which was our right to do, when this bill was introduced, as all of you will agree. so we have said we have made that claim. this is unprecedented but a necessary move to end the tea party stranglehold on our government and restore basic service which -- upon which millions of people rely. didn't take yes for an answer. 200 signatures and i wish unanimous consent to submit this letter for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. pelosi: 200 signatures. it's a beautiful sight. because i want to tell you something. it's about cooperation. none of us likes this number. all of us want to open up government. that's why we signed it. and i want to thank congressman tim bishop and congressman patrick murphy and congressman keith ellison for producing this result. i'll put that there.

so are we said yes -- so we said yes to -- we're giving you the votes on something we don't like. we've said we won't do motions to instruct. please take yes for an answer. if you insist on being the party of no, then don't hide behind something and say who won't negotiate. we cooperated. we gave you what you wanted. and now here we are today. republicans are offering yet another motion to keep government shut down. some people call it in the press the supercommittee, others call it the ted cruz committee. whatever you call it, i'd like to know who writes this stuff, this is so ridiculous a proposal, so ridiculous a proposal. how about we go to the budget table and see how we can reduce the deficit, produce growth for our country? but all we're going to do is cut our investments in education and investments in making the future better.

we're going to make seniors suffer more while we do not touch revenue. and we will not allow any discussion of closing special interest loopholes. that's how they want us to go to the table. you must be kidding. as i said, who writes this stuff? sometimes there's an expression that people use, they'll say, who do you think you are? remember that from your childhood? i think we have to take that sentence very seriously. who do we, with an emphasis on think. that would be interesting. who do we think we are? do we think that we are a party that is responsible, all of us, is -- a congress that is responsible, that wants to do the right thing for the american people, know that we have to come here to cooperate with each other, to get something done in a bipartisan way? to my fellow colleagues on the

republican side, i hope that's allowed, mr. speaker, they are members of the body, do you think you have come here, do you think you have come here to make sure that people know that you can do this just because you're doing it? it's just a waste of total time. we don't have time to waste. in fact, we could be spending our time in such a more important way. working in a bipartisan way on entrepreneurship, creating growth for our country, investing in the education of our people, which by the way brings more money to the treasury than any other initiative you can name. early childhood, k-12, higher education, lifetime learning. you want to reduce the deficit, invest in education. you want to increase the deficit? cut education. but let's sit down and talk about that. and the path to get there is

one that says, say yes to 986, we did, your number, said accept our offer, we won't offer any instruction to the committee, but don't continue to be the tea party of no. mr. speaker, get -- i hope that the speaker -- is that allowed, mr. speaker? i hope the speaker will give us a vote so we can see where this congress stands on the serious responsibility that we have and that the republicans will even accept what they are asking us to accept. this rule should be voted down. this commission is a joke. whether you call it the ted cruz commission or the super-- superin what way? certainly not super in meeting the needs of the american people. to recap. a, we're giving 200 votes for

your number. take yes for an answer. b, speaker doesn't want any conditions or discussion or anything else on the floor about the budget, we're willing to accept that. take yes for an answer. with that i ask for a no vote on the rule and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. and i want to acknowledge that -- the minority leader for her comments today and thank her for coming to the floor. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado springs, the gentleman from armed services committee, mr. lamborn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman for his work on the rules committee. and for bringing h.j.res. 89, the federal workers pay fairness act, and i rise in mother -- in support of this act. this will ensure that federal employees who have been deemed

essential will have no disruption in their pay and that's an excellent step in the right direction. and i wholeheartedly support that concept. just on saturday the house unanimously, every single republican and every single democrat, supported h.r. 3223. and that said that everyone who is a federal employee will get paid eventually at the ends of this slowdown that we're in right now -- end of this slowdown that we're in right now. so this is a step in the right direction. but i want to urge that we take up a bill that i introduced yesterday, h.r. 3271, which goes a step further. and says there's no distinction between the essential and nonessential federal worker, all federal workers are to be brought back immediately and given back-pay and put on a regular pay schedule. we're going to be reimbursing these people for back-pay

sooner or later anyway. that's what the bill saturday accomplished that we all supported here in the house, anyway. but this would reassure everyone that they can go to work immediately. there are people who are going to be having a tough time making house and car payments. and these are people with important jobs. in my district in colorado springs there are a lot of defense civil workers. and they are supporting the war fighters. the pentagon is supposed to be bringing all of them back and many of them are coming back, but not every single one. and so i wanted to have the assurance that they will get paid immediately on being reinstated and that they will come back to work immediately. so, i think that it would be in the interest of our federal work force to take up the bill that i've introduced, 3271, and bring all civilian furloughed

