On the recordJanuary 11, 2018
I don't often make these 1-minute speeches, but I am concerned about where we might we headed next week in terms of the budget. Last week, the House took another weeklong break instead of staying here in order to talk about fulfilling our fundamental duty of passing a budget and funding the government. Yet here we are once again, for the third time in 2 months, just 10 days away from government funding running out, and once again we are scheduled to leave town. Mr. Speaker, Congress is paid to do a job, and so we shouldn't leave town until that job is done. This constant cycle of careening from one budgetary deadline to the next is irresponsible and embarrassing. Only in Washington is doing a basic task like keeping the lights on considered such a difficult achievement. It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is simple: No more breaks. Lock us on the House floor until we reach a budget deal that does right by our constituents, does right by the military, does right by all these different programs. Passing a budget is not just our job, it is the law, and no one, including this body, is above the law. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to end the partisan stall tactics. Let's work together and do the job we were elected to do. ____________________
