Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about H.J. Res. 90, the so-called ``Flight Safety Act,'' which provides limited and insufficient funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, and is test gimmick of the Tea Party dominated Republican majority to extricate themselves from the fiasco they created when they voted to shut down the government.

I am a senior member of the Homeland Security. I chaired the Transportation Security Subcommittee in the 111th Congress and was its Ranking Member in the last Congress. I represent Houston, which is home to one of the nation's busiest and most important airports. So I know the importance of the air transit industry to our economy. And I know that the health of the air transit industry depends upon security of air travel. I support robust funding for the FAA. I support robust funding for TSA. I support and worked to secure increased funding to modernize airport runways, reduce noise, increase the number of air marshals, and to develop NextGen.

NextGen is the name given to the new airspace system to be phased in between 2012 and 2025. NextGen will transform America's air traffic control system from an aging ground-based system to a satellite-based system that shortened routes, save time and fuel, reduce traffic delays, increase capacity, and permit controllers to monitor and manage aircraft with greater safety margins. So while I take a back seat to no one in my support for a modern and secure air transportation system, the bill before us is the wrong way for this House to deal with the pressing budgetary priorities of the nation.

Mr. Speaker, I call upon our Republican colleagues to abandon their current strategy of wasting valuable floor time bring miniCRs to the floor. They know the Senate will not accept them and the President will veto them. This strategy will not reopen the government they voted to shut down.

There are the votes in this House to pass the clean CR from the Senate and send it to the President today. That will reopen the government today. And that is what we should do. Every day we delay passing a clean CR is another day of unneccessary pain and hardship and burden inflicted on the American people.

People like Ramon Encarnacion of Texas, whose 11-year-old son doesn't understand why his father, an FAA aviation safety inspector, was able to greet him when he got home from school this week. ``When he came home and saw me here and not working, Mr. Encarnacion said `But you're always at work.' '' Mr. Encarnacion worked for 25 years at American Airlines without ever being furloughed and he never thought he would be out of work when he took a job at the Federal Aviation Administration as a safety inspector last year. But with the government shutdown, Mr. Encarnacion and hundreds of other Texas employees who work for the FAA are getting an unplanned and unpaid leave of absence.

Mr. Speaker, there is much more to the nation's transportation system and infrastructure than the small portion of FAA safety inspectors funded by this piece-meal mini-CR.

The shutdown of the government has crippled many of the safety enforcement and grant-making functions of the Federal Transit Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

This mini-CR does not end the adverse effects that the government shutdown has had on other transportation safety and infrastructure investments. As long as House Republicans abandon their shutdown strategy: The Federal Transit Administration cannot process or award operating and capital grants to roughly 1,300 transit agencies.

The FTA cannot fund or review major transit capital projects which create construction jobs and relieve congested areas. And FTA cannot implement its authorized safety oversight responsibilities provided in MAP-21. FTA cannot perform these critical functions because more than 9 in 10 (94 percent) of its employees have been furloughed.

There are no funds in this mini-CR for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so the agency has had to: Suspend investigations into safety defects in vehicles; halt all vehicle safety enforcement, research, data analysis, and consumer testing programs; Delay compliance testing of vehicles and equipment; and Defer safety research on crash avoidance technologies, occupant protection and alcohol detection.

Since there are no funds for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in this bill, the agency lacks funds to conduct pipeline and hazardous materials safety inspections or to award pipeline safety grants to state and local governments.

The National Transportation Safety Board has had to furlough 95 percent of employees and suspend investigations into new crashes and incidents.

The same is true for the Federal Railroad Administration, which has no funds for FRA safety inspectors and has furloughed more than half of its employees.

Mr. Speaker, the lack of funding for the Maritime Administration has resulted in the shutdown of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and a suspension of the Maritime Security Program, which ships cargo to support our national defense efforts overseas.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this mini-CR claims funds portions of the Transportation Security Administration but it provides no funds for commercial aviation screening or Federal Flight Deck Officer Training or Federal Air Marshals travel and training.

Democrats are and have been willing to negotiate over honest differences--but not before House Republican vote to open the government and remove the threat of government default.

Mr. Speaker, people are hurting. Our economy is suffering. The shutdown has cost our economy $8.5 billion in lost productivity already and that number increases by $1.5 billion everyday.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to end the madness. Let the House vote today on H.J. Res. 59, as passed by the Senate and reopen our government and put our people back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I want to start this morning with something that we, as Democrats and Republicans, can immediately address.

Coming from a State that has sent probably one of the largest percentages of men and women to our faraway shores as members of the United States military and, in particular, Afghanistan, I stand here today to reach out to the Pentagon and to others to be able to embrace the five families that are now facing the most devastating news: that their loved one was lost in Afghanistan in a war over the weekend.

Yes, as we bring our troops home, as I've advocated for a very, very long time, as well in Iraq, our soldiers are still dying in a place of war.

I want immediately for the $100,000 death benefit and the flight to Dover to be given to these families. I'm reaching out to the Pentagon, writing a letter, and asking that this be immediately resolved.

Last week, we passed legislation to indicate that the United States military would continue to be paid. I, as a lawyer, not in military law, could make the argument and make it today on the floor of the House that that gives authority to provide those death benefits and, as well, the transportation cost to Dover Air Force Base.

If we can do anything, if we cannot do much, we certainly can come together around the brave men and women in the United States military.

This shutdown is shameful. It is indicative of the worst of not appreciating the institution of this place and the priority of the American people.

But I know that there is a great love and affection and recognition that, but for those who leave this place, the United States of America, willingly, to sacrifice their lives on behalf of the great freedom that this country promotes, the constitutional government that this country supports, and is valued through the Constitution--there is no way that I will continue to stand here on this floor in the midst of a shutdown and allow this travesty to occur.

So I am asking that we immediately respond to these individuals and these families, and we let them know that God loves them and so does this Nation, which appreciates and is grateful for the sacrifices of their loved ones.

It is a grateful Nation, and we will not stand for this outrage that impacts these innocent families who now, not only are mourning the tragedy of the loss of a young life, but also the devastation of a response.

I don't know why we continue in this shutdown that is, frankly, a situation that is, in essence, not following the parliamentary procedures.

We know that the process of budgeting is a separate process from opening the doors of the government, and I just cited the tragedy that I want to have a solution to. But as I say that, I want us to have a solution to turning the tide on opening the government.

We know that there are enough Republicans and Democrats who would vote for a clean bill to open this House right now. I say this because it pains me to hear of the tragedy that I just spoke of, which I look to be resolved within hours, and I say that broadly to the military families around America and around the world.

But in addition to solving that crisis, we need to be able to open the government for veterans. In the next couple of days, they will see those veterans centers shut down. Those are the centers where veterans go for employment and benefit issues they have.

A couple of weeks ago, I stood before the DeGeorge Hotel in Houston, Texas, which is now a veterans center and a home for homeless veterans. I was there with people who said, My life has not been the best. I served my country, but this is my home now. I don't want to move. I want to get on my feet and live in the DeGeorge Hotel.

These are men and women who were willing to put on the Nation's uniform and offer themselves in Vietnam and many places around the world and now have come to a point where they're homeless and being served by veterans resources, and now we're telling them that they cannot have the services that they need.

In a couple of days, the Federal courts are looking at possibly shutting down Federal courts.

So, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to hear from one of our Republican friends saying, This is exactly what I wanted; I'm excited the government is shut down.

Think of our military and our veterans. Let's come together to make a difference in this world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on H.J. Res 84, Head Start for Low-Income Children Act. Head Start represents an innovative idea from a Democratic led Congress that was created for the education of our smallest citizens who come for poor or low income households.

We know that if these children have an early start in education it levels the playing field of life and they can have an equal opportunity to succeed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The sequestration has cost Head Start and Early Head Start: AVANCE- Houston lost $842,518.

The impact to the AVANCE-Houston Head Start employees, teachers and administrators of the first wave of lost funds were: Furlough days, hiring freeze, extra workloads, morale level, outsource of custodial services.

