On the recordJanuary 9, 2019
It is interesting to hear a discourse on functioning government as we look back at 2018 when my colleagues across the aisle operated under 103 closed rules. Circumstances today are of an exigent manner. The government is not functioning. Lives are at risk. The time for leadership, the time to not stymie ideas, and the time for functioning government is apparently gone. So we must act and we must act quickly. If we are talking history, let's go a little further back. In the history of the United States, when one party was in control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, there has never been a shutdown until this administration. So today, when all of those opportunities are passed, we now hear that it is somehow a shame that government isn't allowed to function. The government isn't functioning. It has to be open. Then we can begin operating under open bills and in a manner in which everyone would like to see on a bipartisan basis. But right now, there is real danger out there for the American public. So we are now into the 19th day under this President's shutdown, the second longest shutdown in the Nation's history and already the third one under this administration. Mr. Speaker, we are here to govern. We are here not to play games. Let's do our job for the American people. Let's support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
