Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today, September 26, is now 5 days and counting for the start of the next fiscal year which, if Congress does not act within this next 5 days, the U.S. Government will shut down.

I have been around Congress for a while. I was here in 2013 when the government shut down for 17 days. In 2019, all the agencies under the Department of Homeland Security were shut down for 35 days. This is a disaster for the American people and for our standing in the world if, God forbid, this does not come together in the next 5 days.

Mr. Speaker, I represent a district that is a strong defense district. We have the largest military installation in New England, the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. We have about 16 attack submarines that are located there, tied up there that are deploying at a heel-to-toe pace constantly. There are about 2,000 civilian employees that make that base operations function as they should.

I also have a district which is the home of the Coast Guard Academy. That institution is building the future leaders, young men and young women, for the Coast Guard, who are doing important work not just in the littoral areas of our Nation and the rivers, but also overseas in terms of providing critical assistance to allies who again are really struggling with gross violations of the international convention for law, the sea treaty. Again, the Coast Guard is looked at around the world as really the gold standard in terms of providing quality training and examples for that critical function to take place.

In the past, when we had shutdowns, despite some of the ridiculous comments that are made by some of my colleagues in this Chamber that, oh, there is nothing to worry about, Active-Duty people still have to report, they are going to get paid retroactively, the concerns about that are overblown.

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that that is, in my opinion, some of the most irresponsible, dangerous rhetoric that can be uttered at a time like this. The fact of the matter is, there is a hardship for people who are wearing the uniform. Many of them go literally from paycheck to paycheck. In 2019 when the Coast Guard was shut down along with the Department of Homeland Security in New London, we had pop-up food banks to help Coast Guard families put food on the table for themselves and their family members.

In terms of the 17-day shutdown, the submarine base, again, all of the civilian support staff, DOD employees who were told they were not essential, they didn't have to come to work. We didn't have crane operators doing their job on the base, we didn't have all the support and maintenance staff in terms of making sure the operations of that base functioned.

This is a totally unnecessary, unforced error which will cause havoc in every other military installation and every other DOD facility around the country.

Mr. Speaker, there is a pathway here. There is a roadmap, and we know that because at the end of May when we passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which avoided a default on the full faith and credit of this country, Democrats and Republicans came together, a center-left, center-right coalition that passed those measures. The final vote on May 31, when we passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed 314-117. There were 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans that came together to avoid that catastrophic consequence of a default, something that hasn't happened since the War of 1812.

On the rule vote that led up to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, again it was a center-left, center-right coalition that got that measure to the floor. Fifty-two Democrats voted for the rule, which is unheard of in this town to have the minority party vote to support the majority party for a rule, but 52 of us did that. Honestly, I have been here a while, I consider that one of my proudest votes to make sure that we were going to look beyond party and do what is right for our country, in terms of making sure that critical functions at a time like this, when both domestically and overseas there was so much at stake in terms of having a stable, functioning government so that we can do the work for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, there is a military saying which I think Members should be thinking about today as we approach this critical week, and it says ``Lead, follow, or get out of the way.'' There is clearly going to be a bipartisan measure that is going to get put together in the Senate. It is happening right now as we speak. It is a 45-day extension to keep the government open, allow the Appropriations Committee to finish its work. We need to pass that. We need to lead, follow, or get out of the way.

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