Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, over the past 16 days, many of us have risen to this floor and pleaded with our friends on the other side of the aisle and asked for mercy, not mercy for our individual selves as Members of Congress, but mercy for the American people, for the 800,000 over the past 16 days who have lost their jobs in furloughs, for the $300 million a day that this Nation has lost. This is the very answer to those who are suggesting that we are spending too much money, Mr. Speaker: we have lost money.

But today I come humbly to plead with my friends to do as the Chaplain mentioned this morning, to have a generosity of spirit and recognize that we can come together. Let the voices of common sense recognize that States like Mississippi, Louisiana, Arizona, South Dakota, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, Georgia, New York, and Wyoming--States that represent so many--are losing so much because they get the most money from this Nation.

Then let us recognize Juanita Davis with little Tu'Nita, 10 days old, who is fearful that her WIC money, Women, Infant, and Children money, in the State of Texas is running out. I am pleading that we come together with common sense and generosity of spirit and put this bill on the President's desk.

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

Reopens the government;

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

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

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

The bipartisan Senate compromise would:

Extend the continuing resolution through January 15;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The nearly dozen transportation accidents that were not investigated.

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

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

Reopens the government;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The bipartisan Senate compromise would:

Extend the continuing resolution through January 15;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

National Park Service,

Veterans Affairs,

Department of Defense,

Men and women of the armed services,

Mr. Speaker, I place a loving picture of a little one and the excitement that comes from a Head Start program to emphasize my story this morning and the discussion I want to raise this morning for a brief amount of time.

All of us have seen those western movies where the train is rushing down the track and coming to a point where the tracks are no more. Black-and-white television, we used to sit on the edge of our seats, wondering what would happen. For the aesthetics of the movie, we would see that train fall into a deep abyss, people screaming out of the window or some takeaway that doesn't see the final crash, or maybe it does.

So as I listen to my friends on the other side this morning, it seems as if I were watching that same movie. Today is October 15, the 15th day of a government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, we are in crisis, and there are those who are rising to the floor of the House to misrepresent to the American people some discussion about ObamaCare, which is working every day in this Nation. Albeit as Medicare and Medicare part D, we all need to sit down and knuckle down and look at ways that we can make it work better for the American people.

But we are in crisis today, and I think it is important to know that there are thousands of Head Start teachers and Head Start positions for little ones like my good friend here, the son of Marlon. He is Hector, who is not able to be in a Head Start program right now today.

For my friends, let me say that we have reason to be able to engage in a reasonable solution, a responsible solution. Where are they in coming together to make sure that we don't default in the next 24 hours? Maybe I should educate them with a little graph that shows that, in actuality, the debt-to-GNP under President Obama has actually gone down, meaning the debt has gone down.

The sizable increase in the debt was in the past administration, of President Bush, under Afghanistan and Iraq--everyone knows that--with a Republican-dominated Congress, a Republican President, a war that many did not like, but no one saw the Democrats try to shut the government down. Why don't they acknowledge where this original debt has accelerated itself?

So now we want to move forward and invest in American infrastructure, and they are crying about giving Americans affordable health care. Where is the reason?

So our friends in the Senate, Senate Democrats, are leading on a proposal to which many of us yesterday would have said that we wanted a long extension of the debt ceiling.

Mr. Speaker, I have come here to be responsible on behalf of the American people. Let me read one sentence. On November 16, 1983, ``Dear Howard.'' Howard was the majority leader, Howard Baker. ``This letter is to ask for your help and support and that of your colleagues on the passage of an increase in the limit on the public debt.'' Signed, Ronald Reagan.

It is a misrepresentation to suggest that this is a political stunt. Raising the debt ceiling has been done year after year to pay the Nation's bills. While countries like our friends like China are pushing forward by saying maybe you don't need to rely upon America, which the world does because their currency is not flowing in the world cycle, we are watching while Rome is burning. So I am asking my colleagues to be responsible.

