On the recordSeptember 16, 2015
There are only 7 legislative days until the GOP shuts down this government again. I have been back home. I don't know about you, but what I have heard is that the American people do not want to see another government shutdown. They don't want to see Planned Parenthood defunded, taking away essential health care for women across the country. What they want to see is for us to work together. They want to see both parties work together to keep the government open for sure, but to go beyond that, to make sure that families can save to own a home, that they can send their kids to college, that they can have something set aside for retirement. It is not just enough to keep the government open. That ought to be a given. We ought to take up the priorities of the American people. Unfortunately, what we see is that, in an attempt to get something that a minority of this body wants, they are going to hold up the entirety of the government--shut down the government--over one issue. That is not responsible, and that is not what the American people sent us here to do. House Democrats are ready to work together. We will compromise, but let's negotiate. Let's have a discussion. Let's talk to one another and come up with a budget that we can work together on and that we can present to the American people, and let's get back to the business the people sent us here to do. ____________________
