John Mica

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize, honor and congratulate an outstanding constituent of my district, John Robinson Royero of Scout Troop 100 in Oviedo, Florida, for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. The rank of Eagle Scout is the highest achievement in scouting. To attain this rank, he has demonstrated the qualities of leadership, self-discipline and perseverance while serving his family, friends and community. Only about five percent of Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The awarding of the Rank of Eagle Scout is a performance-based achievement with high standards that have been well maintained over the past century. John Royero has met every test and challenge to pass through the ranks of the Boy Scouts. Those aspiring to be Eagle Scouts must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills. To demonstrate proficiency as a scout, each Boy Scout must achieve merit badges in the areas of First Aid, Citizenship, Environment, Fitness, Family Life and much more. The work ethic John has shown in his Eagle Scout projects, and every other project leading up to his Eagle Scout rank, speaks volumes about his commitment to assisting his community and serving a cause greater than himself. It is my honor to commend John Royero for his achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout. John will join the ranks of fellow Eagle Scouts like President Gerald R. Ford, Neil Armstrong and Florida Governor Rick Scott. Mr. Speaker, the example set by this young man and his supportive family demonstrates the rewards of hard work, dedication and perseverance. John's devotion to the Boy Scouts over the past decade is laudable, and I congratulate him on his achievement. I thank him for his dedication to service and know we can expect great things from him in the future. I invite my colleagues in the House to join me in congratulating John Robinson Royero on obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout, and I wish him continued success in his future endeavors.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize, honor and congratulate an outstanding constituent of my district, Daniel R. Moon of Scout Troop 931 in Oviedo, Florida, for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. The rank of Eagle Scout is the highest achievement in scouting. To attain this rank, he has demonstrated the qualities of leadership, self-discipline and perseverance while serving his family, friends and community. Only about five percent of Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The awarding of the Rank of Eagle Scout is a performance-based achievement with high standards that have been well maintained over the past century. Daniel Moon has met every test and challenge to pass through the ranks of the Boy Scouts. Those aspiring to be Eagle Scouts must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills. To demonstrate proficiency as a scout, each Boy Scout must achieve merit badges in the areas of First Aid, Citizenship, Environment, Fitness, Family Life and much more. The work ethic Daniel has shown in his Eagle Scout projects, and every other project leading up to his Eagle Scout rank, speaks volumes about his commitment to assisting his community and serving a cause greater than himself. It is my honor to commend Daniel Moon for his achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout. Daniel will join the ranks of fellow Eagle Scouts like President Gerald R. Ford, Neil Armstrong and Florida Governor Rick Scott. Mr. Speaker, the example set by this young man and his supportive family demonstrates the rewards of hard work, dedication and perseverance. Daniel's devotion to the Boy Scouts over the past decade is laudable, and I congratulate him on his achievement. I thank him for his dedication to service and know we can expect great things from him in the future. I invite my colleagues in the House to join me in congratulating Daniel Moon on obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout, and I wish him continued success in his future endeavors.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I am very pleased tonight to lead a Special Order in memory of the life and service of our dear friend, our colleague from Florida, Mr. Bill Young. We will hear from members of the Florida delegation and also from leaders from the committee on which he was a leader, himself. To lead off tonight in our Special Order in that vein, I am very pleased to yield first to the chair of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, on which Mr. Young served so distinguishably, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).

Mr. MICA. I thank the gentleman. We are also pleased to have with us tonight a distinguished leader of the Florida delegation and now the dean of the Florida delegation--our senior member--to pay tribute to Bill Young. I yield to the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

Mr. MICA. I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Young was respected not only by his Republican peers and colleagues but by peers on both sides of the aisle. So I am pleased now to yield to a senior member of the Florida delegation on the other side of the aisle, the cochair, Mr. Hastings.

Mr. MICA. Thank you. Now, in continuing hearing from the leadership of our delegation, I am pleased to yield to the chairman of the Florida delegation, the gentleman whose district is adjacent to Mr. Young's, to the south, Mr. Vern Buchanan.