and federal workers back immediately with back-pay. but this is a great bill. i do support it. h.j.res. 89. i thank the rule committee for bringing it out. there has been, unfortunately, some gamesmanship we've seen with the national park service. i think that that's unfortunate. shutting down -- shutting down the world war ii memorial when veterans are in their 80's and 90's, coming to washington maybe for the last visit that they can. and they're being told they can't enter the memorial. so let's don't have any gamesmanship. let's bring everyone back to work. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, if you want to end the games, i have a better idea. just open up the government. end the republican shutdown. it's really simple. we can have an up or down vote to open up government today and all the federal workers would be taken care of, all the monuments would be reopened, we

wouldn't be having all this controversy, we'd get serious about negotiating a long-term spending bill. it's a better way. to join with us and support a clean continuing resolution. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from michigan, the dean of the house, mr. dingell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for three minutes. mr. dingell: i thank my dear friend from massachusetts. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: as i begin, i express my great affection and respect for my colleague from texas who is my dear friend. i think we are here to be ashamed of ourselves. we're wasting the taxpayers' time, the taxpayers' money and we're wasting the business and the time of the house. we're taking up a bill to require that members of congress sit down and talk about deficit reduction and raising the debt limit. the last time i checked we didn't need a law to do that. it's already our job. and we have a conference that we could call any time between

the house and the senate which would enable us then to get to the serious business of handling this matter under the regular order. we don't do it. i don't know why. the president says he's not going to negotiate with a gun at his head. frankly i wouldn't either and i don't think anybody else in this place would. but beyond that he also is not going to negotiate the full faith and credit of the united states, which is one of the questions at issue. so, one of the problems we seem to have with our republican friends is their tea party fringe is so ideologically hell-bent in getting their way that they're finding that they're too extreme to get it. now we democrats have shown a willingness to cooperate and to compromise. in fact, as the speaker or rather as the minority leader observed, we have asked speaker boehner to convene the budget conference all year. but to no avail. 20 democrats, including myself, sent a letter to speaker

boehner on saturday saying we'd support an extension of sequester-level spending through november 15. democrats don't want the sequester to begin with. but the interest of compromise and keeping government open says that we're going to show good faith to my republican colleagues. and what is my republican colleagues' response? no. resurrect the failed supercommittee. the have apparently read principle that says, when you can't think of anything else to do, appoint a committee. and they will on i have skate the matter further. -- obviscate the matter further. it's time to pass the senate continuing resolution. it's time to show the americans and the rest of the world that a great institution created by an enormously wise group of men who made the united states constitution is an institution that is not beyond hope of

redemption and that it can work together. we offered to work together with my republican friends and colleagues, we hope that they will do this. i would simply observe that we are engaged here in another curious practice also. we're going to have it so that we're going to pay federal workers for doing nothing. imagine that. my republican colleagues over the years, during my career here, have always been complaining about welfare queens who would ride to the welfare office to get their paychecks. going to we are convert a bunch of federal employees to welfare queens by paying them while they do not work. the whole thing is silly and the american people feel so. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much, and the distinguished dean of the house has spoken, i gather his comments that he would not like

to be appointed on the committee and i'm disappointed. i was rather hopeful that the minority leader would see that he would be exactly the kind of commonsense person that could represent the party and so i'd hoped that the gentleman -- i hope that the gentleman will reconsider that. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield to the vice chairman of the rules committee, the gentlewoman from north carolina, for five minutes, congresswoman virginia foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized for five minutes. ms. foxx: i thank the chairman of the rules committee. mr. speaker, i rise to support this rule and the underlying legislation. we've heard from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, they only need us to take up one bill. what about all those bills we've sent over to the senate, including four appropriations bills, that the senate won't take up to vote on? seems to me that they ought to be doing that if they want to show some good faith effort.

today, as we have every day since october 1, the house of representatives is taking yet another bipartisan step forward to resolve our differences with the united states senate and reopen the federal government for the american people. even prior to october 1 house republicans took numerous reasonable steps toward compromise. we voted four times on separate proposals to fund the entire government. with each vote we sought to lay the groundwork for bipartisan compromise. our final two full funding proposals simply addressed fundamental unfairness in obamacare. the fact that american families won't get the same year to prepare for obamacare that the president decided to give to businesses and the fact that members of congress will get a subsidy to pay obamacare premiums that the rest of america will not. every vote from the house of representatives has had at least some democrat support. not one senate vote has been bipartisan.

