleman, Alan Lowenthal. He represents the cities of Long Beach, Garden Grove and Cypress. He sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources.

I am happy to yield to the gentleman from California's 47th District.

Thank you, Mr. Lowenthal. I appreciate it. I know you have to run on to a committee, and good luck.

Next, I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman), my friend and colleague from the Second District, a great leader in the environment, somebody who, in the California Legislature, authored some landmark bills that have improved the environment. He is also among one of the most progressive Members of this body. I sit with him in the Progressive Caucus. Representative Jared Huffman of California's Second District, which includes the cities of Crescent City, Fort Bragg, San Rafael, and other cities. He sits on the Budget Committee as well as the Committee on Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Huffman. If you want to--care to stay just a few minutes to have a little back-and-forth.

We come from different parts of our great State of California. I know we both share a deep love for our State. I have been to your district, to Sonoma and the great forests that you have in your district. It is a terrible thing to see, just as California is coming out of this recession--I don't know about you, but I visited a number of these businesses during the congressional break, during the work period, during August and early September, and there were so many hopeful stories about people saying, We have gotten through this hump, we have gotten through the worst of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 recession. There was even talk that real estate in my area of the State, which was hit hard, was coming back. I told all these folks I am so glad to hear these wonderful stories.

I just hope that we don't, in Washington, end up, through any unnecessary actions, irresponsible and reckless actions, set back the gains that we have made. I don't know about you, but in my district, certainly, I can see how shutting down the government and threatening to not raise the debt ceiling would have just tremendous adverse consequences on the twelfth largest economy in the world.

Thank you so much for coming down to speak about how this shutdown, this GOP-imposed shutdown, manufactured shutdown, and how this threat to not raise the debt limit is jeopardizing our entire Nation. But we in California are a tremendous engine behind the whole big picture of the economic mind of our country. An economy which represents 12 percent of the global economy is nothing to be cavalier about.

I thank the gentleman.

Now, I would like to recognize the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Negrete McLeod), a Representative from a neighboring district, California's 35th District. I have known Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod, gosh, more than 20 years, when we both began our careers as community college trustees. It is such a great honor to serve alongside her and sit in this Chamber sometimes when we are voting. She sits on the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, on which I also sit. We are both committed to the huge veterans population that we have in the inland empire of the region of California that we both represent in inland southern California.

Mrs. NEGRETE McLEOD. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, with each day that passes that the Nation is in government shutdown, we put the very livelihood of Americans and the economy in uncertainty: like the over 3,800 Federal employees who live in the 35th Congressional District, these are all hardworking men and women in the Federal Government workforce; like the constituent who wrote us asking why death benefits for veterans were not being paid out; like the dairy owner that called this very morning and wanted to know why they had not received money that was owed to them from the Federal Government.

These are just a few of the cases that are going on in my district; and while progress has been made in the Nation's economic recovery from the greatest recession since the last depression, the Federal Government's shutdown hampers that very recovery. The shutdown sends a bad message to the business community, that government is unreliable.

The 35th District's constituents are not being helped by the Small Business Administration because of the shutdown. The SBA is currently approving zero general small business, real estate, and equipment loans. This hurts the economic development of California's 35th Congressional District.

Last year, the SBA approved almost $500,000 a day in small business, real estate, and equipment loans in my district. This money enabled job growth and benefited the community by spurring economic development in the region. This equates to more than $1 billion not currently being lent to small businesses across the country in 1 month. Businesses in my district, the State, and across the Nation are losing money every day because of the government shutdown. We should be helping businesses start up and grow. We should be doing everything we can to grow jobs and grow our economy. Congress should not be an impediment that slows prosperity in America.

Without a solution to the Federal Government shutdown, low-income women and children will suffer without programs that Congress fought hard to secure. Federally funded programs like the Women, Infants, and Children program, commonly known as WIC, is at risk of having its funding diminished under a government shutdown. WIC provides nutrition education and healthy foods, enabling families to make lifelong healthy eating and lifestyle choices.

In California alone, 1.5 million low-income women and children will be impacted should Congress not act to end this shutdown. This is at a time when 27 percent of California's children are considered to be food insecure, children lacking access to enough food or nutritionally adequate food.

Letting a government shutdown occur when children's nutrition is at risk is irresponsible. Let us be part of the solution and end political gamesmanship that hurts average Americans. Let us feed America's hungry children. Let us get businesses back to business and help America prosper.

I thank my friend and colleague, the gentlelady from California's 35th Congressional District, Gloria Negrete McLeod.