In Houston, Head Start families and their children saw a reduction of days of operation; increase concerns about loss of services for their children and Hardy Center closure

AVANCE-Houston absorbed the sequestration reduction in federal funds by:

Reducing enrollment by 3.3% which ended access to the program for 72 children; Eliminating 11 Early Head Start and 9 Head Start Teachers and Support staff, and 12 custodial positions; and

AVANCE-Houston facing a Federal Government shutdown now must consider what it might mean to their future:

Possible loss of services for an already underserved population;

Increased costs of operation-Lease cost, building maintenance, medical insurance rates, unemployment, and worker's comp;

Maintenance of competitive salaries;

High staff turnover;

Limited dollars for new initiatives/curriculum.

I know many of my colleagues on the other side of aisle speak about reforming malpractice lawsuit rights of victims, but what the public is seeing in the legislative malpractice of my colleagues in the majority.

When there are no perceived consequences for bad behavior or harm caused to another there are no incentives to stop the bad behavior.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is legislative malpractice because it does not address the earlier cuts to Federal Government employees and programs caused by sequestration and makes worse an already bad financial situation for our government's most important assets--Federal workers.

The importance of Federal workers and the critical programs or services they administer like Head Start in our Congressional Districts cannot be understated.

The Houston Chronicle reported that due to sequestration it had already caused Head Start children and their parents pain.

This school year, a parent Marlen Rosas hoped her 3-year-old son, Hector, would be attending Head Start so that he might learn English.

Her modest hopes for her son were that he would eventually earn the high school diploma she never had the opportunity to earn.

But when Ms. Rosas went to enroll Hector--even though he met all the qualifications for the federal Head Start program--Hecter was turned down.

Ms. Rosas said, ``I'm sad because he wanted to go to school,'' Rosas said through an interpreter. ``He only speaks Spanish, and that would be one of the advantages: for him to socialize with those who speak English, while learning the names of colors and numbers--just to be learning.

A couple made a contribution of $10 million to open Head Start Programs in 11 states for 7,000 kids from low-income families could continue to receive educational services. I commend this couple for their generosity of heart to assist some of the Head Start Children impacted by this curl majority led Federal Government shutdown.

The legislative malpractice of representing to the American public that the Federal Government is comprised of dismembered parts that can be funded without regard for what one part does or how one agency contributes to the work of other agencies.

It is like building a car with no regard for what a part does and how it would function when installed--because the purpose of car is transportation.

The purpose of the House of Representatives is to fund the Federal Government--what we are doing will not accomplish the outcome.

Those who control the House of Representatives is making a cruel tragedy out of the budget process by teasing Federal employees who watch while the House majority toy with their lives by passing one funding bill at a time.

Mr. Speaker, the majority should stop playing games with the American public and pass the clean funding bill from the Senate that would fund the entire Federal Government including all programs immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on H.J. Res 84, Head Start for Low-Income Children Act. Head Start represents an innovative idea from a Democratic led Congress that was created for the education of our smallest citizens who come for poor or low income households.

We know that if these children have an early start in education it levels the playing field of life and they can have an equal opportunity to succeed.

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

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

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

My support of Head Start and Early Head Start is based on what I have seen and heard

about programs like the AVANCE-Houston Early Head Start program serving parents and children in the 18th Congressional District.

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

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

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

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

The Sequestration has cost Head Start and Early Head Start: AVANCE- Houston lost $842,518.

The impact to the AVANCE-Houston Head Start employees, teachers and administrators of the first wave of lost funds were: furlough days; Hiring Freeze; Extra workloads; Morale level; Outsource of custodial services.

In Houston, Head Start families and their children saw a reduction of days of operation; increase concerns about loss of services for their children and Hardy Center closure.

AVANCE-Houston absorbed the Sequestration reduction in federal funds by: Reducing enrollment by 3.3 percent which ended access to the program for 72 children; Eliminating ii Early Head Start and 9 Head Start Teachers and Support staff; and 12 custodial positions.

AVANCE-Houston facing a Federal Government shutdown now must consider what it might mean to their future: Possible loss of services for an already underserved population; Increased costs of operation-Lease cost, building maintenance, medical insurance rates, unemployment, and worker's comp; Maintenance of competitive salaries; High staff turnover; Limited dollars for new initiatives/curriculum.

I know many of my colleagues on the other side of aisle speak about reforming malpractice lawsuit rights of victims, but what the public is seeing in the legislative malpractice of my colleagues in the majority.

When there are no perceived consequences for bad behavior or harm caused to another there are no incentives to stop the bad behavior.

Mr. Speaker this bill is legislative malpractice because it does not address the earlier cuts to Federal government employees and programs caused by Sequestration and makes worse an already bad financial situation for our government's most important assets--Federal workers.

The importance of Federal workers and the critical programs or services they administer like Head Start in our Congressional Districts cannot be understated.

The Houston Chronicle reported that due to sequestration had already caused Head Start children and their parents pain: This school year, a parent Marlen Rosas hoped her 3-year-old son, Hector, would be attending Head Start so that he might learn English; Her modest hopes for her son were that he would eventually earn the high school diploma she never had the opportunity to earn; But when Ms. Rosas went to enroll Hector--even though he met all the qualifications for the federal Head Start program--Hecter was turned down; Ms. Rosas said, ``I'm sad because he wanted to go to school,'' Rosas said through an interpreter. ``He only speaks Spanish, and that would be one of the advantages: for him to socialize with those who speak English, while learning the names of colors and numbers--just to be learning.

A couple made a contribution of $10 million to open Head Start Programs in 11 states for 7,000 kids from low-income families could continue to receive educational services. I commend this couple for their generosity of heart to assist some of the Head Start Children impacted by this curl majority led Federal Government Shutdown.

The legislative malpractice of representing to the American public that the Federal government is comprised of dismembered parts that can be funded without regard for what one part does or how one agency contributes to the work of other agencies.

It is like building a car with no regard for what a part does and how it would function when installed--because the purpose of car is transportation.

The purpose of the House of Representatives is to fund the federal government--what we are doing will not accomplish the outcome.

Those who control the House of Representatives is making a cruel tragedy out of the budget process by teasing federal employees who watch while the House majority toy with their lives by passing one funding bill at a time.

Mr. Speaker, the majority should stop playing games with the American public and pass the clean funding bill from the Senate that would fund the entire Federal government including all programs immediately.

I thank the gentleman for his time.

I am glad that the minority leader got on the floor of the House and spoke common sense and indicated two things. Right now, there are 200 Members who would be willing to vote for a clean CR that would open this House, right now. We believe a number of Republicans would make it a bipartisan vote, and we'd be able to open the government.

The Republicans are playing a game of Legos. They are taking that big red box and opening it up and throwing the Legos on the ground and are trying to construct a government. Well, that's a kids' game--and it's a good game--but we cannot play with the lives of the American people.

Just a few minutes ago, we talked about restoring Head Start. We know that that bill is going nowhere. We know that the sequester is continuing to undermine Head Start seats across America--57,000 of them. In fact, it's an empty chair across America, where little babies cannot go to a Head Start program. That's what the Republicans are trying to do. They're trying to tell Marlen Rosa that her 3-year-old son, Hector, couldn't go to Head Start.

And what is their answer? Another supercommittee--a committee that maybe will be playing Legos itself because the last supercommittee--of course, we respect all of our Members--was not the solution to our problem.

I tell you what the solution is, Mr. Speaker. It is to vote on the clean bill, open the government, let the FAA be in operation, let the Justice Department be in operation.

In the meeting that I just came from, I learned 90 courts are vacant. Issues dealing with rape and domestic violence are not being attended to. Public defenders are not being resourced and are being laid off. Hundreds of lawyers are not in the Department of Justice. The American Bar Association says there is no justice.

I tell you, Mr. Speaker, all we have to do is not get a supercommittee, but get a supercommitment to America.

Vote for a clean bill, and vote for the debt ceiling.

Mr. Speaker, I again rise in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying legisltion.