while we've moved to the middle, senate democrats still refuse to budge. they won't even send any down and talk with house republicans about a bipartisan solution to reopen government. one notebortey -- noteworthy area, though, where there seems to be great opportunity for us to move forward with our democrat colleagues is on the matter of federal employee pay. one of this rule's underlying bills would ensure timely pay for federal employees who continue to work through this shutdown. those who are defending our borders, our food supply and our capitol should be paid on time. it's mime hope that both sides will come together -- it's my hope that both sides will come together and support this rule and the underlying federal pay fairness act. mr. speaker, we don't expect to agree on everything with our democrat colleagues, the house appointed a team on september 30 to meet with the senate and find common ground to fund government. when our team gathered on the morning of october 1, no one from the senate showed up. every day since the senate has refused to be part of any

discussions with the house on how to move forward. that refusal is inexcusable. that's why the house will be considering another bill today, the deficit reduction and economic growth working group act, to bring senate democrats to the table. once we all come to the table we can start rooking at air -- looking at areas where we have common ground. both the rules and underlying bills have any support and i urge the same from my colleagues. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: let me remind my colleagues, there's an easy way to resolve all of this. reopen the government, raise the debt ceiling and negotiate on the budget. the minority leader stated our willingness to cooperate. it's not that complicated.

you can save the misery that federal workers are enduring by reopening the government right now. an it's at your number, republican levels. that's a compromise on our part. loath those sequester numbers that republicans insisted on enshrining, they're horrible for our economy. but to keep the goth open, we'll swallow that so we have time to work out a longer term deal. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman, thank him for his time. i am glad that the minority leader got on the floor of the house and spoke commonsense and indicated two things. one, right now, there are 200 members who would be willing to vote for a clean c.r. a good bill, a clean bill that would

open this house right now and we believe a number of republicans could make it a bipartisan vote to be able to open the government. the republicans are playing a game of of legos. they are taking that big red box and opening it up and throwing the legos on the ground and trying to construct a government. that's a kids' game and it's a good game but we cannot play with the lyes of the american people. just a few minutes ago, we talked about restoring head start. we know that that bill is going nowhere. we know the sequester is continuing to undermine head start seats ea cross the -- across america. 57,000. in fact it's an empty chair across america. where little babies cannot go to a head start program. that's what the republicans are trying to do. marla trying to tell

rosen that her 3-year-old son can't go to head start. what's their answer? another supercommittee. a committee that may be playing le fwmbings os themselves because the last super committee was not the solution to our problems. i'll tell you what the solution is, it is to vote on the clean bill, open the government, let the f.a.a. be in operation, let the justice department be in operation. the meeting i came from, 90 courts vacant. issues dealing with rape and domestic violence not being attended to. public defenders being laid off. hundreds of lawyers not in the department of justice. the american bar association saying that there is no justice. i'll tell you, mr. speaker, all we have to do is not get a super committee but get a super committee to america. vote far clean bill and vote for the debt ceiling i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from texas.

>> thank you very much. a few minutes ago we heard from virginia foxx one of the brightest voices in our leadership. mr. sessions: at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman from georgia, the gentleman, congressman woodall. mr. woodall: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for four minutes. mr. woodall: thank you -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for four minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. chairman. i saw my chairman get on his feet when the gentleman from michigan began to speak. it's not often that the dean of the house comes down to speak. it's a treat for me, i've been here two and a half years but i've been watching the process a lot longer than that. i do think there's a lot we can learn from history, a lot we -- as chris matthews put it on his show the other day, from when politics

worked. there's no shortage of shrill voices in washington, d.c. when i bet back home to the folks in the suburbs of metro atlanta, rarely do i hear someone say, rob, i wish there were more angry people in washingtonning i wish there were more people yelling and pounding their fist, because that's how solutions are brought about. that's not how solutions are brought about anywhere. not how they're brought about in business, or in poll teches or in kindergartens around the country i have a chart here, mr. speaker, you can't see it from where you sit, but it says that as speaker oaf the house, democrat tip o'neill, who presided over some of the most trying times in our nation and some of the biggest deals in our nation, often in conflict with the president of a different party. while tip o'neill was speaker, the government shut down 12 times. 12 times. and i say that, mr. speaker, not to say that a government shutdown is ok. it's not. i didn't want it to happen. it doesn't need to happen.

i'm glad we're bringing more bills to the floor today to reopen that government. we're already more than 50% of the way there with the bills that have come to the floor. but it is happening. and it's not happening because republican this and republican that. i commented earlier to some of my democratic friends what great party discipline they have displayed, never talking about a government shutdown but always making sure it's a republican government shutdownism suppose you get points for that in terms of party unity. but it's just not true. nor has it ever been true in the history of our republic that when policy differences come about, legitimate policy differences, driven by our constituents back home, that the best way forward to solve those is to make sure you demonize the other guy, make sure folks know who to blame for it. i tell you in the 12 times that democrat speaker of the house tip o'neill was leading this institution, the people's house, and the government shut

down, it wasn't because tip o'neill was a bad man. it wasn't because he lost control of some liberal faction within his party. it was because the house of representatives, the closest voice to the american people, in our republic, had legitimate policy differences. with the president of the united states. and that's where we sit today. what's surprising is not that we have legitimate policy differences with the president of the united states, what's surprising is that we breng a bill to the floor to fund head start and that becomes complicated. what's surprising is that we bring a bill to the floor to make sure ha -- make sure that our men and women are getting paid and that creates controversy. what's surprising is we bring a bill to the floor to fund nuclear curt across the country and that's what brings controversy. there is so much we agrow on. so much that we agrow on. and i am certain we're going to find the pathway forward.

