Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise with great respect for Chairman Young. However, I rise in strong opposition to this reckless Republican shutdown.

Of course we support the National Guard and Reserves. The House already passed a full-year funding bill for the Guard and Reserves in July under the auspices of Chairman Young and our extraordinary ranking member, Mr. Visclosky; but this bill is inadequate, and it's the wrong action at this time.

Our troops need training and equipment--two key components absent from this bill. This measure does nothing to help the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the Secret Service, or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is critical to our Nation's defense.

We could end the shutdown today if the majority would only allow a vote on the Senate-passed bill, which includes the funding levels that the Republicans support and that would be signed by the President. Then we could get to work, as our ranking member said, on a complete bill, an omnibus bill, through the regular order of the Appropriations Committee.

The House majority, apparently, can't take the heat from the fire that they've lit, so now they've put forward this reckless political attempt to shift blame for their shutdown. Ending the shutdown of our government couldn't be more simple: stop playing games and pass the reasonable bill that the Senate and the White House have already agreed to. Madam Speaker, it's time for the Republicans to stop opposing reasonable solutions and to end their shutdown. Allow a vote on the Senate bill.

I have served in this Congress for many years with the distinguished ranking member, Mr. Visclosky, and the chairman, Mr. Bill Young. I am embarrassed to go home to my constituents in my district and talk to them about the dysfunction due to the Republican shutdown of this government. There are people who don't have child care. There are people who don't have health care. There are people who are suffering, who are having trouble paying the rent. Let us open this government and get our work done.

Madam Speaker, of course we support funding for our veterans. The House already passed a full-year funding bill in June by a vote of 421-4, which was $6 billion more than the cheap ploy now being considered.

It is essential that the VA can continue offering services, but we must also ensure that veterans receive job training, children receive immunizations, and that our food supply is safe.

Radical Republicans have shut down the government because they refuse to allow a vote on a spending bill that they wrote, the Senate passed, and the White House would sign.

Three days into the shut down, the majority can't even tell us what they want to reopen the government. Just yesterday, one of their Members said:

We have to get something out of this. And I don't even know what that is.

The House majority has shut down the government, but not to reduce spending or for some other policy reason. It is for pure petulance, and they don't even know what they're trying to accomplish.

Ending the shutdown couldn't be more simple. Stop playing games. Allow a vote on the bill--with your number--to end the shutdown that the Senate passed and the President will sign.

This could end in 30 minutes. Just take the bill with your number, let it pass here, send it to the White House, and that's the end; and we can get on with business to serve the people that we were elected to help.

My constituents want us to work on these serious issues, as do you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican shutdown. We can't cherry-pick our way through funding the government. Of course we support funding for the District of Columbia; but we also support funding for 800,000 Americans who are being furloughed, restoring SBA loans to help small businesses grow, and restarting Head Start centers.

Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, it really pains me that Republicans have brought up this cynical bill yet again today. Funding one budget at a time is no way to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities to keep the government running or growing our economy.

This bill is nothing more than a Republican ploy. It isn't designed to solve problems. It is designed only to help Republicans shift blame for the most evident results of their shutdown. It would not be before us if Republicans had not been so irresponsible throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown.

This bill is wasting critical time that should be spent passing the Senate-passed compromise bill that we know the President would sign to end the shutdown for all of government. This bill is irresponsible.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the reckless Republican shutdown.

There's no stronger supporter of the National Institutes of Health. Members on both sides of the aisle have long supported the crown jewel of the government, but we didn't have an opportunity to vote on the bill funding this year because Republicans didn't have the courage of their convictions to stand behind the 22 percent cut. Funding one budget item at a time, even one as important as the NIH, does nothing to help children get immunizations, conduct disease surveillance, provide meals for seniors and poor children who depend on assistance for survival, or continue food inspections to protect the food supply.

This bill is nothing more than a Republican ploy. It would not be necessary if Republicans had not been so irresponsible throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown. We could end the shutdown today if the majority would only allow a vote on the Senate- passed bill, which includes the funding levels Republicans support and would be signed by the President.

If you really care about biomedical research and public health, you should vote ``no'' on this bill and demand that the Republican leadership allow the House to vote on the Senate bill immediately and end the reckless Republican shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican shutdown. Of course we support funding for our national parks. But the House has not had that opportunity because Republicans couldn't even advance their own Interior bill out of the committee.

