shut down. the house is not want to shut down. " my way or ther highway" mentality cannot be sustained. we look forward to working through our differences so that we can stop inflicting pain on hard-working americans. this is a great challenge we have. we really do not want to be here. we have to find a way to resolve our differences. it is important to say we have our negotiators. we are looking for the senate negotiators. they are not willing to sit down and negotiate. nextare willing to assign week as national chest week. they are willing to be able to say the will do with the trucker sleep apnea issues.

i am amazed that after this conference passed unanimously, the senate has unanimously, and the president signed instructions that our military and civilian contractors should be held harmless in this entire shutdown that after a week we are still waiting for them to implement the law that was put to place a week ago. they are allowing us to have more and more pain specifically in the military. all of us agreed together that they would be held harmless entirely. it is very frustrating that we even have to pass something for them to practice their religious faith. it is essential part of their life. for the administration to pull

back and say there are places where you will not have worship on a weekend is absolutely unacceptable. the glad we passed that in house today. hopefully the senate will take that out. this is something we have to d -- we have to do. make sure we are continuing to looking at the intent. the republican position has continued to be no special treatment under the law. no special treatment under obamacare. been that theas administration continues to get special treatment to big business and special interest and have left working middle- class americans out. our position is to get in the same treatment. position has been

we do not think it is proper for members of congress to have special treatment under the law. i asked my friends in the media to look at the boats we have taken. 57 democrats have voted with us on a bipartisan way. to ease the pain of the shutdown. i would implore my friends in the media to ask harry reid why he did not bring up any of these bills. i think there is a majority of senators susan ward these hills to ease the pain -- senators to support these hills to ease the pain while we wait for the president to join us in these discussions. this stuff that you do not find worthy? fund thee committed to areas of government that we all agree on, which is a lot more than not. as you know, the disagreement is

on the special treatment under obama care. our position is very simple. underno special treatment the law. it is to delay the individual maindate. americansddle-class subject to the tax and penalties but not big is this? business? that is not fair. is the senateeen refuse to take the bills up and try to vent their anger and impose that on the american oh. we are trying to ease the pain. there is a majority of senators who would say we really believe that sick children ought to have access to clinical trials. we believe that poor women and

children should have the assistance they need. we do not believe they should be put through this pain. to ask theou majority leader why he is not taking these bills up. >> the majority of the senate wants to take the bills out. to would any house be able get a vote on that? >> there has been no roll call votes in the senate. have a lot inwe common. i think most american people do not tolerate the fact that this president has continued to insist that she is not going to talk. if you saw james a baker's comments, he said it was an utter failure of presidential leadership for this president to sit on the sidelines to issue warnings and to stare at the markets and public about this. if something were to happen, he

could say "i told you so." that is not leadership. it is that in willingness to sit down and talk to us that has wrought about the shutdown. we will continue to the here this weekend and we are any are willinghat they to sit down and talk with us so we can relieve the pain on the american will thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] likes you just heard from house republicans. now the democrats holding their own press conference earlier. your calls oning the shutdown after this conference. this is about 40 minutes.

>> it is still morning. good morning, everyone. we have some news for you today. that is what we think we have every day. you do not always agree. today marks the fifth day of the government shutdown. ifs could be over in hours the republicans would just take "yes those quote for an answer - for an answer incentive being the party of "no." republicans have said no each time.

two in the republican shut down sounds theirave names to a letter reaffirming our commitment for a clean, continuing resolution. this is not been easy for our members. they are willing to do so. side, theublican republican members have come forward to say they're willing to vote to reopen government. enough republicans have publicly stated their support for a bill that could pass and be on the residence desk today. we're asking them to bring up a boat to the floor for the there is a to show bipartisan majority to end the republican government shutdown.

if that were not newsworthy enough, 200 democrats have signed a letter and others that will vote with us do not philosophically sign letters, at the speaker said he wanted regular order. he said that all along. he wanted regular order. house passesen the a bill, which it did, and the senate passes a bill, which it has, then you go to conference. said, why are you not appointing this to the budget conference? his statement was under the appoint them, the minority has a right to offer

motions to construct which become politically motivated bombs to throw on the house floor. to be frank with all of you, we are following what i would describe as a resident order. him, thenk with regular order is not how he defines it. memberhe rules, any would have the privilege to bring up the senate position. in public and otherwise, they said his concern was a motion to instruct.

if you agree to pass a short- term bill and move the conference to the final budget discussion for this fiscal year, we will not offer any motion to abstract. this is news. please recognize it as such. the speaker said that is his concern. we want to take that concern off the table. today we are giving republicans to endther opportunity their shutdown. the opportunity that the speaker has been asking for. we have accepted the number, as it am -- as unpleasant as it is for us to do, we have agreed to not offer motions to abstract and we have voted to pay the federal employees for not working. why don't we pay them for working by opening government?

thean have it open over weekend in full force by monday. they want to work. the american people want government to be open. it is on -- in everyone's interest that they except our offer of 200 votes. all they need is a couple dozen republican votes. we have procedurally try to accommodate and allayed their concerns. let's open government. give us a book. >> thank you very much. this is an important tool of the minority. and for that matter anyone else in the house.

to tell the conference committee what they should do. he speaker has asked rest a concern about that. i think his concern is with theent transparency that the republicans want to bring to the house. notwithstanding that and how is to thethis device majority -- minority and majority, we are saying that we will not do that. will plays politics with this. we have no intention of doing this. forant to encourage them encouraging the speaker. that should not be and will not be a concern of them or a reason for them to delay going to conference on the budget.

the fifth day of a shutdown. pay thejust voted to employees as we should have. the american public wants bit government open. the speaker needs to bring a .ill to the floor a lesser indicate that clearly in my view there are enough governmentass on the opening on the government funding bill. we will do so at the republican suggested number of dollars. there's no argument about dollars. democrats are ready to help end the shutdown by voting for the senate's bill which put the people's government back to work here at republicans have voted seven times to block the senate

bill to reopen government from the house floor. while i am pleased that the pay, just voted to restore it is time to get them back to work as well. democrats have arty compromise by the funding level. we are ready as we have been four months. many have said we need an agreement. he is going to outline the significant issues that need to be discussed. i believe this to mr. van hollen. i want to thank the leader for taking this initiative with which all of us agree. is critical for our national security, economy, and for the confidence of the american people that we get their

government back to work working discusseds we differences between the two parties in reaching compromise which is so essential in any democracy. let me yield to my friend the assistant leader. >> thank you for yielding. spent the better part of this week doing something which i do not believe should be the prerogative of the members of congress. picking winners and losers. that to me is very unfortunate. it is unfortunate because brian carter, a name we have all gotten to know, may not be the face of what we're doing here this week but he is in fact the storyline.

brian carter was seriously because he days ago was protecting the members of us from, protecting those we may not get a chance to know. unfortunately, brian was working, providing that protection for no pay. that is a storyline of what this is all about. i spoke with brian several times. want us to be supporting him. over his spouse and his siblings. backst voted to give him that pay when all of this comes to a close.

what are we doing for his spouse and siblings? comfortablefeel we are not providing educational needs and services to his children and grandchildren. congress ought not be in the business of picking winners and losers. certainly we ought not be doing things that pitt family against family. yieldhat i would like to to the chair of our budget committee. >> thank you. the pointstart with that leader nancy pelosi made about the action that we took the house of representatives. i think we all agree that no one should be made to suffer for

actions that are no fault of their own. it was totally appropriate that the house of representatives in that dedicated federal workers who are among the many innocent victims of the government shut down will be held harmless and the long run. that was the right thing to do. follyighlight the sheer of the current government shut down. we want to make sure these people are paid. they want to get back to doing what they love which is working on behalf of the public. if we're going to be providing the pay as we should, we should have them come back to work which is why we have been all along saying we should go to reopen the federal government and bring all the federal employees back to work. what republicans are doing, they're saying let's fund the natural -- national park service or fema.

today their proposals that lets not get back pay. it is not say let's give that pay to folks at fema. allaid let's make sure federal employees are held harmless. let's get back pay to all federal employees. so why are they not bringing up a bill that allows all federal employees to get to work? it makes absolutely no sense at all. the american people are paying for these important services. we want to make sure every federal employee gets back to work to do their job. that is what federal employees want to be able to do. the way to do that is in a boat right now to and the government shut down. said evereagues have since march we have been really clear that we have been clear of a negotiation on the budget.

on three occasions we have called for a vote for the speaker to a point budget negotiators so they can negotiate with the senate. all three occasions, speaker boehner and the republicans said no to negotiations on the budget. harry reid and tried 18 times 12 point budget negotiators. senator ted cruz and senator mike lee and the republican said no. senator mccain said it was irrational for them to say no. they said no. that is why we have not had any monthsconversations for and months. as the leader said, we have been this notion that democrats would exercise our tohts to offer motions instruct. a few weeks ago during a

hearing, paul ryan said they will move forward with budget negotiations. this was news to all of us. the leaders said we are making news today by saying we will doe up the right in order to what we did from the beginning. the right -- the last point i want to make is what negotiations involve. they have been totally mischaracterizing the statement. what the president has been saying is that he will not negotiate away the full faith and credit of the united states. republicans cannot say they will iny do what they should do order to get their republican agenda through the house. that is not the way it works. we all share a responsibility.

they have the budget that chairman ryan put forward. very harmful to the country. it squeezes many seniors on medicare. it cuts $7 billion over 10 years. that is their budget. we passed the budget. we have an important plan amid to reinvest in the country to get the economy going again. we have a jobs plan. what else does he call for? replacing the sequester. infrastructure it

remains in place not just through november 15 but through this time this year. millionll be up to 1.2 fewer american jobs. their best estimate is that we will have 800 thousand. that wipes out the last four plus months of job growth in this country. that is a self-inflicted wound we cannot afford. plan toa long-term reduce the deficit. in a balanced way. the deficit right now has been cut in half. we know we have to make progress in the long-term deficit. we have a plan to do that. we ask for shared responsibility. people are making millions and millions of dollars a year.

our point is we want to have a budget negotiation. ,hat whole republican wishlist they do not get to force that down the countries fro to write threatening to default on our debts or to shut down the government. throat threatening to default on our that's or to shut down the government. you do not get the republican agenda in exchange for doing what every member should do anyway which is pay our nations bills on time. they have work to make sure we're all on the same page. the house of representatives is not a sandbox. this republican shut down of our

.overnment is serious the american people know that. they have been saying that since the republican shut down our government on october 1. what they're telling us is it is time for no more excuses. should stoping we acting like children in the house of representatives. the republican shut down the government is not just serious. it is also absurd. someone tried to explain that the americans -- republicans try to shut down the government and october 5 they decided to pay all the workers that they told do not come into work. were not so serious it would be absurd.

we are here to say what americans are saying all over the place. put america back to work. let them vote on a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. be okasan on our elected representatives of this country. building a stronger middle class, creating more jobs. putting americans out of work, not putting them into a state of anxiety if whether or not they will be able to pay their bills. who thinks anyone of our wants to be part of a republican gimmick is shutting down the government where they are spared as veterans from the pain of a government shutdown? i do not think there is a veteran in america he will say take care of me and leave our

children behind. that is the gimmick that takes place today. americans are telling us we please put your country before your party? if republicans simply put themselves in the shoes of the american people, no small business in america on main street would rhyme they operate -- would run their operations the way the house of representatives is. . let america work. let congress vote for a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. let's get to the business of building a stronger middle class. let me yield now to the chairman of the democratic national campaign committee.

>> in this game of ping-pong, his side is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. he keeps creating excuses not to vote. them away from him. it is simply time to vote. is going to be an another moment of truth for john boehner. 200 democrats have signed a letter that 90% of our caucus saying to the speaker we are ready to a vote on a clean budget. we have heard that there are between 20 and 22 republicans have said back home that they are ready to vote for a clean budget. now it is time for them to put it where their budgets are.

they are saying they will support a clean budget with no strings attached and now have the opportunity to reopen this government. they now have the opportunity to hold to their promises. we're going to hold them accountable. you cannot hold this at home and then act like a lapdog. those 22 republicans who said they will vote with 98% of the government without strings attached, this is their moment of truth. signed the letter. now it is time for them to do the same. i am really hopeful that those 20 or 22 republicans that have claimed to pursue a solution are going to keep their word.

not to any of your colleagues but to their constituents they gave their word too. we will test out this proposition over the next several days. inc. you. i now yield to nobody because i am the last speaker. >> i thank all of my colleagues for their eloquent statement about what our purpose here is in terms of representing the american people and getting the budgete for what were priorities. thank you for working so hard on that over the years. today, hereposal is are three pages of signatures of names. we have signatures of the members that have signed the letter. we have accepted their letter. the president has accepted their number. the united states senate has accepted the republican number. the democrats in the house have accepted the republican number.

the only missing piece are the republicans in the house accepting their own number. what is the problem? if the issue is that you do not want to bring it up because once you go to the budget table we ,ill have motions to instruct we are not doing it. it is an unprecedented offer on behalf of the majority dish minority -- of the minority. we are paying the bill. now let us put people back to work for the american people. purposes that the the american people look to us. what was the response to you?

>> it is a good faith effort on our part. i told in the context that i want you to know this is an offer we are making to you and we will make this offer public. it is not like i was blindsiding him with it. >> we just came from a press conference with republican leaders. is there any conversation going on between you guys and ?epublicans today, tomorrow we made an offer this morning to the speaker. about goingoncerned to the budget table and appointing them, we want to take that concern off the table. >> what is happening behind the scenes, making sure no other meetings are happening? >> to my knowledge. that when the speaker

not going towas default on the debt he was going to have a bipartisan agreement to do that. all said, we have agreed to what they passed. nobody believed the affordable care act was going to be stopled were that we would the mandate. the majority of their party did not believe that. they thought it was off to explore their base. time, we'ret in saying yes to their offer. i served for 22 years. normally when you are about to and the government funding authorization, you get to the

end of the year. normally the numbers are different. you have to sit down and say "which numbers are we going to use?" lower of we use the the house or senate. now however we said yes. we will take your number. you not going to take your number forever. we will go and we will talk about it. he will go to the budget committee and talk about it. that is how the budget works. that is how the american people run their lives when they have differences. they sit down and talk. i want to tell you. have i talked to republicans on basis?ive regular absolutely. i talk to them every day. overwhelmingou an number of the people i talk to the we ought to get this done and get the government open and then talk about other areas that we want to get working.

>> i talked to quite a few republicans about this. for the next six weeks while we sit down and talk about it from there. every republican i have talked to tells me they want to get rid of the sequester. this is what we are talking about. we would have had a discussion on how to go forward, how to get rid of the sequester. state, i'mds for my sure they're reading the same lines i am reading.

ofs is not a representative that district. a lot of go through that plan. >> i fought very hard for that plan. to the chagrin of a few people here. i thought very hard to get the level of funding. iis is the payback. constantly hear my republican colleagues say that they are not willing to negotiate or compromise. not only have the been willing to compromise, we have except did the budget. we find it offensive. right to exercise the

own political agenda. i hope that one of these times when they say democrats is not compromising their republican leadership went across the aisle. hallway to meet with their democratic counterparts, all 200 of us, to negotiate, or to request copper mines on each and every one of the bills they have in putting on the bill since the shutdown of the government. have they ever reached out to democrats who are in the same body to negotiate the bills they have put on the floor? they have never sat down with us to craft these bills they say are to take care of their own

government shutdown. i hope you will post the question to them. if they are so adamant that having them negotiate or compromise, have they taken the time to walk across the hall to the office of their democratic colleagues to ask if we're willing to compromise on the bills that they themselves are putting on the floor? ideaat do you make of the of calling the house on a saturday morning that could've been voted on yesterday. we should be here working through so i think it does possible to open government on monday. if you are a taxpayer and you say i do not like this shut down because i am not getting our services, but now we are going to pay republic -- public employees for not delivering our services, our public employees are patriotic eared they are

public servants. to say they work. will get paid to not work does not make any sense. i think this will be our last question. inggotiat sk about and they make a big to do about the full faith and credit, not negotiable. the idea that they were going to defund or delay the affordable care act, not going to happen. that is like saying give me your first warning child and then we will talk about the rest of the family. that is not going to happen. thethird is to bring back bill which was approved by the president, approved by the

senate, approved by the house democrats but not by them. the point of having the names is thaty to those republicans they have another responsibility right now. sayingd is that they are we might be willing to vote for this if we know it is going to pass. we're saying to them if there are fewer than that, it is going to pass. we are not asking them to take any risk. 98% signed ag this letter. we just need a dozen and a half or two dozen republicans to open government to go to the table to negotiate.

the president is willing to negotiate. they talked about investing in jobs, the opportunity costs of what is happening in terms of theentrepreneurship and greatness of america. it is stunning. we are having these conversations which should be swept aside and move onto how can we work together in a nonpartisan way adjusting the challenges we face in a very positive way? we know we can find common ground. there are elements that have determined that it will be the "no." of no we are not going to say yes to it. that ideal to my colleagues for the closing statements.