I oppose this rule because it is not a serious effort to end the government shutdown engineered by House Republicans by cherry-picking some programs and now adding a smoke and mirrors effort to replace the negotiation of the Budget bills passed by both the House and the Senate.

Both President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Reid have made it crystal clear that they will not accept this game-playing and now the American people are saying the same thing.

A piecemeal strategy now being pursued by House Republicans is not an honest or serious option to reopen the government and will not end the impacts of this shutdown that extend across our country.

A consequence of partial funding of the entire Federal government one piece at a time instead of through a clean CR is the denial of burial assistance to the families of four troops who were killed by an IED in southern Afghanistan.

The majority leadership of the House has America facing a government at war and a government shutdown at the same time.

The majority of the House has found a way to intentional inflicted wounds on the American public--not by accident, but as a political strategy to get what they cannot do through the regular legislative process.

Mr. Speaker, today the Washington Post Editorial Board said it best:

What have House Republicans managed to accomplish in a week

of government shutdown? Damage the livelihood of millions of

Americans? Check. Government secretaries, food-truck

operators, cleaners who work in motels near national parks:

They're all hurting. Waste billions of taxpayer dollars?

Check. It costs a lot to shut agencies, Web sites and parks,

and it will cost a lot to reopen them. Meanwhile, the House

has voted to pay the salaries, eventually, of hundred of

thousands of employees whom it has ordered not to work.

That's an odd way to manage an enterprise. Interfere with key

government operations? Check. Rattle the markets, slow an

economy in recovery, interrupt potentially lifesaving

research at the National Institutes of Health? Check, check

and check. Derail the hated Obamacare? Ch--Oh, no, wait a

minute. That was the GOP's ostensible purpose for this

travesty of misgovernment, but the online insurance markets

created by that law opened on schedule last week and continue

to operate.

The House Republicans' continued refusal to take up and vote on the clean CR passed by the Senate over a week ago, and which the President has stated publicly on several occasions he would sign is ignoring the easy solution to this impasse.

Now faced with strong public backlash--more than 70% of Americans disapproving of the government shutdown engineered by the House Republicans, the majority is trying to extricate themselves from this debacle by bringing to the floor and passing ``mini-CRs.''

The House majority should know that the American public knows and very well understands what is happening. This is legislative theater at its worst--noise and thunder signifying nothing.

Mr. Speaker, these ploys are a cynical waste of time giving false hope to innocent Americans who depend on the services provided by these programs. But House Republicans know they have no chance whatsoever

of becoming law. The Senate will not pass them and the President would veto these piece-meal measures if they made it to his desk.

All we are doing is wasting time when we should be helping people.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can keep our promises to our veterans, to our elderly, to our children, parents and young people as well as the 800,000 Federal workers that our government is needed, compassionate, strong and effective.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can fund our engineers and technicians who maintain all of our critical military equipment to keep our troops safe and take care of national security infrastructure.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can fund the services needed by those who rely upon our full faith and credit as well as our word that this nation will not forget its fallen heroes.

For these reasons and more, I oppose this rule and urge my Republican colleagues to rescue the American people from this situation and end the disruption in the lives of 800,000 dedicated workers who take pride in the greatest jobs in the world: serving the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.J. Res. 89, the Federal Worker Pay Fairness Act.

Last week the House passed support of H.R. 3223, the ``Federal Employees Retroactive Pay Fairness Act,'' which provided for retroactive pay for nearly 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown engineered by the Tea Party faction of House Republicans.

The 1.3 million ``essential'' civilian employees as well as those who are on Furlough share the same financial fate neither will get a paycheck if the shutdown extends beyond October 15, 2013.

Federal employees whether they are working or waiting be called back to work are all waiting on the House to honor a promissory note for agreeing to give their best in serving the people of the United States.

We promise to pay Federal employees what is owed to them. We owe them dignity and respect as well as a debt of gratitude for electing to enter into public service.

The reason we are considering another Federal employee pay bill is that the earlier bill forgot something important that the majority is trying to fix--and I agree they should fix with passage of this bill.

We have not started the debate on the Debt Ceiling, but it is time to start considering the consequences should this method of legislating continue.

The world has a promissory note that is written on every dollar bill, ``This note is Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private.''

That promissory note means that people around the world highly value our nation's currency--not having that reputation will hurt everyone in this country.

In other words our money is only as valuable as its reputation, which is why threatening not to honor our debts is more than just a light matter to be down played by PR talking points.

But to my dear friends on the other side of the aisle this is another example of why this piece-mill process to attempt to fund the Federal government is a problem and why the American public can see that this process makes no sense.

The House has members who are specialists in appropriations they serve on the house Committee on Appropriations.

According to the Rules on the House of Representatives the House Committee on Appropriations' function is the appropriation of the revenue for the support of the Government.

The Appropriations Committee would not have forgotten to include Hill staff, which this bill will address. Hill employees include Capitol Police officers, custodial staff, and the staff of the Library of Congress.

This gesture is appreciated by these Federal government employees, but neither they nor the other federal employees promised back pay will see anything until this body passes a clean CR offered by the Senate.

The United States House of Representatives has Rules that govern how we as the people's representatives are to conduct the business of the Federal government.

The House of Representatives have been trying to put on a show for the American public by bringing bills to the floor--fast and varied though they may be they are half baked and ineffective means of funding the Federal government.

My colleagues on the other side aisle are only human--and they are going to forget something, but one of the things they should not forget is how their decisions are impacting the lives of people.

I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.J. Res. 89.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3273, the so-called ``Deficit Reduction and Economic Growth Working Group Act of 2013,'' which establishes another supercommittee to make recommendations on spending and changes in the statutory limit on the public debt, the latest gimmick of the Tea Party dominated Republican majority to extricate themselves from the fiasco they created when they voted to shut down the government.

The bill before us is a bad idea brought up at the worst possible time. The bill seeks to recreate the `super-committee' Frankenstein monster that failed its assigned task and ended up giving us the Frankenstein monster called sequestration.

We have been there and done that. We are not going down that road again.

Additionally, this bill is not a genuine effort to reach an agreement on budget and fiscal priorities. If that were the case, House Republicans would not have rejected the numerous requests of House and Senate Democrats over the past six months to go to conference to reach an agreement.

Let us review the record leading up to the Republican shutdown and the cost of the recklessness course of action:

$150 million a day--The price-tag for closing down the government In 1995, the record three-week closing cost $1.9 billion in today's dollars.

800,000-plus--Federal employees expected to be furloughed as a result of the GOP's irresponsible shutdown.

192--The number of days House Republicans have refused to negotiate on a federal budget, setting the stage for a GOP government shutdown.

128--The number of points the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on Monday in reaction to the GOP shutdown.

72--Percent of American voters opposed to Congress shutting down the federal government to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

68--Percent of Americans who say shutting down the federal government even for a few days is a bad thing for the country.

49--Republicans who say shutting down the government over Obamacare is a big MISTAKE.

45--The number of times GOP have unsuccessfully tried to repeal or undermine Affordable Care Act.

18--The number of times Senate Republicans have blocked Senate Democrats' efforts to go to conference and negotiate on the budget to avoid a government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats are and have been willing to negotiate over honest differences--but not before House Republican vote to open the government and remove the threat of government default.

And there is an easy and verifiable way for them to demonstrate their good faith, and that is by bringing to the floor for an immediate vote on the clean CR already passed by the Senate.

The President has stated repeatedly that he will sign a clean CR. Our constituents are waiting. It is time to end the madness.

Mr. Speaker, let the House vote on H.J. Res. 59, as passed by the Senate today.

That is the best way to keep faith with all persons who serve the American people as employees of the federal government, and those who depend upon the services they provide.

National Education Association;

Washington, DC, October 8, 2013.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the three million members

of the National Education Association (NEA) and the students

they serve, we urge you to VOTE NO on The Deficit Reduction

and Economic Growth Working Group Act of 2013 (H.R. 3273), a

misguided strategy to ending this political stalemate, and

instead pass a clean Continuing Resolution (CR) immediately.

Votes associated with this issue may be included in the NEA

Legislative Report Card for the 113th Congress.