Now I yield to a true champion of small business. She sits on the Small Business Committee, as well as the Judiciary Committee. Representative Judy Chu has been a friend of mine in California. I know her from various roles we have played in California governance. She represents California's 27th District, which includes Pasadena, Rosemead, Monterey Park, and many other communities. I yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the very distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services. I have known Representative Maxine Waters also for a number of years, more than I care to even sort of count. She represents California's 43rd District, which includes south Los Angeles, Hawthorne, and Inglewood.

I thank the gentlelady for participating. We both love our State. It is such an honor to serve with you in this body.

I now yield to the distinguished gentleman who represents California's 29th District. He sits on the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Committee on the Budget, Representative Tony Cardenas, who was also formerly of the California State Legislature. His district includes the cities of Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and other areas of the San Fernando Valley.

I thank the gentleman.

I now yield to my friend and colleague, Representative Mike Honda, from the 17th District. I know you, Mr. Honda, have been a former school principal. You have been in local government as a county supervisor, I think, of Santa Clara County. You have served in this body, I think, since 1996. It is an honor to serve with you, and I know we both love our great State of California. We are very anxious and sad over the potential impacts that both the government shutdown and this threat to not raise the debt ceiling will have on this fragile recovery that we are now, I think, beginning to see evidence of.

Thank you, Congressman Honda.

I know that before you became a Member of Congress, you had experience as a county supervisor, and I know that counties are often the fiscal agents for major programs, like our nutrition programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition programs. I understand that the stimulus funds that we are supplementing, some of these assistance programs--let me try to translate this into ordinary everyday language.

We are talking about food stamps. We are talking about people being able to buy food in order to have the basic necessity of eating. I don't know about your district, but in my district, I know that during the height of the recession, we saw people who were middle class families for the first time having to access these programs. As I say, we are still not fully out of this recession. It is a fragile recovery.

The other effect that these assistance programs had is that they serve as a kind of stimulus to the local economy. People on these assistance programs have to spend the money locally, at local supermarkets. It injects some stimulus effect on the local economies. My understanding is that, come November 1, we are going to see a significant reduction in those programs because we have not been attending to reauthorizing the legislation that funds these programs. We have grave doubt as to what is going to happen to the 47 million people who rely on SNAP.

Isn't it true in Silicon Valley--let's kind of talk about that for a moment--there has been a resurgence of investment, that we are seeing our California budget sort of recovering with additional revenues because your area of the State is helping to lead the recovery?

There are two different subject matters here: the government shutdown, and also this issue of the debt ceiling being raised. We have seen on the Hong Kong markets the short-term debt or the premium that they are charging for this uncertainty about our debt ceiling being raised. In other words, interest rates are likely to raise. Raising capital is going to be a problem.

Do you have any thoughts on what that is going to be doing to our Silicon Valley entrepreneurs?

Well, I don't think we want to normalize or make routine a mode of governing where either party threatens to shut down the government because of a political end they want to achieve or either party decides that they want to threaten the full faith and credit of the United States and threaten the establishment of the American dollar as the world reserve currency because they want to achieve some sort of political end.

We need to give the American people--every business, every family, investors, whether they are domestic or whether they are international investors who want to invest in our economy, including in Silicon Valley, the certainty that we have a responsible government in the United States.

Whoever would have thought we would come to a place where within a year and a half, the last time that this issue came about was--I remember seeing you on August 1 of 2011 when the Budget Control Act of 2011 was passed. But it was linked, I think, unfortunately, to the debt ceiling raise. And the idea that we would normalize this practice, to me, is something that we don't want to see our Nation continue to do.

I thank the gentleman.

Let me just go into my final remarks for this Special Order hour. And I want to remind the American people that the Democrats did offer a point of compromise when we accepted funding for the continuing resolution, which is actually below the Paul Ryan budget figure. It is a number that the President agreed to, the Senate agreed to, and the House Democrats are willing to agree to. And we know that there was a deal that was brokered by the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader related to it, and we thought that the result would be a clean CR.

But what we cannot afford to do, what I cannot unconscionably do as the Representative for the 41st District, is to bargain away the Affordable Care Act. Twenty-four percent of my population of Riverside County is uninsured. My constituents need the Affordable Care Act to help them get the quality health care that they deserve.

The law includes important consumer protections that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for people with preexisting conditions. It eliminates annual and lifetime caps on care and allows young people to stay on their parents' plans longer. In addition, the law requires insurance

plans to cover free preventative health services, and it lowers prescription drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare part D doughnut hole.

