On the recordSeptember 30, 2013
I thank the gentlelady for the time. Mr. Speaker, here we are, T minus 6 hours and 7 minutes till a shutdown of our Federal Government, the greatest country on the face of the Earth with such a dysfunctional Congress that we can't even keep our own government open. We'll be voting on a bill tonight that will lead to a government shutdown. Now, look, why will it lead to a government shutdown? It's because we have a separation of powers in our Constitution. This House of Representatives does not unilaterally run the country. We have a House; we have a Senate; we have a President. It takes compromise and working together to move forward as a country. These kinds of positioning bills are fine a month or two before a crisis, but with 6 hours left, all this bill that we will be voting on tonight will do is cause a government shutdown. I encourage my colleagues to reject this rule so that we can get to a serious discussion about keeping the Federal Government open rather than forcing a shutdown of the Federal Government tonight, which is what will occur if the House of Representatives passes this bill.