First, they could have put the Senate proposal of a short-term CR on the floor days ago, weeks ago. So now we have a proposal that many of us will probably find challenging to vote for, but I am ready to listen; and I am disappointed that our friends are not realizing the devastation that is happening with the government shutdown.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, it troubles me to hear that James Comey, the Director of the FBI, has said that he has laid off 3,000 people--3,000 FBI agents who are in the midst of law enforcement for America. What kind of country are we?

Judges--the Federal courts are saying they don't know if they are going to be able to go past October 15.

The greatest insult is the payments that are due the American people on Social Security and veterans' benefits that may be in jeopardy on November 1 if we don't do the work that we are sent here to do.

So I would ask my friends to lower the discord. Let's not wave Confederate flags in front of the White House, something that burns in my heart--individuals that want to divide America. Let's not call the President what is a faith that we should be respecting. Let's not denigrate ourselves by suggesting that our President worships Allah, but it is not denigrating the President as much as it is denigrating millions of Americans who are Muslims. I am outraged that we would raise it to this temperature.

So, Mr. Speaker, all I can say is let us be in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, who wanted to bring America together, and let us pass a reasonable response to the government shutdown. Let's not be talking about imploding or tearing this country down.

Mr. Speaker, Abraham Lincoln offered these words:

The rule of a minority as a permanent arrangement is wholly

inadmissible so that rejecting the minority principle,

anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.

I think we have come to the point of recognizing that it is important to represent the majority of Americans, the majority of veterans, who in some short order may be questioning whether or not their veterans or their disability check or their family's SSI or their mother's Social Security will come in an appropriate time.

The Secretary of the Veterans Administration already said that he has

had to discontinue overtime, slowing our review of benefit claims. This has led to delays for an average of 1,400 veterans a day.

I say to my colleagues, rather than coddling those who wish to wave a Confederate flag in front of the White House, let us respect veterans whose lives are in cemeteries or whose lives have been recognized by being buried in America's cemeteries. Let us stop the foolishness and put on the floor of the House the reasonable response to opening the government now so that men who are mourning, those who have flags that are truly the American flag, are being respected, not those who wish to be in front of the White House. Open the government now.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, here is a quote from the FBI:

The impact of sequestration, which is part of the budgeting

process, puts us further behind enemies and criminals that

pose threats to national security and public safety.

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

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

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

Quantico is quiet. I have no new agent classes going

through there. I can't afford it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So I finish on these words.

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

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

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

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

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

He goes on to say:

We should wage a nonviolent revolution.

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

But he says:

We should wage a nonviolent revolution. This President

should get the Koran out of his hands.

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

Get off his knees--

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

--and get out of town.

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that, I thank the gentleman for his courtesies.

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

Obamacare Saved My Family From Financial Ruin

(By Janine Urbaniak Reid)

House Speaker John Boehner and his tea party friends shut

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

mother of an insurance hog, someone who could have blown

through his lifetime limit of health coverage by the time he

was 14. My son has managed to survive despite seemingly

insurmountable challenges, and he wears his preexisting

condition like a Super Bowl ring.

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

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

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

tumor could not be removed because it had grown around

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

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

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

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

argued with his siblings and avoided cleaning his bedroom. He

managed to undergo chemotherapy for eight months without

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

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

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

in December 2010, three years after his initial diagnosis,

and Mason suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

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

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

pediatric intensive care unit. He underwent four brain

surgeries. Halfway through his hospitalization, the

Affordable Care Act was passed, alleviating lifetime limits

on coverage and saving us from the financial abyss. Mason

moved to a rehabilitation hospital where he was retaught the

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

faithfully paid the premiums on the employer-sponsored plan

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

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

good fortune to have coverage.

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

lose our health insurance and be rendered uninsurable because

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

with dreaded clauses barring preexisting conditions. It also

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

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

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

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

excesses.

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

the short straw. Maybe our story lacks a certain universal

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

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

hope it doesn't, really.

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

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

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

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

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

What's so un-American about that?

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

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

while they were busy trying to derail the Affordable Care Act

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

talk, eat and shoot a three-point basket.