The shutdown of the federal government has already affected

countless children, working families, and seniors across the

country; the longer this crisis drags on the more pain will

be inflicted upon those who least deserve it. Meanwhile, H.R.

3273 seeks to create a ``working group'' of Senators and

Representatives to discuss FY 2014 funding by attempting to

achieve deficit reduction without accompanying revenue

increases. Students in America's schools are bearing the

brunt of this shutdown every day and require solutions now.

Instead of seeking deficit reduction on the backs of those

students and working families, Congress should take a

responsible, balanced approach that reflects the values that

make our nation strong: investing in people, jobs, and

education as the path to prosperity. By eliminating wasteful

corporate tax breaks and loopholes and ensuring the wealthy

are paying their fair share we can appropriately reduce our

deficit. As just one example, as many as two out of three

U.S. corporations paid zero in federal income taxes over much

of the previous decade, according to the Government

Accountability Office (GAO). The share of federal revenues

coming from corporate taxes has shrunk by two-thirds in the

last 50 years. This is undermining our ability to make the

necessary investments in education that are sorely needed in

order to return our nation to prosperity. It is time to put

politics aside, do what is right for our nation, and take the

balanced approach to deficit reduction widely supported by

voters by calling on corporations and the very wealthy to pay

their fair share.

Meanwhile, the current approach to deficit reduction

without revenue increases has left us with the

indiscriminate, across the board cuts of the sequester. It is

long past time for Congress to reverse course from the

austerity approach that included slashing education across-

the-board by 5 percent this year--the equivalent of cutting

nearly all education programs and Head Start by roughly $3

billion. The level of cuts imposed

by sequestration have already taken federal funding back to

pre-2004 levels while our nation's schools are serving nearly

6 million more students since that time.

There are millions of children being affected every day

this shutdown continues. That is why we urge you to think of

every single individual when making these funding decisions

to ensure continued debates on Capitol Hill are not hurting

everyday Americans and their families. We urge you to

immediately pass a clean CR to ensure that the most

vulnerable among us are no longer the victims of the

government shutdown and we can focus back on undoing the

harmful effects of the sequester.

Sincerely,

Mary Kusler,

Director, Government Relations.

Mr. Speaker, we in Texas know that when the cattle starts stampeding, you're really in trouble; so my friends on the other side of the aisle haven't realized that the cattle in the United States is stampeding: 57,000 seats of Head Start are going; veterans centers will be closed in a couple of days; Federal courts are looking at whether or not they can stay open past October 15; U.S. attorneys are laying off various U.S. attorneys across America, up to 4,000.

We actually have rules in this House, the rules that brought about the agreement in the beginning of the year where we actually agreed to the 986 number that the Republicans had. We agreed to the tax reform that the Republicans had and Democrats agreed. But now they want to throw on us another supercommittee--fool's folly--talking about discretionary spending, the debt ceiling, and entitlement reform--all decent ideas, but open the government first.

Get the bill on the floor that is clean. Open the government. Raise the debt ceiling to pay our bills. Let the American people get back to work. Let our veterans get services. Stop throwing down another committee. We don't catch cattle. We don't go after cattle in Texas by throwing down a committee. We get it done.

Let's get the job done. Let's stop the stampede.

Good morning. I thought it was important to come as soon as I arrived after 24 hours in my district. After voting to restore the payment compensation to our Federal employees--some 800,000-plus who are now laid off, which means that Americans are not receiving vital services--I wanted to go home for a moment to be able to interact with my constituents.

In that period of time, I met doctors; I met carpenters and millwrights; I spoke to those in the arts community. I commemorated the 70th anniversary of Catholic Charities at a mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. I listened to our cardinal talk with great faith, the cardinal of our community in the Houston-Galveston Diocese, and the cardinal that is named by the previous Pope, who now resides in our community, who gave us the words the just live by faith.

I indicated that I would come back to let this body know that the people who are being affected are not Republicans or Democrats or Green Party or Independents, or any other definition other than Americans. And I was overwhelmed by those who came up to me and indicated--from airline pilots--that negotiation and interaction is important, but don't break on the issue of the Affordable Care Act and getting this government open.

They understand it. These are people who are being impacted, like the workers today of an aircraft company in

Connecticut that is laying off 2,000 people, the Pentagon contractor that will soon be laying off thousands of people, the tax deadline for those who haven't filed coming up on October 15, needing IRS workers to help them with issues that they have in terms of filing their tax forms, or even the Federal courts, which will be assessing on October 15 whether or not they can keep their doors open for the moving of justice in this Nation.

So I think it is extremely important that whatever is tying you up, whatever is keeping you from looking at the common good--and I would offer to say to the American people everyone knows that we are not Greece. We wish the best for the people of Greece. But America is the richest country in the world, $4 trillion in economy, and a country that is looked to from all around the world.

Our economy is bigger than the European Union. That means countries like Spain, Germany, France, England, all those members who as well are our allies, but look to America--how shameful it is for someone to be held, and if you will, tied up by their own individual personal interests.

One would ask if the Founding Fathers, as imperfect as America was as she began, had come from the 13 Colonies and various districts, and probably interests, and had held to those specialized interests, would we have created a Nation that started out by saying we organize to create a more perfect Union? Albeit that there were groups of populations that did not have dignity and justice and citizenship at that time, something that I could look back at in bitterness, but I do not, because this is the greatest Nation in the world. But we are not showing ourselves that way.

It is not the truth to suggest that there are not enough voters, Members of Congress, that would vote right now today to open this government. It is something called a continuing resolution, but it's a bill that you put on the floor that has been passed already by Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate.

This is not an idea of anyone over another person. Republican and Democratic Senators have already voted for this clean bill that we could vote on today. We have martial law. What that means--and my colleagues know what it means--is that you can put a bill on in just minutes.

So, rather than deciding amongst your children which ones to feed, which is the approach that my Republican friends in leadership are doing--squeezing out one little skinny bill versus another, squeezing out bills that leave out the FAA inspectors, leaving out ICE that deals with immigration, leaving out those who are dealing with young people who are undocumented, leaving out those who are helping young couples who want to get a home with mortgage processing. Who knows whose homes are going to be impacted by the heavy rains that are up and down the east coast who may need Federal assistance? All of that is being dumbed down--lost--because we have not opened the government.

I come today, Mr. Speaker, to ask all of us to turn to our American card, and hold up the American card--I am an American--and vote to open this government right now.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from California, and I thank him for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, what baffles me is that our Republican friends are seemingly acting like there's business as usual, that we are quietly on the floor of the House, just passing a food safety initiative.

Our House is on fire, and there's nobody here to put the fire out. We're in the middle of a government shutdown. Of course I'm committed to the principles of this legislation, as my colleagues, as the ranking member, as the ranking member of the full committee, as Ms. DeLauro and Mr. Waxman are. We are all committed to this.

May I remind my friends that 45 percent of the FDA employees, they are on furlough. Just today, four people in Texas were arrested because of FDA criminal investigators. They were trying to sell stem cell packages to sick people, devastated people, that were fraudulent and diseased and inappropriate to terminally ill people. It was the FDA criminal investigators that were able to make this case and the U.S. Attorney in my district said ``thank you.'' But right now there are U.S. Attorneys across the Nation getting ready to lay off their attorneys.

The House is on fire, and my friends don't seem to understand.

Let me just share with you that there are usually 80 inspections on food facilities a day. They're not going on right now. Up to October 17, there will be some 960 facilities not inspected, and the only reason is that we will not come to the floor, put the clean CR on the floor, and have 195 plus 21 people vote in the majority to open the doors of this government.

But more importantly, have you heard the stories of families whose husbands or wives are laid off, struggling to make ends meet, calling on relatives to be able to help them? You've heard

of the young woman who came to my attention who had to be carried away to a shelter because she was suffering domestic abuse because of the financial crisis; or maybe you haven't heard that 70 percent of Americans and 51 percent of Republicans are saying, We don't like what you're doing, Republicans. We want this government to open.

