John Garamendi

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, it is a rather important day today. Sometime today or in the next 24 hours, the United States Treasury will run out of its ability to borrow money, that is, to roll over its debt, to pay all of the obligations that the United States Government has. I guess, even this morning, we remain the world's biggest economy. We certainly remain the oldest democracy; although, that seems to be somewhat in doubt here on the floor of the House of Representatives where we don't operate as a democracy. We really operate more as a dictatorship, or at least as an oligarchy, in which one or two or a handful of people makes the decision for the majority of the House. It is a very, very, very important moment that this Nation moves towards, the moment in which it, for the first time in its history, would default on its payments, default on its debt. We have already seen the effects of this. Banks all around the world are selling, that is, getting out of America's short-term obligations or those obligations, bonds, that are due now or in the next week or so. So they are shedding American debt. They are running away from the world's reserve currency. Why? Because this House, the House of Representatives, the people's House, is being jerked around, led around by a small contingent of folks who is not thinking clearly, who is not willing to understand the import, the importance, of the soundness of the American dollar, the importance of the full faith and credit of this Nation, of the 200-plus years of history where this House, where this government, where the people of America have always stood behind its obligations. But that group of individuals who is unwilling to be rational, who is the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party, seems to want to take this Nation into a new era, an era in which the world cannot count on the United States of America. We are also in the 16th day of the shutdown of the United States Government in which the United States Government is only partially operating; in which the national parks, with the exception of just three, are not open; where the Fish and Wildlife Service's refuges are not available to the public, where much of the government is not operating. We are in the 16th day. Why? Why are we in this situation? When it started 16 days ago, it was to end the Affordable Health Care Act, and then it was to modify it, and then it was to change it, and then it was to delay it, and now it is not even on the agenda. So why are we still shut down? There is no reason that is being presented other than what you might see in a preschool class with some kid who is too tired and is down on the floor, throwing a tantrum, screaming and yelling and trying to stop everything. Kid, get your blanket. Get your bottle and take a nap. We don't need tantrums around here, but apparently that is the only reason the government continues to be shut down, because some 40 or 50 Members of the Tea Party caucus of the Republican Party are throwing a tantrum, led by Senator Cruz. We don't need tantrums; we need cooperation; we need to work together. We have got serious problems. The shutdown has created even more serious problems and, as we run up to the debt crisis, yet one more problem, because 40 or 50 people are throwing a tantrum. This is the House of Representatives, 435 of us elected to represent the people of America, to do right by them, to do right by this Nation's economy, by the working men and women. Even those who are laid off because of the shutdown want to work. It is time for us to end this. It is time for us to go to work on the long-term problems.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Police Officer John D. Cooper as he retires after more than 28 years of law enforcement service, with 25 years of that service to the City of Fairfield. After serving three years as a Deputy Sheriff with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, he was hired as a police officer with the Fairfield Police Department on March 14, 1988. As an officer, Cooper worked in various capacities that included Patrol, Investigations, Youth Services, School Resources, and Field Training. His high work ethic and dedication to police work was evident and he was promoted to Police Corporal on December 31, 1999. Officer Cooper has a genuine attitude of putting public service before himself and as a trainer of newly hired police officers, he taught them to be public servants as well as police officers. Some of Officer Cooper's most significant contributions to the Police Department have been his ability to remain calm and communicate well during crisis situations. He has assisted with the investigation of numerous major crimes and high profile cases, and his keen investigative skills have contributed to the successful resolution and conviction of numerous criminals. Officer Cooper has been a good representation of the City of Fairfield and the Fairfield Police Department. He has been a valued employee and his commitment to the community was evident on a daily basis. Officer Cooper was a loyal representative of the law enforcement community and admired for his hard work, dedication, and positive work ethic.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, on the question of the point of order-- and I would like to have an explanation about this--why are these rules being interpreted in such a way as to prevent the United States Government from operating? What is the purpose of this rule? Where was it conceived? And why is it constantly being put forward as a way of stopping the Federal Government from acting? Mr. Speaker, there is a world of hurt out there. All across this Nation people want government to work; they want the parks open; they want the National Indian Health Service operating; they want to make sure that Head Start is up and operating; that the medical services are available; that Homeland Security is functioning. Mr. Speaker, what is the point of the point of order, other than to stop the Federal Government from working?