but i am e-- but i am equally certain that that pathway forward is not going to be found more quickly depending on how much we can embarrass and mar generalalize our political opponents. it's going to be found when we agree that there is more that unites us than divides us and it's ok that we have some serious policy differences. i say to my friend from massachusetts, for example, mr. speaker, he points out that the senate has agreed to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has ex-er food. mr. sessions: i yield the gentleman two additional minutes. mr. woodall: i thank the chairman. he's the one who appointed me as a dizzig knee to the budget committee. i'm grateful for that because it gives me a chance to express what for my constituents is commonsense budget reforms. you can't keep spending and spending not pay the bills. the bills have to get paid but

the funding level the united states senate has agreed on is in no way a compromising it's the law of the land. the law of the land if this congress were so dissolve itself tomorrow is that for fiscal year 2014 we're only fwoning to be able to spend $967 billion. senate wants to spend $986 billion. the law of the land won't let them spend that much. that's just the law of the land. we cannot like it, we can try to change it, but to characterize that as somehow moving to the middle is to misrepresent, mr. speaker, what the facts in our budget are. as my colleague from north carolina said so well, the house has adopted a position, senate rejected it, so we move to the middle, adopted a position, the senate rejected it so we moved further to the middle, adopted a position, senate rejected it, and then we said, let's just sid down and talk about it to find that pathway forward. my friends on the other side of the aisle, mr. speaker, are talking a lot about a budget

conference. i suspect we'll continue to hear about it, i read about it in "national journal," apearntly that message is being sold well but as my friends on the other side no, a budget conference has no force of law whatsoever. we can conference a budget until we're blue in the face but we'll never change one penny of federal spending. that's different than the house the -- the conference that the house moved to go to with the senate, where we could actually change the law, where we could fund the government, where we could deal with the debt ceiling and focus on priorities that each one of us have for our families back home. the conference this house moved to create, mr. speaker, that can change the law. let's do something that matters. let's do it today, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i served as an aide here on capitol hill when tip o'neill was speaker of the house.

i think he's one of the greatest speakers that ever served in the united states house of representatives. and he was a friend of mine as well. and i will tell you that speaker o'neill would never go on national tv and threaten to default on the debt for this nation. he would never, ever act in a way that might bring this economy to ruin. he put country before political party. and i would also say that speaker o'neill understood the importance of working in a bipartisan way. he would be disgusted with the way this house is being run today. the bottom line is, he would be scratching his head right now wondering why we don't just resolve this in a simple way. there are 200 democrats who have signed a letter saying we will cooperate with the republicans to pass a continuing resolution, a clean continuing resolution at

republican levels and we know there are 20 republicans in the house who have publicly said that they would support such a move. that's the majority. we could open up the government in a matter of minutes. and in the senate, over a dozen republican senators voted for cloture on a clean continuing resolution. that is bipartisanship. that is bipartisanship. accept it. this is the way this house should be run. and so i would just point that out to my colleagues because we're going through all this rigmarole for i don't know what. when we could end this shutdown this republican shutdown, right now. by bringing a clean, continuing resolution at republican levels to the house floor. it would pass in a bipartisan way and i predict that there would be more than 20 republicans that would support it. they want a way out of this. let's open up the government, let us not use the debt ceiling.

-- let us not use the debt ceiling in the threatening manner it's being used by republicans here. we should never, i don't care what your political party is, default on our debt, that is economic ruin for this country. i think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know that. we should never use that in such a political way. let's work together and appoint budget conferees and go to negotiate a budget conference to have some parameters in terms of numbers we can work with. i listen to some of my colleagues talk on the other side, even those who serve on the budget committee you wonder why we should have a budget committee if the budget committee doesn't mean anything. i have a lot more respect for the people who serve on that committee, at this time i would like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much. i -- i thank the gentleman for yielding. and let me associate myself

with the comments of the gentleman from massachusetts about tip o'neill. i too was a staffer when tip o'neill was speaker, there's no way he would have allowed to hostage taking to occur. i rise in strong opposition to this rule. again, i just have to say, we've seen in this eight days unfortunately, and it is a tea party republican government shutdown. and we've seen $2347b9 billion in lost economic activity system of yes this hostage taking continues. hostage taking really is a deplorable tactic. the tea party republicans continue to want to deny millions of americans health care. and yes, the affordable health care is the law of the land. which the supreme court has upheld. yet instead of bringing up a budget bill to open up the government or pass a debt limit

