On the recordSeptember 30, 2015
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to begin by congratulating both my chairman and my ranking member for the exceptional job they have done this year in getting all 12 appropriations bills through the full committee for the first time since 2009. So we really have on the Appropriations Committee done our work. Six of those bills have come across the floor. And, frankly, I think we would have had more across the floor if our friends in the Senate, who are blocked by the Democratic minority, had an opportunity to bring their bills to the floor. I think we are here, in part, because the inaction by the minority in the United States Senate has ground the whole process to a halt. But I am very pleased to see both my chairman and my ranking member here making the argument to keep the government funded. I think we all know that shutting down the government is always a mistake. It is a political mistake, frankly, for people that want to use it to achieve some political tactic. But, more importantly, it is simply the wrong thing to do for the American people. They send us here expecting us to get our work done. The fact that some amongst us has kept that from happening is regrettable and I think a disservice to all of our constituents.…