Mr. MICA. I am pleased now to recognize another colleague across the aisle. Again, Bill Young's friendships and his service included everyone in the House of Representatives and in the Congress, so I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur.

Mr. MICA. I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Miami, Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart, another Florida colleague, who is also a gentleman who served with Mr. Young distinguishably on the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), again, reaching across the aisle with the respect and esteem in which Mr. Young was held.

Mr. MICA. I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, the Honorable Gus Bilirakis, another Florida colleague, and he also has a district that is adjacent to Mr. Young's.

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, at this time I will yield back my time with the intent of relinquishing the balance of the time to one of the leaders from Florida and also a member of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Crenshaw. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues in paying tribute to my good friend and fellow Member of Congress, C.W. Bill Young. More than four decades ago, I first met Bill when I served as a campaign aide to the late Congressman Bill Cramer. Bill Young was a Florida State Senator at the time who was seeking the St. Petersburg, West Florida Coast Congressional seat being vacated by my boss who was running in 1970 for the U.S. Senate. Bill Young had already served as a Congressional aide to Bill Cramer and then was elected as Florida's first Republican State Senator since the Civil War. Bill Cramer when elected was the first GOP U.S. House Member since that era. As fate would unfold, Bill Cramer lost and Bill Young took his seat in Congress. I had aligned myself with Florida's West Coast GOP political operatives called the ICY Machine. Those were initials for Jack Insco, a top Cramer aide and political strategist, Bill Cramer and Bill Young, a Florida political powerhouse at that time. While my boss lost his election, I gained great experience and wonderful friends. Among them, Bill Young, rising GOP star, and his two young aides, George Cretekos and Doug Gregory. Both George and Doug served with Bill Young for over three decades, during which I was privileged to count all among my friends and political allies. As an aide to U.S. Senator Paula Hawkins from 1980 to 1985, I had the honor of working with two GOP leaders who worked tirelessly for Florida and our Nation. I must say, two legends with two very different styles. Paula had a flair for the media and attention and Bill quietly pursued his legislative agenda. Both were highly effective in their own way. Paula championed missing children and Bill rose as a champion of our military. Now both have joined the ages and are part of the history of Congress and the State of Florida. Having worked with Bill Young on military issues important to our State and Nation as recently as the past few weeks, I can tell you no one could be more effective. No one could be more respected or trusted. While fond memories of Bill Young continue, his real legacy will transcend generations for our military and long benefit our national defense. For his tireless work on behalf of all Americans and all citizens of the Sunshine State, I join my colleagues in this special tribute to C.W. Bill Young. What a great privilege it has been to share part of my life and grow memories with Bill Young. I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Beverly, to the Young family and to his devoted staff and constituents.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, it is absolutely fitting that we take this step and name our veterans hospital on the west coast of Florida after a great American, a patriot, a hero for our veterans-- Bill Young. Probably more than anyone in the House of Representatives or Congress, I have known Bill Young, I think, longer. He and I were both aides to the first Republican Congressman since the Civil War, Bill Kramer. He was an aide before I was, but we met and worked together more than 40 years ago. So I rise tonight not only as a colleague, but as a personal friend and political ally of a great human being, someone who put his heart and soul into his position, who loved our servicemen and -women, and his great legacy will be all he has done to honor their memory. Tonight, we honor his memory with renaming Bay Pines veterans hospital for Bill Young, my friend.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Here we are, folks, my colleagues, fellow Americans. In just a few days, the United States may not be able to pay its debts. That would be horrible for the country and for leadership as we know it. Mr. Speaker, how did we get here? The other side--and you are hearing from them--took control of the place. In 4 years, the spending went unchecked. The debt rose from $9 billion to now $17 trillion. They are asking for another trillion dollars to continue the spending unchecked to continue the indebtedness. We can and we should come together to resolve this; but at some point, you have to be responsible as a parent, as a Member of Congress, as citizens to hold the line, to stop the spending, and to put a check on indebtedness to the future. Barack Obama voted against raising the debt limit when he was a Senator and said that not addressing the debt was a lack of leadership.