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, may I speak on the point of order?

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Ryan, thank you so much for bringing us just some sense of reality of what is actually happening here. We're in the eighth day of the lockout. We're in the eighth day of the shutdown of the government of the United States of America. And it appears, from all that we hear from the Republican side, that this may go right up to the debt limit. What a tragedy it would be if we hit that and took down the entire economy. I think it's time for me to close. I want to thank my colleagues. I would ask the American people to pay attention. And finally, Mr. Speaker, let us vote. Speaker Boehner, let us vote on a clean continuing resolution so that we can, once again, start this government. The votes are here. And if you don't believe the votes are here, put us up on the board. Let's see if there are 217 votes to reopen the American Government. We can only find out, Mr. Speaker, if you let us vote. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Capuano, thank you so very much. I think it's a tragedy you've waited 14\1/2\ years to be so eloquent in explaining how we got to where we are and the fact that the Democrats have consistently cooperated, compromised, and watched those critical programs that we care so very much about being consistently hacked away at and reduced and, in many cases, all but eliminated. Now, we are in the eighth day of the shutdown of the United States Government that used to be thought of as the most powerful democracy in the world. At the moment, it's a democracy that's not working. As pointed out by my colleagues, there was an election last November in which these issues were all fundamental in that debate, and the American people voted to fully enforce the Affordable Care Act and to provide the services, whether they're education, transportation, health care, and the rest. Here we are, the minority party in this House and actually a minority of that minority party, driving an agenda that is anathema to those things that I believe we need to do and completely contrary to last November's election. I would like now to call upon Mr. Ryan of Ohio, a gentleman who often joins us on these evening discussions. We'd like to talk about jobs, and we'd like to talk about rebuilding the American manufacturing sector. We know that can only be done when the United States Government is operating. I yield to Mr. Ryan.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Pascrell, thank you very much. Whether you're from New Jersey or wherever, I'm not about to threaten you. But I would like to welcome to this microphone our friend from the State of Massachusetts, who is probably just as tough as the gentleman from New Jersey, and that's Mr. Capuano.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Doyle, thank you so very much. The Republican shutdown has to end. It has to end, and how correct you were about the negotiations just this evening. They put a proposal on the floor to create some sort of a negotiating committee that did not have all of the issues before them, as you so correctly pointed out, only their set of issues were to be allowed to be discussed by that negotiating committee, none of the issues that we care about on the Democratic side. That's hardly a negotiating opportunity. I now yield to the gentleman from the great State of New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you very much, Mr. Larson. Mr. Speaker, a vote--that is what democracy is all about. We are asking for a simple thing: the opportunity to vote on extending the operations of the American government. Now I would like to turn to the gentleman from the great State of Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle).

Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you, Mr. Tonko, the gentleman from New York. I would like now to bring to the microphone our friend from the great State of Connecticut, John Larson.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, October 8. October 8. We are now 8 days into the shutdown of the government of the United States of America, presumed to be the strongest Nation on this Earth, presumed to be the greatest economic power, presumed to be the world's oldest democracy-- perhaps oldest, but not functioning. Why? Why are we in this situation? Eight days without a functioning government. What in the world is the Republican Party doing to this Nation? And why? Why? It's hard to say why because every day the goalpost changes. Every day a different demand. And today yet a new demand. But what's the result of all of this? What does all of this mean? It means that this Nation is humiliated by this shutdown. Speaker Boehner, let your people go. Speaker Boehner, let your people go and vote. Why not? We think there's a majority. Let's see here. There's 198 Democrats that will vote for the reopening of this government tonight. Call us back into session, Mr. Boehner, 198 Democrats. And by the public record, there are 23 or more Republicans that have said they would vote for a clean CR. Mr. Speaker, let your people go and vote. What does it mean that the government shut down? What does it mean to Americans? I'll tell you what it means in my district. It means that the day care centers, the early childhood education programs, the levee improvements, indeed, even today we've learned that the burials of those brave men and women--men, in this case--that have recently been killed in the war in Afghanistan, their families will not receive $100,000 that's been set aside for them. Oh, I know we have a vote here. This is the eighth day of the shutdown, and we have, in this House, passed eight bills to appropriate pieces of this government. These are the 12 appropriation bills. These are the 12 appropriation bills that fund every function of government, whether it's the military, whether it's the farm programs, the day care programs, the health care programs, the Centers for Disease Control. Here they are, more than 1,000 specific items. And in 8 days, our Republican colleagues have put before us eight bills to fund eight of the more than 1,000. At this rate, it will be 2020 before this government fully is functional. How foolish. How stupid. How humiliating for this Nation. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, let your people vote. Let us vote. Let us vote on reopening this government. The votes are there. A simple blackboard will tell you the votes are there. Tonight, call us back to session, and tomorrow morning the people of America, the people across this world will see the strongest Nation in the world, the government of that Nation functioning once again. How do I go back to my district and tell the people at the Dixon National Cemetery that those burials aren't going to take place? How do I go back to my district and tell them--yeah, maybe we ought to see this. In California, northern California, it's hunting season, opened on Saturday, but the refuges across this great Nation are closed to hunters, the duck hunters, the men and women that want to recreate in those areas. And if you're not a hunter, maybe you're a fisherman, but don't go to a refuge. Don't go to the Bureau of Land Management fishing areas. Don't try to put your boat in the water at the national parks. You can't do it because this government is shut down. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, let your people vote. Let us all vote. Let us reopen this government. We have several of my colleagues with me tonight. We're going to cover this issue. How much I would prefer to be here with my colleagues from New York and other States to talk about putting Americans back to work. And I guess we are, in a way, putting the Federal employees back to work. Mr. Paul Tonko from the great State of New York, thanks for joining us once again.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. I thank the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) very much. And thank you for pointing out the foolishness, the nonsense, and even the hypocrisy of what's going on here. My colleague Mike Thompson, with whom I share a good portion of northern California, very eloquently pointed out a real problem. When the duck hunters can't hunt, we've got a problem. Opening day, how many days to opening day? Zero. It was supposed to open today. Mr. Thompson pointed out that the refuges are closed up in the northern part of the State of California. How about elk hunters? Elk hunters out there, opening day, today. The refuges are closed, and a good portion of the Federal forests also are unavailable. Let's see, pronghorn hunting in northern California and southern Oregon was supposed to start today. Not on the refuges. They're closed. Well, if you are a fisherman and you want to fish in the refuges, don't go today. They're closed. And, of course, the hunters. I think I'll just leave this one up here. These are folks that really get agitated. They have every reason to be agitated. This is nonsense. I really wanted to take a few moments to explain to the American public what is actually happening here. We came up on this shutdown presumably because we couldn't agree to a budget. The House of Representatives passed a budget in March. The Senate passed one in late March, early April. The Senate asked for a conference