Mr. Speaker, Open the Government

Floor Speech

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have heard my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle say that they want to keep the government open. Well, it's simply not true, Mr. Speaker.

Look, let's face it: the Republicans are in charge of this House. It's Speaker Boehner and the Republican leadership that shut the government down. They could simply bring up the Senate resolution that would keep the government open at any time now, today or any time, and the government would reopen.

So I don't want to hear this constant rhetoric that, oh, the Republicans want to keep the government open. It's simply not true. They are in charge. They have the responsibility. Speaker Boehner has the responsibility to bring up a clean resolution that would keep this government open.

Now, I have heard that our appropriators--and you listen to Nancy Pelosi. They have said that we have agreed to the government spending levels on the other side of the aisle, so that's not the issue here. There is no issue anymore about how much we're going to spend. It's simply that Republicans want to close the government down because of the Affordable Care Act. It should not be linked in any way.

If anybody suggests this is not a problem, 22 percent of the gross national product is dependent upon the Federal Government. This is having a negative impact on our economy.

Mr. Speaker, open the government again.

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