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, it has been a while. I know the American people are frustrated with the shutdown, and a week from now, the country will default if action is not taken. How we got into this situation is not that complicated. You can only continue to spend so much of the public's money, and then you run out of the public's money. After years, 4 years of unchecked spending, when the Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, it has caught up with us. We put the brakes on 2 years ago, and this is a difficult way to put the brakes on now. No one likes it. The American people don't like it. But we have got to get our spending and we have got to get our debt under control. You continue to spend, you incur debt. Next week we'll go from $17 trillion to probably a request for another $1 trillion. That's not sustainable. We must work together to resolve this in the long-term interest and national economic and financial security of our Nation.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, as the clock ticks, the country gets closer to a time when it will run out of money. People probably couldn't understand all of the debate leading up to the implementation of ObamaCare just a few days ago, and some of the questions and debate became blurred. That was one of the biggest government programs--largest spending programs--probably in the history of our Nation; but it did have consequences, because you are spending more trillions of dollars, and if we are going to provide health care, we want it right. There are many Americans who don't have health care, and we should assist them in a responsible fashion. The roll-out has been a disaster. We are holding a hearing on that in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. All that being said, it's about time to pay the piper here. I think the American people will understand, and can understand, that the country is close to default. The country is close to default because we have incurred an indebtedness that will soon exceed $17 trillion, an indebtedness which, again, will reach the current limit next week. They are asking for another $1 trillion or $900 billion to get us one more year. We are going to have to pay the piper. When you spend $1.5 trillion more a year in the first year with the Obama administration and, in each succeeding year, over $1 trillion more than you took in, you acquire an indebtedness. It was $9 trillion when President Bush left office, and it will soon be $18 trillion in some 6 years, the most indebtedness of any nation. We can't become a Greece. This is not that difficult to understand. When the government can't pay its bills, if folks think there is a temporary shutdown now, think of a permanent shutdown. Think of going to the bank and not being able to withdraw money or, as you've heard, not being able to obtain a mortgage. The full faith and credit of the United States of America will collapse. Just like when an individual spends more than he earns, he must pay the piper. Hopefully now, everyone can understand we are in that situation and that we must act responsibly. Republicans are not standing in the way. Republicans are trying to save the day because this is coming due. The bill is due. We must find a way to cut spending, reduce the amount of Federal spending and keep the debt down. It's that simple. If the President of the United States will not negotiate and if the Senate will not negotiate, you cannot achieve what we need to do to be responsible as stewards of the American people. We are one half of one-third of the government, so this isn't all our responsibility. We are trying to act responsibly, and we are asking people to come together and find a way to reduce spending in a responsible manner. If we have got problems with some programs like ObamaCare, let's fix them. Let's get this spending down. Again, this is the time we are going to have to pay for all of these government programs, for the spending that has gone on unchecked and for the indebtedness the United States has incurred. Just a final lesson: the Constitution and the Founders put all spending--the appropriations, the funding of programs--and also the responsibility for raising taxes with this body, the House of Representatives. They did so because we are closest to the people. We get elected every 2 years. They chose to have the Republicans in the majority in order to control the spending that went out of control and the government programs that went out of control. So that is what we are doing, what they sent us here to do; and we must do it in a responsible fashion. We are here. We were here before the shutdown. We have asked to negotiate. We will continue to do that. Our leaders are committed to doing that, to working in a responsible fashion. We have to get this right. We must pay the piper. The piper is calling our bills and our credit due, so let's join together and act responsibly.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, why are we here? We are here because of a failure of leadership. The fact is the President of the United States has failed to negotiate. The fact is the Majority Leader of the Senate, the head of the Senate, has failed and refuses to negotiate. It's interesting how time changes one's perspective. Let me quote Barack Obama before he became President. These are the words of Barack Obama. He said: Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means ``the buck stops here.'' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. Barack Obama said it very well before he became President. Now he needs to serve and act as President and provide the leadership. The fact is October 1 is the beginning of the financial year, and we should responsibly fund the government. The fact is, in just a few more days, we will reach $17 trillion in indebtedness--nearly half of that incurred since Barack Obama has become President. Think about that. They're going to come and ask for another $1.9 trillion to keep us going for 1 more year. That means in 6 years we will double the debt that's racking up the greatest debt in the history of mankind for any government. Republicans might like to think that we won the House of Representatives back in 2010 and '95, but it was the same issues: spending, taxes, and health care. Remember HillaryCare and the taxes and other things imposed by President Clinton. The difference is President Clinton negotiated with us. We balanced the budget within 2 years. We can do that if good people of good faith will come together and negotiate, but we can't negotiate by ourselves. The Constitution empowered the House of Representatives to be in charge of and responsible for levying taxes--because we're closest to the people--and spending. We have that responsibility. They sent us here. They elected us, rejecting the spending that went on. They saw what went on--$1 trillion more than you took in, spending, the first year of this Presidency, and $1 trillion since. So we must act responsibly, but we must have leadership starting from the White House, starting from the Senate. Republicans in the House are ready to negotiate. We were here when the Senate didn't show up on Sunday. They didn't show up to work the day before the 1st of October to fund this current year. We must be here to meet, responsibly, our debt. We can't put that debt, as the President has said before he was President, on the backs of our children and grandchildren; but we can't do that without the system working. We need leadership--leadership from the President to negotiate, leadership from the Senate to negotiate. Our leadership has said they will negotiate. We've been here--we'll stay here--but we need to responsibly fund all the activities of government even if it's piece by piece, as we have responsibly done, and sent them over to the other body, and they sit there. But again, I urge all of the leaders to come together, and my colleagues, particularly the Senate and the President of the United States. We can do responsibly what we need to do, as designated by the Constitution of the United States, and provide that leadership.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, just a quick minute to reflect on the previous speaker. First of all, as a former chairman of Transportation, chair of the Aviation Subcommittee, if the FAA Administrator is not ensuring that safety positions, including inspectors that are key to safety, that those positions are filled and manned during this shutdown, he should turn in his resignation immediately. I can tell you he has the discretion to make certain that safety and our Essential Air Service inspections are conducted. So this is a game that's being played by the other side. Secondly, the gentleman spoke to a non-Federal program. There is no reason that any program that's supported with private money can't continue. We've seen this game played this week, poking veterans in the eye, poking even minorities in the eye. If you have been to Washington and seen the World War II Memorial, it's an open space. And to put up barriers, and to put Park Service personnel out there to put fences up to prohibit the public and our veterans from walking into that open memorial, is an offense. To do the same thing to the Martin Luther King memorial is an offense to our minorities and all Americans. So this is a game that's being played. I have seen it played, you know, just a short time ago. And it's good to have some institutional memory on FAA. The other side controlled this body. Now, they controlled the House, the Senate and the White House in huge majorities, they could not pass an FAA reauthorization. They did 20 extensions. During those 20 extensions, you know what happened? They left all of our safety policy, they left our advancements in technology, our Next Generation air traffic control programs, all in the lurch. And here they are talking about a 4-day disruption. And they did the same thing to me. I sent over to Mr. Reid, after the 20-some extensions, I sent to him a clean extension with one caveat: you couldn't have Essential Air Service, a Federal program in which you gave more than a thousand dollars per ticket subsidy. That was offensive to him because he was giving $3,720 per airline ticket subsidy. And he held up the legislation for 2 weeks. We had a partial shutdown of FAA for 2 weeks. They called me every name in the book. I was a one-man Tea Party terrorist cell. The President, I heard him talking about holding a gun to the head of the Senate. That's what they used against me. They've used this before, they are using it again. They had an opportunity to do some of these things, they didn't. They couldn't even pass a budget. The only reason they passed a budget this year was we put No Pay, No Budget. All of their 4 years. So let's look at the record. How did we get ourselves into this situation? They spent that 4 years passing a health care bill that they told us we would know what was in it after we passed it, and we found out. The President 17 times has changed provisions in it that were in law. He gave an exemption to business people. He gave exemptions to his friends. He