Or maybe you haven't heard from the Democratic Governor of Kentucky, Governor Beshear, who says that right now 7,000 are already enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. He is saying that he has a report that says that if this Affordable Care Act works, he'll have 17,000 more jobs, $15 billion in the economy.

Let's stop this foolishness with ObamaCare. It's working. Let's get back to work and pass a clean CR. Too many people are hurting. Enough is enough. We need to do what is right for America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.J. Res. 77, a piece-meal ``mini-CR,'' which woefully underfunds the Food and Drug Administration, FDA.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would be unnecessary if only the House majority would allow a vote on the clean Continuing Resolution, passed by the Senate. The House would easily pass the measure and the President will sign it, as he reaffirmed today.

H.J. Res. 77 is the latest attempt by the House Republicans to extricate themselves from the mess they created by shutting down the government. But they should have learned by now that it would not work. It is inefficient, unfair, and costly. The shutdown needlessly disrupts the lives of Americans who provide benefits and services and those who depend upon them. These reckless mini-CRs will have the effect, intended or not, of sowing division when unity is needed. It is not surprising, therefore, that responsible leaders of organizations that would benefit from these mini-CRs are united in opposing this piece- meal approach to appropriating.

Veterans groups opposed the `Republican mini-CR for veterans' affairs. Similarly, leading research and consumer protection organizations oppose the FDA mini-CR before us.

For example, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, CSPI, opposes H.J. Res. 77. Although the organization is a health advocacy nonprofit that promotes food safety, the CSPI does not support the piecemeal approach by government that would make funding the FDA a partisan issue because ``the irresponsible shutting down of government and particularly public health agencies like FDA and Center for Disease Control places families at risk from food borne diseases. But opening FDA alone would not solve the problem. Food safety is a joint governmental effort involving 13 different agencies often working collaboratively?''

The FDA is an essential federal agency with the life-saving mission of protecting all Americans from unsafe drugs, devices, biologics, and food.

For example in Texas, three men were arrested and a fourth is being sought by the FBI in connection with what investigators say was a $1.5- million Texas-based scheme to illegally market and sell stem cell treatments to patients with terminal diseases. ``Protecting the public from unproven and potentially dangerous drug and medical procedures is very important,'' said Kenneth Magidson, U.S. attorney for the Houston- based southern district of Texas. ``This office will continue to prosecute violations involving threats to the public health.''

``This indictment demonstrates the commitment of the FDA to protect the American public from the harms inherent in being exposed to unapproved new drugs,'' said Patrick J. Holland, special agent in charge of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, according to the statement. Due to the shutdown, the FDA is now unable to continue to aggressively pursue perpetrators of such acts and ensure that they are punished to the full extent of the law.

It is important that the FDA is funded as it plays a vital role in protecting consumers from contaminated and misbranded food.

But it is even more important that the entire government be reopened to serve all the needs of the American people.

Due to the shutdown, the FDA will have to cease most of its food- safety operations. That includes ``routine establishment inspections, some compliance and enforcement activities, monitoring of imports, notification programs (e.g., food contact substances, infant formula), and the majority of the laboratory research necessary to inform public health decision-making.''

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service will continue manning every meat facility with full-time inspectors, even as many government programs are halted. But the FDA also oversees the safety of the vast majority of the country's food industry. According to a memo released by the Department of Heath Human Services, the bulk of FDA food inspectors have been deemed non-essential, so few, if any, food facilities will be inspected until the shutdown is over.

This past December, the FDA shut down a nut processor in New Mexico after records showed that the facility was shipping products infected with salmonella. This sort of monitoring and enforcement could become much harder because of the shutdown.

In fiscal 2011, the FDA coordinated or conducted inspections of about 20,000 food facilities for compliance with safety regulations. The number of past inspections suggests FDA officials normally inspect about 8o facilities per business day. So, for every day the government doesn't work, approximately 80 food facilities will go without federal inspections. If the shutdown lasts until October 17, 960 facilities may go without U.S. inspections.

A spokesman from the FDA contacted The Huffington Post on Wednesday to note that a portion of these inspections would be conducted by the agency's partners in state agriculture and public health departments. But he couldn't say how big a portion, or whether the FDA would continue, during the shutdown, to pay state agencies their normal fee for inspections conducted on the FDA's behalf.

To get a sense of what this means, we must understand that the FDA sends letters to food facilities that failed inspections. They reveal gnarly conditions at major food manufacturing facilities, including cooking implements covered in mold and stored in brown, soiled water at a Detroit donut faculty; high levels of illegal drug residues in veal were found from a farm in upstate New York; and flies infesting a tortilla factory in Hagerstown, Maryland.

The warning letters give the facilities in question a chance to correct sanitation mistakes before they cause serious outbreaks of food borne illness. If the commands in a warning letter are not obeyed, the FDA has the authority to punish, or even shutdown, the facility in question.

These warning letters are sent to just a small fraction of all facilities that are inspected, and not all of these facilities have infractions that lead directly to illness. That means, it is impossible to say whether cancelled food safety inspections will directly lead to food consumers getting sick. However, fewer inspections can have a direct correlation to more contamination in the marketplace.

For these reasons, we must end the government shutdown as soon as possible, or, barring that, to fund food safety programs with a separate bill.

The following leading research and consumer groups have urged Congress to end the shutdown completely since they cannot support a legislative approach that shuts down some essential public health agencies while temporarily funding others: American Medical Student Association, Breast Cancer Action, Community Access National Network, Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, National Consumers League, National Research Center for Women & Families, National Women's Health Network, Our Bodies Ourselves, The TMJ Association, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, WoodyMatters.

It is not responsible to fund the FDA at the same time that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is unable to fully function to examine the cause of epidemics caused by unsafe food or defective medical products.

Mr. Speaker, if Congress fails to pass a ``clean'' continuing resolution before month's end, FDA inspections will continue to decrease across the nation and the likelihood of consumers becoming ill will increase.

This would be unconscionable.

Normally I would be pleased to be here today to talk about the funding for this program, but this is different. What the majority is doing is playing games with safety of the food supply and the lives of real people--the lives of our families, our friends, and our constituents.

For these reasons, we should be working to pass H.J. Res. 59 as amended by the Senate. That is the best way to keep faith with all persons who serve the American people as employees of the federal government, and the people who depend upon the FDA program.

October 4, 2013.

Hon. John Boehner,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Democratic Leader, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi: We are writing as public

health, patient, consumer, and scientific nonprofit

organizations to oppose H.J. Res 77 and any other efforts to

single out the Food and Drug Administration for funding. Our

organizations represent millions of patients, consumers,

health professionals, and scientists who strongly support

the work of the FDA and urge Congress to provide the level of

appropriations the agency needs throughout FY 2014.

We appreciate the recognition that the FDA is an essential

federal agency with the life-saving mission of protecting all

Americans from unsafe drugs, devices, biologics, and food. We

are very concerned that the current shutdown is curtailing

the agency's work, which will inevitably delay the approval

of new medical products and the inspection of medical

products and food. The shutdown also harms scientists and

other employees who have dedicated their careers to public

service, and will make it even more difficult for the agency

to attract the scientific expertise it needs now and in the

future. And, the shutdown will also have a devastating impact

on some of the companies that rely on FDA reviews to get

their new products to market, and their workers.

Nevertheless, we cannot support a legislative approach that

shuts down some essential public health agencies while

temporarily funding others. For example, it is not

responsible to fund the FDA at the same time that the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention is unable to fully

function to examine the cause of epidemics caused by unsafe

food or defective medical products.

We strongly urge Congress to do its job: immediately open

up all federal agencies and then quickly work together to get

the FY 2014 appropriations bills enacted into law, based on

the funding levels needed to do their jobs well. These

appropriations bills should not include a sequester or

arbitrary across the board cuts, but rather should give

agencies the authority to cut ineffective programs and

adequately fund those that are essential.

