Bill Lee: “Let me thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her leadership on so many issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in…”

“Let me thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her leadership on so many issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in opposition to this bill. It really is a hateful and un-American demand for $5 billion to build President Trump's border wall. Let's be clear: President Trump and congressional Republicans aren't negotiating. They are holding our government hostage and demanding this wasteful, expensive wall as their ransom. Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Mr. Speaker, you would think that they could at least keep the government open. Instead of passing the Senate-passed, clean continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown, Republicans want to vote on this unnecessary border wall. Mr. Speaker, this is completely irresponsible. Federal workers rely on their paychecks, especially during the holidays. People have planned national park trips over the holidays. Is President Trump really going to shut down the American government in the midst of this holiday season during their vacation, during their time with their families? How sinister and mean-spirited can the President and our Republican colleagues be? But this wouldn't be the first time that the Republicans were manufacturing a crisis. The Republican-led shutdown in 2013 cost our economy $24 billion. If President Trump shuts down the government--for the third time this year, I might add--he will sabotage our economy.…”