changed the law. Many of us wanted to do away with the law. We know that has gone into effect. We have asked for a reasonable approach to negotiate and change some things that need to be changed. Let Members of Congress and the White House staff and others be subject to ObamaCare. Let's have some relief for individuals for some time. But you can't do that if you won't negotiate. If you are golfing on Saturday, as the President was doing, if you don't show up for work on Sunday, like the Senate didn't do, if you come to work on Monday at 2 o'clock, you don't get the job done. And then if you go to the White House and you don't sit down and talk or negotiate, you won't get it done. We're here, we're going to be here 24-7, our leadership is committed to stay over the weekend, next week until we get it done, until we open the government, until we get the finances of this country as it careens down the path to possible default. Seventeen trillion, asking for another trillion of indebtedness. From $9 trillion to 17 going to 18, double it in what--5, 6 years of this administration? Spending out of control, large government programs that do need our attention. We need to be responsible. We need to be accountable. We need to take any law, whether it's ObamaCare or others, and make certain that our people do have health care and do the best job possible working together and compromising.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, we are here on a Friday. The government has partially been shut down for some 4 days now. Republicans have tried to be reasonable. Many of us did not like ObamaCare. Some folks, like myself--my family didn't have health care at certain times. And I thought we had a responsibility to help people who had preexisting conditions, help some of our young people. And we disagreed with the other side. They passed it. They said you'd know what was in the bill after we passed it. After we passed it, and it became the law, we saw what was in it. The President, some 17 times now--many times in contravention of the law that was passed--changed the law. Now when we came a few days ago, October 1, there wasn't money to run the government, but there was money to run ObamaCare. Still, many people were left in the lurch after many exceptions were made for special interest folks, even business. And I admit to being pro- business. They gave them a waiver. We said that Members of Congress and also the White House staff and others should be under ObamaCare, and we said that the individual should also have a break here. This is a system that some Democrats said was a train wreck. We didn't say that. But we should have the opportunity to make some changes. And we offered three opportunities to make changes--some of them minor--that we thought were fair. But when you go out golfing the Saturday before the government is about to run out of money, when you don't show up for work on Sunday, and you come to work on Monday, as the United States Senate did, you can't negotiate. When you send people to the White House and sit there and say, we won't negotiate----

Mr. MICA. But our leaders, in good faith, went to the White House. As a staffer, I used to get calls. I was a staffer for Senator Hawkins, and Ronald Reagan would ask me to help work with my boss and others to get things done. I voted on this floor to impeach Bill Clinton. And Bill Clinton came back and worked with us. We balanced the budget. Remember, after we had the last shutdown, '95, within 2 years, we balanced the budget. We reformed welfare. We balanced the budget. Actually, the debate here on September 11, just before September 11, was what to do with the surplus. So some good can come out of this, good people working together. But when they won't negotiate, when they call you to the White House and they won't talk, when they go to Maryland, as they did, or wherever it was in the region here, and then tell folks that we're holding a gun to their heads, that's wrong. Let's negotiate. Let's get this done for the American people.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, I am pleased to hear the gentleman from California from the other side of the aisle who just spoke and his willingness to work together. I think that's the kind of cooperation that the American people are looking for and that Congress needs to adhere to in coming together and resolving this. No one wants a shutdown. No one wants to see vital and essential government programs eliminated or withheld from the public. Sometimes in these situations that are most difficult, you actually become concerned about basic common sense or, again, the attempts of certain people to try to embarrass each side. I think one of the worst things I've seen in my service was the closedown of some of our memorials. This probably won't show up for my colleagues very well, but this is the Martin Luther King Memorial. You just walk up and look at it. But to deploy Interior and park personnel to put out barriers to constrain the public from even walking is an absolutely senseless and mindless bureaucratic move. Many people saw also the construction. And this, again, is not a very good photo, but this is Park personnel that were deployed putting fences up in front of the Lincoln Memorial and then, most offensively, to put barriers to block, in an open-air park memorial, our World War II veterans' memorial. This is senseless. I have talked to Mr. Issa and the Oversight subcommittee that I chair--Mr. Issa chairs the whole Oversight Committee of Congress. I know Mr. Hastings