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Mr. STOCKMAN. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize the fact that we're talking here today about things that impact our Nation, and I want to talk about our Speaker who, as you know, or many of you know, I voted against and didn't want to be the Speaker. Today, our Speaker has been vilified after offering opportunity after opportunity to negotiate. The President, on the other hand, said he's not willing to negotiate with our Speaker.
The Speaker grew up in Ohio in a working-class community, and has negotiated many times with the President. It's most puzzling to me why now the stance of no negotiation. Every time we had a shutdown--I was here in the last shutdown--we negotiated. The President at that time, President Clinton, negotiated. In all the shutdowns, we always had negotiations. That's the way this body works is that we work on compromise.
The President wrote a letter to this individual who is the head of Iran. He's negotiating with the head of Iran, who wants to eliminate Israel. He's willing to negotiate with him for nuclear weapons.
The President also wants to negotiate with the head of Syria. This individual gassed his own people, tortured his own people, and killed his own people. I don't understand why he's willing to negotiate with him, but he is. Again, he's not willing to negotiate with our Speaker.
Next, the President is also willing to negotiate with the Taliban. The President ordered the release of several prisoners prior to even negotiations to get ``the negotiating to start.'' Again, let me remind the body that the Speaker is not to be negotiated with, but the Taliban is. Now the President says, I'm willing to negotiate if you give up your position. That's not negotiation.
I would like to show you, Mr. Speaker, some of the words that have been used against our Speaker and the Republican body. We've been called by this administration: terrorists, anarchists, suicide bombers, blackmailers, fringe, extortionists, ideologists, gangsters, extremists, bombs strapped to their chest, guns held to their heads.
We're not talking about the terrorists who the President is negotiating with, but we're talking about the working-class gentleman from Ohio.
I call on the President to tone down the rhetoric. I call on the President to respect this body and to negotiate in good faith. It's time to end the government shutdown, and let's do it in a positive manner.
I would like to point out, too, while these names were hurled in insult to the Speaker, never once has the Speaker ever used that kind of terminology against our President.
I would like to see this body turn down the rhetoric and get back to the business of negotiating and making compromise. It's the fair thing to do, it's the proper thing to do, and I just appeal to the Nation to stop using this kind of rhetoric against people in this body. We deserve better.
I praise the gentleman from Ennis, Texas, for allowing me this time to speak to unifying the body and negotiating in fairness. We ask the President just to sit down.
By the way, Mr. Speaker, we've appointed conferees to negotiate. To this date, they've never shown up on the other side. We can't negotiate unless there's someone else. Anybody in a family knows that it takes a husband, a wife, a spouse, or a partner to make a deal. It takes two people. You can't do it unilaterally.
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