Chris Stewart: “Today I rise in defense of the common people of America--people who don't have annual vacations to Hawaii, people who…”

“Today I rise in defense of the common people of America--people who don't have annual vacations to Hawaii, people who don't fly to their vacations on private jets. Many of these families save for months or even years in order to visit Washington, D.C., and one of the things they expect to do when they come here is to be able to visit the White House, which is the people's House. And now this President has closed it in order to make a political point. Now that that decision has proven unpopular, he has done something that he has frequently done before and that is to blame someone else. He says it wasn't my decision; it was the Secret Service who made the decision to close the White House. It only costs the White House $3.7 million to keep it open to tourists for an entire year. That's much less than this President will spend on any single vacation that he takes, which is why I introduced a resolution in the House yesterday asking the President to forego any more taxpayer-funded vacations until he opens the people's House once again. Mr. Speaker, I ask the President to consider this request. Open the people's House, Mr. President. Open it up for the people of America. ____________________”