is going to look into this, his Natural Resources Committee. But this is a senseless offense to the American people and particularly our veterans and others, there is no reason for this. So some common sense has to prevail in all of this. We will get beyond this. People will be made whole. It is unfortunate that sometimes government, whether it was back in Washington's days or throughout our history, does work on a brinksmanship basis and does not get to a resolution, particularly when you come to difficult times. My colleagues, we are at one of the most difficult times in history. Within the next 2 weeks, the United States of America will be at our debt limit. We'll be $17 trillion in debt. They're going to come and ask for another trillion dollars for a year to keep us from being a deadbeat Nation. How did we get here? That's part of the question that has to be resolved here. You had an era of unprecedented spending, 4 years in which the other side--and these are facts--took control. They spent $1.5 trillion more than they took in the first year in office--1.4 trillion, 1.3 trillion, and so on and so on, until we've gone from $9 trillion in debt to 17, reaching 18, almost double in 5 or 6 years. That's unsustainable. So that's what this is about. It's also about a health care program. I come from a family that at times didn't have health care. And many Americans need health care, and we should be able to provide them, but people didn't ask for a bureaucracy. People didn't ask for thousands of bureaucrats here to manage a government program. They didn't ask for IRS enforcers. They didn't ask for many of the mandates that are in this bill that can and need to be revised. The President has already revised the law. The President said he didn't need the Congress, as you will recall, some time ago, and obviously he hasn't. He changed some of the terms, given exemptions to employers, put that off for a year, which was part of the law. We've asked--and, again, some of us wanted it repealed. Some of us didn't like it, but we now have it. We need to revise it, and we need to make certain that Americans have good health care and access to affordable care, but not with bureaucracy. We've offered at least three alternatives and some changes, the last one pretty simple, to delay for a while the individual mandate, like we've done for others. So we can do this and we must do this. We must succeed for the American people.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues, when you think you've seen it all, just stick around here for another day. Yesterday, one of the most appalling events I've seen in our Nation's Capital was the closing of the World War II Memorial, putting up barriers to stop our veterans from accessing that open space area. How offensive could you be? How much more pain do you want to inflict on the American people? Now, here is the group that closed the White House. This President closed the White House and said he didn't have money to open it to the public. I would suggest, first of all, maybe we need to get a new parks director and fire those folks, or furlough those folks that can't leave public spaces and memorials open to the public. What an offense. When I thought that was offensive yesterday morning, I came to the House last night and saw, again, another horrible offense. We passed, Republicans passed a measure to make certain that our military were paid and our servicemen and -women in harm's way were taken care of financially. We saw, also, the need, afterwards to help our veterans. And last night, in one of the most offensive actions of the House, the other side of the aisle turned down an opportunity to keep our veterans whole. How offensive could you be? But they want to inflict pain. I'm telling you, folks, I've been around here a long time. I've never seen an operation like this. The chief of staff in the U.S. Senate-- Ronald Reagan would pick up the phone, he would even call me, as a chief of staff, to get things going in the Senate, talk about things. He called the Senators. He would work with Representatives. He would bring them in and have communication. Even Bill Clinton, after I voted to impeach him, would work with you to get things done, and we got things done. We had a shutdown then. This isn't the end of the world. There were 17 shutdowns, and some good came out of that shutdown. It was a horrible thing. We don't need to repeat them. We don't need to have this one. But we did balance the budget. We balanced the budget with a Republican Congress working with a Democrat President. There's no need for this offensive approach that's being taken, not working, not communicating. This can and should be resolved. Members of Congress have that important responsibility and can't neglect it. This is much more difficult than just a temporary shutdown. We're talking about a permanent shutdown of the Federal Government. Do you think having a few of the Federal services eliminated or suspended temporarily is tough? In a few weeks, the government will run out of money. Why? Because these folks will talk to you about a budget. They haven't passed a budget since 2008. The only way we got the other body--the Senate--to pass a budget was to pass a bill to embarrass them that said, no budget, no pay. This is the group that had control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. They couldn't even pass an FAA bill. There were 20 extensions. A transportation bill. They couldn't pass a budget, and here they're criticizing us. We came to work, and we