Mike Simpson

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's motion.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I insist on my point of order.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 370, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 70) making continuing appropriations for National Park Service operations, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the appeal on the table.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, it is now my pleasure to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Riverside, California (Mr. Calvert), a valuable member of the Interior Subcommittee.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have on either side?

Mr. SIMPSON. I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, it just stuns me that the gentleman from Virginia is unwilling to put his constituents back to work in opening and working in our national parks. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings), the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Well, here we are again, Mr. Speaker. We were here yesterday, with the Republicans trying to open the government back up and the Democrats opposing opening the government back up. But, Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this important legislation to fund the operations of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. Mr. Speaker, I spoke yesterday about some of the effects of the government shutdown, which began a couple of days ago. With each passing day, we hear of more and more impacts resulting from the shutdown across the country and in our Nation's Capital. I want to remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that all 401 National Park Service units in the United States, 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries, including the National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, remain closed to the public. This legislation, if adopted, would reopen these national treasures to the American public. Mr. Speaker, the government shutdown is having a real impact on real people and on the national economy. I remind my colleagues that it is estimated that the local economy is losing up to $200 million a day, with the National Zoo, Smithsonian museums, Holocaust Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and other popular attractions closed to the public. This doesn't even begin to measure the national and international impacts of these closures. Think of the families, the veterans groups, the groups of students who all have saved for months and, in some cases, years to travel to our Nation's Capital from across the country to visit the Air and Space Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the National Zoo, Ford's Theater, or the National Gallery of Art. This government shutdown has a real impact on real people. Think of the families who made reservations to visit Yosemite or Yellowstone or the Statue of Liberty and now find these national parks shuttered today. This government shutdown, again, has real impacts on real people. Think of the impact the government shutdown is having on Ford's Theater, one of the most hallowed National Park Service historic sites in our country. Not only are tourists denied entrance to the historic theater, but the shutdown has forced evening performances of the theater to be moved to another location because of the budget impasse. Think of the young people who have a National Park Service permit to get married at the Jefferson Memorial this Saturday. Their families are arriving from all over the country, over 130 people, for what should be the happiest day of this new couple's life. But because of the government shutdown, they are not able to get married at the Jefferson Memorial and are now scrambling to find an alternative location to get married. Let's pass this bill so this couple and millions of Americans across this country can enjoy our national parks and this couple can get married at the Jefferson Memorial. There's a photo on the front page of today's Washington Post showing National Park Service employees putting up barricades around the Martin Luther King Memorial on The National Mall. Remember, this is open air, accessible to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and we are putting barriers around it. Just down the street, barricades were put up around the World War II Memorial--again, a memorial accessible to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Fortunately, these temporary barriers didn't stop a large group of visiting World War II veterans, members of the Greatest Generation in their eighties and nineties, many of them in wheelchairs, from storming the barricades so that they could witness the memorial built in their honor of courage and sacrifice. Tourists visiting Washington, and, indeed, many furloughed Federal employees are, today, finding actual physical barriers to prevent them from experiencing our open-air national monuments honoring Lincoln, Jefferson, King, and our World War II heroes. At some point, Congress and the President will overcome their differences over Federal funding. But, isn't it ironic and even cynical that when the government shuts down, the President's administration actually builds physical barriers at sites that are otherwise open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? How cynical is that? Now, some people say they put those barriers there to protect them from vandalism. So we use the Park Police to put up and protect the barriers, but not the monuments. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. To my friends on the Democratic side of the aisle and to the President, I say this: If you seek a solution to this government shutdown, if you seek a bipartisan solution, Mr. President, you can start by tearing down these barriers. Let's open our national parks. Let's open the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum and the National Gallery of Art. Why are the House and Senate Democrats denying the American people the right to visit these treasured sites? To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I will close with this thought. By opposing this legislation, you are voting to keep our national parks closed, to keep Yellowstone closed, to keep Yosemite closed, to keep the Statute of Liberty closed, to keep Ford's Theater closed. You are voting to keep the Smithsonian closed. You are voting to keep the National Zoo closed. You are voting to keep the Holocaust Museum closed. You are voting to keep the National Gallery of Art closed. We should not be using our national parks, the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum and the National Gallery of Art as hostages for the Democratic ``my way or the highway'' shutdown, and that's exactly what this is. This is the Democratic ``you either agree with us, or we will shut the government down.'' We just simply wanted to go to conference, but no, that's not good enough either. We can't go to conference to talk about these differences, so let's shut it down, and that's exactly what the Democratic Party has done. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. Let's reopen these national treasures. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.J. Res. 70, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the motion to recommit. This motion is not germane and as such is a violation of rule XVI, clause 7, which states: No motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment. This motion deals with a proposition unrelated to the matter addressed by the joint resolution and brings in a matter under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules, which fails the committee of jurisdiction test, and therefore is a violation of rule XVI, clause 7. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. SIMPSON

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of this important legislation to fund the operation of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. The effects of the government shutdown, which began at midnight last night, are already being felt across the country and in our Nation's Capital. As of this morning, all 401 National Park Service units in the United States, 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries, including the National Zoo, the Holocaust Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, were closed to the public. This legislation, if adopted, would reopen these national treasures to the American public. Mr. Speaker, the American people woke up this morning to the headlines that read: ``The Capital of the Free World: Closed Until Further Notice.'' It's no surprise that the government shutdown has had an impact on real people and on the economy. On our National Mall, tourists yesterday raced from one museum to another, trying to see as many sights as they could with the government shutdown looming. It is estimated that the local economy could lose up to $200 million a day with the National Zoo, the Smithsonian museums, the Holocaust Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and other popular attractions closed to the public. This doesn't even begin to measure the national and international impact of these closures. In the case of the National Park Service, 21,379 employees across the country were furloughed today. This has an impact on real people. Families who long ago made plans to visit Yosemite or Yellowstone or the Statue of Liberty found these sites and others shuttered today. This has an impact on real people. I heard on the news about a group of World War II veterans who arrived at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., today and found that the site had been barricaded. That didn't stop them from entering the memorial built to honor their sacrifice. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. The gentleman from Virginia has his own time. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky, Hal Rogers, the honorable chairman of the full Appropriations Committee.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings), the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend from California (Mr. McClintock), who represents one of the most beautiful places in America, Yosemite National Park.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Montana (Mr. Daines), that has Glacier National Park in it.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?

Mr. SIMPSON. I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. You say we could reopen the government, yes, if we put the Senate CR on the floor. We could also open it if the Senate would bring up the House CR and pass it. So there are different ways to address this. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to remind the gentlelady, my friend from California, that there is a process. And it's called, when the House and the Senate disagree on something, they ask for a conference. And they go to conference and they try to work that out. But my good friends on the other side of the rotunda chose to say, No, we don't even want to talk about it. We don't care what you want. We don't want to talk about it. And so they were unwilling to go to conference to discuss it. The other thing I would notice--I don't know that it is beneath the dignity of this House to make sure that when the World War II veterans--who are scheduled to come here tomorrow to fly the colors and celebrate at the World War II Memorial but are presently barricaded out--to make sure that that memorial is open so that they can enjoy it. I don't know that that is beneath the dignity of this House. That is all this bill is trying to do. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao).

Mr. SIMPSON. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.