Ed Markey: “we need to bring this government shutdown to an end, and the way to do that is for the House of Representatives to pass…”

“we need to bring this government shutdown to an end, and the way to do that is for the House of Representatives to pass the bill for a $986 billion budget to run the government for 1 year which John Boehner and the Republicans in the House of Representatives asked the Senate to pass. That is the number they wanted. That is not the number the Democrats in the Senate wanted. They wanted $986 billion to run the government for 1 year. That is the budget we sent over. They will not pass that budget. So now we have a situation where we should be negotiating over health care, over environmental issues, over other issues because the budget has been passed--but, no. They are going to hold the entire country hostage. Consider where our country stands right now. When George W. Bush left office, the Dow was at 7,900. It is now above 15,000. At the height of the great Bush recession, unemployment peaked at 10 percent. It is now at 7.3 percent. Our deficit has been cut in half. We are making progress. But we are not there yet. Many Americans continue to struggle. As our country climbs back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the tea party Republicans are sending America into reverse. The tea party Republicans shut down the government. They are putting our economic recovery at risk. They are signaling to the world that America cannot perform the most fundamental job of government--passing a budget.…”