Rob Woodall: “I thank my chairman for yielding me the time. I thank him for his leadership in the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, we've…”

“I thank my chairman for yielding me the time. I thank him for his leadership in the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, we've been here night after night after night, I say to my chairman, trying to keep the government open. And to my colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle, we have an opportunity to work together. I'm a hardcore, right-wing Georgia Republican, and I'm here to tell you I want to keep the government open. And I don't think there's one of you over there who questions my word that I'm here today to keep the government open, not to bring the government to a halt. But there are also other concerns. And the biggest frustration I've had, Mr. Speaker, in my 2\1/2\ years here in the House is that the President doesn't want to talk with me and my 700,000 constituents about our priorities for America. I carry a copy of the Constitution in my pocket, Mr. Speaker, and it lays out clearly our bicameral system here in Congress: our article I, the Congress; our article II, the White House; and our article III, the courts. The President has been saying over and over and over again as we come upon this brink of a government shutdown, I will not negotiate. Over and over again, Mr. Speaker. I will not negotiate. So often it's so easy for my friends to characterize Republicans as being folks who are just looking for a fight. I've been down here with my Republican colleagues as they have passed a bill to fund the government and completely repeal ObamaCare.…”