Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy and his hard work over the years on the budget.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand today to support this agreement. It allows us to limp along. There is no shutdown for now. We avoid the damage of default. There is a slight relaxation in sequestration. There is equity for seniors and the disabled.

There was a time when many of these provisions would not necessarily be a cause for celebration, but it is today.

This is a signal accomplishment for stability.

I take my hat off to Speaker Boehner, Leader Pelosi, the Senate leadership, and the President and his team for delivering an agreement that came together for Congress at relatively warp speed, working behind the scenes for days. It wins the House some breathing space, not lurching from crisis to crisis, and I hope that we take advantage of this achievement.

This was an important week here on Capitol Hill:

We have made a transition on the Republican side with a new Speaker, a friend that I respect and admire, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan. I look forward to working with him.

It was important that the House was able to work its will on the Ex-Im Bank. We found a piece of legislation supported not just overwhelmingly by the House, but by a majority of Republicans, bottled up in committee by a minority, and it broke loose. I think that is important.

I hope this breathing room allows us to do one other thing, and that is to prioritize our budget requirements. We are going to spend over $1 trillion in the years ahead on nuclear weapons that we cannot afford to use and can't afford to buy. We can do better for the American people, and I hope this agreement allows us to do so.

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