I have a parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, is it in order to put the clean bill on the floor from the Senate to open the government?

Mr. Speaker, because many families today are not able to pay their mortgage, 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 can end this Republican government shutdown hurting the children of America.

Let me thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and the gentlelady who is managing this legislation and indicate that I wish we did have, Mr. McGovern, a bipartisan mission like Mickey Leland and Bill Emerson. If anybody remembers those late Members, they founded the Select Committee on Hunger in order to stamp out hunger.

Mr. Speaker, I wish we had the kind of passion that drew Robert Kennedy to Appalachia to show America that the hunger that existed in this Nation was not a respecter of race or region--or maybe even the sensitivity of Martin Luther King in the same year. Tragically, they both lost their lives in 1968. He was galvanizing poor people to come to Washington because they wanted jobs, because they wanted to eat.

Here we are on the floor of the House, Mr. McGovern, and I read from the statement made from the gentleman of Iowa last night on the floor that we need to start the long march to start to reform the expansion of the dependency class. Who is in the dependency class? There are charges that President Obama has put 48 million people on food stamps. How has President Obama put 48 million people on food stamps?

People are hungry, and 16 percent of the poor people in America are children. What our friends want to do with regard to reform is if you get a school lunch and a school breakfast, that is not evident that your family needs food stamps. So maybe this family is dysfunctional. Maybe these mothers and fathers are desperate, so now you are going to put them through another maze. You haven't documented that they are fraudulently taking food stamps, but you are going to drop them off food stamps and say, Guys, if you want to get out of your hospice bed or if you want to get out of your sick bed or if you want to get out of your disabled bed and if you have these children who are getting lunch and breakfast, you have got to come and reapply, because there is something ingrained about those who are getting a hand up or who are in the dependency class.

I didn't say that. Robert Kennedy didn't say that.

Let's put a clean CR on the floor, by the way, to open the government, and let's stop talking about the idea. I just can't understand. We need a clean CR, and let's get it to the floor.

Mr. 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 the Republican government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, the gentlelady just expressed the dynamics of a pending default, and I could not agree more with the horrors of her description. It baffles me, literally baffles me, that in actuality we are sitting idly by, the Republican leadership, watching Rome burn.

Let me read for you a note that I got from my district, Mr. Speaker. ``I have no idea if any of you still are in office, but until further,'' this is asking whether my staff is still in office, ``but until further notice we have been furloughed effective at 9 a.m. today. I will send you an email when back in the office, which I hope is soon, especially since the Senate has not yet passed a bill to pay us even if furloughed. So we just all hope this is a short time off.''

Who is this? The Houston VA regional office. Isn't it interesting my friends rise to the floor of the House with such indignation about the VA, the VA centers, and, yes, tragically the devastation of families not receiving their memorial benefits; yet here we are today, another day of the government shutdown, and an email into our district offices indicating that the VA office is closed.

Another emergency call came into my office as a fire ravaged a home of 40 or so veterans. In ordinary circumstances, they would have the VA office to help resettle them; but we are rolling up our sleeves in Houston and my message is to those veterans that we are going to work to find you a place to stay. But, Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the VA services are shut down while the home of those veterans burned. Who are we in this country if we cannot think of those who are lesser than we or who need to be helped with a helping hand?

Mr. Speaker, let me also say to you that while we are in the midst of this shutdown, this Republican obsession with the Affordable Care Act, poor people are suffering. There are millions of dollars impacted with the supplemental nutrition program, the school lunch program. Poor people need us to open the doors of this Congress to raise the minimum wage. Today is the day that I will celebrate and encourage America that the people of this country need to have a minimum wage of $10.10-- $10.10.

But we can't get any action in this place for the poor people of America. The families, the young families, the young mothers and fathers, the millions of children impacted by Head Start, some 57,000 seats lost and growing across the Nation, poor people who need access to early education, poor people, both rural and urban, who need to have a minimum wage--Mr. Speaker, we can't do that because the government is shut down.