Why is opening parks now more important than investments in job training centers that are dependent on their expected allotment of funds, or allowing all of our food inspectors to continue to protect the American food supply?

Today's bill doesn't even include funding for essential firefighting efforts for the Park Service. Funding one budget item at a time, while doing nothing about other critical services, is no way to fulfill our constitutional responsibility to keep the government running or to grow our economy.

The bill we are considering is nothing more than a Republican ploy. It would not be necessary if Republicans had not been so reckless throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown.

We could end the Republican shutdown today if the majority will only allow a vote on the Senate-passed bill to keep the government running, which includes the funding levels Republicans support and would be signed by the President.

Pass the bill today, and the couple can get married at the Jefferson Memorial, and the 200 patients who would have been admitted to the NIH clinical trials each week will not be turned away.

The House majority apparently can't take the heat from the fire they lit, so now they have put forward this reckless political attempt to shift blame for the shutdown. End the shutdown now.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican shutdown. Of course we support funding for the District of Columbia, but the House has not had that opportunity because Republicans couldn't even put the financial services bill on the floor. Why is resuming services in D.C. now more important than extending funding for Head Start or childcare assistance across the country?

Funding one budget item at a time while hundreds of thousands of Americans are on furlough and losing pay is no way to fulfill our constitutional responsibility to keep the government running or to grow our economy. The bill we are considering now is nothing more than a Republican ploy. It would not be necessary if Republicans had not been so reckless throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown.

We could end the Republican shutdown today if the majority would only allow a vote on the Senate-passed bill to keep the government running, which includes the funding levels that Republicans support and would be signed by the President.

The House majority apparently can't take the heat from the fire they lit, so now they have put forward this reckless political attempt to shift blame for the Republican shutdown. Ending the shutdown couldn't be more simple: stop playing games; pass the reasonable bill the Senate and the White House have already agreed to.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican shutdown.

Of course we support the funding for our veterans. The proper way to do that, as our distinguished chairman knows, is to fulfill our constitutional responsibility--make the hard decisions and pass regular appropriations bills.

Mr. Speaker, as the chairman knows, the House already passed in June a full-year funding bill for veterans by a vote of 421-4. As our distinguished chairman knows, that bill is $6.2 billion more than today's bill. So our veterans, as a result of this shutdown process, are going to have their funds cut by $6.2 billion. We need to pass a bill that helps them and that funds other critical initiatives. As our distinguished chairman knows, we could do this. We could pass these bills by regular order and prevent children from being part of clinical trials.

I just got an email from Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health. Nearly three-quarters of the staff were furloughed. About 200 patients who otherwise would be admitted to the NIH clinical trials each week will be turned away. This includes about 30 children, most of them cancer patients. We know this is not the only place. It's Head Start, and it's funds for transportation. We've heard that. We can go on and on.

We could do this because there is a process in place. We don't need to shut down the government and invent new ways to pass these appropriations bills. Funding one budget item at a time while hundreds of thousands of Americans are on furlough and are losing pay is no way to fulfill our constitutional responsibility.

The bill we are considering today is nothing more than a Republican ploy. It would not be necessary if Republicans had not been so reckless throughout the budgetary process, forcing us into a shutdown. We could end the Republican shutdown today if the majority would only allow a vote on the Senate-passed bill to keep the government running, which includes the funding levels that the Republicans support and that would be signed by the President. The House majority, apparently, can't take the heat from the fire they lit, so now they've put forward this reckless political attempt to shift blame for their shutdown.

Madam Speaker, instead of working with Democrats to prevent a shutdown, House Republicans have passed two bills that have no chance of becoming law. They are the 42nd and 43rd votes on undermining the Affordable Care Act.

While the old saying goes, ``if at first you don't succeed, try, try again,'' I say to my colleagues across the aisle: stop trying to shut down the Government of the United States of America.

Democrats have offered a compromise in which Republicans get the spending levels they want. It is time to stop pandering to the Tea Party and to do what is right--pass the Senate compromise and avoid a shutdown driven solely by radical Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Here we go again. Republicans insist on including riders that do not belong in an appropriations bill. Both the Senate and the President already made clear they will not accept these provisions. Still, the majority insists on taking the country toward a shutdown in a few short hours.