So, America, my community's seniors have a lot at stake. The California State marketplace, Covered California, has already received 1 million unique site visits, more than 16,000 applications have been completed, and another 27,000 are partially completed. That is more than 43,000 Californians who have taken the step to get covered in just 10 days.

Well, Mr. Speaker, this is all very simple. Congress has a handful of basic functions. Two of them are to keep the government open and to pay our bills on time. These things Congress should be doing already.

The situation we are in reminds me of when my brothers and I thought our parents should pay us an allowance for making our beds. My parents argued that making our beds was something that my brothers and I should be doing anyway, that an everyday responsibility like making our beds wasn't something that was done for a payoff.

What should I get for brushing my teeth? That is obviously a personal responsibility that I shouldn't get anything for. Refusing to fulfill a responsibility should not be leverage for getting something that you want.

The House Republicans are expecting to get something out of this. They are expecting to get something out of refusing to fulfill their basic responsibilities. They are expecting to get something out of refusing to fund the government and refusing to be faithful stewards of the full faith and credit of the United States. They are willing to threaten the American dollar and its status as the world's reserve currency.

There are several Members of this body who do not believe the chaos that would be created by not paying our bills on time. One Member said he believed it would ``bring stability to the markets.'' Others have said that it is a ``scare tactic'' being used by the administration and Democrats. They say this despite every credible economist stating that America defaulting on its debts would be catastrophic.

Imagine, Mr. Speaker, imagine if Democrats were this cavalier about an issue as serious as the debt ceiling. We would be run out of town, and for good reason.

I thank my colleagues for joining me today. Let's end this shutdown. Let's end this shutdown, Mr. Speaker. Let's make sure we pay our bills and pay them on time. And let's give the American people the certainty that they need and that they deserve.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, before I state my unanimous consent request----

Parliamentary inquiry, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, what do the House Republicans want to end this shutdown, because----

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, the clean CR, and go to conference on a budget so that we can end this Republican government shutdown that is slowing our economic growth by .3 percent.

Mr. Speaker, before I state my unanimous consent request, may I ask a point of information?

My inquiry is: Who is the Speaker of this House? Is it John Boehner or is it Ted Cruz?

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, the clean CR, to go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown that is adding to the veterans' disability backlog.

I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin.

I rise today to object to this government shutdown that has been orchestrated and carried out by the House Republicans and the Tea Party.

Before I came to Congress, yes, as the gentleman has said, I worked for over 20 years as a high school teacher; and I have to say, during these last few days, I've begun to wonder if my students in Riverside County had a better understanding of how our government works and how it should function than the House Republicans.

It is 46 times that the House Republicans have voted to repeal or to defund the Affordable Care Act. They are doing this as if they believe the majority in the Senate, which fought to create the Affordable Care Act, would vote for its repeal. They are doing this as if they believe the President would actually sign legislation reversing his crowning achievement. That's not how our government works. There are three branches of government in this country, and any high school senior can tell you that the only way a bill can become a law is if it is passed by the House, passed by the Senate, and signed into law by the President.

So now the Republican Party has resorted to hurting everyday Americans by forcing the government to shut down and furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers so they can get what they want. It is 18 times the Senate attempted to send negotiators to the House to get an agreement on a budget; and now, because of the House Republican delay tactics, we have run out of time and have passed the date to keep the government open. They have taken this moment of crisis to exercise political leverage in the most irresponsible manner.

I can appreciate my Republican colleagues' passions and their world views on government, but their passions are misplaced, ill-timed, and inappropriate. They want to display those passions and undo a law at a time when Americans will be harmed by their tactics. What makes Americans so angry is when they see Members of Congress so eager to hurt our country to achieve their political ends.

Let's say that our positions were flipped, that the Republicans had the Senate and the Presidency and the Democrats had the House. What if the Democrats said, Well, we don't want a government shutdown, but unless the Senate passes and the President signs immigration reform into law, that's what we will do? Or how about if we were to say, We are against furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers, but unless the Senate passes and the President signs an assault weapons ban, we will do just that?

You know, we could say unless the Senate passes and the President signs into law, the option will be to shut down the government.

I know our friends on the other side of the aisle would never allow such tactics to stand. Now the House Republicans are trying a piecemeal approach, attempting to fund the government one agency at a time. This is no way to run a government either. This is just legislative public relations. This is Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans reacting to the bad headlines they've received in the last few days. The press has been criticizing this shutdown for how it's harmed our veterans.

What's the answer for the Republicans? Introduce a bill that funds only veterans programs. The press has exposed the tragedy of this shutdown, ending clinical trials for kids with cancer. What's their solution? Introduce a bill that funds only clinical trials.

