Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 No. 131 Senate The Senate was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, September 30, 2013, at 2 p.m. House of Representatives SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 The House met at 10 a.m. and was sion by the Republicans in the House fact, isn’t it ironic that having cam- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- about the next step to deal with the paigned against these health care sav- pore (Mr. STEWART). fiscal crisis they have created. ings and losing, PAUL RYAN and the Re- f It is not really that complicated. The publicans include those very savings in Monday deadline approaches to con- their budget? DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO tinue the operation of the Federal Gov- My Republican friends are paralyzed TEMPORE ernment with a shutdown looming be- in part because they’ve adopted a dra- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- cause the Republicans have refused to conian budget that actually requires fore the House the following commu- work on a bipartisan basis to resolve savings in the very health plan they nication from the Speaker: the funding issues. want to defund. They claim to want to WASHINGTON, DC, The centerpiece of their rhetoric has reduce government spending; yet they September 28, 2013. been objection to the Affordable Care have refused to allow the House to vote I hereby appoint the Honorable CHRIS Act and their childish insistence that a on the spending bills their budget calls STEWART to act as Speaker pro tempore on program that has been approved by for. this day. Congress, President Obama reelected We have been waiting for 2 months to JOHN A. BOEHNER, finish the transportation and housing Speaker of the House of Representatives. defending it, and validated by the Su- preme Court, that somehow this bell spending bill. They got halfway f can be un-rung. through it on the floor of the House, MORNING-HOUR DEBATE Billions have already been spent, and they realized that their own Mem- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- hundreds of thousands of people are bers wouldn’t vote for it because it was ant to the order of the House of Janu- working to make the reform oper- so awful, and they stopped. They didn’t ary 3, 2013, the Chair will now recog- ational, and it seems to be working. even bother to bring the Interior nize Members from lists submitted by Better prescription drug benefits for spending bill to the floor. the majority and minority leaders for senior citizens are putting more money If their budgets are so bad that their morning-hour debate. in their pockets. Children under the own Members won’t vote for them, The Chair will alternate recognition age of 26 have been able to stay on they shouldn’t throw a tantrum, between the parties, with each party their parents’ policies. threaten to shut down the government, limited to 1 hour and each Member Beginning Tuesday, enrollment or destabilize the global economy by other than the majority and minority starts for the exchanges, and on Janu- playing games with the debt ceiling. If leaders and the minority whip limited ary 1 it goes live with better health in- they’re afraid to have their own Mem- to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall surance. People can’t be refused insur- bers vote on their spending bills, debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. ance for preexisting conditions. There shouldn’t they allow a conference com- f will be no lifetime limits on benefits. mittee between the House and the Sen- Health insurance will be more afford- ate to resolve budget differences? CONTINUING RESOLUTION AND able with subsidies for millions, and That’s how the system is supposed to DEBT CEILING there will be more competition for all. work. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The These provisions are overwhelmingly They whine the President won’t ne- Chair recognizes the gentleman from supported by the American public. gotiate with them. How is the Presi- Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- The health insurance program will dent supposed to deal with people who utes. save billions of dollars for the Federal are unwilling to face up to the con- Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, we Government, reducing the deficit. sequences of their own irresponsible are here in the Capitol awaiting a deci- That’s the judgment of the CBO. In budgets or refuse to allow Congress to b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H5925 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:36 Sep 28, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0636 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A28SE7.000 H28SEPT1 smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H5926 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 28, 2013 work the process to establish a con- nesses are saving profits. This isn’t the vate sector, believes in entrepreneur- sensus budget by having a conference sign of a rebounding economy. ship, and believes in people getting committee? How are Democrats sup- Despite this, in his public address to checks and lets everyone feel good posed to deal with the Republicans as the Nation, President Obama said the about themselves. they up the ante, seeking to damage economy has gained traction and con- We should never accept 7.6 percent as the American people by cutting off tinued to place the blame on Congress. the normal level for unemployment. vital services in a shutdown? How do What the American people need to hear We should never accept a 15 percent you deal with Republicans who are are solutions, not sound bites. As a poverty rate. We should never accept willing to default on paying America’s business owner, I know what it takes $2.5 billion in free cell phones. We debt, breaking our moral and legal ob- to create jobs. I live it every single should never accept 15 percent under- ligations, and risking not just Amer- day. employment. We should never accept 52 ica’s, but the world’s, economy? First, we need true tax reform. Lower percent of our college graduates who Earth to my Republican friends: taxes mean more taxpayers and more are either underemployed or can’t get a America pays its bills. Always has, al- income. More specifically, we need to job. And we should never accept an ways will. It is the height of hypocrisy cut taxes for all taxpayers across the economy that creates more food to blame this on the President, the Af- board and quit picking winners and los- stamps than jobs. fordable Care Act, or the Democrats. ers. It is time to wake up, America. Big We wait breathlessly to see if the Re- The first step in doing this is cutting Government has taken a toll on our publicans can agree to have anything the corporate tax rate, the personal tax families, our businesses, and our budg- to be voted on today; but the American rate, the capital gains tax, the divi- ets. Let’s get back to regular order in people should insist that if my Repub- dends tax, and eliminate forever the in- Washington and start passing respon- lican friends are serious, they should heritance tax. sible budgets that give our Nation bring their own budgets to the floor, The next step is to begin a dialogue much-needed certainty and security. allow the process to work to have a on whether we should move to a fair or Businesses and families do it every sin- conference committee between the a flat tax. Either one of these is cer- gle day. House and the Senate to reconcile our tainly better than what we have today. There is no question that America is differences. Then we can act like Second, we need to change health the greatest country in the world. In grownups, not children throwing tan- care policy. With the addition of the unforgettable words of Abraham trums, and we wouldn’t need to threat- ObamaCare, the government now com- Lincoln: en the global economy over the debt prises one-sixth of the Nation’s econ- America is the last best hope of Earth. omy. This is a complete travesty, and ceiling. Let’s keep it that way by believing in the private sector must be given more f the people and not the Federal Govern- control of health care, not the Federal ment and not Big Government. Let’s CONTINUING RESOLUTION Government. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Consumers should be able to shop say good-bye to ObamaCare, the larg- Chair recognizes the gentleman from across State lines, which will create est takeover of the people by the gov- ernment we have ever seen in our his- Texas (Mr. WILLIAMS) for 5 minutes. more competition. As a result, pre- Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, yester- miums would go down and services go tory. day, the President yet again chose to up. That’s what competition does. Con- It is truly our generation’s Valley bash Congress and blame the House Re- sumers also need to own their own Forge. Let’s be shepherds and not publicans for the failure of America’s health care, not their employer, and sheep, and let’s be patriots and not vic- economy.