committee. They appointed conferees. And Speaker Boehner, until 2 days ago, refused to appoint conferees. It was only after the government shut down that he relented and appointed conferees, after the blowup. And so you want to go to conference? Why didn't you go to conference in April, May, June, July, August, even early September? Why, Mr. Speaker, didn't you appoint conferees when we had the time to negotiate? Why did you wait until after hunters couldn't go to the refuges? I don't understand. Oh, but you have a solution. The Speaker has a solution. We will open up individual parts of the government based upon what the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) calls ``the whack-a-mole theory of government.'' When something really embarrassing happens, we'll find a solution, says the Speaker. Wow, how brilliant. And so what did we do? Oh, we'll open some of the national monuments--not all of them. We're not going to open the fish and wildlife refuges so that the hunters can hunt. But we'll open the World War II Memorial, and maybe we'll open up some of the Smithsonian facilities here in Washington. Oh, but there's a problem. That's got to go through the Senate. And that's got to have the Presidential signature. And that's not going to happen. So what's going on here? What's happening? The American public says, What are you guys doing? Well, we're not doing our job. Mr. Speaker, you're not letting us do our job. We actually have a solution. It's called a continuing resolution, a CR. And that's not a medical procedure. A continuing resolution is actually a process that's been used over 110 times since the first day of President Clinton's--yes, I said that--President Clinton, back in 1993, 110 times we've used continuing resolutions to get passed these unnegotiable periods. But this time, they added a little deal to it. There will be a continuing resolution when you repeal the Affordable Care Act, when you delay it, when you repeal part of it, when you change it. That hadn't been done in the past. But here we are. So where are we now with the whack-a-mole theory? Do you know what these are? Does the American public know what these are? These are 11 of the appropriation bills. Each one is very lengthy. There are more than 500 to 1,000 different items in each one of the appropriation bills, funding individual parts of government, one item at a time. It's a big government. It's a multitrillion-dollar government. And it does a lot of good things, like, funds refuges so that people can go hunting, so that people can fish, so that there are national parks, camping grounds. At the national forests all across this Nation, camping grounds are shut down. Nobody's camping there this weekend. These are the appropriation bills. Probably 5,000 or more individual items. In what has got to be one of the most foolish, nonsensical, and stupid actions, we're going to fund the government one item at a time. Yes. Hello, America. This is the Republican solution to the shutdown. We're going to fund the American Government one item at a time. Let's see, this is day four of the shutdown. Okay. And to date, we have funded four specific parts of the American Government--oh, excuse me. I'm wrong. The House of Representatives has voted to fund four of the thousands of different parts of the American Government, four of them. Let me see, at this rate, it will probably be 2020 before the American Government is up and operating. How stupid is that when we have a solution available to us, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, listen. We have a solution available to us. It's called a continuing resolution. It's passed the Senate. It doesn't have all of the things you may want--like terminating the Affordable Care Act, which is, in effect, modifying it, defunding it, and God knows what else you may want. It's just what is known as a clean continuing resolution that funds all of government--not one item at a time, but all of government. And at what level? At the same level that it has been funded for the last 12 months. Not more funding, not less funding, but a whole lot less funding than what I think is necessary. But nonetheless, it continues the funding of government at the same level as the last 12 months for the next month and a half. And then we go through all this again with another manufactured crisis. I wonder what the hunters are thinking of us. Mr. Speaker, these men and women want to go hunting. These men and women want to go fishing, camping. They want to go to the national parks. They want to recreate. They want America operating. Mr. Speaker, please, please end this foolishness. Ronald Reagan went to Berlin, and he said, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.'' Mr. Speaker, open up this government. Open up this government. You have the power. All you need to do is to bring to the floor a continuing resolution to fund the government at the very same level that it's been funded for the last 12 months, continue on for another 6 weeks so that we can establish what apparently you want, a conference committee, and negotiate, as we should do all the time, negotiate a resolution to this manufactured, unnecessary, stupid, dysfunctional crisis. Mr. Speaker, open up this government.