increase to pay our bills, the house has taken up two more last-minute bills to distract from their tea party republican shutdown. this most recent bill establishes a supercommittee to make recommendations on spending and changes. and i want to remind my colleagues, this is the same proposal or very similar that got us into this devastating sequester in the first place. we've been there, we've done that. thanks but no thanks, mr. speaker. as a member of the budget and appropriations committee, i can tell you that both the house and the senate have passed budget resolutions and democrats have been trying to work out our budget differences for six months. but republicans continue to block these efforts. the american people deserve a functioning government. the public understands that we can open up the government. i have to say that democrats did not want the funding level

of the senate budget bill. but we are compromising to get this government open. may i have another 30 seconds? mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: it's also important to recognize, again as an appropriator and a member of the budget committee, i hear and see each and every day, whenever we're in committee, the tactics and the discussion with regard to cuts, with head start, and the women and children nutrition assistance program, all of those programs that just very recently the republican tea party members have started to say that they support. so let's see what happens. i hope that they do support this when we get to these budget negotiations. it's time that we shut down this shutdown. we need to reject this rule and let's have an up or down vote to open up this government and let the chips fall where they may. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i will tell you that there's a lot of dialogue on the floor today about opening up the

government. and yet this body has passed bill after bill after bill of making sure that we are looking at whether it's the intelligence community, whether it's head start, whether it's n.i.h., we are going through a deliberative process and repeatedly you are seeing where our friends on the other side vote no. when it gets to the other body, even though it's a passed piece of legislation, that the senate, our friends over there, ignoring the bills. i kind of wonder what we're really trying to aim at. whether we're really just trying to score political points or whether we could begin working together. and that's what house republicans are here to do. to set aside our differences, to try and fund these issues. to try and deal with the president. earlier in the week our great young speaker, john boehner,

went to the white house, asked to come to the white house, and really all he was there to be told by the president was, i won't negotiate. i won't negotiate. i won't negotiate. and as mr. boehner tells the story, he got that message. so, he came back to work, here we are, trying to send ideas up about working together. the working group intentionally was an open-ended opportunity for members of congress, six on the -- 10 on the house side, 10 on the senate side, to go work together with an opportunity as a working group to try and overcome this bypass. that's what we're trying to do. i think we're going to be faithful to it. i think we're going to pass this here today. we're going to see what the senate will do again and i'm sure once again, just another piece of law over in their -- piece of log over in their fireplace for the senate

majority leader to burn down. i'm hopeful here today that we have common sense and i think we'll pass this. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: may i ask the gentleman how many more speakers he has? mr. sessions: thank you very much. i would advise the gentleman at this time i do not have any further speakers. i thank the gentleman for asking. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts has four minutes remaining. the gentleman from texas has 5 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i want to urge that we defeat the previous question and if we defeat the previous question, i will offer an amendment to the rule that will allow the house to vote on a clean senate continuing resolution so we can send it to the president for his signature today. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, as we bring this debate to a lose, i am -- i have the

dueling emotions of being angry and being very sad. angry that we are putting the american people through this trauma. this is totally unnecessary. this is a manufactured crisis. when my colleagues talk about the fact that democrats aren't willing to negotiate, let me just refer to some of the recent headlines. 19 times democrats try to negotiate with republicans, that's according to "the ."tional journal republicans spent year blocking budget conference. boehner tells g.o.p. he's threw negotiating one-on-one with obama. that was in "the hill" newspaper. those are the headlines about my friends' actions during these recent weeks. the bottom line is that what we're doing today really is sad because i think it diminishes this institution. we ought to be solving problems. we ought to be finding ways to lift people up. we ought to be trying to debate ways to create more jobs and

opportunities in this country. we ought to be getting the government running, we ought to deal with the debt ceiling, not politicize it. and we ought to work on a long-term negotiation so we have a long-term spending bill that makes sense for this country. and we're not doing that. we're coming up with a committee today that does nothing. you pass this bill, the government's still shut down. you pass this bill, we're still headed for default on our obligations, on october 17. this does nothing. it does nothing. that's -- and it is sad because it is beneath this great house of representatives. so many incredible things have happened on this floor. and yet this is so trivial. it is so meaningless. at a time of such a great crisis. and i would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle that this is a crisis that my friends have brought on themselves. there is nothing that says that we should be in shutdown today other than the fact that my