As the clock ticks toward midnight, when appropriations will lapse and the government will shut down, Republicans have put forward the third version of a bill that is designed to shut down government unless we delay, defund, and deny affordable health care to American families.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans claim Democrats refuse to negotiate. Let's review the history and Democrats' support for a compromise to keep government running:

Republicans pushed us to the brink of default in the summer of 2011, resulting in a credit downgrade;

Republicans walked out of negotiations with the President last December aimed at reaching a budget deal for this year;

Republicans have refused to work with the Senate on the budget all year long;

Republican leadership caved to the Tea Party and withdrew a plan that, in all likelihood, would have ended this standoff by separating health care legislation from a bill to keep the government running;

And now Republicans refuse to say ``yes'' to the great concession made by Democrats in the Senate and the White House on the Republican spending level.

The shutdown isn't only tarnished by Republican fingerprints, it is entirely of their making. We could avoid a shutdown by allowing a vote on the Senate's clean bill, but Republicans just won't allow it.

This is no way to run the House of Representatives. This is no way to serve the hardworking people of the United States of America whom we represent. I urge my colleagues to vote against the Republican government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) for a unanimous consent request.

(Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky).

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the ranking member of the Interior Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison).

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, now Republicans want to negotiate. After the shutdown clock has struck the witching hour, after weeks of making threats of insisting on your way or the highway, of arrogantly demanding repeal or delay of affordable health care, now the Republicans say, Please negotiate.

This is not a motion to go to conference or a motion to negotiate. There's no time left for that. This is a motion to shut down our government. There's been plenty of time for negotiation, and Republicans said ``no'' at every turn. Forgive me if I remain skeptical that Republicans actually want to negotiate now.

Republicans can stop this shutdown right now if they bring to the floor the Senate-passed continuing resolution that removes divisive provisions that House Republicans insist upon.

This stunt tonight doesn't do one thing to end the government shutdown. We should call it what it really is: a pathetic, last-ditch attempt to not be blamed for a government shutdown. This is too little too late. We should greet this motion with the same cynicism with which it was offered.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to discuss the majority's intransigence.

The bill the House is considering tonight takes yet another step towards total dysfunction. Instead of working with Democrats to prevent a shutdown, the majority has gotten even more extreme by writing a bill that has no chance of becoming law and will be the 43rd vote on repealing or undermining the Affordable Care Act.

While the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again, I say to my colleagues across the aisle tonight: stop trying. You will not succeed in giving our medical choices back to the insurance companies and keeping health insurance costs too high for too many families, and it continues the Republican war on women by allowing a woman's employer to determine what safe and legal health services she can access.

The bill the Senate returned to the House would not increase spending, but one provision within the jurisdiction of Ways and Means would cost $30 billion. The majority is wasting time as we get closer and closer to a shutdown, because we all know this bill will be dead on arrival in the Senate.

Here's a sample of what the House majority shutdown will do: small business owners will stop receiving Federal loans to hire and expand their businesses; the National Institutes of Health will stop receiving new patients; veterans' benefits will be disrupted; and housing loans for middle class families will be put on hold.

These are the painful results of the Republicans' refusal to act responsibly.

They walked out of negotiations with the President last year. They ignored the President's deficit reduction plan in his budget. They refused to go to conference on a budget resolution. And they repeatedly voted down Democrat amendments to replace sequestration.

And now, when it's time to fulfill our most basic task of funding government operations, Republicans push us further to the brink of a shutdown. Anyone who votes to amend the Senate bill is voting for a shutdown.

Vote ``no'' on the Republican shutdown proposal, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), a distinguished ranking member on the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

I just want to thank my friend, the gentleman, Mr. Kingston, for making a good case for the Affordable Care Act. You want to turn it back over to the insurance companies who are raising these rates in your district and my district.

I'm very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the distinguished ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished whip from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I yield an additional minute to the gentleman from Maryland.

I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), the distinguished ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), the distinguished leader of the Steering and Policy Committee of the House of Representatives.

(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison).

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).

(Mr. NEAL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, my friend, Mr. Rogers, and I have been trying to pass a bill that would reflect the needs of the people of the United States of America.