worked until 12:30 into Sunday morning. They were absent without leave. The Senate never even came to work on Sunday. They came to work on Monday at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. And then they rejected every offer. We offered three times to compromise and then we said, Let's sit down. Yesterday we had a conference. No one showed up. You have to show up. The President has to be the President. Let him take a little of this Malaysia money--he's not going to Malaysia--and open the White House, open the memorials to our veterans. Use some of that money that he's gaming the system, trying to inflict pain on our veterans and our citizens. There is no reason for this. Good people of good intention can come together, make this government work, make it better, pay our bills, and be responsible and bring this out-of-control spending under control and get our government accountable and responsible. That's what the American people want. They're tired of the blame game. Let's get America going in a positive direction. I know we can do it.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, here we are, the government has shut down. It's amazing some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have political amnesia, sort of revisionist history. Let's just look at some of the facts. The other side of the aisle, the Democrats, took over in 2008. We haven't had a Federal budget since 2008. The only way we got a budget this year from the United States Senate was a provision that the Republicans passed: ``No budget, no pay.'' We had to force them by passing a law and embarrassing them to pass a budget. How did we get in this situation? And this is a very critical financial situation for the United States of America, for all Americans. The shutdown is very unfortunate, but sometimes you have to take dramatic steps to move forward. We got in this situation because the other side--controlling the House, the Senate, and the White House in 2008--went on a spending binge unprecedented in the history of mankind in any government. The first year they spent more than $1.5 trillion more than we took in. From 2008 to current, we went from a $9 trillion deficit to $17 trillion; nearly doubled it in 5 years--every year spending out of control. We put the brakes on a bit. This is about funding the government for this next year that starts today. In 2 weeks, we will reach the maximum limit of the indebtedness of the United States. We can't let the United States become a Greece or a deadbeat nation. But stop and think, they are going to ask for another trillion--$900 billion in debt and deficit limits for the United States. At some point, you have to say enough is enough. Now, I Googled last night to see my comments on the shutdown. I put in ``Mica shutdown.'' Sometimes we forget what has happened. In August of 2011, I chaired the Transportation Committee and came to the floor. The other side had controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, and they could not pass an FAA bill. They did 20 extensions costing millions and millions of dollars leaving the FAA,-- an important agency--in turmoil. Finally, I said: Enough is enough. I sent over an extension to Mr. Reid--it was a clean extension--except it cut out his $3,720 per airline ticket subsidy. I am not kidding. In Nevada, one of his airports was getting $3,720. So rather than take that, we had a partial shutdown of the FAA. Recall that. Just Google it and you will see. I was called the ``Shutdown King.'' For 2 weeks they pilloried me. They called me an ``extortionist.'' They said I was a ``one-man Tea Party terrorist.'' They accused me of holding a gun to the Senate's head. We did pass an FAA bill. We got an important part of our government working again. I don't like to take those tough measures. We have tried to be reasonable. None of us on our side of the aisle voted for ObamaCare. The other side voted for it, and they told us that we could read the bill afterwards, and we would find out what is in it. We found out what is in it. We tried and we voted more than 40 times to repeal it. We tried in a reasonable fashion. We sent over three times proposals to do some of the things that even the President has done, and that is delaying mandates. He carved out exceptions for everybody, except for individuals. So here we are. They don't want to compromise. They didn't show up for work on Sunday at all. They came in yesterday. How would you like to show up for work at 2 when things are going to heck in a handbasket and then reject a proposal? We can't revise history. We have got to work together; we have got to get this done. We have offered a conference to sit down, and we can get the job done. Sometimes it is tough.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and fellow Members of Congress, 10:15 in the morning. Where is the United States Senate? I was here until 12:30 yesterday morning. As I recall, we passed a bill to keep the government open and we passed a bill that had compromise. Most Republicans voted over 40 times to repeal ObamaCare, but we agreed to just a 1-year delay in implementation. The President has already agreed to a delay of a year for employers. Why not for the American people in a train wreck that's about to happen to try to get our act together because people do need health care? Where was the United States Senate yesterday? I say they were AWOL. They were not here. They don't come in until 2 p.m. today, and then they'll jam a bill through the House and Senate and try to make it look good.