friends on the other side of the aisle decided to shut the government down and now they're saying they care about the monuments and they care about our senior citizens and our veterans. but they're the ones who shut the government down. they say they don't want to default on our financial obligations yet we heard on this week -- we heard on "this week week -- on "this week," the speaker is prepared to see this country default on its debt. that's what he said. i am shocked by that kind of talk. i mean, all of us, i don't care what party you're in, where you come from ideologically, we all should at least agree that we ought to pay our bills. that if we don't, that it will do great damage to this economy and it will hurt your constituents just as much as mine. we can do so much better. we can do so much better than this. i'd urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who say they want a vote on a clean

continuing resolution, vote with us on some of these procedural motions. start giving us some votes on these procedural motions because it appears that your leadership will not give you the right to an up or down vote. that notwithstanding all of the talk about a transparent process, an open process, you're not going to get that vote unless you force it. and here's the other sad thing, you'd be -- my friends on the other side of the aisle began this congress by talking about a regular order and a transparent, open process. all the stuff we're voting on these last few days, nobody has seen it. even the committee chairman who oversee these bills don't come to the rules committee to testify. we don't know what we're voting on here. we could do better. reject this rule. vote no on the previous question. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i appreciate my dear friend, my colleague from massachusetts. i'll describe to him real fast what we're trying to do is open up all of the employees that are home at the f.a.a.

that's it. going to bring them back to work. pay them. get it done. all the employees at the f.a.a. secondly, we're trying to form a working group. we're trying to work around the process that has gotten bogged up today with an idea from our speaker, john boehner, and our majority leader, eric cantor, and our whip, kevin mccarthy, and a couple other people who -- republican leadership are saying, let's find another way around the log jam that we've got. so came up with a good idea and said, let's go to a working group. let's actually get 10 members of the senate and 10 members of the house. let's meet, let's meet very quickly, as a matter of fact, the resolution says it, within one day they've got to be selected, within one day after that they have to meet. and let's put them to work. let's put the members to work on this, on a bipartisan,

bicameral basis. that is what this is about. really pretty simple. mr. speaker, this is not really rocket science right now. we're engaged in how we put one foot in front of the other. and republicans have been doing this for three weeks. we're meeting at the rules committee, we're taking testimony, we're listening to the people who come to the committee, we have very vigorous, detailed debates where members, republicans and democrats, come to the rules committee from the appropriations committee. as a matter of fact, we've seen some of our star witnesses in this house, stars, good people, great ideas, trying to push that we're going to work together. we're going to do this together. we can do this together. not all the bills were agreed to. but a bunch of them have been on a bipartisan basis.

so, you know, you never know when you throw up a good idea whether somebody's going to take you up on it or not. we've had a couple where that has worked and we as republicans are going to stay after it. we're the ones willing to negotiate. now, there was a discussion about us showing up at the world war ii memorial. yep. sure did. i did that myself too. the reason why we went down there is because there are men and women who served in the military during world war ii who at the last years of their life are coming up on what are called honor flights. honor flights. where they come up here and meet together, as people who were comrades in arms for the united states of america, who fought the axis of evil, the germans -- germans, the japanese and others. and they wanted to come can, just about two miles from here, down to the world war ii

memorial, and it was locked. it was bolted up and locked. and so a couple colleagues, my fellow texans, went down there last week and found out, a park ranger was there, well, who's allowed to get in? first amendment protesters. first amendment protesters are the only ones allowed -- well, and members of congress. so, these two colleagues of mine took bolt cutters, opened it up and it's been open ever since. that's what republicans are trying to do. we're trying to do that not just for the world war ii memorial, we're trying to do that for this government. we're trying to work on commonsense ideas, we're asking for this house of representatives to be with us today. i support this rufmente i support the yunt lying -- rule. i support the underlying legislation and i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: on that i would ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? grace grace mr. speaker, i rise to offer the resolution -- can mr. grayson: mr. speaker, i rise to offer the resolution previously noted. the clerk: on october 1, 2013, in england, published the following. for most of the world a government shutdown is very bad news. the result of revolution, invasion or disaster. even in the middle of its ongoing civil war, the syrian government has continued to pay its bills and workers' wages. that leaders of one of the most powerful nations on earth

willingly provoked a country sis that suspends govern services is astonishing to many. whereas the state-run news service, on october 2, 2013, in china published the following, with no political unity to redress its policy mistake, a dysfunctional washington is now overspending the confidence in its leadership. whereas the news of mexico on september 25, 2013, in mexico published the following. they squabble over the consequential accomplishment of a 10-week funding extension. it isn't serious but it certainly isn't funny. whereas in australia they published the follow, the way in which congress plays the politics of part son pet lance and obstruction does them -- petulance and obstruction does them little credit, neither does it say much for the dgetary processes of the