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Tonko, thank you so very much for joining me once again. I'm going to wrap this up with a note of sadness. The American Government is shut down. It is shut down because of the conflict that has developed between the Democrats and the Republicans here in the House and on the Senate side. It's a conflict that didn't have to happen. We could have worked this out in a conference committee, had Speaker Boehner chosen to appoint conferees. It didn't take place. A continuing resolution--the Democrats compromised seriously and accepted a continuing resolution at the sequestration level, far less money than we think is necessary, but we wanted to keep the government running. We refuse to abandon the Affordable Care Act and the millions upon millions of Americans that have benefited from that and are benefiting today as the exchanges are going into place. California's had an enormous success, and it will work. And as it works, I think we'll find that those Americans, some 40 million that do not have health insurance, will, in the next months ahead, get their health insurance at an affordable cost. And this is already bending the cost curve for American health care. It's a good thing. But it's also a very sad day. There is absolutely no reason that this government was shut down, except for the intransigence of our Republican colleagues demanding the repeal of things like the Patients' Bill of Rights, demanding that we go back on a promise that America has tried to have for some 60 years now, providing health insurance to all Americans. We're moving towards that with the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare. It's a sad day, but it's also a hopeful day. It's a hopeful day because the exchanges are working. There will be computer glitches, and there will be some error in the mathematics; but across this Nation, the exchanges are working. And the American public that is uninsured, not the insured, but the uninsured, they're going to the exchanges and they're saying, let me shop; let me shop in a rational market where I can compare prices and quality and providers. They're doing that in California, in New York, and in Texas, all across this Nation. So it's hopeful. It's a hopeful moment, even though we have spent the last week battling out the fundamental question, Is America going to move forward and stay in business, or is the government going to shut down? Republicans chose to shut down the government. Are Americans going to get health care? The Republicans said no, the Affordable Care Act must be repealed. The Democrats said no way, no how. It's in place, folks. The Affordable Care Act is in place, and the exchanges are working, and millions of Americans will find an opportunity to buy insurance in a competitive market, free market, not a government market, but a market structured by government so that the private sector can display its insurance policies, what their price is, what their quality is, which doctors they can go to. It's a sad day, but it's also a hopeful day. Mr. Speaker, with our 54 minutes, we thank you for the opportunity to explain this, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Tonko, let us split that time. Would you like to close, or would you like to continue on?

Mr. GARAMENDI. Well, there you have it. And we have a shutdown. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time we have left.

Mr. GARAMENDI. So the Republican leadership refused to establish the conference committee by refusing to name the conferees.

Mr. GARAMENDI. If I might just add to the exposition that you laid out: the two budget proposals, the Senate and the House budget proposals both passed. The Senate appointed conferees. To this moment, the House has not appointed conferees to the budget conference committee.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Share with us your thoughts if you would, please.

Mr. GARAMENDI. It's time for us to go back to our East-West Show, which we have done here many, many nights. My colleague from the State of New York, Paul Tonko, who has represented for 5 years now the area where the Industrial Revolution began, along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Right now we're in a fix here in Washington. The government is shut down. All of the things you've talked about over these many years, about building the American economy, manufacturing, the research that you were responsible for for the State of New York--and it's all shut down.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Castro, thank you so very, very much. You spoke of your Senator, Senator Cruz. I suspect in 5 years, you're going to replace him, and I would like that.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Honda, thank you so very much, and thank you for your lifetime of service, your early years in the Peace Corps in El Salvador, the work that you did there, and, as you said, bringing it home and continuing to serve right up through this day and beyond as you continue to represent the great Silicon Valley of California. So thank you very much for all that you have done over these many years. You mentioned something that I'm going to turn to very quickly. I was the insurance commissioner, and one of the things that we wanted to do in California, but we couldn't get the legislature to pass, was the Patients' Bill of Rights. Some of this we tried to do with regulations, but the Patients' Bill of Rights is now the law of the land. When our Republican colleagues came forward with a continuing resolution that was actually a sequestration and a low level of funding and added to it the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, I'm going: Wait a minute. You want to repeal the Patients' Bill of Rights? I'm going to run through this very quickly. Children with preexisting conditions, young children at birth or