Celia Israel: “I thank my very good friend and colleague from New York, Ranking Member Lowey. Mr. Speaker, I have a tremendous amount…”

“I thank my very good friend and colleague from New York, Ranking Member Lowey. Mr. Speaker, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the chairman, the gentleman from Kentucky. I have great personal admiration for him and his leadership, and I thank him for his earnest, hard work; but what we are doing today is a disappointment to the American people, and it is a disappointment to those of us who are on the Appropriations Committee. Success can't be defined as avoid catastrophe, and all we are doing today is avoiding catastrophe. The majority's triumph today is not shutting down the government. Mr. Speaker, there is not a small-business owner anywhere in America who would say ``had a good day because I am not shutting down,'' ``had a good day because I am not throwing my employees out of work,'' ``had a good day because I am not telling my customers they can't come for services.'' That is not success. That is failure. That is, by itself, a catastrophe. Mr. Speaker, the managers of those small businesses are judged by their performance and success. The managers of this Congress, the majority, are judged in the same way. They are judged by their ability, as the majority, to produce bills, to pass budgets, to do the work of the American people.…”