Holding the Government Hostage: House of Representatives

Floor Speech

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is hard to believe, but in less than 12 hours, the government will shut down unless Congress acts.

The Republican leadership should bring a clean CR to this floor free of all their controversial riders so that we can keep the government running for another few days so that the negotiators can continue their talks and get a deal. But it is outrageous that today we are not doing that. We're bringing a net neutrality bill to the floor which has nothing to do with anything, and we should be spending our time talking about instead how we should save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people that are in the balance if this government shuts down, how we should save the social safety net, because it's gone if this government shuts down.

The Republicans should stop holding this government hostage and stop using these controversial social riders as ransom. We need to keep this government going. We need to get a deal.

Take this net neutrality bill off the floor today. Instead, bring a clean CR so we can all vote and keep this government running so we can get a final deal.

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