in the early years that have developed some serious medical condition before the Patients' Bill of Rights which now is in effect this day, children cannot be denied coverage, period. There are thousands upon thousands of children across this Nation that find themselves in this situation. Young adults at the age of 18, prior to the Patients' Bill of Rights--and this has been in effect for more than a year now--at the age of 18, they were off of their parents' coverage and they were out there on their own, often unable, particularly if they were a woman, to be able to get insurance. But the Patients' Bill of Rights allows them to stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26; and there are more than 6.6 million young Americans 18 to 26 that are now on their parents' health coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Women have the right to health care coverage without discrimination for all kinds of things--breast cancer, pregnancy, and other kinds of illnesses that women might get. Prior to the Patients' Bills of Rights and the Affordable Care Act, there was heavy-duty discrimination against women. They couldn't get insurance. If they could, they would pay substantially more. We're talking that half of the population of America, at one time or another, women--actually, more than half--were facing this discrimination, but no longer with the Patients' Bill of Rights. Seniors have a right to affordable medication and also to an annual wellness visit, which actually has dramatically reduced the ongoing inflation rate in Medicare, bending the curve. And then finally, this one down here, every American has the right to health care coverage without a limitation on the annual amount that you could spend. A family with a cancer case would blow right through the limitation. They'd be on their own. And this is what led to the enormous number of personal bankruptcies, more than 50 percent of which were caused by health care problems. So the Patients' Bill of Rights was, according to our Republican colleagues, to be repealed along with all of the Affordable Health Care Act. Needless to say, those of us on the Democratic side said, This is wrong. This is not good for America. It's not good for Americans, individuals, children, or adults. And we fought the fight. We're not finished with this yet. Although as of today, it appears as though our Republican colleagues have dropped the issue of defunding, delaying, or repealing the Affordable Health Care Act as far as the continuing resolution is concerned. I will come back. I will cover some of these things again. I would like now to turn to our new colleague from San Antonio, Texas, Joaquin Castro. Please join us. You have a great background in that city. And you come with an extraordinary reputation, well earned, as a scholar and as a great citizen of San Antonio.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you very much, Ms. Kaptur. We should have pointed out in the introduction that you are the ranking member of one of the Appropriation Committees--transportation, the energy programs, all of the research that goes on, and a lot of the projects of, I believe, NASA, also. I know you worked long and hard on that, and I sense a sadness, from your remarks, that all of the good things that are done by those Departments are simply in abeyance now; and given the level of funding that is in the CR with the sequestration, much will not be done. Let me now turn to my colleague from California (Mr. Honda), who has been serving for a while here representing the Silicon Valley and much of what we were just talking about, the research and the development of the economy. I know you've had a great deal to do with that over the years, really helping to create one of the engines of economic growth in the United States. Mr. Honda.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee, thank you so very much. There is no doubt that this House has the ability at any moment to vote on the continuing resolution that the Senate has sent back here. If that were to happen, the President would immediately have that law on his desk. He could sign it, and government would at that moment reopen. Keep in mind that that CR was not one that we thought was the best. It, actually, is significantly below the level of funding that the Democrats wanted, and it does continue, at least for another month and a half, the sequestration, which we do not like. I would like now to turn to Ms. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who spoke here on the floor a few moments ago. Ms. Kaptur, please share with us your thoughts on the current crisis in America.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Talk fast, Sheila.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, one would think after all of the hours and hours of discussions that have taken place on this floor that perhaps enough has been said. That may be true, but so much of what was said seems not to be clarifying and providing a clear understanding of what has actually happened here. We want to take a few minutes here, probably maybe as much as an hour, possibly less than that, and try to gain some clarity as to how we got to this point with a government shutdown, how we can get out of it, and what the impact is on Americans. There are good days and there are bad days and then there are really, really bad days. About 12:30 last night, as we were finishing the votes here on the floor, it became very apparent that the government had, indeed, shut down and that there wasn't any hope of resurrecting it in