Why is it shut down? Has there been a hurricane or has there been an earthquake? Is there a volcanic eruption? Is there some other natural disaster? Are we under siege by a foreign territory? No. There is an extreme faction in the Republican Party that dominates the dialogue and the action.

What the American people want us to do is to vote now to open the government. They want what the Democrats want: to pay the bills. They want us to talk. We have been willing to talk. They want us to cooperate. We have been cooperating. We have agreed to the Republican number. We agreed to their tax issue, and yet they want to be obsessed with the Affordable Care Act. They want to take away health benefits from Americans.

And then the votes that they put on the floor of the House, Mr. Speaker, these are political votes. We will vote again today, political votes, while people are suffering with cancer. And the Friends of Cancer Research will tell them a thing or two. Their letter says:

The Friends of Cancer Research, a cancer research think-

tank and advocacy organization that brings together people

and stakeholders who have overcome the barriers standing

between patient and treatment, urges Congress to take a

comprehensive approach to fiscal policy.

They don't need a piecemeal bill on the floor of the House.

We need to stop the extreme attitude. We need to recognize that the poor people of America, the people of America, need this shutdown to stop; and the extreme element of the Republican Party needs to stand down while Republicans, 20 of them, and Democrats, 200-plus, vote to open the government now.

Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand a letter from the veterans cemetery in Houston, Texas, that is notifying us to indicate that, as of October 15, this cemetery will have reduced staff and will have to reduce the number of burials for our heroes who all of us commit to honoring.

Mr. Speaker, our Federal employees are locked out of serving the government, of serving America. I just came from visiting with the representatives of thousands of Federal employees who were out in the rain, begging to come back to work. So the extreme faction of Republicans that don't want to open the government and raise the debt ceiling need to listen to the plea of those people.

I am going to introduce today a resolution that says that we will no longer tie a legislative issue to the idea of continuing to serve the American people, keeping the government open, and raising the debt ceiling. We have been ready to talk. We have been ready to cooperate. We have given in to their number. We have done everything, as Democrats, to be part of the American leadership. Now, it is time to vote. Unlock the door for the workers who want to work for America.

Let me thank the distinguished ranking member, and let me thank the chairman of this committee. Let me ask again for the hardworking employees of the Federal Government and for the hardworking employees of the Department of Homeland Security to stop being locked out.

Mr. Speaker, as my ranking member indicated, I am the ranking member on the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee. This piecemeal approach does not comprehensively address the question of the needs of homeland security.

Frankly, I am in support of the work of Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Coast Guard. You will find, probably, no greater supporter on these issues, but we need to be able to pass legislation such as H.R. 1417, comprehensively, to address all of the border aspects of this Nation. This is a gamble. This is throwing the dice. This is seeing whether or not we can get this piece and that piece, but it doesn't comprehensively deal with the entrances and exits. It doesn't comprehensively deal with comprehensive immigration reform.

My message is to have a clean CR, to open the government, to protect our homeland security employees, and to protect the homeland.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 79, the ``Border Safety and Security Act.''

As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, I strongly support the missions of Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Coast Guard.

You will find no greater advocate in Congress for the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security who work on the frontlines every day.

That is why I am greatly troubled that the Republican Majority continues to take a piecemeal approach to funding our vital homeland security agencies, activities, and personnel.

They know this bill has no chance of becoming law, but are putting on a piece of political theater today to pander to a fringe element within their party.

We must not gamble with our Nation's security by picking winners and losers at DHS.

Instead, this House needs to do its job and provide appropriations for the entire Department of Homeland Security, so that all of our Federal border, immigration, and homeland resources are operational.

I call on the Republican Leadership to allow reasonable Members on both sides of the aisle to approve a Clean CR so that we can get DHS, and our entire government, working as it should be for the American people.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I thank you so very much.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind my colleagues that this Thursday, October 10 is Double Ten Day, Taiwan's national day. I hope they will join me in congratulating the people of Taiwan on this momentous occasion.

