Bill Lee: “I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and, once again, for her tremendous leadership on so many issues as our…”

“I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and, once again, for her tremendous leadership on so many issues as our ranking member. Now, I serve as a member of the Appropriations and the Budget Committees, and I rise in strong opposition to this rule and the continuing resolution. I just want to make one comment before I start my statement with regard to what was just said about Democrats shutting down the government. First of all, there is no way that Democrats are voting to shut down the government, given the fact that the Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. The numbers just aren't there for Democrats to do this. So I hope that people on the other side-- Republicans and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--will be honest about that because there is no way, given the numbers and given the composition of the House, the Senate, and the White House, that Democrats can do that. This bill kicks the can down the road for the fourth time, mind you, since October. Republicans control, again, as I said, the three bodies: the House, the Senate, White House. The least they could do is honor the basic responsibility of being in the majority, and that is to keep the government open. Sadly, they continue to drive this country to the brink of one avoidable, self-inflicted crisis after another.…”