>> let me respond to your question. recognition of the discussed that the american tople feel and the failure take an action which would have taken five minutes on september 30 to do everything and much more than we have done in the last five days. appearance of action with out action. it is a recognition that we ought to be working to get this done. done thatimple to get we are having these filler bills to pretend we are doing things when the reality is in five we could open the government up, put people back

to work, go to conference on the budget, discuss our differences, responsible, effective board of directors for the greatest nation on the face of the earth. that is what i make of it. actions were absolutely highlighted by the madness of dolly of the republican leadership position. said is thate we're going to pay all of the federal employees as we should but we're going to pay them to stay at home. we have been saying let's send everybody back to work as they want to go. they are saying let's pay them but we will prevent them from going back to work. they're going to stand at the door and prevent people from doing their jobs while they say they want to pay people to do

their jobs. federal employees want to get back to serving the public. that is what they want to do. i want to emphasize one last thing. we have tried to negotiate on the budget from the very beginning. i have blocked us from those negotiations from the very beginning. they blocked those for one simple reason. when you have a negotiation between the house republican budgetand the democratic , you have to reach a compromise . there has to be give and take. he had to me in the middle. we do not like the part of the republican budget that provide another windfall tax rate to very well be people. we do not like the parts of the

budget that doesn't make important investments -- that decimate important investments. we want to make those important investments in our future. you want to replace the sequester. we want the elimination of tax rate for very wealthy people. a balanced approach. we have our budget approach and the president doesn't. the idea of a budget negotiation is you meet in the middle. they say no. is doe are going to give what every member of congress has the responsibility to do. we're saying no. whole faithold the

and credit of the united states hostage to try to enact your radical policy agenda. we all have to go to make sure we pay our bills on time. let negotiate the other priorities. will be hearing this conversation a lot. they want to set this. they're making a huge a session -- obsession for paying our bills on time. we have got to meet in the .iddle and exchange he had to give us our budget agenda. that is not me middle. that is political extortion. the middle is between the president priorities and their budget proposal. a half solvent nation is not

a compromise. i want to thank them for their leadership on behalf of the federal employees and part of their life work here. honored their services to many other members. is with all the respect in the world we want to open the to work.t they are public servants. want to honor them by making sure they can pay their mortgages. we also want them to get the taxpayers the services they deserve as well. thank you all very much.

>> and we're going to be taking your calls. think isho you responsible for the shutdown. the numbers are up on your screen. republicans --(202) 585-3885. democrats -- (202) 585-3886. and independence that others -- (202) 585-3887. make sure your tv is muted. you have called within the last 30 days, try to let other people have a chance to call. the house was in today. they wrapped up their weekend session. on two measures. back pay for for load government-- furloughed government workers. aztec, newg out to mexico. joe is on the line for independents and other.

i'm a registered democrat, but i am an independent, and for the past several months we have been having a discussion downtown, most of my friends, and it has thebeen brought to life, reasons -- i do not want to blame democrats or republicans, but it is our fault that government got two big -- to o big. i think it should be brought to light -- the fault of the voters, is that what you mean? caller: not the voters, us as a nation has got too big. reliant onn too them. it is a government by the people and for the people, so why are we reliant on big government? [coughing] host: do you agree with what is going on? caller: i do not agree.

it has been wreaking havoc amongst the nation. all these people are losing their jobs. they are being furloughed. host: thanks for weighing in. we move into henry on the republicans line. you are on the air. caller: good morning. thank you, c-span. i'm jacked up. [laughs] cruzched senator ted yesterday trying to get some bills through. guy, fore way that themost part he batited democrats. some of the things he was saying, and he was saying them to them. that is what i like about the guy. man, because he says it to their face. they started crying about he is being disrespectful. ted cruz said, you were

disrespectful. it's amazing. he actually made senator reid be quiet. it's really funny. so i blame democrats, because one thing he proved there was face-to-face, he ain't afraid to talk. they wait until somebody has the -- redneck, and face to face is the way to deal with things. host: on to gino on the democrats lines. where are you calling from? caller: i'm a democrat. i do not agree with anything that they are doing. they do not go into the big story about how many american jobs will be lost due to obamacare. i used to work for a hospital. one of the big majority hospitals in st. louis. 17 major hospitals

in st. louis and st. charles county, and they are refusing to accept obamacare. the democrats need to quit with they are doing. tell the american people the truth, and stop blaming republicans. i'm with the republicans in this one. if we have to shut down for a long time, let the republican shutdown. host: he mentioned the affordable care act. tweet earlier from business insider. a lot of the stalemate has to do with the health care law. openedine marketplaces across the country this week. .t.iness insider tweets, i experts say the architecture of the obamacare website is deeply flawed. we will see how that turns out as more and more people try to get on those state and federally funded websites to get their health care. glenn in oklahoma on the republican line. glenn, the government shutdown,

blaming?re you caller: i am blaming democrats. i was a democrat for 40 years. the whole thing has gotten out of hands, and some of it is due to the obamacare. doctor, myy lost one insurance rates have gone up by 1/3. you know, and it is affecting the average person. as the democrats, they have lost all my respect when they get up there and start calling names and everything. and they are shutting down things like the veterans memorial. i'm a vet. i think them shutting down the memorial is just plain despicable. government, weur

have a right to replace our government. by voting these people out. of office. and that's what we should start doing. host: thanks. we will move onto barbara in texas on the independents line. go ahead. caller: yes. i am blaming the democrats, too, because he could not should be our way or the highway. you need to go into conference. we don't want the health care bill run by the government. i mean, you know, it is kind of ridiculous. it was good. it was a little bit of fixing needed to be done before the government could take over it? no. we want our free society back. not communism or socialism. it is not what america's about. host: taking your calls on who's to blame for the shutdown.

republicans, the line, (202) 585-3885. democrats, (202) 585-3886. and independents and others can use (202) 585-3887. a few more minutes of your phone calls as we go on now to kelly on the democrats lining california. caller: hi. the republicans. if you listen to what john mccain said. the people spoke when we voted obama back in. we obviously wanted him. he was reelected for a reason. we are not making our country look any stronger by a few people holding it hostage. i personally have been affected. i work for a small manufacturing company that manufactures parts for the airport. we cannot go to work monday because we are not going to get paid. so it's affecting many people. the republicans are holding us hostage.

what is that doing? if obama gave in because he is being held hostage, what is that going to do for us? host: what you think is going to happen from here? here, honestly, the 17. i keep thinking the 17. there is no way they can let the debt ceiling happen. my god what it would do to us. to mention all of the rest of the countries around us that are watching us. if the united states was a supercar, and what are we doing? by ae being held hostage few republicans. kelly mentioned the 17 when most experts say that the government will run out of it are wearing power. -- borrowing power. we will have to raise the debt ceiling. that is another fight the house

and the senate may find itself in as they take up another battle ahead. anthony in st. paul, minnesota, for independents. go ahead. caller: hi. too, and i have been waiting for my disability for so many years she would not want to believe. but i am with the democrats on holding out among because first and foremost if you give in, like they say they will take what they want. all beamed and we should ashamed that we are arguing about people trying to have health care. you are talking about 38 million people in the country that are not getting health care now. why are we being that selfish aboute're going to w h inhine somebody else getting health care? a lot of businesses were going to cut back anyway. they are making their money anyway. this is just a way of putting pressure on the government. that the republicans, democrats, everybody, what they call it is

democracy. like that lady said earlier, president obama ran on -- got the affordable care act and acted. they had their chance to win. they lost. they are like little kids. they are not adults. they're acting like children. let it go. think of something else. what are they putting up for poor people to have insurance? that is basically what i have to say. like i said, i'm with it. ford been waiting 34 years my back pay from the army, but i am willing for the government to be shut down. host: thanks, anthony. as we pick one or towo more calls, you can weigh in on twitter. a couple of members of congress tweeting. theng, truly stand with federal workers and with the american people by presenting a clean, continuing resolution.

democrats that is the in the senate wanting a house to take up a bill that does not have any attachments. a couple of tweakets from luke russert. he says that congressman from florida holds a 96 rating from the american can circuit of union. he says we should move on to the debt limit. he said congressman ross's of a is the exact opposite moderate. he says the shutdown is a lost cause for the gop. linda in hope, arkansas, on the republican line. caller: yes, i was watching when the texas has their hour on the floor, and i was listening to what they had to say. it's not about the republicans holding out. it is more or less about the fact that if you give a fair shake to everyone with the affordable care act.

that is what is important. do not just say, ok, this person can be exempt. let everyone have their fair shake. let the congress have a fair shake. they should have to abide by the same stipulations the american people have to abide by. and not only that, i have an issue with the fact that nancy pelosi sitting there saying that this is a republican shutdown terry this is not the republican shutdown. this is the house of representatives. this is democrats on top of republicans. it's both parties that caused the shutdown. not just republicans. host: thanks, ,.linda. she also mention some of what nancy pelosi had to say earlier. we will take a look back at what did happen on the floor of the house here. if we did not get your calls, you can try again. we will take your calls after we take a look at what looked -- at what happened on the house

floor earlier. you can always go on to facebook , let us know who you think is responsible for the fiscal stalemate in congress, and how much the government shutdown has affected you. for now, hear is what happened earlier today on the floor of the house. theis resolution goes to heart of our constitutionally guaranteed ability to worship without interference. i thank him for bringing it to the floor. the resolution expresses the sense of congress regarding the need for the continued availability of religious services to the members of the armed forces and their families during a lapse of appropriations. dad with my wife roxanne and four sons currently serving in the military, i know that firsthand of the importance of chaplains.

specifically it addresses the issue of this house becoming aware of yesterday -- the religious services for military personnel are being curtailed or not offered at all because civilian employee serving as chaplains contracted to perform the duties of military chaplains have been for load -- furloughed. this is an extremely important issue for all of us to work together. there is no doubt that the personsing of contracted to perform the duties of chaplains has an effect. just in this region, church services, weddings, baptisms have been curtailed. the active-duty priest at the navy yard canceled mass there. it's a larger church. they do not have a priest there this weekend. at for belfour, half of the masses have been canceled -- at belvoir. what's more disturbing is that

the general schedule of contractor chaplains are being told that if they do come to their jobs, they will be trespassing. this is just not right. the performance of religious services and the provision of ministry are protected activity under the first amendment of the united states constitution. if the department of the interior can permit world were ii veterans to visit the memorial constructed to honor the service, then certainly the secretary of defense can permit similar first amendment activities. the secretary can and must allow military chaplains and other personnel, including contract personnel hired to perform duties of a military chaplain to perform religious services and ministry. in the same manner and to the extent as such chaplains and other personnel are otherwise permitted to perform religious services and ministry when there is an appropriation. it is that simple.

mr. speaker, i urge the secretary of defense to do the simple thing, the right thing -- allow all chaplains in the armed forces to be their military and federal civilian employees and contractors to minister unhindered to the men and women of the armed forces. i congratulate my colleague, for collins, of georgia, bringing this resolution to the floor and urge all member to support it. i reserve the balance of my time. derailment from south carolina reserves is time. the judgment from washington. ield myself as much time as i may consume. i do not oppose this resolution as it sounds sensible, but i do want to raise a couple of process issues. i found about this 20 minutes ago. just emblematic of how much this body has broken down. we have to talk to each other. i do not have any objection to

this. i have got staff, the armed services committee has a staff. we have worked together in the armed services committee better than any other committee in this congress. i will grant you that is not saying much, but we have. we just simply have to talk to each other. why would they spring this on us at the last minute? not have communication about it. getting past this individual issue is emblematic of the entire problem. now, the republicans are complaining because the senate is not talking to them and the president is not talking to them nd the debt.r. a ceiling, but we have reached an epidemic of not talking to each other on something as small as this. we cannot -- >> will the gentleman yield? >> gladly. >> mr. smith, i agree. i want to commend you. we work together in extra very fashion. the national defense

authorization act has passed the house as an indication of your good will and good faith. i believe the reason this has come up so quickly, of course, is because this was only learned late yesterday. the consequence of the thought of chaplains to be declared trespassing is inconceivable. and it needs to be addressed. >> right. gain, the communications level has fallen apart. on our side of the aisle, we do not know from one minute up to the next what we will be voting on. reclaiming my time. the schedule has been changed at a moments notice. even back in the shutdown of 1995, there is greater communication between the majority and minority about what was going on. in fact, we had a lot of these small little bills that fund and little pieces of the government, but the one thing the majority did is they granted the full house a vote on -- and what a itan resolution means is, only pertains to spending. it does not pertain to other policy issues. that vote was granted.

house republicans voted it down. but at least we had a vote, ok? and then we also had a discussion about what we could fund during the shutdown. the complete and utter breakdown in communication between the majority party, the minority party, the white house and us is doing it unbelievable disservice to this country. i do not care if we get in a room and yell at each other for four hours. at have communication. -- at least have communication. we all have our talking points. i have heard them so much. i am sure the american people and i are sick to death of those talking points. they are poll tested, they play to the base, and here we are in day five going nowhere. the basic problem here, number one on the c.r., is the health care policy issue, that basically republicans -- this is no secret -- want to get rid of the health care law. they do not have the votes to do it. they are therefore willing to hold up the funding of the

government to advance their policy agenda. that plays into the larger issue. i also want to tell you that we are about what is it, 12 days now away from defaulting. and we are going to default at this point, because what i hear from my republican colleagues is, no, we do not want to default. as long as we cut enough spending as long as we do tax reform, we will be fine. which is what we have been hearing since january, 2000 11. i just want to explain briefly to the american people what the difference in the positions are here. i'm going to be as honest as i can be. prograrepublicans believe we can and thatt spending, means discretionary spending. means entitlements because we have artie cut discretionary spending. the deficit is high so they want to cut spending. the president has put entitlement cuts on the table.

the difference of opinion is whether or not we should also raise taxes as part of that deal to deal with the deficit here at the president, the senate, democrats in the house, which i realize is irrelevant because we do not have the votes, but unfortunately for you guys, they do in the senate and the president has the veto. if there is going to be any entitlement cuts, they have to be accompanied by tax increases and republicans say absolutely not, we're not going to do that. so that is the divide. the problem is the republicans house. seats in the they lost the overall vote in congress by a count of 52 to 48. but they did not win the presidency or the senate. so they are trying to take those broaders and jam their agenda down everybody's throat, and the peace that they have is they are willing to not fund the government and not raise the debt ceiling in order to put us in a bad position to do that. i'll tell you, democrats cannot vote to cut entitlements if

there are not tax increases attached them. so i hope somebody somewhere wakes up to this reality before we default and stops insisting that somehow miraculously in the next 12 days democrats are going to magically agreed to cut entitlements with no revenue, and maybe do some eight tax reform bill to cut taxes even further. that reality does not set in, we're in for several weeks of great calamity that will cause greater damage than what has been caused here. with that, i support the resolution. i sai reserve the balance of my time. >> gentleman from south carolina is recognized. me, mr. speaker, i again want to commend mr. smith. he indeed has reached across to try to work together. and by referencing the shutdown in 1995. there is a difference, and it begins at the top. sadly, the president of the united states two weeks ago last night called to announce he was

not going to negotiate. in 1995, in the said there was communication between the president and the speaker prior to the shutdown and during the entire shutdown. i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from louisiana. >> the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. congressman wilson. i also thank my good friend doug collins for bringing this measure up today. the first amendment rights of our military do not sunset with the lack of appropriations or even a shutdown. the free exercise of religion is codified in the constitution of the united states and celebrated by every american, including those of us who have, do or will wear the uniform. chaplains faithfully serve unique role in the military -- bridging the gap

between faith and freedom and ensuring that peoples of all the leaves are able to celebrate worshipparticipate in a service according to the dictates of their faith. protected right, the department of defense has decided to effectively close the doors of many churches and weekend by not allowing military chaplains to perform their religious duties on military installations because the federal government is has not passed a relevant appropriations bill of fy2014. mr. speaker, i contend the freedom of religion does not follow the federal government fiscal policy. the freedom of religion is a 24/7 constitutional right that should garner on confusional -- garner unconditional support our this administration and military leaders. i stand strong with the brave men and women serving in the military and urge my colleagues

to support this resolution. i yield back. >> the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentlemen from washington is recognized. >> i yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. anderson. >> the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for a minute and a half. remarks.to extend my the unitednt of states has spent weeks of his term negotiating with the republican party and what he is confronted with is a demand to shut down or default on the debt. i want to put this in another frame of reference as i rise in support of this bill. on a dictation when president george w. bush was president, we had a majority on our side, and we agreed to a continuing continuing a clean, resolution. we had many differences with president bush over the iraq ar, over issues of health care, the budget, but on eight

occasions president bush came to the democratic majority and asked to continue running the government, and we said yes. the principle at stake here is whether negotiation means you have to have everything you want all the time and shut the government down if you do not. that is not the way we do is miss. that is why 3/4 of the american people agree that shutting the government down over the health care law is the wrong thing to do. i yield back. >> the gentleman from washington reserves. the general and from south carolina. two minutes to my friend and colleague, the converse one from tennessee, marsha blackburn. >> the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you. yesterdayd this news that our priests and ministers could end up facing government arrest if they attempt to celebrate mass or openly practice their faith on military bases during this government shutdown, a shutdown we did not want. a shutdown that could've been avoided had the president and

