we have an agency that spends $66 million a year, it's the ntis, and i asked g.a.o. to study them, they studied them, and in their report this year, g.a.o. explained there is an office in the department of commerce, which is this office, that sells reports to other agencies. and when we had g.a.o. study this, what we found is 74% of the reports that they sell to other agencies can you get from this one web site for free. now, their budget hasn't gone down. it's expanded, but the need for the agency is going away. so why are we continuing to spend $66 million plus -- that's what we directly spend. that doesn't count what all they collect from the other agencies

for only 26% of the information that's not available other than at google. it makes no sense. it's called the national technical information agency and it was tasked in 1960 with collecting and distributing certain reports. g.a.o. noticed this ten years ago. they noticed it again now. congress has done nothing -- nothing. so what g.a.o. estimated 621,917 of the 841,000 reports that this agency put out are available to -- free to you on the internet. just go to google and you can find it for free. every american can find it for free. all the agencies that are paying can find it for free. but we haven't eliminated this agency. so i'll stop with that.

and i'll make a couple of poin points. it's wonderful that we have a difference of opinion in the u.s. congress, but you can't have a difference of opinion about where this country's headed. we are bankrupt. people don't like to you say that word. this is america; we couldn't be bankrupt. but from a balance sheet standpoint and from an income sheet standpoint, we're bankru bankrupt. so what are -- what are the american people to do about that? are we to continue to spend money every year to the tune of $500 billion to $1 trillion and not make the tough choices, or should we do something about it? should there be a resolution to

this addiction of spending money we don't have on things that we don't need? as a physician, every person i've ever encountered that had an addiction, the first step in confronting that addiction is to recognize the reality of the addiction. and, quite frankly, the members of congress haven't done that. the american people have. they're figuring it out. and the reason i know we haven't recognized the addiction and that we're not worried "we can say, oh, our debt can be such percentage of g.d.p., we don't have to live within our means, we can handle it as long as we don't get above a certain percentage" -- that's the racialization of an enabler in a family who allows somebody to be addictive. every addiction needs a 12-step program and the first step of that is recognizing that we're addicted.

and we are. so one of the things that the american people are starting to ask about us, given that we can't even pass a c.r., we're going to -- we are going to pass a debt limit increase and not make any of the hard choices. they won't be made this year. they won't be made next year. the only time we're going to make the hard choices is when the international financial community forces us to make those. but what americans are asking now, the confidence is so low, is, who decides? do we really represent their thoughts about spending, about priorities, about waste? and if we recognize that all this is there, this trillions and trillions of dollars over ten years that could be changed without any large impact on

america and we don't do anything about it, what they're asking is, who's deciding? who decides? do i represent my constituency if i won't try to change these things? and so the confidence level in us, as reflected in the polls and when you talk to anybody, is they don't have any confidence in us because we won't admit to our addiction, come together and get on the wagon and solve the addiction. so a long time ago -- a long time ago in this body, i said there was a rumble out in america. it wasn't long after that that the tea party came along and i know they're thought about with some disdain. they're not crazy. what they've done is lost confidence and they want something changed. but it's not just the tea party anymore. it's -- it doesn't matter your political persuasion. they think we don't get it, that we aren't willing to make the

sacrifices of our own political careers to solve the problem. and what we need to be doing in my opinion, my prescription for us is the american people don't let us get out of the box by letting us raise again the shackle as that are going to be increased by an increasing debt in this country. because if we do, when we -- and we will -- what will happen is we won't perform, we won't make the tough decisions, we won't make the sacrifice -- there will be no sacrificial leadership on the part of members of congress. their sacrifice will be, "how do i get reelected?" rather than, i don't care if i lose, our country needs to be fixed and we need to be about addressing that, even if it costs me a political position. when it's all said and done and

america's blown through and we see the real results of our profligate spending and the hyperinflation and the marked decrease in standard of living in this country, what they're going to remember about us is there was a challenge and we didn't rise to it. we didn't rise to the occasion. we saw short term and we forgot and ignored the long-term consequences of our action. my hope is, is that would change, both sides of the aisle. that we would truly embrace a long-term picture and recognize the tremendous difficulty we're in. we've heard all this talk about how you've got to raise the debt limit; otherwise, we're default. we're not going to default on our bonds ever. it requires less than 7% of our total cash flow that comes into this country. and we use that as a scare tactic to say. and i'm not saying we should necessarily not increase the debt ceiling. but we sure shouldn't increase

it until we've made a commitment that we're going to actually solve the problem, because we will be back here in a year and a half doing exactly the same thing, with exactly the same excuses that say why we can't. and what america is wanting to hear from us is why we can. they're not wanting to hear about division, they're wanting to hear about unity. they're wanting to hear about the things that pulls our country together rather than tears it down. and the best way to show them that is that we're serious about solving this problem. i hope that that is so. mr. president, i yield the floor. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i ask permission the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boozman: thank you. this past weekend, i was with a group of heroes from the greatest generation. these men and women faced some of the biggest challenges our nation has seen. they put aside their own needs to make the country and the world a better place. these world war ii veterans from arkansas were flown in on an honor flight to see their memorial. they didn't have much to say to me personally about the shutdo shutdown. we talked about it but talked more about the branch of the

service that they were in, what they did during the war, and various things that happened to them during that period. and, of course, about razorback football. we didn't have to spend and take time to visit a great deal about the shutdown for me to know their thoughts. their presence alone was enough of a reminder that we need to solve this issue. as the shutdown drags on, it spills into the debt ceiling discussion. these are two major issues with very serious impacts if left unresolved. to everyone outside of the beltway, it seems both sides are digging their heels in deeper, both sides are ratcheting up the rhetoric and nothing is getting done. the american people are tired of this, dismissing the other side's offers without consideration, and trading barbs to not help out one bit. no one is being asked to abandon their principles.

