On the recordOctober 10, 2013
My constituents back home in Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, Michigan, sent me here because they felt that I could represent them in a democratic body and protect their interests. Unfortunately, because of the willfulness and intransigence of some on the other side, we can't have a simple ``yes'' or ``no'' vote in this body to reopen government. Despite the fact that all Democrats and around 30 or so Republicans would be willing to take up the Senate- passed bill to reopen government, we have not been given the opportunity to do that. What very few know--and I assume some on the other side may not even realize--is that the rule that was adopted here on October 1 takes away a longstanding privilege of Members of the House to call up a Senate bill in the event of a dispute between House and Senate versions of the same legislation. You have taken away that basic right that my voters and the Representatives of this body all should continue to possess in order to achieve or pursue your ideological goal of using a government shutdown to get what you can't get at the ballot box. This is wrong. It needs to end. We need to bring up the Senate-passed bill to reopen government today. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Foxx). Members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair. ____________________