senator reid agreed to negotiate. this is so unfortunate. what we see a snowmass, no communion, no prayer, no faith, religion -- no mass, no religion. mr. speaker, what we have to realize is that religious beliefs predate government. government should not be able to tell those who are images whether they can practice their faith freely, regardless of our government funding situation, what we are seeking is accountability, transparency, and reducing what the federal government spends. government funding is irrelevant to the religious rights and freedoms that are enshrined in the first amendment of our constitution. awayome don't get to throw the constitution just because they are unwilling to sit down work withate and

us through this process. we are not going to sit here and say even if you volunteer to serve the faithful that we are going to deny. so i ask you, mr. speaker, will our priests and ministers this weekend, some of them, on my post at fort campbell in my district, are they going to be arrested if they recite hail mary or lead in prayer? i think it is time for us to pass this legislation to agree that we let our men and women in uniform pray. let america pray. government should not arrest anyone because someone to play politics with this situation. i yield back. gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from washington is recognized. >> i support this resolution. nobody is getting arrested for praying. i wish we could keep the debate

in the realm of reality. i believe the issue is that they have been furloughed, so they are not allowed to carry on the services. i do not want that mis impression left dangling, that somehow we are arresting people for going to church. we are most certainly not. i wish the debate would remain more accurate. i want to make one other point here and while it is true, that 95 -- in 1995, president clinton talked to republicans. ultimately, he did not give them any of the policy items they were asking for. all president obama basically is saying, look, we cannot talk about dismantling our health care law and we cannot talk about adding policy writers to or to the debt ceiling because we need to keep the government running. there is one other difference, which i know my republican colleagues will not address. a republican majority under newt gingrich in 1995 gave this house a vote, just like the senate has given everything you sent over

to them a vote very they voted it down, but they had about. this house will not give us a vote on the c.r. strongly about it as you do, do with the republicans in 1995 date -- written it up and voted down. that is democracy. that is in the constitution, by the way. that would be helpful. >> the gentleman from washington reserves. the gentleman from south carolina. >> mr. smith, i appreciate your support of this, but it is important because sadly information has been provided that chaplains would be subject to trespassing charges. so this does, obviously, interfere with the ability of freedom of speech and religion and assembly. i now yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from kansas. the gentleman from kansas is recognized for two minutes. is it really a

policy of this administration to make church services illegal, to threaten catholic priests with jail if they celebrate mass this weekend? seemsunately, this policy to be another tragic reflection of the complete disregard this administration has for americans of faith. worse -- it is an unprecedented denial of a fundamental constitutional right of our men and women in uniform. access to memorials for the first time. this is the first time in 17 previous funding lapses covering 16 sundays that chaplains have been threatened with arrest if they perform their duties. must issue anl immediate directive that chaplains should continue to perform their duties, that dod facilities used for religious services should continue to be used. mr. speaker, the first amendment is not some empty words on an a

rchaic document to be viewed somewhere in a museum. for men like my uncle, father an active-duty chambliss for 30 years, the first amendment is what you do every day as a chaplain, leading, men and women of all faiths. it's something real. father, who was recently awarded the medal of honor on april 11 of this year. father, it was not some empty words. it was what he did everyday. it was the reason he gave his life for his country. it is the reason he is honored and recognized in how he drew men and women of all faiths in h. of military chaplains and members of the armed forces, let's strike a blow for religious liberty today and i urge my college to join me in supporting this resolution

and sending a clear message to this administration that the right to those serving in the armed services cannot be suspended. i yield back. >> the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from washington. the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from south carolina. >> i yield the remainder of the time to the sponsor of this resolution, the u.s. air force reserve chaplain, the gentleman from georgia, mr. doug collins. >> how much time? mr. smith, do you have any other speakers who you'd like to yield. >> i do not. you have the right to close. >> the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. ofi yield to the sponsor this resolution, congress and doug collins, a u.s. air force reserve chaplain. >> the gentleman is recognized

for his much time as he wishes to consume. the speaker and the general and from south carolina whose dedication to our men and women in uniform is among no peer in this body. i thank him for his service and that of his family and others as we come along. rise, mr. today, i speaker, really with a troubled heart, but also with one that is on behalf of the men and women in the air force and the armed forces and others that are facing something today they should not have to face. there is no doubt our nation is facing many difficulties, and we across the aisle can understand that, and the majority of standing united to fight for the future of her children and grandchildren here those legitimate fights, and i respect my colleagues from across the aisle. these are legitimate fights we are having here. however, today, as i stand, i came to this body looking for practical things and looking for things that amaze me at times. this is one that does.

and as we fight for others, we must ensure the basic rights of all americans are protected and do not fall victim to the political theater occurring in this body. theirry personnel and families make sacrifices many of us cannot fathom, and they do so to protect the freedoms we take far too often for granted. because of their sacrifice, our nation is a beacon of hope in the dark horrors of the world where freedom of speech and religion exists -- dark corners of the world where freedom of speech and religion exists. facing) orave been spirit they cannot go even if they want to volunteer or practice their faith. body acrossn this the nation should pause to consider, think about what i said -- if a chaplain wants to minister, a contract chaplain wants to movminister to a worker, they would be

in violation of the law. i am a military chaplain, and this breaks my heart. too often we talk about abstra cts. today is different. today we stand with one resounding voice to tell a service members and the chaplaincy that we will not stand for the first amendment rights to be violated because the leaders in the other body want to make a point. the laws of this nation require the federal government to ensure military personnel can express their faith or non-faith in all corners of the world. that is why the chaplaincy exists. canontract with others who provide the basis of their faith. general george washington issued an order on july 9, 1776, providing for a chaplain for each regiment stating "the

blessing and protection of having our at all times necessary, but especially in times of public distress in danger." unsatisfied with closing off scenic overlooks and war memorials, now they must take a way the blessing and protection of heaven for military families. the government has experienced numerous lapses in appropriations over the decades but never before the history of this nation has the military chaplains and those they contract with to serve our military personnel been prevented from meeting the religious and spiritual needs of our service members. as a chaplain, i lived alongside many weremen in iraq, religious and many were not, but my purpose was to ensure they were able to express their first amendment rights however they wished. chaplains must be allowed and their contract counterparts must be allowed to provide religious

services regardless of our nation's fiscal state. administration wants to play games and score points through unnecessary theatrics, so be it, but i will not stand by and let these games occur at the expense of basic rights of men and women in uniform. funding,is lapse in active-duty chaplains are permitted to continue serving military personnel, however, there is a chronic shortage of active-duty chaplains, particular for catholic and jewish faiths. of the military ascribed to the catholic faith, but yet priests make up only eight percent of the chaplains. men and women,000 in uniform are served by 200 34 active-duty priests. thus, the need to have contract chaplains. due to the shortage, it is common for the government to employ chaplains via contract. with the government shutdown, contact members on the world wide aces are not permitted to work, not even permitted to volunteer, even if they are the only chaplain on base.

riend from south carolina mentioned, the research is on basic freedoms being had around here and just within this area, at langley at the navy belvoir, these are all areas in which these have artie been cut back, and that is a shame. i am grateful to my colleagues who joined me this morning in the house leadership for their commitment to ensuring that military chaplains are able to serve the men and women of our armed forces. if this body does not pass this legislation, the ability of will continuennel to be a great risk. i have my college to join me in protecting the first amendment rights of those who gave their lives to protect ours. and before i close, i agree that many times we have not communicated and we do not communicate as many would want us to, but i also heard that timing was a problem here. and that we should have saw this coming. just say timing should

never be a hindrance to this body protecting the first amendment rights of any of our citizens, and especially our military personnel. in fact, it should be our highest calling him a and that thing we run to the floor to discuss. should we have seen it coming? is il you, what saddens me would have never believed that the administration or anyone else would deem protecting the constitutional right as nonessential. with that, i hyyield back. >> the gentleman from south carolina. >> i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from south carolina yield back his time here the question is will the house agree to concurrent resolution 58? those of favor say aye. those opposed, no. 2/3 being in the affirmative -- >> mr. speaker, the chairman from south carolina.

s andrequest the yay nays. all of those in favor will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen ordered.and nays are further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. [gavel bangs] for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> pursuant to house resolution 3223, the up h.r. federal employee retroactive fairness act and ask for its consideration. >> the clerk will report the time. >> a bill to provide for the compensation of furloughed federal employees. >> pursuant to house resolution 371, the bill is considered read. the bill shall be debatable for

dividedes, equally between the chair and the ranking minority committee of oversight and government reform. the gemini from ohio, and the gentleman from maryland police control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner. sk unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to advise and extend the remarks. >> so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> the house remains actively engaged in finding a solution to end the current impasse. the house has passed a number of common sense bills to fund our troops, continuing funding for veterans benefits and allow the district of columbia to spend its own funds. pastouse has also the administration

is refusing to use the authority granted by the pay our military 400,000 defense civilian employees remain at home unable to work. while we wait on the president and senate to reach across the aisle, it is important to provide needed certainty to federal employees who have been furloughed without pay. each and every one of us have federal employees, most of which take pride in helping make the country a better place. civilian defense personnel at base, patterson air force doctors and nurses at the veterans affairs medical center, and records management professionals at the national archives and countless other dedicated men and women throughout my community are employed by federal agencies and have been subject to furlou gh. noaae gulf coast, employees help monitor major storms. in the aftermath of these natural disasters, workers are

sent into hazardous conditions to restore broken communities. at nasa, employs up was figuratively and literally reach for the stars. they encourage future generations to not be bound by seemingly physical and intellectual barriers. our law law-enforcement agencies work tirelessly to investigate and capture those who seek to do harm to the homeland as well as our allies abroad, and the list goes on. 23 ensures that civilian workers would receive retroactive pay for the duration of their shutdown regardless of their furlough status. federal workers who have been loughed under a shutdown, have historically received their back pay. they are guaranteed their payroll resume once the president and senate democrats agreed to discussions that will resolve this impasse. support for this bill as we continue to work on legislation to reopen the critical operations of the federal government. i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from maryland.

the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. >> i rise in strong support of 3223, the federal employee retract up a fairness act. this legislation would provide backpay to 800,000 hard-working and dedicated federal employees oughed as a result of the government shutdown we are enduring. today is day five of the shutdown created by the tea party extremists who are harming our country by holding a government hostage. placing our economy in jeopardy by waging an ideological war to overturn the law of the land and put insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions for tens of millions of our fellow americans. our dedicated public servants ought to be at their duty

stations serving the american people right now. they want to be working. they should be working, but instead, they are locked out because the house republicans leadership refuses to allow a vote on a clean bill to fund the government, a bill that would pass today. 17 years ago, federal workers were given back pay after newt gingrich's record 21 day shutdown in 1995 and 1996. it was the fair thing to do then, and it is the fair thing to do now. our federal employees have been under relentless and unfair attack in recent years, and have sacrificed much already. they have contributed $100 billion to deficit reduction through the three-year pay freeze. new employees have seen their retirement benefits slashed.

on top of that, mr. speaker, many have suffered through sequester -imposed furloughs. and now many families have seen their lives disrupted by this shutdown. ourleast we can do for fellow citizens who work for this great country is to give them the reassurance of knowing thtat tat they wil receive back. the piecemeal approach being pursued by the house republicans over its huge parts of the government and it tends to pick and choose those who will be paid and those who will not. that is not an efficient or effective way to run the government. and the american people are sick of it, and they must be heard.

give greatand i credit to my colleagues mr. wolfe, a mr. bipartisan group of great virginians, i applaud them, but 3223 would insure that all federal workers will be paid once this manufactured crisis is over. and the government is reopened. this is not their fault. and they should not suffer as a result. time forng past republicans to reopen the government. instead of disrupting the lives of our fellow citizens and wasting time and taxpayer money, house republican should reopen the government today. not yesterday, right now. by simply bringing to the floor a measure that funds the entire

government without taking away the health care of our fellow citizens. hese reasons, i urge my colleagues to join all of us in supporting h.r. 3223, and i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. bill wehe author of the are considering today that would retroactively restore the pay to federal workers. >> i want to thank -- mr. turner and chairman rogers and his staff. i want to thank leader cantor and his staff and mr. moran and mr. cummings, and all of the staff who did this very, very quickly. during the reagan and clinton administrations. who are the federal employees?

federal employees are the fbi agents that everyone-- they got loved and said that their one was kidnapped, the first person they would call would be an fbi agent, a federal employee. weekswith mr. hoyer two ago at the navy yard. the 12 people killed at the navy yard and those that were wounded, they were federal employees. no talked about it, he said they are part of the fleet. the capitol hill policeman that we all got up the other day and gave a standing ovation, they are federal employees. the v.a. doctors that are working at walter reed working on young men and women who have lost limbs, who have served in afghanistan and iraq, they are federal employees. i i was with mr. hoyer down at opm earlier this year when they had stars on the wall of 27 federal employees that died since 2012. and since that time, the number

of stars have been added. i saw the movie "zero dark t hirty." it was about catching bin laden. the woman who did that, had she been furloughed, should she not get paid? lastly, i remember being at the memorial service, if you saw the sevennd read the move, individuals died. i saw the young families that are mourning their parents, they are federal employees. 12000 cia employees have been furloughed, maybe missing that one communication from el shabab or al qaeda. i urge a strong vote for this. >> the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from maryland. yield three minutes to the distinguish among from the

state of maryland, mr. hoyer. >> the general it is recognized for three minutes. thank theto general and for yielding and i want to thank my colleague frank wolfe. there is no harder advocate, more effective advocate for federal employees. he and i have worked together for 32 years. on behalf of the interests of those people who work for the american people every day. to make them safe, healthier, more informed. i want to thank myself, the majority leader, the majority leader, the ranking member, the gentleman who offers his support of this bill, and we are five days into a government shutdown caused by -- i'm not sure what. result, approximately 800,000 middle-class workers who serve the american people are

furloughed without pay. all of us talk about working americans, how we want to make sure they have the jobs they need to support themselves and their family. federal employees have been for the accept freezes past four years and have endured changes to retirement benefits ughs imposed byo sequester. i'm glad to see the chairman of the appropriations committee on the floor. there have been no more stronger voice on the irrationality of the sequester them my friend from kentucky. only my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can say with certainty when our federal government will be able to go back to work. but the american people are already noticing their absence, whether safeguarding our national parks, performing groundbreaking medical research disaster relief efforts after a storm or wildfire, making sure nutrition assistance gets to children and

seniors who need it or enforcing the laws that keep our communities safe, employees make a critical contribution to the country and communities and the american people they serve. we saw their selfless nature and devotion to country on display this thursday when, as the gentleman from virginia, mr. wof u.s. capitaln police personnel, federal employees that were deemed essential and were on the job without the promise of pay, protected all of us who worked in the capital complex during a security incident. represent 52,000 hard-working federal employees in my district. yet most of the federal employees are not in the washington metropolitan area. of them are dispersed throughout the country serving in every area in every community of our great land. in civilian serve defense roles at military institutions like indianhead and westerfield, but each one of you

could name the facility in your district. one of them wrote to me to express frustration. tired of, "ii''m quite being punished when my only crime is supporting our great nation with my labor." may i have one additional minute? >> the general it is recognized for one minute. my republicanthank colleagues for recognizing that pain and bringing this bill to the floor. i hope all of us will support this bill. another constituent of mine works at pax river said, this, " these continue to work towards a solution that ends the furloughs." mr. speaker, we must reopen our government. and we could do so today. until the but majority allows a vote on the bill to reopen the government, let us at least provide the

dedicated, patriotic federal employees who want nothing more than to go back to work with the peace of mind that they will still be paid for their service. i want to thank mr. moran. he has been an extraordinary leader on behalf of federal employees. and congress and connolly. steve lynch, others on the republican side who have been aligned on that effort. we, the board of directors of the greatest enterprise on earth can take care of our employees and give them confidence that they deserve. i thank the speaker for the additional time. and i yield back the balance of the time. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from ohio. >> mr. speaker, i yield a man and a half to the detriment from kentucky, mr. rogers. -- i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from

kentucky. >> this is a bipartisan bill, and i hope every member in this house will support it. i'm glad to see that at the very least the senate has plans to take up this bill. stop the presses. the senate is going to take up a bill, even if they will not consider most of our other bills. as we wait for the senate to come to the negotiating table on shutting the site down down, our ourhe shutdown down, federal employees should not wait to find out whether they will be paid. this bill will provide backpay for those workers who have been furlough. the house has made great strides towards this end. as of yesterday, the house has approved 15 different options to fund the government, sent into the senate. sadly, the only response is

allowed -- a loud snore. i hope this bill, which i know is a priority for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, will encourage this congress to find that spirit of bipartisanship that seems to have evaporated over the last two weeks. it will demonstrate that we are able to let level heads prevail, and that we can unite in our responsibility to care for the hundreds of thousands of people who served this nation day in day out. i want to thank mr. wolf and mr. fine members of our appropriations committee, for bringing this bill to the floor, and i salute them, urge my colleagues to provide our workforce with some certainty for their futures, and pass this bill. >> the gentleman from the maryland. >> i yield three minutes to mr. moran. >> the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. my close friend from

baltimore for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, this bill is truly bipartisan. we have 177 cosponsors, 32 republicans. federal employees will be paid for the duration of the federal government shut down. the issue is fairness. it's just wrong for hundreds of thousands of federal employees not to know whether they are going to be able to make their mortgage payment, not to know whether they are going to be able to provide for their families. many of them live from paycheck to paycheck. and they are absolutely committed to paying their bills when they become due. but i'm sure that this experience has been shared by many of our colleagues. they come to our offices. in fact, just two days ago, a women came in, and she started to, matter-of-factly explain the

financial situation she had. she broke down sobbing. "i don't know how i can provide for my children if i do not get my paycheck." it was not her fault. she did not do anything wrong. due to any kind of performance. she is a hard worker, she has got commendations, but we decided because we have not been able to fix the budget situation that we are going to allow this government to shut down. so she is collateral damage. it is wrong. 800,000 people are suffering. this would relieve their anxiety. that is why it is a simple matter of fairness, mr. speaker. now, of course, on the side of the aisle, we feel strongly if we could just bring up a simple appropriations bill today, tomorrow, it would pass, because there are enough republicans that want to do that, combined with virtually all of the democrats, but whether that happens or not, when it happens, this bill does need to happen.