My friends know that this bill is delusionary. It just reflects the dysfunction of my friends on the other side of the aisle. To allow the extreme wing of the Republican Party to control this debate does not make sense at all.

The truth is we are 2 days away from a shutdown. My friends know that this bill is not going to be accepted by the Senate. They sent over a bill that we could have all passed, sit down and work together, and keep this government from shutting down.

The dysfunction that is occurring because of the Republican wing of the party does not make sense to me at all. You're bowing to the extremists, the Tea Party, who really don't want to see this process move forward.

We know that the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. We know it's been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Let's move on. Let's not waste time. People are out of work. Children are not getting what they need in school. The National Institutes of Health are not getting the resources that they need. Let's stop this game. Let's stop the dysfunction. Let's stop playing games.

This is the reality. Let's work together and pass a bill, a continuing resolution, and then I'm sure Chairman Rogers and I could pass an omnibus bill with the Senate to move forward with the work that we are elected to accomplish.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is 48 hours, 30 minutes before the Republicans plan to shut down this government.

Of course, there will be bipartisan support for this bill. However, this bill to continue funding the military is a farce. The bill claims to support the troops, but fails to provide the materiel essential to support forces and maintain the readiness of our deployed forces.

In FY 2014, the administration requested funds for operation and maintenance and procurement accounts that provide supplies, maintenance, ammunition, and equipment needed for the troops. The bill by the majority to fund the troops would not provide this materiel to support the troops.

So, again, I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Aren't we embarrassed to be part of this dysfunctional Congress, with all the work that must be done in our districts back home?

We should begin to work together, not just say that it's inevitable that we're going to close the government down. Let's do it. We can do it. And do it now.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I will oppose this continuing resolution. On September 10, Chairman Rogers introduced the CR, and his statement noted, ``This bill is free of controversial riders and does not seek to change existing Federal policy.'' How things have changed.

Unfortunately, this new package will attach not one, but two politically motivated, ill-conceived, doomed provisions. One directs the President to pay certain debts but not others in case House Republicans are determined to default on America's obligations. The other would defund the Affordable Care Act.

Defunding the Affordable Care Act has far-reaching consequences for all Americans. If the House CR is enacted, no funds could be used to administer payments calculated on the basis of ACA provisions.

Patients, doctors, hospitals, medical suppliers, and other health providers would all experience significant disruptions. Many of the improvements to Medicare made by the ACA would also have to be suspended, such as better coverage for preventive services, lower

costs for drug benefits, and stronger tools to combat health care fraud.

Most importantly, undermining the implementation of the ACA only gives our medical choices back to the insurance companies and keeps health insurance costs much too high for too many families.

The House Republican default plan is flawed as well. The majority proposes that if they force default on Federal debt, the U.S. should prioritize payments to Treasury bondholders, of which 47 percent are foreign owned.

So while we pay back China, the following Americans would be pushed to the back of the line: 1.4 million Active Duty troops; 780,000 troops in reserves; 3.4 million disabled veterans who served their country with honor; 1.1 million doctors and others who provide health care to seniors with Medicare; 32 million children in schools that need payments to continue serving nutritious lunches; 44,000 National Institutes of Health grantees conducting lifesaving medical research and providing an estimated 500,000 jobs.

We, my colleagues, should be focused on jobs, putting people to work. Instead, the Republicans want to play games of brinksmanship on the budget and the debt limit, even though the foreseeable consequence will be plummeting stock markets and businesses freezing their hiring.

The Republican budget plan itself shortchanges American jobs and infrastructure, results in education and defense layoffs, closes Head Start and after-school programs, and divests in health research; and the sequester, CBO tells us, will cost the United States economy up to 1.6 million jobs over the next year.

I hope, at some point, we are able to agree on a bipartisan CR that can be enacted. The one before us, unfortunately, is not it. Unfortunately, we'll be back here again next week facing the same crisis.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the outstanding ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer.)

