Steny Hoyer: “Mr. Speaker, today we face, as too often we have, an emergency. That emergency is that we have not done our work; and…”

“Mr. Speaker, today we face, as too often we have, an emergency. That emergency is that we have not done our work; and, therefore, we must pass a continuing resolution to make sure that the Government stays in operation. This is not the first time that has happened. It has happened under the leadership of both Democrats and Republicans. However, we are in a unique situation. And the emergency of which I speak is not a concocted emergency, as some would call the national census. Nor do we face an 'emergency,' as some like in dealing with LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. One does not have to be a Member of Congress or a meteorologist to understand that, come winter, it is going to get cold outside and in some places it is hot and we need to fund LIHEAP. These are not, however, the real emergencies facing America today. They are the contrived kind of gimmicks designed to do nothing more than to try to help the majority make its budget add up. The real emergency we are facing here today is this body's inability to get its work done on time.”