now, it should be borne in mind, keeping these individuals at home is costing us $300 million a day in lost productivity. hundreds of federal workers have come to our office is asking us asking us more importantly to let them go back to their work. they are dedicated to their jobs. that is the underlying message -- let them get back to work. but in the meantime, let's get this past. is's bear in mind this bill introduced in the context that over the last four years, the congress has frozen federal employees pay. we cut their pension benefits, d thousands ashe a result of the sequester. accumulated impact of these punitive measures will cost each federal employee an average of $50,000 over the budgeted period.

i do not think that is fair. it is not right to punish a workforce of civil servants for whom we are the board of directors. so we are responsible for this. let's do the right thing. let's get a unanimous vote for this bill simply because it is the right thing to do. thank you, mr. speaker. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. guest: >> i yield two minutes to the donovan from utah, mr. bishop. >> mr. speaker, -- two minutes to the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop. passedn july, the house the defense appropriations bill to fund the military, including illegally furloughed employees, in a bipartisan effort. since july, the majority leader has yet to bring that bill to a vote. this summer we passed a bill to although the

attorneys are still arguing over what the word support means. but because of these examples, it is imperative that all federal employees are guaranteed they will receive the backpay that is due them. this will not cost the government extra. there is precedent. it is logical. our goal should be to start the government working. g within twookin weeks of this time of the debt ceiling, the issue of sequestration, entitlement reform, a senate that continues extra $60the spend an billion we do not have an obamacare, it is clear that the strategies of the past to not work. position has one. we have nothing. and we will continue to have nothing until something new breaks this logjam. if the senate were to engage in legitimate talks with really go she asian, that could break this logjam. so it clear the senate attitude is the key to ending the shut

down. but until that happens, it is significant that all federal employees know that they will receive their funds, and they will not become innocent victims of the senate attitude of belligerents. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the german from maryland. >> i yield two minutes to the member of the committee from massachusetts. >> the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. >> i also want to thank mr. moran for his leadership and mr. wolfe is the lead sponsor, along mr. rogers,mings, and mr. whitman. i know there are a lot of staffs that have been working hard on this bill. as the ranking member of the federal workforce subcommittee, i rise in strong support of the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. willbipartisan legislation ensure that are more than 800,000 federal workers who have since october 1 will receive full back for the

duration of a government shutdown. thatlegislation recognizes our middle income federal employees are totally committed to serving the american people. to their great credit, our public servants have remained ready, willing, and able to perform their duties, even in the face of mandatory increases in their retirement costs, sequestration related furloughs, and as they face the likelihood of their fourth consecutive year of pay freeze imposed by this congress. furloughedthese employees have already carry the huge burden working towards deficit reduction, it would be unjust to expect them to bear the additional cost and uncertainty of a shut down engineered by one extreme faction within the republican party. faction within one that group, who are intent on disrupting government operations for the sake of political brinkmanship. that theseo note federal employees nevertheless perform mission-critical agency

functions. among these employees who had been sent home by the shut down our federal aviation safety monitors, the liturgical mission, disease surveillance personnel at the centers for disease control, and also food and safety inspectors at the fda, as well as nih researchers who are engaged in experimental clinical trials that are life- and-death matters for some. so it is therefore imperative clean, also passed la continuing resolution so that these federal workers can immediately return to their post. again, i thank mr. moran and wolfe, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia. >> thank you. i would like to recognize mr. moran, and for

the leadership on both sides of the aisle. this is absolutely necessary. i rise in strong support of the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. am proud to part of bipartisan group of cosponsors to make sure this is something that is being done in the best interest of our great federal workforce. this bill should be called the pacer and yet, because that is exactly what it does. it provides certainty for our federal employees who, through no fault of their own, were told they were not allowed to come to work effective october 1. our nations dedicated civil servants have artie been asked to shoulder the burden of numerous efforts to reduce government spending -- have already been asked to shoulder the burden of numerous efforts to reduce government spending. i have talked to many federal employees who are willing to do their part, but like everyone else, as i said, they do not expect to shoulder these cuts alone. oughs have dedicated people'smpact on

lives, and the doctors and nurses who are responsible for taking care of the men and women who served our nation, on law- enforcement officers running down leads on terrorist threats and protecting our homeland, on firefighter stations at military installations around the globe, on our capitol police, who protect your congress and capital home a and on the multitudes of other federal employees who do a great job serving their nation. the only thing they want is the ability to serve. and they have all done that in the greatest way possible. and for that, they have my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks. gratitude andpest sincere thanks of all members of this body. we deeply appreciate what they do for our nation. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to work together to get the work of the nation done. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back the balance. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> i yield two minutes to the

ranking member of our government ops subcommittee, mr. connolly. speaker.sou, mr. mr. speaker, it's been an orwellian week in which black is white and white black. we have members that vote for the shut down who appeared surprised that that led to the closure of national parks, which did not stop some of them from berating park federal employees from enforcing the shut down. we have other members in this saying theeek, shutdown is all about respect and we have got to get something out of this. we just do not know what it is. so finally, a moment of decency. e menly, we turn to th and women who serve our country. employees and we do

something decent for them. angst ofate the whether there will be a paycheck when we get around to reopening the government. workers received the prestigious service to america medal in recognition of his exemplary leadership of the 6000 person team that conceived and executed nasa's incredible curiosity rover mars mission. america is on a legally fortunate to have -- is fortunate to have this outlook worker whose public service should be celebrated and appreciated and compensated. on october 1, dave was one of the nasa employees deemed nonessential and was furlough. dave had tos that

consult the ethics office to see if he could go to his own awards ceremony because of the nonessential status. that is what we are reduced to. today's bill at least redresses one wrong in this otherwise orwellian exercise called the shutdown. i yield back. >> the gentlemen past time is expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from nebraska. , and i want to thank the gentleman from virginia for their efforts but also for coming up to me and asking me to be an early advocate of this very important bill. like them, i have many constituents that are utterly employees that are looked -- for right now.loughed

the legislation we are considering here today will make sure that the 800,000 federal employees are paid for the time lost or off work during this impasse. we worked last week in a bipartisan effort to make sure that our military would be paid, and including -- included in that bill was also very clear language that protected civilian dod workers from furlough. unfortunately, in a bizarre "what the definition of is is" discussion, they for load -- ed almost 60% to 70%. having a bill like this where we come together in a bipartisan way, we can reduce some level of

frustration. we can give some level of peace of mind to those employees that they will be reimbursed for their time lost. they will get paid. putnt the dod today to those civilian dod employees back to work, as is clearly in .he law there is historical precedent for this all the way back to ronald reagan times with tip o'neill and their six close downs, that the employees were for their timese off. so we should be for this effort. this is bipartisan. the president said he would sign this. i urge my colleagues to support this effort. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield one minute to mr. van hollen from marilyn. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland.

>> thank you. no one should be made to suffer for actions that are no fault of their own, so i'm very pleased we are taking up this measure to ensure that dedicated federal workers, who are among the many innocent victims of this government shutdown, will be held harmless in the long run, but this important measure simply highlights the sheer folly of keeping the federal government shut down for one additional minute. these are public servants who are paid to do what they love to do -- to serve the public. so, for goodness sake, let them all get back to work for the public now. this bill, mr. speaker, does not say, "let's just pay the federal employees at fema." it does not say, "let's just pay the federal employees at the national parks." it does not just say, "let's just pay the federal employees at the piecemeal, cherry picking

agencies our republican colleagues have brought to the floor." let's open the entire federal government and do it now. mr. speaker, let us have a vote on that very simple proposition. >> the gentleman's time is expired. chair recognizes digital men from ohio. >> i yield one minute to the gentlelady from michigan. >> the chair recognizes the gentlelady from michigan. >> mr. speaker, i support this bill which will make sure that federal workers who are furlough ed because of the shutdown are paid, but i would point out that the average salary of a federal worker is $78,500, so i do not understand how my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can decide which of the funding bills we have passed during this shutdown are worthy of their support. this week, they said no to opening up our national memorials or opening up our national sparks -- national parks, but they say yes to federal workers, no to veterans

benefits, no two women and babies on food assistance, no two children on cancer treatment, no to the national guard and reserve, but yes to other federal workers. clearly, it is time for both sides, mr. speaker, it down in a conference, to negotiate a compromise in a bipartisan manner, and to end this shutdown. i yield back. >> gentlelady yields back. the gentlemen from maryland. >> we on this side of the aisle said yes to opening the entire government. with that, i yield to my distinguished colleague from washington 45 seconds. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to strongly support this bill. for the last few years, federal workers have borne the brunt of withess' failures to deal long-term budget issues. going for years without a cost- of-living adjustment. facing furloughs from

sequestration and now the uncertainty of are the reductions in pay because of the shutdown. enough is enough. this shutdown is having a big impact not just on dod workers and v.a. workers and others facing furloughs, but on our entire community. folks who will not be able to replace a car or make a home payment or go buy a new tv -- that affects our economy. that's why i support this bill and why i'm introducing legislation to provide back a -- back paid to workers to remunerate them for shutdownsion-related as well. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield one minute to the gentleman from colorado. >> chair recognizes digital men from colorado. >> thank you. i rise in support of hr 2233, the federal employees retroactive pay fairness act.

this is an issue of fairness. five days ago, the president signed my legislation, the pay our military act, but hours later, the dod comptroller sent an e-mail to all dod civilian employees who were included in , thatt, which is now law starting -- that there would be furloughs starting immediately, despite acknowledgment of the new law. last night, media sources reported that the secretary of defense had a change of heart. no doubt due to the multitude of letters he had received from me and my colleagues on this subject, and decided to bring these furloughed employees back to work. it would be a shame if the thousands of dod civilian employees who were needlessly furloughed were not paid for time they could have spent working had the secretary given the same level of priority to did tosue that he college football.

thank you and i yield back. >> gentleman's time is expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> mr. speaker, i yield 45 colleague from new mexico. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico. >> i rise in support of this bill, which is important to all the federal employees in new mexico. it ensures that furloughed employees will be made whole. it is also important for contract employees who work in national labs. intendsir that congress to inflate those workers who provide vital services to our nation. in the past, dod has shot -- sought to treat lab employees the same as federal employees. this sets precedent for how those employees will be treated. mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to submit into the record my letter to the secretary expressing congressional intent to inflate those workers who provide vital support to our nation and the

effect of a shutdown -- >> without objection, and your time is expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois. >> chair recognizes the tournament from illinois. >> i'm pleased to see that once again, this chamber is moving forward with yet another bill to fund our government. we are ensuring that all federal employees are paid so that families are not harmed during the shutdown. i was a federal employee for 16 years. i'm also proud to represent scott air force base in the metro east area of illinois. whether they are active duty, civilian, reserve, guard, or retired, we must take care of our military. the house is already acted to ensure that these men and women are paid, but unfortunately, this administration has chosen needlessly to furlough workers. today, i stand with these hard- working men and women, and i also stand against this administration who always seems to find a way to make situations

like this as painful as possible. we have been told to make things difficult for people as much as we can, said a park ranger this week to reporters. i had a similar experience a few months ago with an airport in my district that was at risk of losing their control tower. even though we told the administration how they could shift the money around. to solve this problem, we had to stand on this floor and pass a bill, and now that tower remains open. congress had to pass a bill and has to pass a bill now to stop this behavior, and i am offended by the punitive behavior of this white house then and today. mr. speaker, i stand with all military personnel, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back the balance of time. yield 45eaker, i seconds to mr. hinojosa, chairman of the congressional hispanic caucus.

>> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of bipartisan bill hr 3223, the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. expressed in as political poll on happiness -- unhappiness with the direction of washington in this shutdown. federal employees are just trying to do the job, support their families. they had no time to plan financially for this crisis brought on by the stubbornness of the republican party. it seems to me that by supporting this bill, we are not trying to give them a paid vacation. if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would bring a clean cr to the floor, they could all be back to work on monday. these families are victims of the dysfunction of this congress. >> time is expired.

chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the tillman from texas. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of this bill to guarantee our federal workers are paid. they should not be the innocent ponds in the middle of a debate caused by us unable to work with the senate. we are ready, willing, and able to talk, but we need to ratchet down the rhetoric and little bit, make sure our employees get paid, make sure they get taking care of, and make sure that the people who work in the district our secure and safe. we need to get this done. republicans are trying to lessen the impact by passing bill after bill. we have passed something to fund

most of the government, including obamacare with the exception of the individual mandate. we are ready, willing, and able to negotiate, and i call on the senate to speak with us to get this done. >> i remind the gentleman we could get it done today. with that, mr. speaker, i yield to my colleague from maryland, congresswoman edwards, 45 seconds. >> chair recognizes the congresswoman from maryland. >> i have unanimous -- i seek unanimous consent to revise my remarks. i rise in support of hr 3223, and i speak in support of tracy and laurel, who was in my district. she helps her mom out every month with her federal salary, and christopher and his wife, both of whom work at the department of homeland security, and they are both on furlough. .nd dini, a single-parent she has already been furloughed

the summer and suffered mightily, so mr. speaker, i think this is the right thing to do, but let's keep in mind that the longer we stay out, and meeting the day to day needs of our federal workforce is really tough, and some of these people will really struggle even if they are guaranteed retroactive pay. time for us to get the entire government back to work. thank you, and i yield. >> chair recognizes the tillman from ohio. >> i gild one minute to the tillman from pennsylvania. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> this morning, i rise in strong support of the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. federal workers in pennsylvania have reached out to my office concerned about the impact of this shutdown on their family budget. these workers serve their fellow citizens. we recognize and set -- thank them for their service. the bill will retroactively pay his employees during the

shutdown. federal workers should not be punished for the senate's will to come to the table and negotiate to end the shutdown -- the senate's old -- the senate toss refusal -- the senate's refusal to come to the table and negotiate to end the shutdown. >> i yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. butterfield. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you for yielding. i was walking on the floor moments ago, and my colleague on the other side said that this failure to pass the cr was punitive behavior of this white house. i cannot allow that to go unanswered. the fact is there are 200 60 votes right now in this chamber to pass a clean bill -- >> the gentleman's time is

expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> my -- may i inquire as to whether the gentleman has additional speakers? >> we do not. >> very well, then we will close. criticalman, it is that the house passed hr 3223 to ensure that our dedicated are made wholees and receive back pay once this shutdown comes to an end. federal employees have been the shutdown -- subject to relentless attacks. this bill is the least we should do. our hard-working public servants should not become collateral the political games and ideological wars that the republicans are waging, and i would hope we would have a unanimous vote because so many

people are living from paycheck to paycheck and need our vote. open upsuggest that we the government -- the entire government -- so that all our employees can get back to work. i yield back. >> the gentleman yield back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> the other side of the aisle would have us believe that this shutdown is somehow a republican engineered shutdown. they would have you believe it is a government only shutdown with republican leadership, and we know that is not the case. the government shut down when there's a failure of the democratic process to work and parties to negotiate in good faith. the president has absolutely shut that down with his refusal to negotiate. the government shut down when mr. reagan was in the white house. the democrat-controlled congress shut the government down a total of eight times for 14 days. the democrat-controlled congress actually shut the government down for reagan for longer than

it has been shutdown now. and again, under mr. clinton, of course, the house also shut the government down. in each of those instances, there was something different than what is now, and that is that there were negotiations going on. president reagan was negotiating with the house and senate. president clinton was negotiating with the house and senate, but this president said absolutely no negotiations. this president will negotiate with syria. he will negotiate with iran. he will even have secret negotiations with russia and the secret deals, but he will not negotiate with the legislature. he will not negotiate over the debt limit. he wants to take the country to $197 trillion trillion in debt -- no negotiation. and my community, there were 12,000 people that were furloughed. the president will not negotiate . the president will not negotiate on funding the government. we have sent countless bills to the senate that would reopen national parks, that would fund the veterans, that would allow

the washington, d.c., to spend its own funds, and harry reid heartlessly has said in response to these bills that would provide needless services, "why would we do that?" paying the president is -- playing politics because this house and senate passed pay our military act. the president signed it into law . i have two letters questioning why he would have furloughed 400,000 dod workers when he had signed the pay our military act. how do we know that they were playing politics by letting the department of defense employees go even though the president had full authority to fund them? because he is going to be calling them back. he is calling them back without any other passage of any other law. clearly, the president is admitting that he has been playing politics with these furloughs, and it needs to stop. it also needs to stop so that our federal workers do not have to worry about their pay or the impact on their personal lives.