world's biggest economy. whereas in germany they published the florblinge main actors in this dispute brings together many factor, both ideological and political, took a huche risk, proceeded to validate anyone who accused the political establishment in washington of being rotten to the core, the public is left wondering how things were allowed to get to this point and why there's so much in the system. whereas another pain for the germany published the following, what has already been apparent in america for a few years now is the destruction of one of the world's oldest democracies and the great tragedy is that the -- that it's not being wrought by enemies of democracy, america's democracy is being broken by the very people who are supposed to carry and preserve it, the politicians. at the moment washington is fighting over the budget and nobody knows if the wasn't

couldn't -- country will still be solvent in three weeks. what's clear is that america is already politically bankrupt. whereas "the washington post" on september 30, 2013, a political commentators in south africa is saying the fol logue. they tell us you guys are not being fiscally responsible and we see they are running the country like it's a banana public -- republic, there's a lot of sniggering going on. whereas the new york daily news, the fourth most widely serklated paper in the united states, read, house of turds, and the by it is lines stated d.c. sess-pols shut down government and they get paid while nation suffers. while these reports call into question the dignity of the house and whereas the resulting reduction of the perception of the house's dignity culminated

in a 7% approval rate, now therefore be it resolved that it is the sense of the house, one, without seeking to effect a change in the rules or standing orders of the house, or their interpretation, and two, without prescribing a special order of business for the house that a government shut zoun a mark upon the dignity of the house and that the house would be willing to pass a clean continuing appropriations resolution to end it. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from florida wish present argument on why the -- why this is privileged to take precedence over other questions? >> i do. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> you have heard the tech of the resolution but i think some points behr highlighting. the bbc news reported that one of the most powerful nations on thert, that's still us, willingly provoked a crisis that suspends public services. a leading chinese news service

stated, quote a dysfunctional washington is now overspending the confidence of its leader. mr. grayson: a german newspaper stated that they took a huge risk and proceeded to validate everyone who ever accused the political establish in washington of being rotten to the core. the public is left wondering why it's been allowed to get to this point and why there's so much poison in the system. another german newspaper, says, quote, the self-destruction of one of the world's oldest democracies is taking place and the great tragedy is it's not being wrought by enemies of democracies, by greedy lobbyists or sinister major party donors. america's democracy is being broken by the very people who are supposed to carry it and

preserve it, the politicians. what is clear is that america is politically bankrupt. and the headline of the new york daily news, the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the united states on the first day of the government shutdown read this way -- quote -- house -- the speaker pro tempore: the chair has heard the reading of the resolution, does the gentleman have an argument to present as to why it's con phoned as a matter of privilege under rule nine. mr. grayson: yes, i do. i was about to get to it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may proceed. mr. grayson: as i indicated the headline on the new york daily news, the fourth most widely serklated daily paper in the united states, on the first day of the government shutdown, read this way, "house of turds." he byline stated "d.c. cess-pols shut down government,

they get paid while public suffers." a national poll asked the following questions, what do you have a higher opinion of, congress or witchs? congress 32%, witches 46%. what do you have a higher opinion of? congress or hemorrhoids? ongress, 31%, hemorrhoids 53%. what do you have a higher opinion of, congress or dog poop. congress 40%, dog poop 47%. the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman suspend. mr. grayson: yes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would again ask the gentleman from florida to address whether or not this resolution is privileged under rule nine. mr. grayson: yes, i'm privileged y it's under rule nine. may i continue. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may proceed so long as the gentleman is confining his remarks as to whether or not the resolution is

privileged under rule nine. i'm sure the gentleman failed to continue -- should the gentleman fail to continue along that path, pursuant to the chair's guidance, the gentleman will be ruled out of order and the chair will be prepared to rule on the question. the gentleman may proceed. mr. grayson: one of the questions before the house on this resolution is whether dignity of the house has been offended and i am demonstrated vividly that the dignity of the house has been offended in support of this resolution. may i continue without interruption? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may continue under the guidance issued by the chair. proceed. mr. grayson: good. the current polling indicates what do you have a higher opinion of, americans? congress or toenail fungus? congress 41%, toenail fungus, 44%. what do you have a higher opinion of, congress or cockroaches? congress, 42%, cockroaches 44%. what do you have a higher

opinion of, congress or potholes? congress 36%, potholes 47%. and finally -- the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman suspend. once again the chair is requesting of the gentleman from florida to confine his remarks to whether or not the matter is privileged under rule nine. should the gentleman proceed in any other manner, the chair will be prepared to rule on the question. mr. grayson: mr. chairman, that is exactly what i have been doing. i would ask the chair to allow me to continue without further interruption. may i continue? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman shall proceed, so long as his comments are confined to whether or not the procedural issue of whether or not the issue is privileged under rule nine. mr. grayson: i want to repeat, one of the questions to make that determination is whether the dignity of the house has

been offended. as i indicated, there's one final point to make here before i get into further argument which is this -- the american public was asked the following opinion, what do you have a higher opinion of? congress or zombies? ongress, 37%, zombies 4 %. now clearly, statements such as these and othered cited in the resolution call into question the dignity of the house. these statements are not from a single editorial or merely one passer by. these statements are being expressed around the nation and across the globe. they've contributed to a congressional approval rating plummeting to 7%, that's 7%, in the latest "economist" poll and they must be addressed by this body. thankfully, rule 9 of the rules of the house of representatives provides members with a mechanism through which to address those times when the dignity of the house has been harmed and called into question. it allows for questions of privilege.