Our great friend in Asia, Taiwan, will be celebrating its 102nd anniversary on October 10. Also known as Double Ten Day since it falls on the 10th day of the 10th month, this is Taiwan's National Day and is revered and celebrated in the same fashion as we do the Fourth of July here in America.

Taiwan is today a multi-party democracy with a strong economy that is working to ease tensions with Mainland China, while preserving both its political existence and its vibrant national life. This Double Ten Day marks the 102nd anniversary of China's Wuchang Uprising, a significant development in the Xinhai Revolution. This occasion is especially important given Taiwan's aspirations to participate in the Trans- Pacific Partnership.

Taiwan has been a great friend and partner of the United States, and I have no doubt that

this important relationship will continue to be a source of strength to our peoples as this new century continues to unfold. I congratulate the people of Taiwan as they commemorate Double Ten Day.

Mr. Speaker, let me, first of all, say good morning to my colleagues and start with a thank-you to President Obama for his invitation to the White House to all Members of Congress in quite a contrast to the representation of the President's lack of involvement.

In fact, over the last 4 or 5 years, this Congress has failed to pass a budget with a Republican majority in the House. That has constantly raised the question of how can we start growth in America.

So I thank the President, first of all, for his negotiating at the beginning of January 2013, in the tax negotiations, along with the acceptance of the very structured and restrictive and non-growth number of 986 for the budgeting of this particular Nation.

We are a growing Nation, we are a thriving Nation, we are the most powerful Nation in the world, and the way to go forward is to invest in America's people. So I thank the President. I thank the President for recognizing, as devastating as the sequester was, that he was willing to cede to a supercommittee that did not fulfill its responsibilities.

So we are here. And this is not about individual Members of Congress. It is about the American people. It is about the 29-year employee in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that spoke eloquently to the fact that, combined with military service, she desired to be at work. She enjoyed working with her young child and being at his school, but she wanted to help Americans. But she is not able to go to work.

It speaks to this question of the willy-nilly structure that the Republicans have constructed. I use the term ``martial law.'' For those who want to understand it better, we were speaking of martial rule. So it is martial law on this floor. But a martial rule we are using means that whatever is thrown down on the floor, what Legos are thrown down on the floor to be picked up, that is how we are running this government.

So the word ``clean bill'' is not a naughty word. It means that we want to fulfill the ability to fund the entire government, not to leave out the SNAP and WIC programs or school food programs that are suffering, not to leave out rural development or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Centers for Disease Control that announced today there is a salmonella epidemic and because we don't have those staff persons, America suffers.

I understand Senator McCain's frustration on the floor of the United States Senate because I went to the floor yesterday in the early morning hours to express my pain for the families who have lost their loved ones in Afghanistan. These are young men and young women; and because of our government shutdown, their memorial services benefits could not be had.

I planned the introduction of a bill, ceded to the bill that is now going to be on the floor, that now we are going to pick to be able to help them. I indicated yesterday in a letter to the Secretary that he should immediately provide them with their funds, that it was eligible under a particular law. We all come together around that issue, and we are pained because of the loss of those loved ones of those family members.

So, Mr. Speaker, this is not about us. I continue to say that we are not doing it the right way.

A Vietnam veteran in Houston, Mr. Richard Simon, who came to a veterans center, was turned away yesterday. Homeless veterans in Houston, who need the veterans service centers, were turned away as of Wednesday because all of these veterans centers are being closed down. A farmer in Iowa, John Gilbert, has 770 acres. He is working every day, but he can't get his agricultural resources because the Department of Agriculture has shut down. A family resource center that is dealing with domestic violence is no more because it cannot get its Federal dollars. Then, of course, the U.S. Attorney's Office has seen 4,000 U.S. Attorneys shut down. There have been 3,000 Lockheed employees laid off and 3,000 NASA employees laid off.

So I believe that it is important that we recognize that we are not here for ourselves, rather, that we are here for the families whose loved ones lay down their lives in Afghanistan. Whether we call it a clean bill--however we call it--it needs to be put on the floor of the House because we cannot run the government by playing Legos. We can't throw sticks on the ground. We can't be out on the corner playing those games, throwing things on the ground, and saying, Whatever happens, it will happen.