what needs to happen, however, is both sides must respect the will of the american people. we must find a way to do what the public demands -- reopen the government and getting our spending under control. the president and the senate majority want to say that their health care law is an entirely separate issue from this debate. that's simply untrue. and i.t. not the way americans see t one major reason the american people are rejecting it is because of its budget-busting price tag. we have a budget that can't be strained any further. our debt stands at nearly $17 trillion. $6 trillion of that is being added on president obama's watch. you can't take or on that much t and pretend it isn't a problem. americans don't have the luxury of telling their credit card company to stop calling because they don't want to pay the debt that they've wracked up.

this mess could be avoid fundamental we simply followed regular order here in washington, but we haven't done that in ten years. during -- what i mean by that is during my time in the senate we have passed one individual appropriations bill prior to the end of the previous fiscal year. we didn't consider a single appropriations bill on the senate floor last year. let's return to regular order by passing an annual budget and the accompanying spending bills, not one large bill. and the good news is, is that both sides -- many members on both sides feel that we simple plea nee-- simply need to ghat . tbhaw doesn't get us out of our current mess. we have got to get the government operating again, and we have to get -- we have got to make it such that we ar we avoid default. impassioned debates around major decisions like raising the debt ceiling in the past have

resulted in positive policy changes. in fact, half of the 53 times congress has raised -- has agreed to raise the debt ceiling since 1978, they have attached conditions to it. the gramm-rudman act is a perfect example. we talk a lot about the need to cap spending in washington. gramm-rudman actually did that, and it led to a balanced budget. even the situation that we're currently in with the budget control act was borne out of this type of constraint. now, some in the chamber still aren't happy with that, but the budget control act is the first time in a long time that we've managed to curb the growth in washington spending. noianyone who has ever bought a house or a car can tell you that it takes some time to reach a mutually bsht agreement. there's lots of haggling involved. the owner say, here's what it costs. the consumer makes an offer in

return. this brings a counteroffer and so on. this continues until both parties reach an agreement where everyone is satisfied. but the key to this process is that both parties have to engage in the discussion. everybody needs to come to the table. it's simply not enough to say, this is where i stand and i won't take any other options into consideration. i'm fairly certain you'll never buy a house with that approach. the good news is that it seems we're heading in a positive direction. i believe that there is movement towards a consensus. at the very least, both sides seem to be coming out of their respective corners and discussing our options. we need everyone to come to the table to develop a way forward that puts us on the path to fiscal responsibility. these discussions serve as a starting point for how to rein

in reckless spending so we can eliminate the blank check, the philosophy that has become so pervasive in this town. if we need inspiration to solve this problem, the men and women visited with at the world war ii memorial this past weekend are a perfect place to look. they have actually been named the greatest generation in part for their willingness to take on enormous challenges, because it was the right thing to do. we have an enormous challenge in front of us now. let's follow the inspiration of the greatest generation. let's put our country before ourselves and solve this problem. i note the absence of a erm quo. -- i note the absence of a quorum u. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

eye

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, with your per miss, i'd ask -- permission, i'd ask the clerk to report the cloture motion that i have filed. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions

of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to proceed to s. 1569, a bill to ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligation of the united states government until december 31, 2014. signed by 17 senators as follo follows -- reid of nevada, baucus, murray, schumer, durbin, mikulski, whitehouse, udall of colorado, nelson, boxer, tester, schatz, cardin, gillibrand, cantwell, kaine and warren. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to pay period of morning business, senators allowed to

speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to calendar number 199. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 199, s. 1276, a bill to increase oversight of the revolving fund of the office of personnel management and so forth the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: without objection. viemed a.m. sorry to interrupt. the i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the carper title amendment at the desk be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to h. con. res. 58. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h. con. res. 58, expressing the sense of congress regarding the need for the continued availability of religious services to members of the armed forces and their families during a lapse in

appropriations. the presiding officer: is thrks to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the levin amendment to the concurrent resolution which is deck be agreed to, the congress current resolution as amenden agreed to that a levin amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completees its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m. friday, october 13. follow be the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved. following leader remarks, the senate recess subject to the call of the chair to to to aafa special caucus with the president of the united states. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. order.

>> the senate has gaveled out but earlier today senate democrats attended a meeting at the white house to discuss the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. member spent the rest of the day coming to the floor to talk about the issues with more expected tomorrow. today and the house lawmakers passed a bill funding border security through december 15. follow the house live on c-span and the senate live here on c-span2. right now back to the senate floor to hear from leaders on tomorrow's meeting at the white house between the president and senate republicans. and what that could mean concerning the debt ceiling. >> the president issued a warning to congress quote full consequences of a default by united states or even stirs prospect of default by the united states are impossible to predict an awesome to contemplate. denigration of the full faith and credit of the united states would have substantial effects on the domestic financial

markets and the valley of the dollar in exchange markets. the president went on to warn, risks, warned of the risks, the cost, the disruptions and the incalculable damage of failing to avert such a default. this is not barack obama. it was ronald reagan in 1983. four years later, 1987, he again warned congress about impact on default of our debts. this is what he said and this is a quote. this brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on social security and veterans benefits. interest rates would skyrocket. instability would occur in financial markets and the federal deficit would soar, closed quote. and yet, mr. president three decades later an alarming number of republicans have denied or downplayed this business of the first ever default on the full faith and credit of the united states. to these deniers, east is west, north is the south, like is

white almond and right is wrong. let's talk about what this raising the debt actually means. simply means we will pay our bills. it's not a vote to spend the money to authorize new programs or bu by new things. it's a vote to pay the bills the federal government has already occurred at these bills. bills for roads and bridges they have already built them. for warships we have already commissioned. wars that have been waged, and tax breaks that have been charged on the national credit card. to vote to avert default is a vote to pay the bills for all these things, and more. many republicans were in the press today and have been for the last week or 10 days arguing that why worry about it?

