Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for doing this hearing.

And thank you, Senator Sununu, for coming back on this important topic.

instead of having the brinkmanship we've been engaging in, ... to be engaged in discussions about the workforce training.

we want equal opportunity for all.

broadband is absolutely essential.

To the extent that Congress acts to establish Federal policy, then that is a 'mandate' for the Administration.

It is with tremendous sadness that I mourn the passing of Chairman C.W. Bill Young--an inspiring colleague and an outspoken champion for the U.S. military.

Madam President, I thank the Senator from Arizona--he brought a very experienced voice to our group--and especially I thank Senator Collins for bringing this group together. I think it shows what courage is going to be in the next year in…

It's been an incredibly productive day after a long, long week. And we feel very good about this. I think the two major focuses were to open up the government again, and then to make sure that we're not defaulting, that we're paying our…

I say that our job is to score a touchdown for the American people. And we do that by opening the government again, so we've got approvals going, cancer clinical trials going, and so that we also send a message we're going to pay our bills.

Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the cost of the Federal Government shutdown, including a cost we don't talk about-- the opportunity cost. The fact is we are paying a huge price for what we are not doing here in Washington while…

I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 20 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, to open the American people's government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown. The SPEAKER…

I can't even imagine what people will think, as they call us all the time when they are bugged by these calls.

Our witness today, Mark Zandi, warned this Committee last month that shuttering the government for three or four weeks would do significant economic damage, reducing real gross domestic product by 1.4 percentage points in the 4th quarter.

if we don't approach things with the spirit of compromise, it is going to be very hard to do that kind of long-term debt reduction.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The government has now been shut down for more than a week and a half, and the costs are mounting.