On the recordSeptember 26, 2023
I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. Madam Speaker, let me announce breaking news. I don't want to see the government shut down. Democrats don't want to see the government shut down. The American people don't want to see the government shut down. I am standing with the American people and cities and hamlets and villages and counties and States. What has failed to be enunciated, I say to my friend on the other side, is that we had a deal. We should have been finished with this. The Speaker of the House and the President of the United States already agreed in the spring on what the numbers would be, what we were going to do for the government to keep operating. It has already been done. We are here now because of the upheaval of MAGA Republicans talking about undermining a deal that was made on behalf of the good people of this Nation. We are facing an uphill battle. We just came out of the Budget Committee where they are fighting to eliminate $400 million in Medicare cuts and $2 trillion in cuts to mandatory health spending. The reason why we are on the floor now is because we believe in the people back home. They can't afford another unfunded mandate. Cities are now carrying over their fund balances with Federal dollars that Democrats were able to give to keep them alive.…