it will all work out. these same republicans who argued we should default on the nation's bills voted time and time again to spend borrowed money, without any regard to long-term effect it would have. these republicans voted to sell government bonds to china, saudi arabia, japan, to pay for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. mr. president, republican senators have come to this floor and have lamented raising the debt. we have to raise this debt because of two unpaid wars costing trillions of dollars. tax breaks for the wealthy costing trillions of dollars. all given to the rich with borrowed money. wars fought with borrowed money. during the bush administration, these same republicans were

happy to run the america's credit card to the tune of trillions of dollars. they are there he was, let's lower the taxes which will be great for the economy. they are now howling about the debt that they created, the debts they voted for. nevermind, mr. president, with a little help from the republicans in congress, president obama, president barack obama has reduced the ratio debt to gdp from niger sent to 4%. pretty good -- 9% to 4%. pretty good. despite hitting trying to charge up wasn't his. now that the bill for republicans excesses have come due, the bill for wars they supported and tax that they received, they are not willing to pay. they want to walk out on the check.

many of the same republicans also say we can avoid default by prioritizing who we pay and when we pay them. they say we should pay for an debt holders first. they all agree with that. china, will be first, and i guess saudi arabia and then maybe japan. but, you know, mr. president, we shouldn't and couldn't pay social security recipients under that, or veterans or medicare. no matter how much we would want to we couldn't do it. there will be no money to do it. in addition to having shockingly skewed priority so republicans are also using very, very flawed logic. here's a real-world example. mr. president, let's say you have a mortgage, a car payment. and a cell phone bill. and the presiding officer decide it's, well, which one should i

pay likes can't pay them all. which one should i pay? doesn't matter, you pick one of them, you default anyway because you can't pay your bills. you likely would never be able to buy another car, cell phone, certainly not a house. your credit would be ruined for the foreseeable future. mr. president, the same thing would happen to our country. one week from today, and that's not a definite time, they could be a couple days before, a couple days after, but we are there, so let's say a week from now, use that as a point of reference, and the united states has no money. it can't borrow anymore. the federal government paid to china but failed to pay unemployment benefits or the sellers of our men and women

fighting in uniform. the damage not only to our credit rating, world credit rating, but all star global reputation would be profound and irreversible. the risks, costs, destruction and the damage would be incalculable. that's what president ronald reagan said. why don't they listen to this man that they say is such a great leader, and was? and i agree. he was a tremendous president to i didn't agree with him all the time but he was a real leader. anymore than anyone else responsible for ending the cold war. but there are many men who say that he couldn't fit in the republican party of today. robert dole, it was the majority leader of the united states

senate, from the state of kansas, this patriotic american, set himself, he wouldn't fit in the republican party of today. so, mr. president, the stakes couldn't be higher. global economic recession and possibly even depression faces this great country. that's why president obama reached out to house republicans, inviting them to the white house yesterday afternoon. guess what they said? now we are too busy. we will send a few of us but we are too busy. remember, house is led by this same man who said he wanted to the conversation, but they were unwilling to have one with him. so i was disappointed here at the same in tractable republican leaders who caused the current government shutdown were unwilling to even allow their members to speak with the president for a constructive

conversation. again, i think they picked 17 out of the 232 they have. this great conversation is one i guess they don't want. they want to talk, but actions tell another story. a cost in of economic turmoil with the shutdown of the federal government, and now if that's not enough, now we have the debt ceiling coming in about a week. republicans forced -- would be magnitudes worse than the damage they've already caused our great country with this senseless, creative government shutdown. yesterday, fidelity, the nation's largest mutual fund manager, half a trillion dollars in assets, announced it would sell all of its short-term

government bonds because of the threat of default. today, there will be more. yesterday, government bonds were considered the safest investment in the world. will it be so tomorrow? time will only tell. but if the united states fails to pay its bills, that safe havens will disappear very quickly. wwe're going to have a vote saturday on the ability to proceed to a clean debt ceiling. we will find out how the senate republicans want to proceed. economists say the consequences of not paying our bills, not extending the debt ceiling with the immediate and catastrophic. this isn't a bunch of harvard left-wingers, mr. president or even republican economist douglas holtz-eakin said that deniers are dead wrong. this is what he said, i quote, a failure to raise the debt ceiling leads to very bad economic outcomes and chaos in

financial markets. fidelity's move is only the first sign of economic chaos, and will continue to spread the closer america comes to defaulting on its bills. with everyday it's passes is more and more important republicans to stop denying the reality of default and start working with us to find common ground. mr. president, always i leaves open the government, let us pay our bills. we will negotiate with them on anything. we will have the conversation with him about anything. open the government, let us pay our bills. then we will negotiate.

.. digging the hole even deeper. and of course that's essentially what so many americans are saying today. if we are going to address the

debt ceiling than let's also address the root causes of the debt. it just makes good sense. you think our friend the majority leader would continue to look at this logic as well but that is not what he has been saying lately. basically saying it would be responsible for congress to address the most pressing problem we face as a country combat that it would be reckless to raise the debt ceiling if that also meant doing something about the debt. in other words he now seems to think the best thing to do about our federal debt is to do nothing at all. that is why my friend the majority leader injured legislation this week which will now allow another trillion dollars to be added to the debt with no strings attached at all all:9. just a trillion dollar debt ceiling increase. just keep raising the credit card limit and let someone else deal with it later on. we have now got a debt close to $17 trillion nearly double what it was in 2007.