We have got to help Richard Simon. We have got to help the veterans who are going to these closed centers. We have got to make sure that we understand that a President should be judged for his leadership in this country and not on where he came from or what he looks like. We have to be able to work with all people in America--and all of the people are being harmed.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this one question as I go to my seat: Are we going to leave homeless veterans on the street, Mr. Speaker? I hope that we will answer that question and also pay the veterans or their families for the memorial services.

Standard and Poor's, Mr. Speaker, indicates that the wealth of American families has grown three times since President Obama has taken office. But here comes the government shutdown, the Republican government shutdown.

Yesterday I rose to the floor of the House to mourn the fact that we lost five brave young men and a young woman over the weekend in Afghanistan doing their duty. I wrote to the Secretary of Defense to direct him and ask him to immediately pay those moneys for the memorial services and other dollars to their families.

We all are concerned, but there comes the government shutdown, a shutdown because of something totally unrelated, the Affordable Care Act. Never during the time of Speaker Pelosi did we have a government shutdown. So, today, we will come together, as Republicans and Democrats, mourning the loss of those soldiers and having H.J. Res. 91.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that every single Member be counted as an original cosponsor of this bill to pay those families that are now mourning and that we never, ever again, never, ever again say ``no'' to our families who have seen their young men and women fall on the battleground.

We don't have to do this but here comes a government shutdown. Let us all join on this bill. Let us be cosponsors. I ask the leaders of this bill to put every single Member on this bill.

I rise in enthusiastic support of H.J. Res. 91, and I thank the ranking member and the chairman for recognizing that all Members--all Members--had a pain in their heart regarding those mothers and fathers who are now suffering the loss of their children, four young men and one young woman, to my recollection, names that we should never forget because we are a Nation at war. For that reason, I believe that this was of great concern to the administration and Secretary Hagel. They're in a dilemma, a conflict, if you will, on the present shutdown of the government.

But I would say to the chairman and ranking member, this is what Congress is all about, fixing the problem.

Mr. Speaker, I will place into the Record my letter to Secretary Hagel asking for relief for these families. Now we have it.

If I might just inquire, a question of the Chair on H.J. Res. 91: Would you accept a unanimous consent request to ask that every Member of the House be considered an original sponsor or cosponsor of this legislation, H.J. Res. 91?

I make that request now.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, October 8, 2013.

Hon. Chuck Hagel,

Secretary of Defense,

Washington, DC.

Dear Secretary Hagel: Let me express my appreciation for

your service to our nation and for the sacrifices being made

by men and women in uniform serving far from home to keep

America safe.

As you may be aware, this past weekend five members of the

Armed Forces fell in battle while serving in Afghanistan. All

Americans mourn their loss and extend our condolences to

their families.

I am particularly disturbed to learn that death benefits

have been withheld from the families of the fallen due to the

government shutdown.

I am therefore requesting that you review H.R. 3210, the

``Pay Our Military Act,'' which the President signed into law

as Pub. L. 113-039 on September 30, 2013, and direct that

death benefits be paid to the families immediately so that

they can travel to Dover Air Force Base and defray the cost

of funeral expenses for these fallen heroes.

As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I

know how important the work done by our men and women in

uniform serving abroad is to the mission of keeping the

homeland secure. I know also that your commitment to our men

and women in uniform is unparalleled.

Thank you for your reconsideration. Please contact me if I

can be of further assistance.

Very Truly Yours,

Sheila Jackson Lee,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of H.J. Res. 91 the Department of Defense Survivor Benefits Continuing Appropriations Resolution for 2014.

The Federal Government functions as a cohesive unit, not as dismembered parts. The Federal Departments, sub agencies, independent agencies, commissions, and offices interact with each other much like a military unit serving in the field.

They have relationships that are not apparent until they are revealed most often when a critical need for the Federal Government function is not present when another agency or most important when someone needs that service.