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), a distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

May I ask how much time remains.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia, Mr. John Lewis.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished leader.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished whip, the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Steny Hoyer.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

The people are counting on us to do our jobs, to work together, to create jobs, to keep the government open and to keep the economy running. This is not the time or the bill for relitigating health reform or for holding up the administration's ability to protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

With the great suffering in the wake of another natural disaster in Colorado--my heart goes out to all those families who've lost lives, who've lost loved ones, who've lost property--this is not the time, my friend, to limit the ability of the United States of America to give relief to those losing loved ones, homes, and livelihood.

Republicans refuse to work together with the Senate and the White House to bring a constructive piece of legislation to this floor today. Instead, we consider a bill we know is destined for failure in the Senate and would be vetoed by the White House.

For months, the majority has failed to lead. They have refused to appoint Members to work with the Senate on a top-line spending number. They can't even pass their own spending bills in this Chamber. We remember how the very important Transportation and HUD bill had to be pulled off the bill because they couldn't find the votes. Today, they risk halting government services, functions vital to the American people and our economy, even when their own appropriations chairman, my friend, Mr. Rogers, had said we should end the sequester, find a balanced plan forward. Just days before the end of the fiscal year, they're still playing political games.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, support the responsible replacement of the sequester with a balanced plan to create jobs and keep our economy moving. I know we can do it, and I would be pleased to be part of that partnership with the chair, Mr. Rogers.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this rule.

Last night, the Rules Committee spent nearly 3 hours discussing the merits of health reform, food assistance in the farm bill, and U.S. debt held by foreign entities. Yet very little time was devoted to one of the primary jobs of the legislative branch which this bill addresses: appropriating funds.

This rule adds a provision to dictate to the President in what order to pay the Nation's bills in case of default and another provision to defund the Affordable Care Act. The President issued a veto threat this morning, based on these extraneous provisions.

We should be focused as sharply as a laser beam on the American economy and jobs. This brinksmanship on the budget and the debt limit will force the stock market to plummet and businesses to freeze hiring. Continuing sequestration, as this bill does, will cost our economy up to 1.6 million jobs over the next year, according to CBO. That is why I join my Rules Committee colleague and urge the House to reject the previous question to get a vote on the Democratic amendment to stop the sequester job loss.

Voting to add politically motivated provisions to the CR is akin to voting to shut down the government. And shutting down the government means shutting down the Nation's economy. Nonetheless, Republicans place their ideological crusade against health care reform ahead of the American economy and jobs.

I urge my colleagues to reject this rule.

Mr. Chairman, what a difference a year makes. Last year, Chairman Latham put forward a responsible bill that invested in our Nation's infrastructure and the housing needs of our most vulnerable citizens. The bill we consider today, which is $7.7 billion below the FY 2013 CR level and $13.9 billion below the President's request, is a stark contrast. For example, last year's bill funded Amtrak's capital program at the highest level ever. This year's bill funds Amtrak at the lowest level in a decade, which will likely cause furloughs of mechanical employees and slower service.

Last year, the chairman spoke out against an amendment offered by Mr. Chaffetz to cut the CDBG program to $2.95 billion--still $1.3 billion higher than the level in this bill. Member after Member on the majority side spoke out against the cut, noting how important CDBG was to economic development in cities and States across the country. In fact, 17 Republican appropriators, including Chairman Rogers and Chairman Latham, helped to defeat this wrong-headed cut by a vote of 157-267.

What changed? Have these programs become ineffective? Have local infrastructure needs and homelessness disappeared? Or do House Republicans simply support raising local taxes to fund affordable housing and infrastructure investments? Because that will be the result.

Unfortunately, what has changed is that the reckless Republican Ryan budget guts investments in domestic priorities that increase American prosperity. In fact, this bill alone would mean the loss of between 125,000 and 140,000 Tenant-Based Rental Vouchers, cause 146,000 people who are now housed to become homeless, and result in 7,110 fewer jobs created, and $1.4 billion in lost economic output due to the $237 million recision to the TIGER program.

Instead of investing in affordable housing to help people make the transition from dependency to independence and investing in infrastructure to fix deficient transportation systems and create jobs, Republicans would rather defund the Affordable Care Act, block-grant Medicaid, privatize Medicare, while protecting subsidies for Big Oil and tax breaks for the very wealthiest Americans.