we are borrowing nearly $2 billion a day. $2 billion a day. and apparently our friends on the other side are fine with that. they want us to give washington a free pass to borrow and spend a trillion dollars more. he's so comfortable with all of this that my friend the majority leader rejected the president's proposal this week to do a short-term increase followed by a negotiation on reforms. in my view we were sent her here to solve problems, and not differ them. we were sent here to confront the challenges of the moment conk cannot ignore them. that is why the majority leader's proposal just won't fly because it's completely at odds with the wishes of most americans and that is something the president and a lot of other senate democrats agree with when a republican president was asking for a debt limit increase. and of course the problem is a lot more serious now than it was back then. here is something else. they decide neither side will

allow it and certainly that's the case and people should know that. it's irresponsible to do nothing about the debt and irresponsible to be stirring up anxiety about defaults. but that doesn't mean the american people are wrong to ask that a debt limit increase include reforms aimed at tackling the problems that got us in this position in the first place. especially since what our country is routinely done in the past is just that, going back to the eisenhower at administration a request to raise the debt ceiling tied to fiscal reforms nearly two dozen times going back to the eisenhower at administration. that is how we got graham redman holly -- graham redman hauling in the 1980s. that is how we secure significant spending reductions in president obama's first-term spending reductions he later

campaigned on. president obama says the congress should increase the borrowing limit on his maxed out credit card without a single negotiation. he seems to think representatives of the american people should do what he says when he says it he could see says it no questions asked. no questions asked. you know that's -- it's not just irresponsible, it's not the way presidents of both parties have dealt with this problem in the past. reagan negotiated. clinton negotiated and it president obama wants america to increase the credit limit he will negotiate too. i also wanted to address one of the president's favorite talking points these days. he says he won't negotiate over and i'm quoting here the bills congress has already racked up. if the president believes his own talking points he wouldn't

threaten to veto virtually every republican attempt to get spending under control. we have tried endlessly. the only times we can even get him to discuss sensible budget reforms is when he is absolutely forced to when washington has to deal with things like the debt ceiling. let's drop the talking point and just get about negotiating. i know the president doesn't like the fact that americans elected divided government but they did. we have a divided government. no matter how much he tries to divide us at the end of the day he's going to have to deal with the congress he doesn't entirely control. the american people can be persuaded to raise the debt ceiling but they are not going to simply hand over blank check. they are looking for sensible reforms so for president wants to increase his credit limit let's get to the table and negotiate. he has been inviting members of congress to the white house this week and in fact we were told earlier today some republicans

have been invited to meet with the president tomorrow morning. that's a good start but only if it means he has decided to drop his refusal to negotiate on solutions because of this meeting, if this is just a meeting where he simply reiterates that he won't negotiate then it certainly won't be very productive. i yield the floor. >> earlier today at the white house president obama met with house republicans on how to move forward with negotiations over the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling. according to the ap and speaker boehner's press secretary president obama rejected a short-term debt ceiling deal offered by house speaker john boehner and gop leaders but communication will remain open the rest of the evening and into friday. president obama meets with senate republicans tomorrow at the white house.

as the government shutdown continues earlier today house and senate democrats took part in a rally on capitol hill calling on speaker boehner to pass the government funding bill. this is close to an hour. [chanting]

[chanting] >> hey everybody. how's it going out there? [applause] are you feeling strong? are you ready to work? we are ready to work right now. i want to let you all know we wish it was a little nicer outside that our commitment to keep get this government back open for the people who work and sacrifice for the american people are public employees, our commitment is such that we will stand out in the rain, in the sun, could in the snow whatever it takes. we are going to be here. we are not going to back down. we are not going to be scared. we are going to fight, is that right? i am proud here to be with my cochair mr. raul grijalva and with that you have members of

congress in the rain let you know that we are not going to back down. we just want to know one thing. do we have anybody from afge in the house? do we have anyone from afscme in the house? do we have anybody from cwa in the house? have we got anybody from -- and the house? who else have we got? amtrak employees. we have got the american foreign service association in the house. are there any members of congress in the house? is there a reverend in the house? let me tell you guys, let me tell you guys are there voters

in the house? [applause] make some noise if you vote. we will remember in november, the folks. now let me tell you we have got to get started here. i just want to let you know we are committed, you are committed. we are not going to back down and we are going to stick with it. the fact is we have a lot of work to do because as soon as we get this government back open and we will, and we will, we have got to reverse the 30-year attack on public employees. we have got to turn back this 30-year attack on our wages. we have to turn back the 30-year attack on our right to organize and we cannot back down. the people who want to run our country, they are committed and they are so desperate and so crazy to hurt the public sector that they are willing to shut the government down and risk default on our nation's debt

which is all wrong. so we have got to have more commitment come come more fortitude, more persistence and we can't let rain make us scared. look everybody to kick it off we have someone who has been kicking it off for how many years? 50 years reverend? i'm just going to tell you 50 years ago reverend jesse jackson was here at the march on washington. he was calling america to his better self. he was saying at that time, that he was saying we need a march on washington for jobs. he is here to tell you something good today. reverend jackson please come on up. [applause] >> we field today a little liquid sunshine coming down. they are taking our jobs and the

rains and they tend to take our jobs in the snow because we fight that because justice is imperative. we should all stop to say obamacare. there is no such law as obamacare. for -- affordable health care act. affordable health care act for all. there is no obamacare. there is obama cares but the american affordable health care act. you see the reason why that is so important we cannot denigrate ourselves by falling into an attack. you have people who say i am for you staying on insurance for more competition between the

states. we are all in it that we are not for obamacare. that was the design of language. we are for the affordable health care act. for seniors, for children and, for workers between jobs providing preib -- fighting pre-existing conditions. the affordable health care act. no obamacare. affordable health care act. secondly friends we are looking at an insurrection against our government. this is the tea party. this did not start -- we beat them in 1860. we beat them in 1860. we will beat them in 2013 and we

will meet them in 2014. we will retire them. you have states where governors are sending back billions to washington because they don't want to help the poor people. this is not an ordinary government. they think they can stop the federal government and run some defaults and they will shut down the government. they will run us into a fiscal crisis because they believe the federal government is the enemy. they can stop the government with a default and they are winning and america is losing. they lost the battle on the field in 1873. they lost the battle at the polls in 2012.