they have child care expenses, house payments to make, kids that are in college, what and why the president refuses to negotiate while he's playing politics, they should not worry about whether they can make ends meet. i encourage my colleagues to support hr 3223 that would restore the pay to federal workers and make sure they have the support they need. i yield back my time. >> that was from earlier today. the house will be out tomorrow and back on monday at 12:00 eastern time. they will begin legislative work at 2:00. republicans are expected to continue introducing bills to fund parts of the government, including the fda, border security, head start programs, national intelligence, indian affairs, nuclear security, the national weather service, and the educational department's impact aid. we've been taking your calls throughout the day. we will open your phone lines again for you to let us know who you think is responsible for the federal government shutting down, how it is affecting you. those lines to call are up on

your screen, and if you are joining us by radio, republicans, 20 2-58 5-3885. democrats, 202-585-38 86. others,pendents and 202-585-3887. gordon, you are on the air. >> yes, i would report -- wonder if the republicans would consider negotiating instead of , ifng obamacare back a year obama would bring it back and put in both together. in other words, have the business is not have another year to sort but start right now. the other thing would be i have already been affected by obamacare because he -- the doctor that i had, he laid off closed hises and

shop and he's gone, and he won't be back in business. so i've lost my doctor there. thing i think -- i wonder if republicans would consider paying cash -- in other words, instead of foreign money from obamacare, paying it on an all cash basis. we pay for it as we go. a good way to be -- would be like add a little gasoline tax, like half a cent to each gallon. >> thanks, gordon, calling from texas. kurt calling from bakersfield, california, on the line from republicans. >> all i'm asking from all my republican representatives, i want you guys to hold the line. hold the line.

>> ok, thanks. rita is next from memphis, tennessee, on the independents and others line. are you there? go ahead. i'my name is frida, and from bartlett, tennessee. that is in anobody home for assisted living, and it seems that our social security so far has not been affected, but i hear talk about it, and i've also got children who have that need those jobs. i don't know who is to blame for this. i hold both of the parties responsible. i think it is as much one as it is the other. they both want their ways, and i think that the democrats and republicans both should stop and consider what they are doing to the american people.

thank you. >> thanks, freda. our first caller on the democrats line, jeffrey. go ahead. >> yes. i'm a democrat, and i voted for president obama, and i've been watching this for the last few weeks. they keep hollering obamacare this, obamacare that. looks like they ought to quit worrying about that and start worrying about the people out of work and stuff and feeding the together andst get get everything back in order, and then maybe they could sit .own and work things out seems like to me it is like a racist thing.

i don't know why they don't like him. he's a good talker. he's well spoken. he is willing to work with people. they won't give him a chance. they have not given him a chance. every time he has tried to do something, they have shut it down. i got health problems. theyoctors i'm going to, are working with me trying to and i just my stuff, wish they would give him a chance. you know, let this go ahead and go through and see what happens. maybe they can work it out once they get it passed. you know, they could sit down and try to compromise on some of the things, you know, that they think is wrong with obamacare or

the affordable health care or whatever. >> right, yeah, thanks for your call. you mentioned the continuing resolution. the cr. the democrats did send a clean cr to the house. house speaker john boehner does not want to take that up. right now, the house trying to just pass a very small piecemeal measures to fund various parts of the federal government. the house was in earlier. they worked on two measures today. one of those backpay for furlough government workers. that passed unanimously and will head to the senate. and the pentagon is ordering most of its furlough civilian employees back to work. that's a decision made by defense secretary chuck hagel based on the pentagon's legal interpretation of the pay our military act that was passed by congress, signed by the president just before the shutdown began on tuesday. that is from the associated press. angela is the next call her up from hixson, tennessee, on the independent line.

.- the next caller are you on the line? >> yes, i am. thank you for taking my call. first of all, i want to say, yes, we are in the end times. all the weather points to it. all this mess results from the end times. what they need to do is to wake up. everybody's walking around in suits and ties, getting paid, i might add -- they are getting paid. they have their insurance benefits. they are not concerned about the little man. i think the only thing that obama has ever done in my eyes that would mean anything is that he tried to think about the little man. he does. but when it is all said and done , it is power control. republicans and democrats, everything they said on the vote today, the problem is power control. what they need is to wake up and

realize that this government and this country was not based on power. it was based on caring. theythe pilgrims ate what had to eat. they grew their own food and killed their own meat. wake up and smell the coffee. there's people out there starving. all those republican and the ladypeople and prior to me, wake up and smell the coffee, freda. you are not important. ist needs to happen in this they need to go back to the regional plan for this country before we go under. we are in the last days. wake up. >> thanks, angela. again, taking your phone calls on the government shutdown. next call is from dewey on the republican line from naples,

florida. >> thank you for letting the american people have their say so. i'm a republican, but i'm saying right here and now that both democrat and republican are in deep trouble. they cannot agree on anything. what is going to happen -- they blame the tea party people for everything that is going wrong, and the tea party people voted those people in to do exactly what they are doing. that has to be done. and i'm going to make this untilent -- you wait 2014. the very same as 2010. the tea party people are angry. they are going to vote all those people out of office. they do not ever hear this. the senators and republicans -- or representatives will never hear this, but they are going to be out of office. why is everybody blaming the tea party? we are just doing it to make x smaller government, and that is exactly what the people that were voted by the tea party to do.

democrats hate the tea party, and they are going to suffer for it. you wait until 2014, and i appreciate you letting us say what we have to say. >> thanks. michelle is in chattanooga, tennessee, on the democrats line. >> hello. good afternoon. hixson. the lady from i'm a vietnam era veteran. how dare people take money from veterans for any reason, any form of their administration, or the military. i feel ashamed that our children are going to go hungry. . have grandchildren both sides of the -- i guess you would say financial world. we cannot let our children go hungry. it's just a shame. i happen to be a biracial female as well. our president is looking at it from two different sides, if

y'all would just a attention. that's why he is so likable. he understands what is going on. he just cannot fix it alone. he needs democrats and republicans help. >> thanks. were going to get a couple more minutes of calls here. todon't want nobody believe this we blame each side republican and democrat. it is all really about the people. we have to come together as a nation, but see, the thing is people are still scared about the past and they do not want to move forward. it hurts other people and situations. i don't think that it's fair that they should do this to people. you know, it started with the government shutdown because it does affect a lot of people and our nation.

whatever reason that they wanted to do this -- i mean, i really don't understand because we all it all comeslly -- down to racism. >> all right, thanks. we're going to get another call in from brian in mcgee, mississippi, on the independent line. >> hello? >> you are on the air. go ahead. >> to be honest with you, what i shouldy think that obama turn around and worry about -- the united states, instead of worrying about syria and all of them folks, and in the united states, instead of basically screwing over our military -- my lady's brother is in the military, and he has been furloughed. me, i get social security. you, i do notith approve about this obama care and that kind of stuff because

it is basically taking out taxes and that kind of stuff. they all have to basically worry about how we are going to live by day by day. >> thanks for the call. want to let you know we are going to close the phone lines now, but the conversation -- you can always join in on facebook and take some of the polls we have out there. how much has the government shutdown affected you, and who is responsible for the current fiscal stalemate in washington? you can do that by going online to facebook.com/c-span. thanks again for your calls. we're going to move on now to look at what happened earlier today. both parties held press conferences after the house passed that measure that would give backpay to federal workers who were furloughed. this is about 15 minutes. we will take a look first at republicans and then see what democrats had to say. >> good morning.

good morning. the house just took another step to try and ease the pain of the government shutdown, ensuring that furloughed federal employees will get their backpay. as you can see, it was a unanimous vote in the house. we had also gotten word yesterday that the obama administration had been making it very difficult -- if not toossible -- for chaplains come and conduct services on government property during the shutdown. we thought that that really was an abuse of this shutdown and wanted to make sure that the fundamental constitutional right to practice your faith and religion would be upheld. as you saw again, nearly unanimous on the house floor. herewe are looking at again -- this is an administration, a president that seems to be unwilling to sit down and talk with us. we had a majority leader in the

senate to -- that seems unwilling to sit down and work out our differences. it is really -- if you think about it, it does not make any sense. if the president has an ax to grind with the opposing party, why he would want to put the american people in the middle of that and enforce the pain -- and force the pain on them. up until today, we had 57 democrats that supported bipartisan bills to relieve the pain of this shutdown, and you have to ask yourself now with the unanimous vote that we just saw from federal employees, if it is so important to ease the pain for them, what about the veterans? do the democrats not feel it is important to make sure the pain is eased on them? what about the sick children that need access to clinical trials? is it not as important to ease the pain of the political shutdown for them? or is it just the federal

employees that the democratic minority thinks are important? we can work this out, and we have going back five years thought that this shutdown has been brought about by the president's unwillingness to sit down and talk with members of congress on the hill. i think if you were to ask on both sides of the aisle, this administration has been almost absent when it comes to discussions and working out our differences, and we are going to stay focused on trying to ease the pain of this shutdown while we continue to ask both the president and the senate majority leader to sit down and talk. .> i have to be clear from the house republicans, we never desired a shutdown. that's why we continue to pass bills at the final hours that would fund the government. once americans realize that in our final bill, all we ask for is for the senate to sit down and talk about our differences -- that did not happen.

earlier, i read and saw that the president -- president canceled his trip to asia. that's a unique opportunity. he is here this weekend and we are here this weekend. this can all and. all the president has to do is sit down along with senate democrats, and we can move forward. let's recap what has gone on this week. on wednesday, the house passed opening the national parks, funding nih, and local funding for d.c. on thursday, the house passed funding our guard and reserves, funding our veterans, and friday we passed the national emergency and disaster recovery act. friday, nutrition assistance for low income women and children. today, as the leader said, we made sure all the federal employees and also made sure the military was able to have service on sunday. votes.ay, no roll call thursday, no roll call votes. friday, no roll call votes.

but they have worked. this.id adopt this has got to stop. everyone hurts in a shutdown. we never desired a shutdown, and we never asked for a shutdown. that's why we fully funded the government, and we continue to as we go forward. i think now is the time since everyone is in town, to pick up the phone, to work together, and solve the problems. >> while senate democrats and the president refused to negotiate with house republicans, we continue to do our work. we have now passed 12 bills that aren't critical parts of the federal government. we have just passed a bill that will take care of the 800,000 federal employees that were .urloughed contrary to what the president and those in the white house believe, there are no winners when the federal government

shuts down. there are real consequences, and the house did not want the shutdown. we believe there "my way or the highway" mentality cannot be sustained. we look forward to sitting down with them and look forward to our differences so we can stop inflicting pain on hard-working americans. the great challenge that we have. we really did not want to be here at this moment. we have to find a way to resolve our differences, which is why it was important to us to be able to say to the senate that our negotiators are ready to meet at any moment. looking for the senate negotiators still. they are not willing apparently didn't even sit down at the table and negotiate. they are willing to assign "next week is national chess week." they are willing to say they will deal with trucker sleep apnea issues, which they dealt with earlier this week. they are willing to put out a

resolution on venezuela, but they are not willing to sit down with us and get to the work to get our government restarted. after this that conference passed unanimously, the senate passed unanimously, and the president signed instructions that our military, civilians, and civilian contractors that work with our military should be held harmless in this entire shutdown, that after a week, we are still waiting for them to implement the law that was put into place a week ago. as the lawyers and the pentagon discussed what civilians are affected by that and what civilian contractors are affected, they are allowing us to have more and more pain and try to inflict that on the american people, specifically in the military, when all of us agreed together that they would be held harmless and all this. it's frustrating that we even have to pass something today that houses of worship, places of worship, and chaplains should still be able to work over this weekend engaging in worship. for many people, worship and getting a chance to practice their religious faith is an essential part of their life,

and for the administration to pull back and say, "there will be places where you will not have worship on the weekends for our military" is absolutely unacceptable. i'm glad we passed out in the house today. and everyone will know from the pentagon that this is something we have to do. hold them harmless in the middle of all this and make sure we continue to protect what was the intent originally before this even began. >> questions? >> [inaudible] republicans in your caucus who would support bringing a clean cr to the floor and passed that? >> the republican decision continues to be no special treatment under the law, no special treatment under obamacare. our position has been that the administration continues to give special treatment to big business and special interest and have worked middle -- to have left middle-class americans out. our position under obamacare is to give them the same treatment. fair treatment for all.

in the same place, the republican position has been that we do not think it is proper for members of congress to have special treatment under the law. so i would ask my friends in the media to look at the votes that we have taken. 57 democrats have voted with us in a bipartisan way on all these fact, unanimously today, to ease the pain of the shutdown. i would implore my friends in the media to ask majority leader reid why is he not bringing up any of these bills? because i think that there is a majority of senators who support these bills to ease the pain on the american people while we continue to wait for the president to join us in these discussions to work out our differences. is it about the stuff that you have not funded that you do not find critical? committed to fund the areas of government that we all agree on, which is a lot more

than not. as you know, the disagreement is on that special treatment under obamacare. our position on obamacare is very simple -- it is no special treatment under the law. it is to delay the individual mandate because why should it the working middle class aside and areset subject to the taxes and penalties but not big is this? notts peschel interests? that's not fair. that's what our position is. for everything else, we are ending this government. time and again, all week long, what we have seen is that the senate refuse to even take the .ills up they have tried to vent their anger and impose that on the american people. we are trying to ease the pain here. they are not joining us. there's a majority of senators who would say that they really believe sick children ought to have access to clinical trials. he believed poor women and

children should have the assistance that they need. they do not believe that they should be put through this pain. i know there's a majority in the senate for that. i am for you to ask the senate majority leader why he is not taking these bills up. >> [inaudible] if there's a majority in the house to vote on a clean cr, why would they be able to get on a majority on that? >> there have been no roll call votes in the senate. we are saying we have a lot that we have in common. i think most american people do not tolerate the fact that this president has continued to insist that he's not going to talk. in fact, if you saw james baker's comments in the news today, he said it is an utter failure of presidential leadership for this president to sit on the sidelines, to issue warnings, and to scare the markets and the public about

this, somehow anticipating that if something were to happen, he could say, "i told you so." that is not leadership. it is that attitude, that unwillingness to sit down and talk with us, that has brought about this shutdown. we continue to be here this weekend. we will continue to wait for any indication from the majority leader in the senate or the white house that they are willing to sit down and talk with us so we can relieve the pain on the american people and end this shutdown. thank you. >> [inaudible] october 17. >> we just heard from the republicans. now the democrats. their press conference from earlier -- was held earlier today on the fifth day of the government shutdown. this is from the capitol visitor center.

>> it is still morning. good morning, everyone. we had some news for you today. which is what we think we have every day. but you don't always agree. sadly, today marks the fifth day of the republican government shutdown. this crisis could be over in hours if the speaker and republicans would just take yes for an answer instead of continuing to be the party of no . on seven different occasions, the republican party of no has not taken yes for an answer of democrats offering motions on the senate-past republican 986 furloughed. republicans have said no each time. two and the republican shutdown,

200 members furloughed -- 200 house democrats have signed furloughed their names to a letter reaffirming our commitment to support a clean continuing resolution on the $988 billion republican number. this has not been easy for our open government has said they are willing to do so. republican members have come forward to say they are willing to vote to reopen the government by supporting the clean funding bill. right now, enough republicans have publicly stated their support for a bill that could pass and be on the president's desk today. we are asking the speaker and our letter to bring the vote to the floor for those republicans and more to show that there is a bipartisan majority to end the republican government shutdown.

if that were not newsworthy enough -- that 200 democrats have signed a letter furloughed -- signed a letter, and others that will vote with us but philosophically do not sign letters, i want to add, at the beginning of this, the speaker tod he wanted regular order the white house. that regular order means that when the house passes a bill, which it did, and the senate passes a bill, which it has, then you go to conference. said -- after that, he said, [inaudible] our question was why are you not appointing conferees to the budget conference? the statement was under the rules, if you point conferees, and after 20 legislative days there is no agreement, the minority has a right to offer motion to obstruct, which

becomes politically motivated bombs to throw up on the house floor. to be frank with all of you, we are following what i would order.e as regular to be frank with him, the regular order is not how he defines it. it is what the regular order is of the house. in fact, at this point, under the rules, any member would have the privilege to bring up the senate position. mr. van hollen spoke to that issue the other day. so in public and otherwise, the speaker has said that his concern is the motion to instruct. making anstand here unprecedented offer by the minority to the majority, to the speaker of the house. if you will agree to pass a

short-term bill and move the conference to the final budget discussion for this fiscal year, we will not offer any motions to instruct. this is news, my friends. please recognize it as such. the speaker has said that is his concern. we are going to take that concern off the table. today, we are giving republicans yet another opportunity to end their shutdown, the very opportunity that the speaker has been asking for -- thank you. we have accepted their number, as unpleasant as that is for us to do. we have agreed not to offer motions to instruct, and we have voted to pay the federal for not working. why don't we pay them for working by opening government?

we could have it open over this weekend, certainly in full force by monday. our public employees want to work. the american people want government to be open. it is in everyone's interests that the speaker accept our offer of 200 votes. all they need is a couple dozen and our offeres not to offer motions to instruct. we have substantively except it areccepted what they offering. we have procedurally tried to accommodate and a lay their concerns. let's open the government. give us a vote, mr. speaker. now, i'm pleased to yield to the distinguished democratic whip. >> thank you very much, leader pelosi. this is an important tool of the minority, a motion to instruct. or, for that matter, for anyone else in the house, to tell the

conference committee what they ought to do. the speaker has expressed, however, a concern about that. i think his concern is inconsistent with his discussion about the house working its will and the transparency that republicans want to bring to the house, but notwithstanding that, and notwithstanding how important this device is to the minority and the majority, we are, through the leader, saying that we will not do that. is the concern, that he believes politics will be played with this, we have no intention of doing that. i want to congratulate leader pelosi for informing the speaker and the republican side of the aisle that that will not be and should not be and will not be a concern of them or a reason for them to delay going to conference on the budget.

we are now in the fifth day, as the leader has said, of a shutdown. we had just voted to pay the employees, as we should. the american public wants their .overnment open the speaker needs to bring a .ill to the floor the letter the speaker has referred to with 200 democrats on it indicates that clearly in my view right now, there are enough people to pass a government opening funding bill, thewe will do so at republican-suggested number of dollars. there's no disagreement, no argument about dollars. democrats are united and ready to help in this shutdown by voting for the senate possibility, which puts the people's government back to work . republicans have voted, unfortunately, seven times to block the senate's bill to

reopen the government. while i'm pleased that the house just voted to restore pay, as i said, it's time to get them back to work as well. democrats have already compromised by accepting a different funding level, are ready to go to conference on a budget, as we have been for months. in fact, the speaker says, the president has said, many have said, we need an agreement. mr. van hollen is going to outline the very significant issues that need to be discussed and a conference committee. majorissues and differences. i will leave that to mr. van hollen. but i want to thank the leader for taking this initiative with which all of us agree because it is critical for our national security, for our economy, and for the confidence of the american people that we get their government to work, working for them, as we

discussed. differences between the two parties, and reaching compromise , which is so essential in any democracy. friend, theto my assistant leader, mr. jim clyburn of south carolina. >> i thank the whip for yielding. madam leader, colleagues, we have spent the better part of this week doing something which then't believe should be prerogative of the members of congress. we are picking winners and losers. unfortunate is very . brianunfortunate because carter -- a name we have all forgotten to know -- may not be the face of what we are doing this week, but he is in fact the storyline. he was seriously injured two

he waso because protecting the members of -- thes -- protecting us government which we may not get a chance to know. working,tely, he was providing that protection for no pay. that, to me, is the storyline of what this is all about. . spoke with him several times he does not want us just to be supporting him over his spouse and his siblings. we just voted to get them back pay when all this comes to a close, but what are we doing for

his spouse and his siblings? he does not feel comfortable thinking that we are taking care providingt we are not educational needs and services to his children and grandchildren. congress ought not the in the business of picking winners and losers, and certainly, we ought not be doing things that pitt family against family. with that, i would like to yield to the chair of our budget committee, chris van hollen. >> thank you. i want to start with the point that leader pelosi made about the action that we took today in the house of representatives because i think we all agree that no one should be made to suffer for actions that are no

fault of their own. so it was totally appropriate that the house of representatives and sure -- ensure that dedicated federal workers, who are among the menacing -- the many innocent victims of the government shutdown, will be held harmless in the long run. that was the right thing to do, but that important measure highlights the sheer wally of the current government shutdown -- the sheer folly. we want to make sure that these people are paid, but they want to get back to doing what they love, which is working on behalf of the public. so if we are going to be providing the pay, as we should, we should also have them come back to work, which is why we have been saying all along we should vote today to reopen the federal government and bring all those federal employees back to work. if you look at what republicans are doing, they have been saying, "let's fund the national park service" or "let's fund fema." today, there proposal did not

say let's just get back pay to folks at the national park service or folks at fema. it said, "let's make sure all auto employees are held harmless ." why are they not bringing up the bill on the floor that allows all underemployed these to get to work serving the american people? it makes absolutely no sense at all. the american people are paying for these important services. we want to make sure that every federal employee gets back to work to be able to do their job, and that is what federal employees want to be able to do. the way to do that is to have a boat right now to end the government shutdown. as my colleagues have said, ever since march, we have been really clear that we want to go to negotiation on the budget. we have on three occasions here in the house called for a vote

for the speaker to a point budget negotiators so they can negotiate with the senate. on all three occasions, speaker in the senate, harry reid and patty murray, the democratic leader and the head of the budget committee, tried 18 times to appoint budget negotiators, and all 18 times senator ted cruz and senator mike lee and the republicans said no. senator mccain said it was irrational for them to say no, but they said no. that is why we haven't had any budget conversations for months and months. as the leader said, we have been hearing one of the excuses for not moving forward is this notion that democrats would exercise what are our rights to offer motions. a few weeks ago in the budget committee during a hearing, the

chairman of the committee, paul ryan, said they would move forward with budget negotiations if, in fact, their concerns were met. that was news to me. said, we are making the news today by saying, we will give up that right in order to do what we have said we wanted to do from the beginning, negotiate on the budget. a last point i want to make is what those budget negotiations republicansause have been totally mischaracterizing the president statements. the president will not negotiate away the full faith and credit of the united states. in other words, republicans cannot say they will only do what they should do, work with us to pay the nation's bills on theirin order to get republican agenda through the house. that is not the way it works. we all share a responsibility, republicans and democrats alike, to pay our bills on time.

yes, let's negotiate on the budget. they have the budget chairman ryan put forward. we think it is very harmful to the country. it cuts vital investments. it squeezes many seniors on medicare. tiallysensually -- essen guts medicaid in many ways. it cuts medicaid by almost $700 billion over 10 years. that is their budget. what is our budget? housee a budget, democrats, senate democrats, the president has a budget. he has an important plan to reinvest in the country, to try to get the economy going even faster, accelerate job growth. major infrastructure investments. what else does he call for? thealls for replacing sequester. the sequester is eating away a vital investments in science and research, infrastructure, education. according to the congressional budget office, the sequester remains in place, that level

remains in place not just through november 15 but through this time next year, there will be up to 1.2 million jobs -- fewer american jobs. their best estimate is we will have it hundred thousand fewer american jobs in this country. the luck -- that wipes out last four months of job growth in this country. it is a self-inflicted wound we cannot afford. we have a long-term plan to reduce the deficit. the long-term deficit, which is a very real thing. as the president has pointed out, the deficit right now has been cut in more than half over the last five years, but we know we have to make progress on the long-term deficit. we have a plan to do that. it is a balanced plan. we ask for shared responsibility. we ask people making millions and millions of dollars here get rid of some of their tax breaks. i'm going to close, but our point is, we want to have a

budget negotiation. the whole republican wishlist, their kitchen sink, they don't get to force that on the country's throat by threatening to default on our debts or threatening to shut down the government. those are things that you negotiate with the democrats in the president. we have what we think are important priorities for the country on jobs, on replacing the sequester, on a balanced approach to long-term deficit reduction. we will have that conversation. we should do that in a conference committee. but you do not get the republican agenda in exchange for doing what every member should do anyway, which is pay our nations bills on time. i want to turn it over to the chairman of our caucus who has worked to make sure we are all on the same page, xavier becerra. >> thank you, chris. the house of representatives is not a sandbox to read -- sa ndbox. this republican shutdown of our government is serious.

the american people know that. they have been saying that since the republicans shut down our government on october 1. what they are also telling us is that it is time for no more excuses. they are saying we should stop acting like children in the house of representatives. the republican shutdown of serious,t is not just but it is also absurd. someone tried to explain to the american people today that republicans decided to shut down government on october 1, and on october 5, they decided to pay all of those workers that they told, don't come in to work. if it weren't so serious, it really would be absurd, what we find ourselves facing with this republican shutdown of government. we are here to say what the american people are saying all over the place.

put america back to work. let the house of representatives vote on a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. is, what we should be focusing on as elected representatives of the people of this country is building a stronger middle class, creating more jobs, not putting americans out of work, not putting americans in a state of anxiety as to whether or not i will be able to pay their bills -- they will be able to pay their bills. who thinks anyone of our veterans in this country today want to be part of the republican gimmick of shutting down government where they are spared as veterans from the pain of a government shutdown while america's infants and children suffer the consequence of the government shutdown? i don't think there is a veteran in america who would say, yeah, take care of me, and leave our children behind, but that is the

gimmick that is being played today. americans are telling us very clearly, will you please put your country before your party? republicans simply put themselves in the shoes of the american people, they would understand. no small business in america on its street would run operations the way the republicans are running the house of representatives. ourthey are telling republican caucus, please stop running the largest economy in the world this way, as well. let america work. let congress vote for a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. to the business of building a stronger middle class. with that, let me yield now to the chairman of the democratic congressional campaign committee, steve israel. >> thank you. in this game of ping-pong that john boehner is playing, his

side of the ping-pong table is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. he keeps creating excuses not to vote. we keep taking those excuses away from him as we have today. it is simply time to vote. going to be yet another moment of truth for john boehner. 200 democrats have signed a letter -- that is 98% of our caucus -- have signed a letter saying to the speaker, we are ready for a vote on a clean budget. heard that there are between 20-22 republicans who have said back home to their constituents that they are ready to vote for a clean budget. so now it is time for them to put their voting cards where their promises are. we are going to hold them accountable today, tomorrow, and next week. those 20-22 republican members

of congress who are claiming that they will support a clean budget with no strings attached now have the opportunity to reopen this government. toy now have the opportunity hold to their promises. we are going to hold them accountable. you cannot act like an independent pit bull at home and then in washington act like a tea party lapdog. 20-22 republicans who have said that they will vote with 90% of the democratic caucus to reopen the government without strings attached, this is their moment of truth. we have signed the letter. now it is up to them to do the same. i am actually hopeful -- i really am hopeful -- that those 20-22 republicans who have claimed to want result this problem and pursue a solution are going to keep their word, not to any of their colleagues,

but to the constituents that they gave there were two -- their word to. tonk you, i now yield nobody, because i'm the last figure. >> i think all of my colleagues for their eloquent statements about what our purpose here is, in terms of her presenting the american people and getting the job done for them. thank you, mr. van hollen, for working so hard on the budget over the years. what our proposal is today -- here is the letter -- these are three pages of signatures of names. the members who have signed a letter. we have accepted their number. note,k it is important to the cut -- the president has accepted their number. united states senate has accepted the republican number. democrats and the house have accepted the republican number. are the missing piece

republicans in the house except in their own number. what is the problem? if the issue is that you do not want to bring it up as once we go to the budget table we will have motions to instruct, which you characterize in away i would not describe, but nonetheless, however you want to describe it, we are not doing it. it is an unprecedented offer on behalf of a minority in this case, the democrats to the republicans. it is so important we think to open government. we are paying the bill. now let us put people back to work for the american people. that thef the purposes american people look to us. any questions? what was speaker boehner's response to you? it is ank he knows

good-faith effort on our part. i told him in the context of, i want you to know, this is an offer we are making to you, and we are going to make this offer public. it wasn't like i was blindsiding him with it. >> we just came from a press conference with republican leaders. goingre any conversation on in the background, behind the scenes, between you guys and republicans today, tomorrow, plans to try to come to -- >> we just made the offer this morning to the speaker. that is one of the conversations. if this is, in fact, his concern about going to the budget table and appointing conferees, then we want to take that concern off the table. everything is being planned out before our eyes. >> not to my knowledge. i hope meetings are happening with someone, whether it is the white house or senate, but we thought that when the speaker

that he was not going to , he wason the debt going to have a bipartisan agreement to do that. that give us hope that there might be some time when we would discuss that. thereust want to say, aren't a lot, because we have agreed to what they passed. nobody believes that the affordable care act was going to be repealed or that we were going to stop the individual mandate. nobody in their party -- strike that -- the majority of their party did not believe that. they thought it was optics for their base. at this point in time, we are saying, yes to their offer. on the preparations committee with leader pelosi and others, mr. clyburn -- i served for 23 years on the appropriate and committee. normally, when you are about to and the government funding authorization, you get to the end of the year. normally, the numbers are different.

you have to sit down and say, which numbers are we going to use? if you pass an appropriation bill, it you will say -- you will say, the lower of the house or senate bill? we said, yes, we will take her number. we will not take her number forever. we will go and talk about it. we will go to the committee and talk about it. that is how the process works. that is how regular order works. that is how the american people run their lives when they have differences, whether in the family or someone else. they sit down and talk. i want to tell you, i have talked republicans on a relatively regular basis. absolutely. i talk to them everyday about what they think is happening. without mentioning names, an overwhelming number of the people i talk to, conservative republicans think, hey, we ought to get this done and get the government open and then talk about other areas that we want to try to get agreement on. >> thank you.

let me answer that. i have talked to quite a few republicans about this. i agree with what the senator said. what we are saying is, we will accept your number. we have already accepted your number. every republican i have talked to tells me they want to get rid of the sequester. every one of them. the problem is, the number we they extend into sequester. this the next six weeks, then we would have a discussion on how to go forward, how to get rid of sequester. a river plant not in my district

just furloughed 1400 people. that is not what the representatives of that plant want to do. it is not in my district. you fought for that plant. >> i fought very hard for that plant. in fact, to the chagrin of a few ,eople here standing behind me i fought very hard to get the level of funding that they've got here. -- the paybackck i'm getting from some of my colleagues. >> i constantly hear my republican colleagues say that the president and democrats are not willing to negotiate or compromise. i think my colleagues here have described, not only have lend -- have we been willing to negotiate and compromise, but we have accepted the republican number on the budget, which we find offensive. because we do not believe it is right to close on the government to exercise your own social

wenda and political agenda, have decided to negotiate and compromise to that number. i point is this, i hope one of these times when one of our republican colleagues gets up and says, democrats and the president, they are not negotiating or compromising, you will ask them, did the republican leadership go across the aisle, not across the city to 1600 pennsylvania, but across the hallway to meet with their democratic counterparts, all 200 negotiateask us to and request some compromise on each and every one of the bills they have been putting on the floor. have they at all ever reach out to democrats in the same body with them to negotiate the bills they have put on the ford? i think you are going to get a very clear answer. they have never sat down with us to craft these bills. so, i hope you will pose the question to them, if they are so

adamant about having the president or democrats negotiate or compromise with them, have they taken the time to walk across the hall to the office of their democratic colleagues, all 200 of us, to ask us if we are willing to negotiate or compromise on bills they are putting on the house floor? >> what do you think of the idea of calling in the house on saturday morning to vote on a bill that could have been voted on yesterday, and sending everybody home to come back on monday night? >> at a time when we have a republican government shutdown, i think we should be here working through. i think it is possible for us to open government on monday. if you are a taxpayer in our country, you say, i don't like this government shutdown because i'm not getting -- you are not getting our service, but now we are going to pay the public employees for not delivering our services. our public employees are patriotic. their public servants. i want to work.

want to work. to say we will pay people but they don't have to work, it just does not make any sense. becauseant to say this i think this'll be our last question, and i will yield to my colleague -- when you ask about negotiating and these conversations, and they make a big to-do about the president saying one thing or another, three things -- the full faith and credit of the united states of america, not negotiable. the idea that they are going to defund, overturn, or delay the affordable care act -- that is not going to happen. as i said to my colleagues yesterday, that is like saying, give me your first-born child, and we will talk about the rest of the family. it is just not going to happen. the third point is to bring back the bill, their bill, which was, again, approved by the president, approved by the senate, approved by the house

democrats, but not by them. the point of having these names on this letter is to say to -- all thelicans conversations we have been having -- the word is that they are saying, we might be willing to vote for this if we know it is going to pass. if thereying to them, are two dozen of you were just fewer than that who are willing to vote for that, it is going to pass. we are not asking them to take any risk. 98% ofshowing that this house democrats have signed the and more will vote for the bill who do not sign letters, so we just need a dozen and a half or two dozen republicans to open government, to go to the table to negotiate. the president is willing to that mr. vanall

hollen talked about, infrastructure, investing in jobs, and the opportunity cost of what is happening in terms of the entrepreneurship and the greatness of america is stunning. we are having these which should be swept aside and move onto, how can we work together in a nonpartisan way to address the challenges we face again in a very positive way? we know we can find common ground, but there are elements in the public and party are determined that it will be the party of no. no, we will not accept your offer of giving us our number. going to open up government even if you agree with us on how to go forward. yes,e are not going to say but we will see what happens today and hope for a positive response. myh that, i yielded to colleagues for whatever closing statements they may have. >> let me respond to your question.

recognition of the discussed that the american -- of the discsgust that the american people feel for the failure to take an action that would have taken five minutes on september 30 to do everything and much more than we have done in the last five days. actionhe appearance of without the substance of action. it is a recognition that we ought to be working to get this done. the problem is, it is so simple to get done that we are having these filler bills to pretend that we are doing things when the reality is, in five minutes as mr. van hollen has so frequently said, we could open the government up, put people back to work, go to conference on the budget, discuss our

differences, and be a responsible, effective board of directors for the greatest nation on the face of the earth. i think that is what i make of it. today's actions, as we have said, just absolutely highlighted the madness and folly of the republican leadership position. is that weave said are going to pay all of the federal employees, as we should, but we are going to pay them to stay at home. we have been saying, let's send everybody back to work as they want to go, and they are essentially saying, let's pay them, but we are going to prevent them from going back to work. they will stand at the doors of federal agencies and prevent people from doing their jobs while they say they want to pay people ultimately to do their jobs. want to getoyees

back to serving the public. that is what they love to do. it is an absolutely absurd position. i just want to emphasize one last thing, which the leader has mentioned and others have we have tried to negotiate on the budget from the very beginning. they have blocked us from those negotiations from the very beginning. they blocked those negotiations for one simple reason -- when you have a negotiation between the house republican budget and the democratic budget and the president's budget, you actually have to reach a compromise. there has to be give and take. you have to meet somewhere in the middle. we don't like the provisions in their budget that squeeze seniors on medicare who have a median income of $23,000. we don't like the parts of the budget that provide another windfall tax break to very romney-people, like the ryan ticket wanted to do. we don't like the parts of their

budget that deficit -- that decimate important investments. we have our own budget alternative. we want to make those important investments in our future. we want to replace the sequester that is a drag on the economy. we want to address the long-term deficit program -- problem through a combination of smart, targeted cuts, but also through the elimination of tax breaks for very wealthy people. and balanced approach to reducing the deficit. we have our approach and the president does, and they have their street at the idea of a budget negotiation is you meet in the middle. i do not want to compromise. they say no. what republicans are going to give as the policy concession, we are going to make sure that the united states pays our bills on time. we are going to do it every member of congress has the responsibility of doing. we are saying, no. you cannot hold the full faith and credit of the united states

hostage to try to enact your radical policy agenda. we all have to vote to make sure we pay our bills on time. let's get together at the table and negotiate those important priorities separately. you are going to be hearing this conversation a lot going forward. they want to set this conversation up as if they are making a huge concession by agreeing to pay our bills on time, and in exchange for that, we've got to adopt their budget agenda. that is the way they are trying to set this up. we have to meet in the middle. in exchange for republicans doing the responsible thing, you've got to give us our budget agenda. that is not the middle. that is political extortion. the middle is between our budget proposal and the president priorities and their budget proposal, which we think is harmful to the country. e-house solvent nation is not a compromise -- e-house -- a

half solvent nation is not a cover mines. >> i want to thank mr. van hollen and mr. hoyer for their relationship with federal employees. it is with all the respect in the world that we want open government so federal employees can come back to work as they want to do. they are public servants. we want to honor them by making sure they can pay their them also but we want to give the taxpayers of the services they deserve, as well. thank you all very much. to be backe is going in on monday, 12:00 eastern

time, and 2:00 p.m. for legislative work. they are specter to work more on some of those partial funding bills with the vote scheduled for 6:30. watch all of that here on c-span when the gavel back in. on the other side of the capital, the senate was in today. they gaveled out about 25 minutes ago. the senate was in session, not taking any votes on the floor, but they did have a number of senators debating the government shutdown. take a look at some of what they had to say. this is about an hour. >> thank you, madam president. we need to bring this government shutdown to an end, and the way to do that is for the house of representatives to pass the bill for $986 billion in a budget to run the government for a year, which john boehner and the republicans in the house of representatives asked of the senate to pass. that is the number they wanted.

it is not the numbers that the democrats in the senate wanted. billion to run6 the government for a year. they will not pass that budget. now we have a situation where we should be negotiating over health care issues, over environmental issues, over other issues because the budget has they areed, but no, going to hold the entire country hostage. consider where our country stands right now. left office,. bush the dow was at 7900. it is now above 15,000. at the height of the great bush recession, unemployment peaked at 10%. it is now at 7.3%. our deficit has been cut in half. we are making progress. we are not there yet. many americans continue to struggle. as our country climbs back from the worst economic crisis since

the great depression, the tea party republicans are sending america into reverse. the tea party republicans shut down the government. they are putting our economic recovery at risk. they are signaling to the world that america cannot perform the most fundamental job of government, passing a budget. in the alternative, the tea party republican -- alternative tea party republican universe that they have created here, mr. president, has of the tea party demanding that we fund health care research while simultaneously trying to end health care coverage for millions of americans. to pay for our troops, but sideline the intelligence agents who keep us safe from terrorist attacks. they claim to defend the constitution but shutdown the building where it lives and breathes. this tea party republican logic

is tying our country in knots. it makes no sense. although the government shutdown admin night this past monday, the seeds were sown years ago. this shutdown is the product of more than a decade of disdain for the democratic process, waged by the tea party republican party that is increasingly out of the mainstream. when the republican party started losing congressional seats, they read through -- redr ew electoral maps. when an historic bill was signed into law to finally make health care are right for millions of low income americans, a law that was upheld by the supreme court, a law that opened for business on tuesday, the response of the tea party republicans was to shut down the entire government. at the core of this tea party republican ideology is the idea that the democratic process our country runs on can be

dismissed, that they can be manipulated, that they can be contorted to cater to the privilege at the expense -- priveleged at the expense of the poor and disenfranchised. this is not about the republican party versus the democratic already. his is about tea party -- this is about tea party republicans against democracy itself, the essence of american democracy has been our ability to govern by majority rule while respecting minority rights. our system is designed to enable compromise and avoid the divisiveness of ideological extremism. mr. president, i know all about these tea party extremist. i served in the house of representatives with them. they live by the republican tea party paradox. they hate the government so much that they have to run for office in order to make sure that the government doesn't work.

now there is a new republican tea party paradox. they want to pay federal employees not to work while blocking the legislation that would put him back to work. work. them back to the democrats are starting to open the government so federal employees can return to work and themarn their pay, not pay for not working. that is the new republican paradox. ae tea party republicans have three-step plan -- number one, denying democracy. ignore theepublicans fact that the affordable care act passed the congress, was signed by the president, and upheld by the supreme court. tea party step number 2 -- manufacturer a crisis. shutea party republicans down the government, put our country on the brink of default because they refused to accept affordableat the care act is the law of the land and the american people reelected president obama. step three, turn out the lights.

shut down the government. what is at stake if the affordable care act is repealed? without the affordable care act, for women everywhere in america, their gender will go back to being a pre-existing condition. they can be charged higher rates is because -- just because they are women. for families everywhere, the threat of personal bankruptcy will return. againl bills will once lead to personal bankruptcies. for a young college graduate struggling to find a job, their parents plan is no longer an option. for low income families that have spent years taking their kids to the emergency room, and set of regular doctor appointments, it will mean more late nights in emergency waiting rooms. who else will be harmed if the tea party republicans continue to refuse to expand the medicaid program in their respective the expansion that is a key part of the affordable care act?

poorhirds of the country's -- uninsured african-americans and single mothers -- more than half of low-wage workers and took -- in 26 states or federal government -- where state governments have turned down medicaid funding. act, the affordable care every state has a choice. they could give the poor, sickest, and neediest health- care coverage through expanded medicaid paid for entirely by the federal government, or it could say, no thanks, and leave these poor people, these uninsured people in a state of uncertainty. more thaned down cold $100 billion in federal funding over the next decade, the nine health-care coverage for the 1.5

million -- d nine health-care coverage for the 1.5 million texas residents living in poverty. tea partyat republicans are fighting for. that is what it is all about. they believe they have a right to say no, we are not going to cover these people. that is their fight. they should have the freedom to deny all these people health insurance. states, all with republican governors, did the very same thing. every state in the deep south but arkansas said no. there is an ancient greek proverb that says, the world will know true justice when those who have not been harmed are as angry as those who have been harmed. you can see all across america, people are angry. people who have not been harmed are now angry at all of those who are being harmed by what the republican tea party is doing here in congress. that is why everyone in america

wants this shutdown ended. they know that eliminating the affordable care act would greatly harm the poor in our country, the children, the working families trying to make ends meet. not since the great depression have so many americans suffered from such severe economic problems. 46 million americans are living in poverty today. -- that isa year $23,000 a year for a family of four. there are almost 15 million -- 50 million people in our country at risk of not having enough food. 16 million children live in poverty in the united states as we stand here today. 16 million children are living in poverty. there are more than 11 million americans out of work, 13% unemployment for african- americans, 9.2% for hispanics. it is too high for asians, whites, for native americans, or everyone in our country. behind each of those statistics

is a story. behind each for low is a federal furlough is a federal worker. somewhere in georgia, there is an employee for the centers of disease control who is at home instead of stopping a flu outbreak at a local elementary school. isewhere in florida there an fda employee who was shot out of his job inspecting fish imports for toxic contamination while a mother shops at the local grocery store, picking up salmon for dinner. somewhere in the gulf coast there is an oil rig safety officer catching up on their chores at home instead of stopping the next potential bp spill before it happens. somewhere in boston a doctor has now put on hold a clinical trial to bring a new treatment to children born with a rare form of heart disease while a mother in milwaukee holds for sick newborn, wondering if a cure could ever be found.

amewhere in massachusetts civilian military employee tasked with developing the best gear for our soldiers is barred from entering his military base, while abroad, soldier takes fire on the front lines. here at the capitol, there are police officers who through their bodies in between the ,ublic and a threat this week but by doing so without even receiving a paycheck. this government shutdown is just a preview of coming attractions. if republicans force us to default on our debt, millions of jobs could be destroyed. we could go from a shutdown of our government to a meltdown of our entire economy. we will not be blackmailed. we will not be threatened. we will not give up. we will stand him and we will fight. we will fight for the families who have dreamed of the security of health care. we will fight for federal workers who deserve a paycheck. we will fight for the working families reaching for the american dream. make no mistake, what is at stake isn't just health-care. it isn't just a functioning

government. it isn't just the stability of our economy. what is at stake is the future of our democratic system. you can shutdown the government, you can engage in revisionist history and revise the rules to fit your ideology, but the american people will rise up, and they are rising up to say, put america back to work. they will not let the tea party republicans stop the progress of our country. they are going to demand justice. they are going to demand that the shutdown ends and the spirit of the american people be recognized. what we need to do, mr. president, is to get the government back to work. the senate has sent the house a bill that will end of the shutdown. the house should schedule a vote for this bill immediately. it will pass. we should not be cutting the national institutes of health that is working to fund the cure for cancer or alzheimer's or parkinson's and other diseases. we should not be keeping our

civilian defense workers off the job. we should be coming together to create jobs to build better futures for all americans. we should make sure that america pays its bills and does not default on its debts. we need to raise the debt ceiling. now is the time, mr. president. let us get to work. i yield back the balance of my time. president? >> the senator from utah. after wisely declared, all is said and done, much more is said than done. a lot has been said in the well of this chamber this week. unfortunately, not much has been done. on the other hand, speaker boehner and majority leader cantor and the members of the house of representatives, including members of both clinical parties, have done much to and the shutdown and protect the american people. house has passed bills that

would fund veterans benefits and fund the national institutes of health. the house has also approved measures to make sure our national guard gets paid and to keep our national parks open. the house funded wic, the program that provides health care and nutrition for low income women and nutrition. the house has funded fema. all of these bills have, moreover, then passed with significant, bipartisan support -- significant bipartisan support in the house of representatives. at the risk of overstating it, i am still frick we stunned -- frankly stunned at what we are hearing from some of our colleagues. it is difficult for me to understand some of their objections to passing these bills in the senate. first, none of these bills is controversial. not one of them. the bills provide funding for noncontroversial things, like veterans or disability payments,

the g.i. bill, and cancer research. these bills keep our national parks open and make sure our national guard personnel get paid. there are many things on which democrats and republicans disagree, but whether or not to take care of our veterans should not be one of them. last i checked, it is not one of them. second, the president himself asked congress to do this. republicans in the house to the president at his word and acted immediately to draft bills that would make sure his priorities and the nation's priorities would receive funding. in response, senate democrats said that this plan to fund veterans, national parks, and other priorities was on serious. -- unserious. the biggest head scratcher of them all -- the president issued a veto threat for bills that fund the very things he said he wanted funded. why won't the president and why won't senate democrats take yes for an answer?

why are they demanding that we have to fund everything? they tell us, you have to fund everything, or we won't allow you to fund anything. third, all of these bills received significant bipartisan support in the house. in the middle of the government shutdown, surrounded by all of this divisive rhetoric, republicans and democrats came together in the house overwhelmingly to approve these bills. i think we owe it to the country to show that we can do the same thing in the senate. , theh, this approach approach that has been advocated by the house of representatives, represents a path forward that was first introduced by none other than the distinguished senate majority leader himself. on monday afternoon, senator harry reid ask for unanimous consent to pass a bill that ensured that our active-duty military personnel would be paid in the event of a government

shutdown. in a matter of minutes, it was past -- passed. i asked my friends across the aisle, was senator reed playing games -- reid playing games? of course not. why is it playing political games when we fund cancer research or national parks? why is it playing games to keep our national parks open? what exactly has changed since monday? why can't we come together -- why can we come together to pass a bill funding military pay, but not fund the bill for veterans disability payments? none of these bills have to do with the implementation of obamacare. i understand my friends across the aisle support that law, despite its numerous and harmful failings. i understand they want to protect it. none of the bills we are considering relate any way to the implementation of obamacare. i am concerned that my friends across the aisle cannot see this and what it it is

is already doing to american families all across the country/ shut downvernment is because democrats refuse to work with us to do anything to protect him or can people from the harmful, potentially devastating, effects of obamacare. they won't even consider passing bills to fund veterans benefits, cancer research, or national parks unless obamacare is fully funded and implemented. we have an obligation to address the negative effects of this law, but the democrats refuse to negotiate. the president has issued a veto threat on funding for things that he himself asked congress to fund because the bills do not include obamacare funding, even though the programs funded in these bills have nothing to do with obamacare. i fear that the democrats are now simply the obamacare parley -- obamacare party. it is the only thing that matters to them, even though it is hurting people throughout the

country already and threatens to do so far more in the coming months. a recent report included a story of a man named tom, tom from cl, who signed up with the exchanges only to find out that his health care costs were going to skyrocket under obamacare. tom of seattle who is self-employed said, my premiums would increase approximately 61%. $14nt from $891 a month to 74 a month. my deductibles all doubled. the letter from his insurer said his current deductible for his family of five would double from $4000 a year to $8,000. even though that is for the bronze plan, the least expense -- expensive option, he says his additional payment will give him a plan that is no better than what he already has. what's more, it also carries a benefit for his family that his family doesn't need, maternity and newborn care.

my wife is 58 years old, and our youngest child is soon to be 18, says tom. we will be having a more children. that is a benefit that we would never purchase nor need nor be able to use. these are the kinds of people we are trying to protect from the slot. this is just one story among many stories. i ask my friends, join us in ending the shutdown. join us in protecting the country from obamacare. let's do the right thing for the american people. leadership is not about what is said. leadership is about what is done. toi invite my colleagues join house speaker boehner and majority cantor and the other house members who are leading, and they are leading by doing. we can and must lead. we can and the shutdown -- end

the shutdown and cite out -- and simultaneously protect the american people from the harmful effects of obamacare. if we stand together in support of the american people, we will do this. >> may i ask of the senator would yield for a question? >> yes. >> to the chair, let me inquire whether in evaluating the relative activity of the senate and the house in trying to bring this shutdown to a conclusion, the senator would not concede that the senate has repeatedly sures?on house-passed mea we have taken them up, stripped out extraneous language, and sent them back. we have over and over again done our constitutional duty and voted. the senator might not like the way the vote came out, but does he concede that we voted on

measures and the speaker of the house has never called to the floor a senate- passed measure? to the question posed by my friend from rhode island, yes, i will acknowledge we have taken votes. some votes in response to many of the pieces of legislation enacted in the house of representatives. >> and the house has never reciprocated? >> the house has not voted on all of the things passed. >> my question wasn't whether it had been -- whether it voted on some but not all. i think the house has voted on nothing the senate has passed. they have done nothing but tea up -- tee up political votes to send over to us. >> that is not accurate. the house of representatives has sent them back in the form of of thosewith some

messages carrying amendments. i see your point. it is a valid one. we have had action taken in both houses. we have had a votes cast in both houses. it is important, however, to republicans have offered significant elements of copper mines in all of this. what republicans would like is the repeal of the law, understanding that is not possible under the current circumstances. they sought first to defund obamacare indefinitely. they sought that first. that was stripped out. they responded with a significant compromise offer, offering in the next go around to defunded for -- defund it for one year. that was sent back and rejected. there are a lot of areas in government spending as to which there is broad, bipartisan, basically unanimous consent in both houses and both political parties that we ought to be continuing to fund these things at current levels.