American Medical Student Association; Breast Cancer Action;

Community Access National Network; Connecticut Center for

Patient Safety; Jacobs Institute of Women's Health; National

Consumers League; National Research Center for Women &

Families; National Women's Health Network; Our Bodies

Ourselves; The TMJ Association; WomenHeart: The National

Coalition for Women with Heart Disease; WoodyMatters.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3223, the ``Federal Employees Retroactive Pay Fairness Act,'' which provides for retroactive pay for nearly 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown engineered by the Tea Party faction of House Republicans.

I am pleased to co-sponsor and support this bill because it is the right thing to do. The men and women who have been furloughed because of this manufactured crisis are not responsible for the budget impasse.

They did not vote to reject the clean continuing resolution passed by the Senate that would have resolved the crisis and made this legislation necessary.

The dedicated men and women of the federal civilian workforce, like those who serve in the Armed Forces, have not spent their professional lives trying to defund the Affordable Care Act or threatening to refuse to raise the debt limit and risking the full faith and credit of the United States.

Instead, these loyal and committed public servants are motivated by their paramount interest in serving the American public without fear or favor and, for the last four days, without any guarantee that they would be compensated for their labor.

And yet, they gladly and willingly serve, some risking their lives to keep us safe. Others stand watch monitoring weather systems and providing information necessary to protect the public from hurricanes and tornadoes and wildfires or conduct research to find cures for disease or that will lead to technological innovations or help us mark and measure the far reaches of space.

Others work to secure the borders and homeland, ensure the safety of our food and water, serve our seniors and children, provide training and support for those looking for work, and protecting our environment and keeping watch over our treasures--our national parks and monuments, including this magnificent Capitol where the people have sent us to do their business.

Mr. Speaker, the men and women of the federal workforce do the people's business. They serve everyone equally. They do not single out some persons to serve and ignore others. They do not cherry-pick.

We should follow their example. And the best way to do that is to call up and put to a vote the clean continuing resolution passed by the Senate last week.

That is the best way to keep faith with all persons who serve the American people as employees of the Federal Government, and those who depend upon the services they provide.

Mr. Speaker, holding harmless the federal employees who have been furloughed by this unnecessary government shutdown is a matter of simple justice.

I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3223.

Mr. Speaker, I am submitting this statement for the Record to show the sentiments of two of the greatest generation war heroes that breaking up the veterans funding does not serve veterans.

Today, Congressman John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan,

and Former Senator Robert Dole, Republican of Kansas, issued

the following statement urging Congress to take immediate

action to re-open the entire federal government:

``As two proud World War II veterans blessed also to serve

this great nation in Congress, we consider our bipartisan

work together in helping to create a National World War II

Memorial to be among our greatest accomplishments and a true

honor to our brothers-in-arms. If this Congress truly wishes

to recognize the sacrifice and bravery of our World War II

veterans and all who've come after, it will end this shutdown

and re-open our government now. The current shutdown has

slowed the rate at which the government can process veterans'

disability claims and, as the VA has stated, it is negatively

impacting other services to our nation's veterans. Piecemeal

or partial spending plans do not adequately ensure that our

veterans--and indeed all Americans--have access to the system

of self-government established to serve and protect them.''

Mr. Speaker, good morning, and good morning to my colleagues. I think that a greeting always sets the tone for conciliatory and direct and honest interest in bringing people together.

There are many of us that come from different segments of this Nation and therefore have to respond to our constituency, and I respect it and if I might use a term that we use sometimes, I get that. But I rise today to call upon our higher angels and the recognition that this is America's country, and to disabuse my colleagues and my friends on the other side of the aisle on some of the misinterpretation that they have represented in the dialogue and debate on this floor.

Numbers are showing that 60 percent of Americans don't want to have a government shutdown just to defund ObamaCare. I don't know how often that polling number has to be repeated and how often that number has to be noted as reflecting the sentiment of this country. But even more importantly than that, we're always told as we pledge allegiance to the flag that it is to this great Nation and it is because we are in fact united under one sense of commitment to our country.

And so yes, the President is acting like a leader of the Nation. Maybe he's even acting like a parent. I'd ask the question, Mr. Speaker, whether or not you had two children or five children, whether or not you would say to two of them: You're my favorites, you're going to get everything, you're going to eat every day, and the rest of you, you can fend for yourself.

That is the very nature of the piecemeal debacle that the Republicans are putting on the floor. I would have asked them, they could have done this in regular order 6-8 months ago in this House. They are in charge. They did not do that. They have not finished all of the appropriations process. But we have in fact compromised, Democrats, the President, by putting a continuing resolution on the floor of the House that is the exact number that the Republicans in the House and the Senate

wanted. And so in 31 minutes on this floor, they would have the opportunity to introduce that legislation, have it pass by a majority of this House and have the President of the United States sign it.

But instead of that, they want headlines like in the Houston Chronicle that has a mother, Talisha, asking: How am I going to feed my children? Because they're going to be cut off in the month of November for the funding for food stamps, even though it has suffered a horrible blow by this House of Representatives with a cut of $40 billion, but with the House not ceding to the will of America, a government shutdown, they won't be able to get that minimum support, so a mother says: How am I going to feed my children? And then, of course, someone else indicates what is going to happen to mothers with newborn babies and others. That is the problem that we face today.

Let me talk about the NIH. I am a cancer survivor, and I am very concerned about those who are dependent upon research. Just a few weeks ago, I was engaged with a number of children who are impacted by the disease. I represent the Texas Medical Center and MD Anderson and the Texas Children's Hospital. Why would I want to vote against the NIH? But this own body has already cut $1.55 billion because we have already been under sequester which is a devastatingly odious process, and it already accounts for the loss of 1 million jobs and already some $2 trillion-plus being cut from this budget. Already, the economic pundits say that's the absolute wrong way to go because it does not create jobs, it takes away jobs. But I will tell you that Mary Woolley, president of Research!America, says:

On a micro level, this particular approach of allegedly

funding parts of the NIH does not work. We are concerned that

an incremental approach to the shutdown disrupts lifesaving

research by other Federal agencies.

Benjamin Carr, the director of public affairs for the American Society of Biochemistry, also disagrees with this piecemeal funding, and Chris Hanson as well.

Now the leader in the other body has been charged by doctors, people showing up in a doctor's uniform at a press conference, saying he said something negative about children with pediatric cancer. He did not. What he said is he responded to Senator Schumer's comment that we shouldn't do a piecemeal type of approach, and he agreed with that. ``Why should we do that?''

And so we should not be going against each other, we should be going toward each other. NASA is concerned about monitoring of the space station, and the Affordable Care Act is working. So, Mr. Speaker, I offer an olive branch as well. That olive branch is let's stop calling each other names, and let's start working on behalf of the American people and vote on a clean CR.

Mr. Speaker, just a few minutes ago, I stood with hundreds of American workers who came to this place that they consider a place of responsibility and respect--holders of the Constitution--to beg for their jobs. They represent a small segment of 800,000 Federal employees.

As I was standing there, a representative, Ms. McNeill from AFGE, indicated that this morning she had just received a call from an unemployed Federal worker and an unemployed husband, a wife and husband. They're in crisis. The woman is now being abused, and they had to escort her to a shelter--crisis, Mr. Speaker.

It's not about surrendering. It's about caring about the American people. It's about caring about Diane, who was able to get health insurance after being diabetic and hearing bad things about ObamaCare. And it's about Senator Dole and John Dingell, two World War II veterans who have said: Don't insult us with this piecemeal.

A Republican and the dean of the House want us to stop and put a clean CR for the American people and to end this crisis. I'm here to end the crisis right now.

Mr. Speaker, I again rise in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying resolution.

I oppose this rule because it is not a serious effort to end the government shutdown engineered by House Republicans by cherry-picking some programs to fund while leaving unfunded other programs critical to our nation and its future.

Both President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Reid have made it crystal clear that they will not accept this game-playing because the piecemeal strategy now being pursued by House Republicans is not an honest or serious option to reopen the government and will not end the impacts of this shutdown that extend across our country.

Mr. Speaker, USA Today said it best and I quote:

House Republicans who forced the government closure offered

to reopen some of the most popular programs, such as the

Department of Veterans Affairs, on a piecemeal basis. It's

like seizing a school bus full of kids then offering to

release the cutest ones. The mounting toll will increasingly

expose the shutdown's foolishness. The sooner the Republicans

free all their hostages, the better.