they must not take our government. we want the affordable health care act. ru5 the war on poverty. revive a plan to invest in america. devise a plan for student loan debt forgiveness. this land is our land. afge and the rainbow will march across america. they will march in chicago on tuesday and in new york on wednesday. in washington next week and if necessary they will go to jail to save the nation. to save the nation. to save the nation. keep hope alive. >> jesse jackson everybody. and now i want to introduce my cochair rural grijalva who will

introduce our leader nancy pelosi. [applause] >> thank you very much here in the rain and we are out here in the rain as workers as people who care about this country can tell boehner to tell the house of representatives this is a democracy. this is a democracy there needs to work for all of us. give us a boat and let's move on with the nation's problems and with the nation's needs. it's been my pleasure since i got to congress to work with and for the first woman speaker of the house of representatives. [applause] to work with and for our leader through all the fights, throughout the struggles. her level of consistency and her level of moral imperative and her level of leadership has raised the issues that are important for this nation and we have not backed down.

a lot goes to this woman that i'm going to introduce. our leader, nancy pelosi. [applause] >> thank you very much raul. thank you keith ellison for cochairing this important meeting for us. thank you very much and thank you for continuing the meeting no matter what the weather. no matter what the weather. i am honored to be here with them come to with my colleagues in the house of representatives and our witness lawyer who was here mr. rangel and we will have our leadership come out here to join with you to say thank you. thank you for what you do for our country for making sure seniors have their social security checks, that families can put food on the table for their children and veterans can get their benefits. the list goes on and on. you make governance possible in

america. we are grateful to you for that. and so we are here to join with you to say open up the government. give us a vote mr. speaker. give us a vote. give us a vote. [chanting] [chanting] >> because there are so many speakers and so much rain i will just say the following. you are wonderful to turn out today in all of this weather. as a mom i don't want you standing out here too long. i don't want you to be sick and the same goes for the people covering all of this but you're being out here no matter the climate and no matter the weather to speak out, to speak out for working families in

america right now because of what they are doing. small businesses cannot get their loans people being furloughed. the ripple effect of this is not good. we the democrats in the house of representatives have been willing, have been willing to give them 200 votes to open up the government. give us a boat. give us a vote. give us a vote. give us a vote. >> nancy pelosi. let me tell you one of the strong heroes we have in our caucus is none other than steny hoyer. steny hoyer represents a lot of folks from the federal government that he and nancy have stood shoulder-to-shoulder and arm in arm to open up the government.

see everyone of you here represents 100,000 who are not here. there are millions of americans wondering why can't we open up the government. ladies and gentlemen we cannot stop the rain that we can stop the shutdown. [applause] we cannot stop the rain but 218 people can stop the shutdown. [applause] we cannot stop the rain but john boehner can stop the shutdown. we need to put the peoples government back back to work. godspeed. keep on keeping on. [applause] [chanting]

[chanting] let me introduce the president of afge mr. copps -- president cox has been at the lead at the point to push this congress to do what is right for workers and to do what is right for this nation. it's my pleasure to introduce the leader of afge mr. david cox. serve. [applause] >> good morning brothers and sisters. first i want to thank -- i want to thank the true leaders of the united states congress that are out there that believe that government is good and government provides great services for the american people

and they showed up today. these people know how to lead. we have got other people that are running and ducking from leadership. do you know what? i want a speaker of the house who knows how to lead. brothers and sisters here we are on day 10, 10 days of crazy irresponsible nonsense bowl. 10 days of people having to go to work without a paycheck. 10 days of people locked out of their jobs for doing the work the american people hired them to do. 10 days of the house of representatives holding our tax dollars hostage. afge is the voice of over 650,000 dedicated federal and d.c. government workers. half of our members are out there without a paycheck and the other half are being forced to work without a paycheck.

each and everyone of us, 100% of us want to serve the american people. we want a clean cr passed now, right now. [applause] like all of you i listen to the house leadership to their calls for negotiations. ordinarily we are willing to negotiate. we would like to negotiate to end the sequestration. we would like to negotiate to negotiate a fair tax system that makes the wealthier corporations pay their fair share. we would like to negotiate all kinds of policies that would include right -- improve rights for working class people and improve the federal government. we are not demanding that anyone shut the government down or risk the full faith and credit of the united states government just to prove a point. no, we would never do that. all we want is a clean cr now.

a clean cr now. brothers and sisters i want my people to be able to go to work. tell speaker boehner let my people go to work. quit taking us all hostage. brothers and sisters they are not just taking us hostage. they are taking veterans, the men and women who have laid down their lives. they have locked them out a five and veterans claims. they are locking children out of head start. they are taking minors hostage because we don't have safety enforcement. brothers and sisters airplanes are not being inspected. the safety of the american people is at risk. i say today that my people go to work. lay let members go to work to serve the american people. we want to go to work. we want to go to work right now.

thank you brothers and sisters. [applause] >> i want to introduce you to a young lady named natasha. natasha is a hard-working young lady and she is a public employee. give it up for natasha everybody. [applause] >> hello everyone. my name is natasha natasha and i'm a federal employee for the united states citizens feel. the house of representatives told me i could not go to work. i love my job at the census bureau and have been a good employee. i was forced into losing eight days of pay and counting. which expenses are more important than others. several employees are scheduled to get paid in the next coming days but most of us half and two-thirds of our pay while they're taxes are being adjusted quarterly. we also have health insurance at the normal rate.

let me repeat that. our deductions will still come out as if we have been paid in full. for anyone out there deductions deductions -- combine that with the fact that most members take home $500 a week and we have been behind on their bills from being furloughed this summer. whoever these federal employees have -- pay and benefits cadillac plans and others who have never met me. i'm here to tell you the truth. i'm just like all of you out there. i have a young daughter who relies on mom and dad to provide for her. we work to pay our bills to buy clothing and put food on the table. and also to plan for future. my family's livelihood is now on the line and a this congress thinks it's okay to use us. speaking of congress the american people have paid their taxes. they have every right to expect the congress would use those tax

dollars to fund the laws of the land. instead congress is now holding our tax dollars hostage with money that is not theirs to hold. the bottom line is federal employees just want to work. we like our jobs. we like serving the american people. we are committed to making america better so please join me and telling congress to do their job so i can do fine. tell congress to put forth and pass a clean continuing resolution so the american people can continue to have access to the services they depend on. thank you. [applause] >> thank you natasha. thank you natasha. now i'm going to tell you two guys, members of united states senator here to fight with us and stand with us. senator cardin and the ever faithful bernie sanders right here with us right now. [applause] 's the first you for being here. thank you for always showing up.