the final hours of last night. So today, all across America, government offices are shut down. You just heard a description of the World War II Memorial. And that is but an example. Now, how did we get here? How did this happen? We have been over the last 3 years now dealing with one manufactured crisis after another. They came to be known as ``cliffs'': ``fiscal cliff,'' ``debt limit cliff,'' on and on. Each time we would come up to some deadline, and it was made into a crisis. Our Republican friends were usually the--well, they were always the instigators of this, at least since the 2010 election. What has happened is they have used these deadlines, which come and go every year, as an opportunity to leverage in one or another policy changes. That has been going on. I think one of the most noteworthy of these deadlines was the fiscal cliff that occurred in the summer of 2011 in which the United States came up against its debt limit and it was just a moment away from that default. Fortunately, there were negotiations underway, and it did lead to a settlement. The settlement, of course, was the infamous sequester. It wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody liked it. It was in the bill. It did happen, and now we are living with it. As time went on, we have had even more of these moments of crisis, and yesterday was yet one more. It occurs on a regular basis. Every October 1, we start a new fiscal year, and that's an opportunity for us to look at all of the expenditures of the Federal Government and to make decisions about what should be or should not be funded and at what level it should be funded. So we had a crisis last night, and the result is the Federal Government is largely unfunded, and monuments across the Nation-- national parks, Veterans Administration offices, Social Security offices, and the rest--are in the process of being shut down, and some are shut down. This is not a good thing. It's a very bad thing. It is bad for this Nation. I was there in 1995 as Deputy Secretary at the Department of the Interior when the Department of the Interior was shut down--national parks, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey. Studies underway about the nature of everything from earthquakes to hurricanes and the like were just put aside for 26 days. We are back in that today. It could have been avoided--it should have been avoided--and had we followed through on the normal process of establishing a budget for the United States, it would have been, or most likely would have been, avoided. Why didn't that happen? The House of Representatives passed a budget in March. The Senate passed a budget at about the same time, and the Senate requested a conference committee. From April to this moment, no conference committee on the Budget has been established. Now, the budget gives the framework in which the appropriations for all of the Federal offices--the Department of Defense, parks and so forth--are funded. It is within that framework of the budget. So, without a framework, we were literally wandering in the dark, and some very, very bad things happened. What happened was we came up against a deadline. The continuing resolution, which continues to fund the government--the first issue was for 2 months, until December 15, and then it eventually came down to November 15. That continuing resolution--sometimes called a ``CR''--actually provided less money than did the Senate's version of the budget. It was $986 billion, which is the sequestration amount that would continue forward. While virtually every person in this entire House--435 of us--said sequestration was bad and that we will never vote for sequestration again, we were, in fact, presented with a sequestration appropriation, a continuing resolution, that would go for 2 months. The sequestration was, in fact, built into that. Now, the Democrats, in looking at this, said, We don't want a shutdown. We will compromise for 2 months and accept the lower funding level. So, when people go back and forth here and say there was no effort to compromise, that's not true. The fact of the matter is the Democrats said, to avoid the shutdown of government, we will accept the sequestration level of government, which was, I think, over $50 billion less than what we would have liked to have spent to keep the programs going. Along the way, our Republican colleagues decided that they would use this moment to terminate the Affordable Health Care Act. We are going to spend some time on that this evening. The termination of the Affordable Health Care Act would affect every American in many, many ways, and we will spend some time talking about all of those ways. So, by combining the CR, which the Democrats accepted--and had it passed the House and the Senate, there would be no government shutdown--and by joining to that the desire, particularly of the Tea Party Republican caucus members, we wound up with a stalemate. We need to understand exactly what was in the CR and exactly what was the impact of the--what shall we say? There were three different versions of this. One version was to repeal, in other words, just wipe out the entire law--the Affordable Health Care Act, or ObamaCare. Another was to delay all of it. Then yet a third was to delay just a piece of it. So there have been different iterations, but each one would dramatically affect the people of America. I would like to now turn to my colleague from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee, who will pick up with this issue. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore