On the recordApril 1, 2011
But I will just say to you that in 1999, a Republican Congress, a Democratic President, enacted the foreign relations authorization bill, by reference, in an appropriations bill. That's what we're doing today. Folks, if you don't like it, call your Senate colleagues and get them to act. This is where we need to be. We need action from the Senate. Call your Senate colleagues. I've called them. I need you to call them, too. We need to move this ball forward. If the government shuts down, our military men and women don't get paid, Madam Speaker. If the government shuts down, our USDA inspectors go home and beef and chicken leave our shelves in the grocery stores. This isn't play time, going back to our children references. This is serious business. Folks sent us here to do serious things. And I could not be happier, Madam Speaker, then, for the second provision in this bill to say if you don't work, you don't get paid. It's a basic premise in this Republic, no pay for no work. I'm very proud of the work that we have done, and I implore my colleagues to contact their Senators and get them to do something. Something. This is what we have from the Senate so far, Madam Speaker. We deserve better. The American people deserve better. And, dadgum it, the Senate can do better.