senator whitehouse from rhode island was also here and senator mikulski is speaking on the floor of united states senate right now about the shutdown. we have friends in the united states senate and we have a simple message to speaker boehner. stop this tea party shutdown of government. both -- a vote, vote. [chanting] the message is simple. speaker boehner put down the gun that you have put to the heads of the american people and open the government. i am honored to represent the people of maryland over 200,000 federal workers. they want to go back to work! they want to go back to work area i've talked to a 15-year-old taylor. both of her parents are federal employees that are on furlough. she told me about the fear that she sees on her parents face

because they don't know how they are going to pay their bills. open government. speaker boehner, vote. put america back to work. stop putting us at risk. our nation is at risk. our economy is at risk. it's not just the federal workers. it's our entire economy. our federal workers are on the forefront of helping our country vote. open up governmengovernmen t. stop this craziness. put down the gun. >> thank you senator. bernie sanders everybody. bernie sanders. [applause] >> thank you. thanks for organizing this event here that want to thank all of you who are out here and the millions who are not here, for serving the american people for protecting our veterans and is

chairman of the senate veterans committee thank you for the work for our veterans. thank you for your work in protecting the elderly the children and the sick and the poor. just a few brief points. they talk about negotiations and compromise. the truth is we have already compromised the budget that we passed is not a good budget, but we passed it in order to get a clean cr so that we can reopen the government. the second , no we have the votes in the house right now, today, to open up the government let's have a vote. the third , think about the morale of eight of those people that would shut down the government and take checks from federal workers that affect tens of millions of americans lives

because they want to deny providing health insurance to our children and to working families. what an outrage. the last point i want to make. this is not made often enough. today these right-wing extremists are talking about ending the affordable care act and providing health insurance to him millions of americans. that is only the tip of the iceberg for their agenda. these same people want to end social security. they want to end medicare as we know it. they want savage cuts in medicaid. they want to end the concept of the minimum wage so americans can work for three or four bucks an hour. they want to abolish the environmental protection agency. but these people believe -- let's be clear and understand what this is about. they want to move this country to and oligarchic form of

society where a handful of billionaires control the economic and political life of this country. that is what this struggle is about. what we believe is an all americans standard of living. one person one vote counts, not citizens united. this is a huge ideological struggle for the future of america. we have got to stand tall. we have got to win this for her kids and our grandchildren. thank you all very much. [applause] see bernie sanders everybody. let me tell you randy weingarten is the head of the teachers union who gets out there every day. i don't know about you but the most precious thing in my life is my kids and the people who educate them and teach them every day are people who he represents.

give your hands up to randy weingartner everybody. [applause] >> i want to make this really clear. this is not our congress. we have the good guys and good women of congress on this stage. this is john boehner and a few extremists who are saying they want to crash the economy. do you know what's bizarre? even the koch brothers right now are telling them to stop. so this is -- i'm a social studies teacher. i am a social studies teacher. as a social studies teacher we teach the kids that democracy works when the parties get together and do what's right for america. that democracy is about lifting all votes. that democracy is about making

sure that kids could good education and that our seniors are good. that people are not one step away from a health crisis or bankruptcy because of cancer, that immigrants have a safe passage and have a reasonable shot at life just like my grandparents. if you work hard and play hard you can do well. we don't teach them that government workers who every single day are working but are not getting paid right now. we don't teach them that a few people, a few crybabies are stopping the government from working. if the votes are there on the floor of the house of representatives somebody named boehner boehner stop that flow from happening. frankly as a social studies teacher what do i say to my kids?

that democracy is supposed to work and john boehner who has the votes will not let the democracy were? john boehner will not put it on the floor so the good people behind this the want to make sure democracy works have voted? that is why we need to help the progressives in the house of representatives and the president say shame on the tea party. if you want america to work you must put a clean cr on the dash if you want america to work and if you want america to be accountable and transparent and the nation and the world put the government back to work. take a vote.

take a vote. take a vote. take a vote. steve randy weingarten. put your hands together, put your hands together for the executive vice president of the afl-cio. we had richard trumka here just the other day. he had to to be away but let me tell you we have enough to tell you. tiberi is on fire all about this country. come hear brother. >> hello sge. on behalf of the workers the bus drivers and the people who cook people who help this country run every day we are asking for a simple democratic way. do your job.

call a vote. how difficult is that? let me tell you a little bit about me. i came from california where we do things a little bit different. i came from a place which never values democracy. i came from my native country 30 years ago. john boehner -- i didn't risk my life to get here so that i could go back to the dark days. you are not alone. you are not alone. 20 million hard-working union members 100% of the time. i'm here to assure you we are with you every step of the way. fight on and demand a vote.

it is great to be on stage with with -- [inaudible] i got arrested yesterday with a bunch of people here. like him and like him and like him. giving up what we fought for, our security, we are not going to give that up. fight on. i am with you and we are all with you. let's fight on. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now we need you to hear from the treasury union. we have got a hard fight. do you want to devote? >> thank you so much for the opportunity to be here and stand

with all of you so proudly and to stand with their cheerleaders in congress who are with us in rain and snow and sleet. and fight for federal employees every single day. it's an honor to be here with you the true representatives of the federal workforce. thank you. thank you. thank you. i want to thank you for coming here to speak against this travesty. i know you represent your colleagues across the the country and cities in every state in this great country. today the unnecessary and damaging damaging government shutdown has claimed another federal agency. today the nuclear regulatory commission is shutting down. this is an agency that oversees the safety and security of nuclear reactors, nuclear materials and radioactive waste and starting today 300 of the 4000 employees at nrc, only 300

of them will be on the job for our country. it's appalling and it's scary. does it scare you? that make the very very nervous. these nuclear regulatory commission employees from the national park service and the health and human services and the end internal revenue service and and the food and drug administration and the federal communications commission and financial -- i'm sorry food and nutrition services. hundreds of thousands of employees who want to do their work every day. those workers who aren't coming to work have been ordered to work with no pay have no idea when they will be paid. of course all those wondering how they will pay their bills. today paychecks are being processed for furloughed employees. those paychecks will be for six days only instead of 10 days.