Initially, our friends across the aisle were content to take the whole nation hostage by refusing to fund the government unless the Affordable Care Act was defunded. That effort failed. Undaunted, House Republicans tried again. The effort failed again.

This past Monday, the House Republicans refused for the third time to take up and vote on the clean CR passed by the Senate last week, and which the President has stated publicly on several occasions he would sign.

Instead House Republicans voted to shut down the government.

Now faced with strong public backlash--more than 70% of Americans disapproving of the government shutdown engineered by the House Republicans, the majority is trying to extricate themselves from this debacle by bringing to the floor and passing ``mini-CRs'' providing minimal funding for the following programs that enjoy strong and broad public support:

(1) Nutrition Assistance for Low-Income Women and Children Act (H.J. Res. 75);

(2) Nuclear Weapon Security & Non-Proliferation Act, (H.J. Res. 76);

(3) Food and Drug Safety Act (H.J. Res. 77);

(4) Preserving Our Intelligence Capabilities Act (H.J. Res. 78);

(5). Border Safety & Security Act (H.J. Res. 79);

(6) American Indian and Alaska Native, Health, Education, and Safety Act (H.J. Res. 80);

(7) National Weather Monitoring Act (H.J. Res. 82);

(8) Impact Aid for Local Schools Act (H.J. Res. 83);

(9) Head Start for Low-Income Children Act (H.J. Res. 84);

(10) National Emergency and Disaster Recovery Act (H.J. Res. 85); and

H.R. 3223--Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act (H.R. 3223).

Mr. Speaker, these ploys are a cynical waste of time giving false hope to innocent Americans who depend on the services provided by these programs. But House Republicans know they have no chance whatsoever of becoming law. The Senate will not pass them and the President would veto these piece-meal measures if they made it to his desk.

All we are doing is wasting time when we should be helping people.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can keep our promises to our veterans, as well as the doctors, nurses, and hospital workers who take care of our wounded and healthy warriors.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can fund our engineers and technicians who maintain all of our critical military equipment to keep our troops safe and take care of national security infrastructure.

We need to pass the clean CR approved by the Senate so we can fund our IT security folks who protect us from cyber-attacks, and our astronauts who risk their lives to push the technical boundaries of knowledge for all mankind.

These exceptional Americans, and the people who depend on them and benefit from their work, do not deserve to have been locked out of their workplaces since Tuesday.

These exceptional Americans deserve a Congress that does its job and keeps America open for business.

For these reasons and Tore, I oppose this rule and the underlying amendments it makes in order and urge my colleagues to join me in urging the passage of H.J. Res. 59 as amended by the Senate so that the federal government will reopen for business to serve the American people and end the disruption in the lives of 800,000 dedicated workers who take pride in the greatest jobs in the world: serving the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his courtesies.

I am sad that I have to rise to debate this conflicted position from my good friends on the other side of the aisle. Yes, they care about homeland security. It's a committee I've served on since 9/11. We have a great camaraderie. We work in a bipartisan manner, but today I'm saddened by the approach that's been taken, particularly since they all know that this is a fool's errand.

USA Today said that this piecemeal process is like seizing a school bus full of kids and then offering to release the cutest ones.

We don't have time to fool around with the cutest ones.

FEMA works closely with States, cities, tribes, and territories, and communities large and small. Those of us who are now looking to the barreling down of Karen on the gulf region understand about hurricanes and tornados and other disasters.

So I offer to my colleagues Allison, which killed 23 in 2001, with some $5 billion in damages. We need FEMA.

Or Hurricane Ike, that cost some $29 billion in damage in Galveston. We need FEMA. Or the tornados in Oklahoma on May 31 that killed 23. We need FEMA. Or maybe talking about the issues of dealing with Hurricane Katrina--the largest and most devastating hurricane that we have seen. We need FEMA. But yet my friends are willing to piecemeal. And by doing so, Homeland Security is dashed, Border Patrol Agents are not funded, and the Secret Service protection activities are not funded.

I am aghast at the fact that Federal air marshals'--as we thank our Capitol Police, who yesterday showed themselves willing to sacrifice themselves, and other law enforcement--Federal air marshals' travel and training is shut down. And then ICE is shut down.

Homeland Security is comprehensive. It deals with fighting al Qaeda and the terrorists who would do us harm, and it deals with being a helping hand, as FEMA is, as I've worked alongside of FEMA in the gulf when people were devastated.

Mr. Speaker, we can't do this. Put a clean bill on the floor, the CR, vote for it, and open the government now. And let Homeland Security and FEMA do their job as Hurricane Karen barrels toward us.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee and the Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, I rise to speak on H.J. Res. 85, the ``National Emergency and Disaster Recovery Act,'' which makes continuing appropriations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for FY 2014.

I note the Administration strongly opposes House passage of piecemeal fiscal year 2014 appropriations legislation that restores only very limited activities.

I agree that consideration of appropriations bills in this fashion is not a serious or responsible way to run the United States Government. Instead of opening up a few Government functions, the House of Representatives should pass the clean CR passed by the Senate to end this Republican shutdown and reopen the Government and end the damage that the shutdown is causing to our economy and the lives of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, FEMA works closely with states, cities, tribes, territories, and communities large and small to help prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies of all kinds. It provides funding through homeland security grants, support training and exercises, assess state and local response capabilities and recommend needed improvements. FEMA supports recovery and rebuilding efforts after a disaster. Cuts to FEMA would have significant, negative impacts on our nation's disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts.

Weeks after Congress passed the recent FY 2013 Disaster Assistance Supplemental Act (P.L. 113-2) to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy, sequestration reduced the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) by over $1 billion, which adversely affected recovery efforts in the communities struck by Hurricane Sandy, the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin, and other major disasters across the Nation. Sequestration cuts could also require FEMA to implement Immediate Needs Funding Restrictions late in the fiscal year during what is historically the season for tornados, wildfires, and hurricanes, which would limit funding for new projects in older disasters.

Finally, state and local homeland security grants funding has been reduced to its lowest level in the past seven years, leading to potential layoffs of state and local emergency personnel across our country.

Hurricane Sandy, recent threats surrounding aviation and the continued threat of homegrown terrorism demonstrate the continuing importance of vigilance and preparation to protect our nation and its people. Threats from terrorism and response and recovery efforts associated with natural disasters will not diminish because of the House Republicans' desire to reduce funding for DHS and FEMA and continue their shutdown of the government.

Even in this current fiscal climate, we do not have the luxury of making significant reductions to our capabilities without placing our Nation at risk. If we are to continue to prepare for, respond to, and recover from evolving threats and disasters, we will need sufficient resources to sustain and adapt our capabilities accordingly. While we will continue to preserve our frontline priorities as best we can, no amount of planning can mitigate the negative effects of sequestration.

The bill before us today, is $40 billion less than what we have been working with as a result of the draconian sequestration. H.J. Res. 85 will significantly and negatively affect frontline operations and our Nation's previous investments in homeland security. This bill, while providing minimal funding for FEMA, is wholly inadequate because it does not provide funding for:

Army Corps of Engineers which supports emergency preparedness and response for critical infrastructure such as dams, flood control levees and navigation channels.

Interior Department which performs firefighting and emergency response on Federal lands during and after a disaster. Currently, all damage repairs have stopped except for emergency repairs. While firefighting personnel are on call to deal with any fires, post-fire work has stopped, including damage assessments of the recent large fires in California and Idaho. Hazardous fuel projects to prevent future fires have been put on hold during the shutdown.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) would normally activate additional stream gages and storm surge measurements but instead will have to rely on existing monitoring stations for any hurricanes that happen during the shutdown. 99 percent of USGS employees are furloughed.

Small Business Administration, Office of Disaster Assistance provides affordable, timely and accessible financial assistance to homeowners, renters and businesses following a disaster. Employees in the Office of Disaster Assistance continue to work without being paid.

USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides assistance to communities to address watershed impairments that pose imminent threats to lives and property. 99 percent of NRCS employees are furloughed.

USDA, Farm Services Agency (FSA) provides funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to restore farmland and forestland damaged by natural disasters. 99 percent of FSA employees are furloughed and therefore can't begin to survey the damage and preparing estimates of the need.

Mr. Speaker, so far this past year our nation has experienced several major floods, record snowfalls, catastrophic disasters and terrorist attacks. In fact, many communities throughout our great nation and country are continuing to recover from previous disasters and terrorist attacks. We must provide aid for our constituents and not allow politics to get in the way of protecting our homeland.

A fully functioning FEMA is needed to continue the work of helping communities recover from recent disasters and terrorist attacks. It is Congress's responsibility to ensure that FEMA has the needed resources to respond to future disasters and terrorist attacks. I assure you that I am aware of the challenges our communities face once we are confronted with a catastrophic event or a domestic terrorist attack.

My constituents in Houston understand that our capacity to deal with hurricanes directly reflects our ability to respond to a terrorist attack in Texas or New York, an earthquake in California, or a nationwide pandemic flu outbreak.

I would like to say a few words about the devastating hurricane that struck Texas several years ago because the response to those events demonstrated the need for significant improvement. During Hurricane Ike, there were insufficient quantities of generators forced hospitals to evacuate patients. Local governments waited days for commodities like ice, water, MREs, and blue tarps. Evacuees from Texas arrived in Shreveport and Bastrop shelters that were grossly unfit for occupancy, and 2,500 people were forced to use the same shower facility.

Emergency preparedness is not the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Government or individual agencies within it. State and local officials, nonprofit organizations, private sector businesses, and individual citizens must all contribute to the mission in order for our nation to succeed at protecting life and property from disasters. Recovery and mitigation are critical to protecting communities from future threats, and our ability to respond will suffer if we do not focus attention and resources on those missions.

My fervent prayer is that Texas and the nation will be spared the wrath of another devastating storm this hurricane season, but we cannot avert disaster indefinitely. By continually testing, evaluating, and improving our emergency response capabilities, we increase the possibility that we as a nation may one day answer the question ``Are we ready?'' with a resounding ``Yes.'' That is the purpose to which we will dedicate our efforts here today and for the foreseeable future.

Since the terrorist attack in Boston, Massachusetts, this Nation has recognized how remote threats and distant trouble can pose near and present dangers to our shores. We have learned as a nation that we must maintain a constant, capable, and vigilant posture to protect ourselves against new threats and evolving hazards. But we have also learned that vigilance and protection are not ends in and of themselves, but rather necessary tools in the service of our national purpose. Just as today's threats to our national security and strategic interests are evolving and interdependent, so too must our efforts to ensure the security of our homeland reflect these same characteristics.

As we develop new capabilities and technologies, our adversaries will seek to evade them, as was shown by the attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253 on December 25, 2009. We must constantly work to stay ahead of our adversaries. Among the forces that threaten the United States and its interests are those that blend the lethality and high-tech capabilities of modern weaponry with the power and opportunity of asymmetric tactics such as terrorism and cyber warfare. We are challenged not only by novel employment of conventional weaponry, but also by the hybrid nature of these threats. Countering such threats requires us to adapt traditional roles and responsibilities across the national security spectrum and craft solutions that leverage the capabilities that exists both inside and outside of government.

The attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, powerfully illustrates that terrorists will go to great lengths to try to defeat the security measures that have been put in place since 9/11.

More specifically, the threats and hazards that challenge U.S. interests from a homeland security perspective include:

High-consequence weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in particular, improvised nuclear devices and high-consequence biological weapons, which would have the greatest potential effects if used against the United States. We know that non-state actors actively seek to acquire, build, and use such weapons and technologies, and that foreign states continue to develop high-consequence weaponry with the intent to intimidate or blackmail the international community and proliferate to other potentially hostile state or non-state actors.

Dangerous materials, technology, and know-how circulate with ease in our globalized economy and are controlled unevenly around the world, raising the possibility of theft or accidental use and making it difficult to track and prevent proliferation.

Al-Qaeda and global violent extremism, which directly threaten the United States and its allies. Terrorist networks exploit gaps in governance and security within both weak and advanced states. Some terrorist organizations benefit from active state-sponsorship and from the failure of other states to counter known terrorist organizations or sources of support within their borders. Terrorist organizations have expressed the intent to employ mass-casualty WMD as well as smaller scale attacks against prominent political, economic, and infrastructure targets in the United States and around the world.

High-consequence and/or wide-scale cyber attacks, intrusions, disruptions, and exploitations, which, when used by hostile state or non-state actors, could massively disable or impair critical international financial, commercial, physical, and other infrastructure. This in turn could cripple the global movement of people and goods worldwide and bringing legitimate and vital social and economic processes to a standstill. These cyber attacks involve individuals and groups who conduct intrusions in search of information to use against the United States, and those who spread malicious code in an attempt to disrupt the national information infrastructure.

Pandemics, major accidents, and natural hazards, which can result in massive loss of life and livelihood equal to or greater than many deliberate malicious attacks. Certain public health threats, such as disease outbreaks and natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes and floods), occur organically. Others can be introduced into the United States through the movement of people and goods across our borders.

Illicit trafficking and related transnational crime, which can undermine effective governance and security, corrupt strategically vital markets, slow economic growth, and destabilize weaker states. Transnational crime and trafficking facilitate the movement of narcotics, people, funds, arms, and other support to hostile actors, including terrorist networks. Importantly for the American homeland, the dramatic detrimental effect of illegal trafficking and transnational criminal organizations is apparent in societies within the Western Hemisphere.

Smaller scale terrorism, which may include violent extremists and other state or non-state actors conducting small-scale explosive and cyber attacks and intrusions against population centers, important symbolic targets, or critical infrastructure.

In addition to these specific threats and hazards, America's national interests are also threatened by global challenges and long-term trends. These include:

Economic and financial instability that can undermine confidence in the international order, fuel global political turbulence, and induce social and political instability in weak states abroad.

Dependence on fossil fuels and the threat of global climate change that can open the United States to disruptions and manipulations in energy supplies and to changes in our natural environment on an unprecedented scale. Climate change is expected to increase the severity and frequency of weather-related hazards, which could, in turn, result in social and political destabilization, international conflict, or mass migrations.

Mr. Speaker, on any given day the City of Houston faces a widespread and ever-changing array of threats, including' terrorism, organized crime, natural disasters and industrial accidents.

With an increasingly vast array of enforcement issues at hand, including ``arms trafficking, identity theft, environmental crime, money laundering, theft of cultural property, drug trafficking, crimes against women and children, organ trafficking'' and cybercrime, it is increasingly clear that coordinated, strategic criminal intelligence must be employed, bringing together diverse agencies and employees in the fight against serious and organized crime. Cybercrime, especially, will only continue to increase as globalization fosters higher levels of digital interconnectivity.

Every day, ensuring the security of the homeland requires the interaction of multiple Federal departments and agencies, as well as operational collaboration across Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. This collaboration and cooperation undergirds our security posture at our borders and ports, our preparedness in our communities, and our ability to effectively react to crises.

I believe it is important to acknowledge the efforts and commitment of the men and women who are our law enforcement personnel, first responders, emergency managers, and other homeland security professionals not only in our home State, but also across the country who have worked tirelessly to make this Nation secure.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I note the Administration strongly opposes House passage of piecemeal fiscal year 2014 appropriations legislation that restores only very limited activities.

I agree that consideration of appropriations bills in this fashion is not a serious or responsible way to run the United States Government. Instead of opening up a few Government functions, the House of Representatives should re-open all of the Government.

The harmful impacts of a shutdown extend across Government, affecting services that are critical to small businesses, women, children, seniors, and others across the Nation.

The Senate acted in a responsible manner on a short-term funding measure to maintain Government functions and avoid a damaging Government shutdown.

We should settle our differences and allow a straight up or down vote on the Senate-passed H.J. Res. 59.