Jerry Moran: “I thank the very distinguished former chair of the Appropriations Committee and now ranking member of the committee as…”

“I thank the very distinguished former chair of the Appropriations Committee and now ranking member of the committee as well as of Defense. Madam Speaker, none of us want any of our soldiers to go unpaid for 1 day or for one moment--obviously, they should not--but there are also representatives of virtually every agency in the government who are working for our goals and objectives throughout the world in combat situations, many of them--in hardship situations. Much of the essential work of the government, our people in the military would be the first to say, is performed by people who don't happen to be in uniform. None of them should go without pay. This government represents the most important nation in the world, and we are responsible for funding it. We represent the people, and they work for the people. The problem with this bill is that the decision to bring it up now is tantamount to shutting down that government. What we should be doing is exactly what Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Dicks have suggested, which is to bring up a clean continuing resolution, to let us get through the weekend, to come up with a long-term resolution for the rest of the fiscal year, and then to fight out these ideological battles in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills. This is no way to run a government, Madam Speaker, but we do have some precedent.…”