six days. those will go on as long as the shutdown continues. i believe and i know you join me in believing me that this is an outrageous situation completely and avoidable. as we have all heard and everyone here seems to know -- there is a clean cr waiting for them to vote. so join me in sending that message. for whatever reason they have not heard it yet. let them vote. let them vote. let them vote. [applause] oh yes afscme. afscme. afscme. we have a hard-working guy here working at faa.

he is here this week. give it up one more time periods be my name is dan and i meant aviation safety inspector at this federal aviation commission. i'm a little damp today but this is nothing compared to how the american people are getting soaked in the shutdown. right now our airspace system is less safe than it was two weeks ago when myself and 3000 of my colleagues were on the job. no one is looking at our airspace system right now. airplanes are not being inspected. pilots and flight attendants aren't being looked at to make sure they're getting the proper rest. boeing has airplanes that they would like to deliver and they are sitting on the ramp. this is costing american jobs ladies and gentlemen. i say speaker boehner don't just be the speaker of the tea party. he is speaker for all americans. and they shut down.

and the shutdown and they want you to know i talked with the president of afscme today lee saunders and he is here with us 100 or send. his commitment is here and he is with us right now. the service employees international union. [applause] >> good morning. good morning brothers and sisters. first i want to thank all the federal employees that are here today fighting. because you want to go to work. is that right? we want to go to work and we want them to vote. i want to thank speaker pelosi and all the congresspeople here for fighting the good fight, for trying to end the shut down. demand that the government be opened and federal workers go

back to work. i want to introduce to you and i want to particularly thank sau 5000 members and all of you afscme and all the union members here today. this is really important and there are hundreds of thousands of workers that are waiting and anxiously worried about paying their bills and desperately wanting to go to work. i would like to introduce andrew sales, federal worker for the department of defense. >> hello everybody. i'm a worker for the department of defense and right now i would like to work but the job i do is for the military and to fix and repair the equipment that we are not funded. i cannot fix anything that is not funded. i can't do anything.

this is the second time i have been further. because of the second time i have been furloughed i'm living check to check right now. not only that i have a government job because the government is supposed to be dependabldependabl e. it's supposed to be something that the whole department knows they have a job. what's going on? put us back to work. put us back to work. put us back to work. [chanting] >> but may let you hear from milano white. she is furloughed. let's hear about it. >> how are you doing? i have worked at the bureau of fiscal service formerly known as the financial management service for nine years. in my job at fiscal service i lead a team that is responsible for producing the monthly

treasury statement. the monthly treasury statement includes the receipts of united states government. the statement for september will be delayed because my colleagues and i were told to go home. the september statement is particularly important because the figures give the entire information for the fiscal year for the surplus and deficits. a lot of the people on capitol hill depend upon this information. i have a daughter. she is 12 years old and she is counting on me to be able to pay my bills. and i -- my pay has been frozen for three years. and now i along with the rest of the federal workforce face the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen. the shut down needs to end right now. [applause] >> thank you marlena. let me tell everybody i want you

guys to know congressmcongressm an moran is here with us to fight. congresswoman edwards congressman van hollen congresswoman -- congressman xavier becerra steve israel rosa delauro sean honda schakowsky lead jackson-lee cicilline he pass capuano thurston clarke colon conyers cummings davis defazio janice hanh. steve horsford. we have allen grayson and many many more. we have mark pocan. so now let me tell you we have a

speaker from tt w.. john from ctw. where are you at john? >> come on and make some noise. [applause] >> hello. my name is john anderson. i'm a line line cook at the smithsonian institute. before the shutdown i was struggling to keep a roof over them my and my sons had paying bills and transportation and food. since the shutdown i went from low-wage to no wage. i have no savings because i live from check to check. now i'm living day-to-day wondering if my son and i -- if me and my son will have to move into a homeless shelter because i cannot afford the room that we share together.

i am a divorced father of two children that are still in high school. my 16-year-old lives with me and my daughter is a senior in school and lives with her mother. my daily decisions are not about if i'm going to go to a yoga class or if i can afford to pay transportation to my son for education or does he stay home and use the money to feed him? i can't afford to send money to my daughter. my daughter will go lacking and no man wants their children to suffer. these are the consequences of the shutdown. this friday my check which is 1/2 of what i would usually get access to the government shutdown or my salary, i could only afford to rent a room. i usually pay rent weekly but i will not be able to pay their rent this week because of the government shutdown. what happens to me and my son if this doesn't change? i'm afraid the longer it takes

to get resolved the deeper the financial hole will become and i can't get out of it. i'm a father and i'm a man and i'm here to tell republican john boehner that i'm not a pond in his game. [applause] for the first time in my life i will be going to a food bank so that i can feed my son. a bill recently passed in the house to pay furloughed workers and they should get paid. folks like me and other wage -- low-wage contract workers will not. i'm not looking for a handout. i want to work. in the meantime i have a construction background. i will do anything i can do to feed and take care of my family. before the shutdown i was working with a good job of an pleading for living wages. i was making a little more than