I along with fellow members of the United States House of Representatives stand together to honor and recognize the sacrifice of Sergeant Patrick C. Hawkins, First Lieutenant Jennifer M. Moreno, Sergeant Joseph M. Peters, Private First Class Cody J. Patterson, and Lance Corporal Jeremiah who lost their lives in defense of this nation and pray for their families that they find solace, grace and mercy.

We made a promise to them and to their families to support them when deployed, and take care of their families at home so they can serve without fear or concern for the wellbeing of their loved ones.

We also promised all of our men and women in the armed services that should the unthinkable happen and their lives are lost in the service of this nation we will step in and be there for their families.

This promise is one that the House and the President take very seriously, but the business of politics is intervening in our discharge of the most basic function of Congress to fund the entire Federal Government.

Sergeant Patrick C. Hawkins, First Lieutenant Jennifer M. Moreno, Sergeant Joseph M. Peters, Private First Class Cody J. Patterson, and Lance Corporal Jeremiah did not forget their duty nor ignore the obligations to keep the oath they took to protect this nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic.

The majority has to put the nation's interest ahead of their political interest--the ideological, social or cultural values that you embrace cannot supersede the needs of our nation. Congress' insistence on funding some parts of the Federal government, while intentionally not funding others is causing confusion and doubt about what can and cannot be funded.

This is understandable since the Federal funding process has never occurred in this way.

Members of the House of Representatives know how serious Congress takes Federal employees coloring outside of the lines when it comes to Congressional legislative intent when they carry out their work. We do not ask Federal employees to be creative with the purse strings of the government, but the mini-CR process is creating confusion and uncertainty on how Federal employees working with a mini-CR, reduced staff and under Sequestration determine how to proceed within the law.

Appropriations bills can be hundreds of pages long depending on the size of the agency. When the House of Representatives insisted on closing the entire Federal government, then decides to engage in this absurd process of mini-continuing resolution, they knew we were moving Federal employees into uncharted waters.

There will be other surprises regarding what agency is needed to provide a service to a group or another part of the Federal Government.

Mr. Speaker, the House majority has this Nation stumbling around a dark room looking for a way out, but we know how to escape this drama. The flashlight that can lead us out of this darkness is the passage of the Senate's clean CR.

I pay tribute to these American heroes:

Sergeant Patrick C. Hawkins, 25, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia. In 2010, he enlisted into the Army following his high school graduation.

He has been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Purple Heart. Sergeant Hawkins has been awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Sergeant Hawkins was described by fellow service persons as ``a brave and incredibly talented Ranger.'' It is reported that he was killed while going to the aid of a fallen fellow soldier. The Ranger Creed: I will never leave a fallen comrade, is part of the values held by soldiers--they put others before themselves and in doing so assure success of their missions.

First Lieutenant Jennifer M. Moreno, 25, of San Diego, California, assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. First Lieutenant Moreno volunteered to be a member of a cultural support team that joined efforts with a special operations task force serving in Afghanistan.

She grew up in Logan Heights with her mother, two sisters and a brother who is also in the Army.

Sergeant Joseph M. Peters, 24, of Springfield, Missouri, assigned to the 5th Military Police Battalion, Vicenza, Italy. It is reported that the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID) said that Sergeant Joseph M. Peters was assigned to one of their Special Operations units. Sergeant Peters investigated felony level crimes involving the Army. Peters was the first special agent for CID to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Private First Class Cody J. Patterson, 24, of Philomath, Oregon, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Fort Benning, Georgia. This was his second deployment to Afghanistan. He was described as:

. . . courageous and dedicated and lost his life while

fighting tenaciously against our nation's enemies alongside

his fellow Rangers. Our thoughts and prayers are with the

Patterson family.

Lance Corporal Jeremiah, 19, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

We offer our heartfelt sympathy to the families and fellow soldiers of those who died.

Mr. Speaker I ask that my Colleagues work together to end this impasse so that we can have a whole and completely functioning Federal government.