The press has shown how insulting it is to our Greatest Generation when they have been locked out of the Washington, D.C., World War II Memorial. What do Republicans do? Introduce a bill that funds only parks and monuments. This is not governing. This is damage control.

The actions by the House Republicans are absurd and reprehensible. The House Republicans are pitting American against American for political gain. Do they think that a veteran would want his benefits at the expense of his grandchild's education? Do they think that poor children should go to sleep hungry so the national park in their district can open?

One-half of one House of Congress of one branch of government should not get to make such outrageous demands. To make things worse, there are reasonable Republicans, as the gentleman from Wisconsin has just demonstrated, Republicans who know this is wrong, Republicans that have stopped me in the hall and told me how Ted Cruz has put them into a political conundrum. Even Grover Norquist has said Ted Cruz has ``pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away.''

Eighteen House Republicans have publicly stated they would support a clean CR. Let's end the GOP shutdown. Let's bring sanity back to Congress and pass a clean CR that will put Americans back to work and restore funding to the countless programs that they rely on.

The gentleman is going to have to help me. I'm not aware of when this happened.

Was that literally the 11th hour, 59th minute before they--that's right. I do remember this now because I was here that time of night. I do remember that because we were wondering what the Republican Caucus was going to do next, and the last thing of the evening on Saturday was to propose a conference.

Look, the Senate Democrats passed a budget after much complaining by the House Republicans that the Senate had not passed a budget, and I believe this was way back in the spring.

We had plenty of time to try and hash all of this out, but let's remember the original pretext for this shutdown. What I kept hearing from our Republican colleagues was they wanted to delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That seemed to be the crux of their objectives.

The last 48 hours, we've voted on a lot of things since then. As I pointed out in my remarks, every headline that looks bad for them, they come up with a bill, and they try to fund that headline away.

Again, they're embarrassing votes for many people on our side, having to answer, Why are you voting against the National Institutes of Health? Why are you voting against veterans? Of course we're not voting against them. We're saying that you can't pit one group of Americans against another group of Americans, and that there are literally many Americans who depend on many of the programs. When people really understand what our government does for them and when it's taken away, then it comes home.

I don't know if you spoke about this earlier, but in just this past series of votes, there was what is called in technical language here in the House, a motion to recommit, otherwise known as an MTR. The Democrats used that opportunity to propose a motion to recommit, which was essentially that motion. We were trying to bring to the floor a clean CR, the exact Senate language for the continuing resolution.

The number that we would have funded the government at would have been at the Republican's own number. It's a number that many of us feel is too low. I bet you most of our caucuses would've supported it. But what happened? There was a motion on the Republican side to table our motion. Why table it? Why were they scared? They were scared to bring it to the floor. Instead of a procedural motion that the Republicans could have voted ``no'' on, they would have been faced with voting up or down and those 18 Members would have had to make a decision to go against what they publicly stated. They could have done that today. They had an opportunity today, and let it be said right now that we missed an opportunity to fund this government and to move on. It passed away today. All I can say is this motion to table was nothing less than, I think, a motion out of fear. Fear of what? That there would be a reasonable majority that would come together.

I asked earlier today a question that was rhetorical. I asked as a point of information, Who is the Speaker of this House? Is it John Boehner or is it Ted Cruz? In order to get to this vote, we

have to take this Congress back from a phantom Speaker because I can't believe that--you read out the names of 18 people who are willing to go on record publicly. How many do you and I suspect of Republicans that privately feel these things, but are too afraid to move forward because of this phantom Speaker?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an important accomplishment for our Nation, as it was 48 years ago today that President Johnson signed Medicare into law, thus cementing a promise to our Nation's seniors.

Before Medicare, nearly 30 percent of seniors lived below the poverty line and American life expectancy was 70 years old. Since then, the poverty rate has plummeted all the way down to 7.5 percent and life expectancy has risen to 78-1/2 years.

Madam Speaker, Medicare is a sacred promise that we made, and it is a sacred promise that we must keep, despite the House Republicans' addiction to slash-and-burn policies. If the House Republicans got their way, they would replace Medicare with a voucher system, removing the certainty of what seniors will receive. These are benefits that have been earned and paid for, but turning Medicare into a voucher system will result in reduced benefits and increased health care costs.

The Democratic Party, however, believes that working families should not lose their life savings in their golden years to pay for health care, and they should not suffer without treatment due to an inability to pay for medical services. The Democratic Party believes that seniors deserve the certainty of Medicare.

Madam Speaker, on this day, the 48th anniversary of Medicare, I pledge to uphold the promises we made to seniors and to never turn my back on working families.