minimum wage with no benefits and no consistent hours. for a father of a teenage son and daughter it's still tough. i am now pleading with republicans, please reopen the government now. thank you. [applause] >> look, guys. we have got some great public employees here and we have members of congress i want you to hear from. there will be quick but can you hang in there? can you hang in there? we have built duggan from the federal employees union. give us a good word man. tell us what's going on. >> good morning. i'm the national president of the national federal -- federation of national employees and represent federal workers. we are now in day 10 of the federal employee lockout and we

are beginning to see and hear about the collateral damage due to the inability of congress to pass an appropriations bill to keep the doors of government open. families struggle to pay the bills with no firm prospect of having a job to go back to. small communities across the nation where federal employees live and work worry about the impacts to small businesses. nervous investors questioned the wisdom and investing in a nation that lurches from one crisis to the max. in the eyes of the world who watch and wait to see if the self-proclaimed greatest nation on earth can prevent itself from wallowing the lemmings over the cliff. on many occasions i have heard many republicans in congress claim to have good and honorable intentions serving the people as they have gone about their business but i find no honor in continuing to lock out hundreds of thousands of federal employees who want nothing more

than to go back to work to ensure the american people. nor is there honor in continuing to allow political differences to be the excuse for denying services and inflicting pain on those who are the most vulnerable and in need of support. the young the elderly the sake the poor and their veterans and their families. on a thursday, 150 years ago abraham lincoln gave his speech at the dedication of the soldiers national cemetery in gettysburg. 150 years later we must ask ourselves if we want to have the government of the people, by the people and for the people that shall not perish from the earth. if we conclude that we continue to find value in having that government that provides for the services of the people exempt from their government than it is time to tell congress to dispense with the political grandstanding, the petty bickering and the finger-pointing.

it is time to check the egos at the door and together -- work together to fund government and put all federal employees back to work. it's time for them to man up in the shutdown. nothing more and nothing less. thank you. [applause] >> now everybody is good. all right. phil silberman from the american foreign service everybody. give it up. >> i'm bob silberman the president of the american foreign service association representing 30,000 men and women serving overseas in places like iraq afghanistan libya yemen. none of us understand the shutdown. it is a disaster for our interests overseas. to give you one example this agency represents the american commerce department's foreign commercial service and support exports overseas which is jobs at home.

the commercial service is sitting at home and not promoting exports. this translates into a loss of jobs here at home. we are all of us united to stop the shutdown, to as the government do not shut down diplomacy. do not shutdown protection of our country's interests overseas and reopen the government. >> thank you bob. we really need to hang out a little bit if you can because we have people who are dedicated to you and dedicated to opening up this government. the first of them is barbara lee. barbara lee everybody. [applause] >> you are the heart and the soul of our country. you are the true public servants. the tea party extremists, they did not come here to the house of representatives to be public servants. they came here to dismantle and decimate our government which

you so boldly and brilliantly and unbelievably serve. i just want to thank you so much for your service first of all. and let me also say that we are here together to weather this storm and we are going to weather this storm. we are going to weather it. we are going to shut down the shutdown. we are going to shut it down because they know good and well, they know that we have the votes to open the government of. they know we have the votes to put you back to work. they know we have the votes to make sure that you provide a desperately needed services that our country needs. they know that. they know that. we are going to stand with you and as i said we are going to weather the storm together and we are going to insist that speaker boehner bring the budget

to the floor so that we can shut down this shutdown and put you back to work. thank you again. >> everybody we have jan schakowsky and steve harper and then we will close with a prayer. >> my brothers and sisters i got a letter from an archaeologist with the veterans administration who is about to deliver a baby. she worked hard to make sure that she had all of her sick days and vacation days lined up so she would get paid when the baby was delivered. of course that is not going to happen and she doesn't know how as a new mother that exciting day -- all of you have a story. i would recommend that you get your stories jigger members of congress so we know exactly how this is affecting real people, real lives and your families. it's not just you. it is all of our americans.

every single day we are finding out or they are finding out republicans just what federal workers actually do and the essential services that you provide to keep our government running. we don't want to do it piece by piece. we want john boehner in the next 15 minutes to give us a vote. give us a vote. give them a vote. i want to say one more thing. we will remember next november. thank you. >> thank you jan. now we are going to hear a word from steve horsford from nevada and then we will close with a prayer. >> thank you congressman. i am stephen horsford from las vegas nevada fourth congressional district that i'm a member of the dash and ice stand with my brothers and

sisters in labor of federal employees to let you know that we are here to stand in solidarity to reopen our government, to put all of our workers back to work. not just support the piecemeal approach of speaker boehner and the republicans do want to cherry-pick certain workers. they want all workers to go back to their jobs. there are several workers on furlough. one of them is scott. he is a defense employee who has been working hard to provide for himself and his family. he is paying off student loans. his rent, to his utilities and like the other members who spoke here today may have families that they have to support. this is not a game speaker boehner. this is not a game house

republicans. these are people's lives. and it's time for you to stop playing games and we demand a vote. now, to reopen their government for the services that all of you provide to our constituents to continue to be provided. thank you very much and god bless you. [applause] >> great job. now everybody we are going to quiet it down just a little bit. ref in cornwall is going to give us a word. we want to pray for those who oppose opening up the government and pray for our families and for everybody who served this great nation. reverend cornwall. >> good afternoon. my name is richard cornwall. i am pastor of united methodist church and -- and i'm proud to be a pastor of a number of federal employees in silver spring maryland. would you please pray with me? god we know in your holy word

you have said that rain falls on the just and the unjust. and we know that our -- is just. we know there are a number of people standing out here in the rain today because there were people out of work. because there are people who are suffering. we just ask that you would protect those who are vulnerable , that you would protect those families and those people who are out of work. that you would be with them and we ask that you would send your spirit to move the hearts and minds of our leaders that they would lead and god that you would bless this nation that we would be a light to the rest of the nation, that we would show the world what it looks like when we follow you and we are just and fair and when our system works like it is supposed to. thank you for this day and this gathering and pray you continue to give us strength and encouragement and you persist in our cause. amen. >> thank you referent.