The Senate is currently marking up bills at the level to which Democrats and Republicans agreed in the bipartisan Budget Control Act. The Senate T-HUD bill provides a more responsible path that invests in job creation and assistance to families suffering in this economy. For example, the Senate provides nearly $10 billion more than the bill we consider today for infrastructure investments that have received strong bipartisan support and would create jobs, including $1.45 billion to fund Amtrak, more than $3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, $550 million for the TIGER grant program, and $1 billion for the HOME program.

If we are to avert a developing crisis and make progress on long-term fiscal challenges, Senate Democrats need a partner in the House majority to conference the budget. The American people, local governments, and small business owners want this budget standoff to end so that we can avoid shutting down the government in October and help them build a stronger economy.

When will Republicans stop holding their livelihoods hostage to the Ryan budget? House Democrats are ready to work with our Republican colleagues to responsibly address our fiscal challenges. However, if they continue to move farther away from consensus by turning once bipartisan bills like this one, T-HUD, into red meat messaging bills for their base, Congress will have a difficult time reaching a balanced agreement before the CR expires in 2 months.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Today's bill is part of the House majority's irresponsible charade of a budget process. The sequester cuts affecting 2013 spending levels are having a tangible impact on American families and hurting our economy: 70,000 children losing access to Head Start; 4 million fewer Meals on Wheels delivered; $1.5 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health's lifesaving medical research and jobs; degraded military readiness; furloughs and reduced paychecks for hundreds of thousands of Federal employees; and delayed safety modernization at airports.

My friends on the other side of the aisle want it both ways. They adopted

a budget resolution that endorses the sequester levels for next year, locking in a top-line figure $92 billion below the Senate's and the President's budget levels, while they pretend they fixed the sequester for defense. They cut more than required on the domestic side and did nothing to shield defense programs from legally mandated cuts under sequestration. If the House bills are enacted, defense will be cut $48 billion in January as a result of the sequester because the majority has not enacted legislation to stop it--$48 billion when General Dempsey has made it very clear to those of us who have had recent talks with him that our readiness is at stake.

The Republicans allocated more adequate funding to the initial bills to fund military construction, veterans affairs, defense, and homeland security. The remaining bills have quickly revealed the Republicans' thoroughly inadequate investments to sustain job creation and invest in America's future prosperity.

Perhaps no other bill's programs mean as much to the communities in our districts as the bill we are considering today, yet it guts affordable housing and community development and underfunds rail, air, and road transportation networks.

The same majority wrote a very different bill last year that reflected an understanding of the impact these programs have on our economy and Americans' livelihoods.

Compare the House bill to the Senate version, which is almost $10 billion higher. Seventy-three Senators, including 19 Republicans, voted to proceed to floor debate. The House bill, on the other hand, was reported from committee on a straight party-line vote.

I would be hard-pressed to find a better example of fiddling while Rome burns than the House majority's budget and appropriations process this year. They continue to trot out bills despite White House veto threats and despite even worse sequestration cuts right around the corner.

I have asked at our committee to suspend our markup until we conference a budget resolution with the Senate so that we can negotiate a reasonable top line for the appropriations process. There is no sense in the House proceeding alone with levels totally unacceptable to the White House and the Senate, yet we will be here late into the evening again considering amendments to a bill that is going nowhere.

When the House returns after the August recess, we will have only 9 legislative days until the end of the fiscal year: 9 days to negotiate a path forward, 9 days to avert a government shutdown, 9 days to do the jobs we were sent here to do--work together to invest in America and build up our economy.

I genuinely hope our majority will be prepared in the fall for the necessary compromise these negotiations require, because this bill shows they are not prepared for responsible governance today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

This amendment is just another example of how the Republican majority is limiting transportation options for the American people.

Last year, more than 31 million Americans chose Amtrak as the means of transportation to get to business meetings, family gatherings, and vacations. They chose Amtrak to avoid crowded airplanes, congested highways, and for the opportunity to view the wonderful and majestic scenery of this great Nation. Americans deserve a passenger rail system that is safe and reliable.

This amendment also demonstrates how many Members on the other side of the aisle will blindly cut funding without any idea of the real ramifications. For instance, I sincerely doubt

that the gentlelady from Tennessee understands that in addition to handing out 20,000 pink slips, her amendment would cost the government $4.5 billion over the next 5 years due to the violation of labor agreements.

This is a shortsighted amendment. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.