G. K. Butterfield: “I thank Mr. Horsford for yielding me this time, and I thank him for all the work he does here in the House of…”

“I thank Mr. Horsford for yielding me this time, and I thank him for all the work he does here in the House of Representatives and say he represents his district well. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor tonight, quite frankly, very frustrated. I am frustrated as I stand here right now. Our Federal Government is shut down. This is the seventh day of a shutdown that did not have to happen. This is political theater at its best--or at its worst. And who's paying the price? It's the American people who are feeling the pain. This shutdown has been engineered and manufactured by House Republicans. Anyone paying close attention to what's happening here in the House will come to the quick conclusion that it is not the Democrats who have manufactured this crisis; it is the Republican majority that has done so. There are votes on the floor tonight that could pass a continuing resolution to get this behind us. I can tell you that most, if not all, Democrats will vote for a clean CR, and many, many of my Republican friends would do the same. I dare not call my Republican friends by name, but there are many of them. I had two visit with me tonight on the House floor to say they are willing to do it. Yet Republicans feel that somehow they can use the budget crisis as a means for defunding the Affordable Care Act. It will not happen. It is the law of the land. It is fully implemented. It has been approved by Congress, signed by the President, tested by the U.S.…”