they have acted in those areas, and the senate has so far refused to go along with those. into the spirit of compromise, it would be helpful if we would act upon these. it would be helpful to have a senate -- the senate and act legislation -- enact legislation funding those parts of government that have bipartisan support. >> madame president? >> the senator from maine. >> my intention coming here was to help solve problems, to find common ground, to work together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. that is my history. in fact, that was my primary motivation for running, for stepping into the shoes of my illustrious predecessor olympia snowe. that is what we did this summer on student loans when a small group of bipartisan senators worked together to find a compromise, work it through both sides of this body, both

parties, and then through the house, and then get the signature of the president. we got 81 votes in the senate, 392 in the house. that is what i want to try to do. that was a validation of what i am here for. this situation that we are in now cries out for resolution. it cries out for finding common ground, for compromising, getting everybody back to work, getting the government shutdown over. why aren't we doing it? why aren't we cutting a deal? why aren't we compromising? inn i talk to my colleagues the senate, talk to house members, both republicans and democrats, there are lots of options. in fact, the house has sent us a series of options. essentially, was defund, effectively repeal, the affordable care act. then it was to delay the affordable care act. then it was to delay a part of the affordable care act.

the important thing about these options and this discussion is, it is all taking place in the context of a government shutdown. negotiationshere should be made. that is not where negotiations and discussions should be had when he essentially the government has been shut down and one side is saying, we will not allow the government to operate unless you give us what we want on a substantive piece of legislation. this is the problem, madame president. this is why, i think, in this one case, negotiation really isn't the right course. it is a process problem. it is a practical problem. constitutional a problem. it is perfectly appropriate to negotiate budgets. as a governor, i did it four times four biennial budgets, and numerous supplemental budgets. it is perfectly appropriate to negotiate up to the deadline.

lots of late nights. that is when a lot of this work seems to get done. in the context of budgets, negotiating the most fundamental governmental documents, you negotiate about numbers, about details, about allocations. you don't negotiate about entirely separate substantive pieces of law. in fact, that happened a month ago right here when leader reid and speaker boehner negotiated a continuing resolution on what the number should be. it was a hot and heavy negotiation. the leader compromised. he said, let's go forward, because we can do this cleanly with a continuing resolution, at a lower level than what senate democrats thought was appropriate. that is not what is going on here. we are not negotiating about what are the dollar amounts of the budget or what are the details are what are the

allocations, how much to defense and how much to head start. to rewrite atempt major piece of substantive law through holding the government hostage, which is a result that cannot be achieved through the normal democratic and constitutional processes. that is the core of this current situation. that is what is bothering me about it. i don't my negotiating budgets. use thenk we should not threat of the government shutdown, or now the reality of a government shutdown, to obtain legislative and policy benefits that we cannot otherwise obtain through the normal constitutional process. in a very real sense, madam president, this is a frontal assault on the constitution itself. ironically, it is being led by many of those who wrap themselves daily in the

constitution. i do not have one of those books, but we all have one of those books -- how a bill becomes a law. you can read those books until the spots come off, but there is going to be nothing in there that says, if all else fails, hold the government hostage, and then you can make a law. that is not what it says. mary, my wife, got me a book when i was first elected called "congress for dummies." even in that boat, it does not say you can make laws, change laws, rewrite laws in the context of holding the country hostage. it is an attempt to create an a new,tive process, shortcut way of achieving political ends without having to deal with those pesky elections. here is the electoral history of this bill. in 2010, the affordable care act was passed in early summer. there were elections in 2010. indeed, the republicans gain substantial seats in the house probably because of concern

about the affordable care act. the senate did not turn over. that is the way the framers planted. yearis why there are six terms. so public passions and one electoral cycle do not entirely change the government. then and there was another election in 2012. in that election, in which the affordable care act was a major factor, democrats gained seats in the house, gained seats in the senate, and the president whose name is attached to this bill won by 5 million votes. in my election in maine, in every debate -- goodness knows, there were probably over 20 of them -- my republican opponent started a debate by saying, i want to repeal the affordable care act. was the whole mission. not in everyt, detail, but i defended it. i won that election. here i am. mr. romney said, i will repeal obamacare on day one.

he lost. president, inadam effect trying to effectuate that agenda, that policy position through an alternative process that skips around those annoying elections. thisassionate opponents of act are acting like those elections just not happen -- just a did not happen. let's be fair about what this is. this is one faction of one party and one house of one branch trying to run the entire united states government. that is not the way our constitution is supposed to work. i am confident of that statement because from talking to my friends in the house, i believe it is highly likely that if a clean continuing resolution -- that means one without any strings, without any political went before the house today or tomorrow or monday, it would pass.

most of the democrats and enough republicans to achieve the majority. all of this would be over. yesterday said it to things that i think were he said this is not a game. it is not a game. it is deadly serious. series because of the impacted as having people throughout the country. 70% of the civilians have been furloughed. 70% are on furlough. week that air squadrons at a grounded. we have people being trained. maine we've got 1500 people on furlough.

almost half of our national guard people are on furlough. a game.not all of this is being done in the name of effectively crippling the affordable care act. even if you do not think it is a good law, this is not a way to go about dismantling it. it is not the way our constitution is designed. why won't me negotiate? why are the democrats negotiating on that? a farmer -- a city guide came up to a farmer. the farmer said it is not for sale. w abouty guys that ho the 50% on the river? not for sale. he says why won't you negotiate?

i would love to sit down with people and maybe website work better. way to do that is not in the context of the government being held hostage. here is the real problem. if we do it now, this'll be the normal way we legislate. this is a six week resolution. it will be ok, we will take another nick. >> i ask unanimous consent that i have four more minutes. >> is there objection? please proceed. afraid this will become the normal way we do things. and others tell you you do not negotiate with hostage takers. you do not because you enable

and you in sure that it will happen again. that is what worries me. tr constitutional system has wo and tensions, governing and checks and balances. they can promote the general welfare. checks and balances is so we do by our abused government. if you take away the governing part, nothing is left but checks and balances. the framers thought of this. good thingmight be a to have minorities have additional power above a quorum. he said these are outweighed by the opposite. fundamental principle of free government would be reversed the minority rule.

be transferred to the minority. more...put it much equally. if they will not ask u.s., the government must cease. way tos no other determine this on one side or the other. i understand the opposition. i do not understand not wanting people to have health insurance. i think the speaker is a good man. to winstand the need something in this weird atmosphere where everybody has to win or lose. it their best shot. it did not work. so's have a clean vote people know we still know how to govern. i want to negotiate. i want to solve problems but not at the expense of this institution.

not at the expense of the constitution. not at the experience of the american people. winning the shut down debate, not how long it will last. the democrats may can 10 -- may be content with political games. republicans remain focused to reopening the federal government. when the white house says it is winning may be winning the me whilel debate or gai the american people are losing. it continues to oppose funding

for the national guard and reserve. veteran services, nutrition assistance for low income americans, fema, life-saving medicines and chores. national parks and museums. there are bills that have been sent here that are available to be picked up by the senate at any time. we could fund all of those things right now. they are from the house. all we have to do is pick them up and passed them. there would not be any objection on this side of the aisle. weakens on national parks and museums. it is that simple.

we can all be solved easily. all we have to do is pick up the bills that come over to us and pass them right now. we obviously have other issues at work and play. they will be discussed. i want to talk about one of those in a minute. we can do this right now. people int benefit this country. people who defend us. people who want to see our national monuments and parks.

it is very simple. pick up the bills and pass them right now. what i would like to talk about is doing something to address our nation's debt. the fifthrselves in day of a partial government shutdown that from my perspective was completely avoidable. we know the government shutdown is only one of the challenges we are currently facing. as we look at the near future, we need to address the debt limit. we need to end this partial government's letdown. -- government shutdown. to be talking about addressing one while subsequently dealing with the debt limit. it looks like those will be all one big debate and discussion. of friends on the other side

the aisle, the president insists they will not negotiate on those issues. people of south dakota sit me here to washington they did so with the expectation that i will continue to stand up for their values. when it comes to governing there will be differences of opinion. often times that means we will have to sit down together. to say it is my way or the highway is not the way to approach these things. you cannot say we're going to negotiate. that is not a reasonable position in the eyes of the american people. earlier this week be majority leader was quoted as saying it. the president said he is not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. he is not going to negotiate. we are not either. it has never happened in the

history of the country. at the end of last week, the president made this statement. "and that is why i have said this before and i'm going to repeat it. there will be no negotiations over this." that is the president of the united states. there will be no negotiations. >> with the senator yield for a question? >> i will be happy to yield when i have concluded on my remarks. i think the reason republicans find a stance so perplexing is that that characterization that we have never negotiated is not true. have beenductions paired with increases in the debt ceiling. almost 30 years ago we had the

emergency deficit control act. i was a staffer. that was done in the context of the context. we had several in the 1990s. they were done in association with an increase in the debt ceiling. most recently, the budget control act of 2011 which resulted in restraint largely on the discretionary side of the budget. resulted were the federal government spent less than it spent the previous year. first time since the korean war. the common denominator is that they are paired with an increase in the debt ceiling. make ist i am trying to that this is unprecedented. perhaps they ought to take a closer look at history. they wrote an op-ed in the wall

street journal entitled obama rewrites the debt limit history. this characterizes it in a more accurate way. according to the research service, they voted 63 times to change the debt ceiling. they go on to write that congressional republicans who won legislative conditions are following a strategy that has been pursued by both parties the majority of the time. increases, 26 were clean, standalone. no strings attached. the remaining debt limit increases were part of an omnibus package of other bills or continuing resolutions. other times it was paired with which werey some of limited to the budget. to reiterate, after 53 increases in the debt limit, less than

half were stand-alone measures. the others had other legislation associated with them. to make that happen again, what we need is leadership. we need a president to make the tough decisions. i find it concerning that incident coming to the table has week the president suggested that the default on the debt. them that theyd should "be consigned." over a faction of congress that is looking to default. nobody wants a default.

i ensure that they could not agree more. those are things we need to avoid. instead of simply kicking the and pushing road the difficult decisions off until tomorrow, we have to be serious about the long-term fiscal health of our economy so we can help strengthen our middle class. now is the time to move beyond politics and to work with congressional republic girders -- republicans to a dress americans long-term problems. south dakota and the american people understand that you need to do nothing when you pile on the debt. it is not a responsible way to continue to govern our country. i would post to my democrat colleagues that they stand ready to come to the table to get the

government up and running again and to make responsible spending reforms that show the true drivers of our debt. i hope our colleagues will take a lesson from history and not suggest that we're not going to negotiate. but is not a viable position in the eyes of the american people. mr. president, what i would is that having a goingon that we are not to negotiate a government increasesn debt limit is not only inconsistent with what the american people have they thinkant done we ought to be around the debt limit increase figuring out what

we're going to do about the debt. also unrealistic to think we are going to be unable to solve our problems. we have been able to accomplish when we were able to sit down together in the contest of raising the debt limit which will be over $17 trillion. the senator from rhode island is up next. if you like to ask question through the chair. i thank the distinguished senator from south dakota.

i noticed that he was on the ther during the remarks senator from maine made a few moments ago. having heard those remarks, i would ask the senator from south dakota if you would concede that there is a difference between negotiating in negotiating with istages, whether the hostage shutting down the government or whether the hostages defaulting on obligations. there is a difference between negotiating while holding hostages. say that i think what makes a negotiation successful is when both sides are sufficiently motivated. haverikes me are going to a set for outcome, both sides had to have invented to be at the table. republicans indicated that one of the ways we get legislation

policy put in place that is good for the future of the country is to do to get around a debt limit increase. that has historically been the case. many of the big budget agreement that we have raised are the debt limit increases. we have a debt limit we are going to hit in the next couple of weeks. i would hope that we can sit down in good faith and figure out where we can find a common path forward that would allow us to govern in a responsible and

reasonable way but to address what i think are really the big issues facing the future of this country. i would not be president and leader harry reid have indicated an open willingness to negotiate on virtually everything. and late of the difference that the presiding officer pointed it seems good-faith negotiating under the procedures in negotiating while holding under the federal government or a united states that the difference does indeed bear on this discussion. i yield the floor. >> today marks the fifth day of the shutdown. call on theagain to health care representatives to take up the senate bill.

open up all the monuments. let's open up the research that is going on that is so important to save lives. they're putting themselves at risk, trying to gather that data. weeks to dose six what the center from south dakota was talking about, to negotiate a bigger deal. beenf the things i have concerned about is that the senate passed a budget. passed a has in fact budget. they will not let the budgets go to conference committee like they are supposed to do so we can work out the differences and have a long-term solution. thesolution is not to shut government down. job of reviewing

what has gone on the past few weeks. bill we passed a sensible to keep the government open at withpending levels spending cuts included. we knew that was a compromise. we knew that was a way we could get our friends from the other side of the aisle to agree to have a further negotiation. a bill that would have delayed the affordable care act they knew very well the president would veto. wereve a series of things we agreed to keep certain agencies open. one problem comes up. we will hit that. we will get that. maybe there is a big merger. let's add a few intelligence officers. maybe there is a foodborne illness problem that wasn't part

of the country. this is no way to govern a business. that is no way to govern the greatest on earth. we are a model for the rest of the world. this is not the answer. that theye found out have voted to pay for a load of workers. that is something i support. of the something most senator's support. does this really makes sense that they would decide to do that today and then not also vote to put them back to work? they are essentially deciding they are going to pay them but they are going to pay them to stay at home. this is not make sense in minnesota. this is not make sense in kes. minnesota. it is time to put them back to work. that is what this debate is about.

i do not do my job i was reading the lives of my friends and fellow members at risk. i am a full-time professional firefighter. an emt for the same call center department. if i chose to fell on my duties, people would die. of thely, the shutdown u.s. government, and i know it happened in the house and the senate has passed a bill, sorry, the shutdown of the u.s. government is unacceptable. i work in the coalition office with several other officers from other navies.

i am embarrassed. all of my being to work to resolve this. i am confident you can get the job done. senator clover char. i am 39 years old. i've never contacted a representative until now. i felt compelled to do so because as a federal employee i want to express my extreme disappointment. i have dedicated my career to federal service which i'm now considering doing. this is what she said. now the house of representatives and is it so they would pay her while she was at home. they did not send her back to work. they didn't send her back to work. she simply wants to do her job.

please do what ever you can to stop the government shutdown. we have 14 acres of land enrolled in the conservation reserve program. our rental payment history made this first week of october. the payments are delayed. there are many farmers and landowners in the same situation. please stop the shutdown. i hope they house of representatives is listening today. from minnesota. an employee of the social security administration. onave seen you intervene matters for claimants who have the disability pending. i'm furloughed. if you want your constituent

hearings addressed i need to be at work in my office. she is going to get her pay. she should. she is talking about doing her job in getting back to work. they house of representatives voted to pay you workers to stay home. i am writing to express my extreme concern over the federal government shutdown. i am a teacher and a wife of a furloughed veteran who works for the national guard. i've never before written a letter to my representative. i needed to voice my concern. concern is that i feel like an inconsequential number and a

baseless casualty in a game that has no winners. i am concerned that my family experience is lost between party members. at this point in time my has is out of work. he is a federal employee, not the essential. that the rest of the american citizens are nonessential as well. our struggles are real-life struggles. in theory, not distance, and not imaginary. this matters in a real way.

i do not want any representatives to affect the real people. this is your charge. i count on you to look up for my family. i hope you will consider our lives and hardships. thank you for your efforts to solve the situation. want to be in silence -- inconsequential are nonessential. that is a husband that is furloughed. is she asking for money? of course they want to get paid that is not what this is about. this is about her has been getting back to work to do what you are hired to do by the american people. it allows them to go back to work. they have said they want to

build on this bill. that is a mad dash magic number. for ae to let it come up vote. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] at 2:00ouse dabbles in p.m.. a number off t /* /- live cove rapblg of the house on senate on c-span 2.

of big, how the internet goliath, thehe new author joins us from boston. substanceget into the of your book, if could, relate to the sonal experience book, the end of big. >> sure. as a computer fe rogrammer and ended up at the interception of technology and joined howard i dean's campaign and joined early 2003.e april of and was on the campaign for lmost exactly 12 months from early days to the very bitter end. my experience as a working for an insurgent