specifically, rule 9 reads as follows. questions of privilege shall be first those affecting the rights of the house collectively, its safety, dignity and integrity of its proceedings. i submit to you, mr. chairman, that these are questions squarely within the dignity of the house of representatives. further rule nine provides that a resolution report is a question of privilege of the house shall have precedence of all other question except for motions to adjourn. i've offered a resolution as a question of privileges of the house and i'm here today to secure a vote on that resolution. mr. speaker, you should find the obvious which is that the dignity of the house has been called into question and no part of the resolution that i've offered goes beyond the scope of a question of privilege such as attempting to legislate so that a vote must be allowed on this measure. for the record, mr. speaker, the vote that should be allowed would be on the following resolution. resoed, it is the sense of the

house, one, without seeking to effect a change in the rules or standing orders of the house or their interpretation and two, without prescribing a specialed or over business for the house that a government shutdown is, and this is obvious at this point -- a mark upon the dignity of the house and the house should be willing to pass a clean continuing resolution to end it. that's right, a mark on the dignity of the house and the house should be willing to pass a clean resolution to end it. what then is a satisfactory question of privilege? well, from the plain text of rule 9 and from existing precedent, a satisfactory resolution must demonstrate that the dignity of the house has been called into question and it's been call intod question to such a degree that i wanted to show you -- show you -- the cover from a "daily news" but i was prevented to doing so because to show it to

you would be considered on thive to the dignity of this house. and the clause of the resolution may not diverge into directing the legislative action of this body. i argue that this resolution satisfies both counts. i have found no precedent in the annotated house rules and manual or other precedents to allow the chair to rule against the precedent before us today. in fact, one would question whether the entire poddy -- body, including the parliamentarian has been politicized unnecessarily if you do rule against it. not once does the precedent deal with a resolution that outlines a litany of complaints against congress from around the world. and not once did the precedents rule on a resolution citing congressional approval ratings below 10%. in conjunction with persistent reporting against the dignity

of the house. if the first hurdle to be crossed today is that the dignity of the house has to have been called into question, then, mr. speaker, you are required to rule in favor of this resolution, raising a question of the dignity of the house and the privilege os they have royce. if it mean what is the dictionary says it means, the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect, then surely the honor and respect of this house has been called into question when only seven out of 100 americans approve of what we do, the lowest approval rating ever, then surely our dignity has been diminished and is actively being called into question. if we are to be called obstructionists, practicers of partisan petulance if we are called an establishment that's rotten to the core, if we are leaving americans wondering why there's so much poison in the system, then surely our dignity has been demin herbed.

if we're accused of willingly provoking crises that suspend public service and decrease economic growth, surely our dignity as a body has been demin herbed. if we cause international media outlets to refer to us as politically bankrupt and responsible for breaking dignity, then our dignity of the house is called into question. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has heard enough and is prepared to rule. mr. grayson: well, the chair has not heard my arguments. the speaker pro tempore: the chair reminds the gentleman from florida that he is not recognized and that the chair is prepared to rule on the question. mr. grayson: question of parliamentary order. the speaker pro tempore: hearing the gentleman's argument is within the chair's discretion and the chair once again reminds the gentleman from florida, is ready to rule

on the question. mr. grayson: the chair agreed to hear my argument, the chair needs to hear my full argument. the speaker pro tempore: the chair is prepared to rule on the question of whether the resolution offered by the gentleman from florida constitutes a question of the privileges of the house under rule 9. the gentleman is not recognized. the resolution alleges that a lapse in appropriation impairs the dignity of the house. it further expresses a sense of the house concerning action it might take on an appropriation measure. the gentleman from florida casts this proposal as a statement. as the chair ruled on recent occasions such as october 2 and october 3, 2002, march 11, 2008, and december 13, 2011, in each case, consistent with the principle enunciated by speaker gillette in his landmark ruling

of may 6, 1921, a resolution expressing a legislative sentiment ordinarily does not give rise to a question of the privileges of the house under rule 9. the precedent of march 11, 2008 is particularly illustrative. on that occasion, a resolution alleged that legislative inaction had brought discredit upon the house and declared that the house should consider a motion to concur in a specified senate amendment. the chair held that the resolution did not present a question affecting the rights of the house collectively, its safety, its dignity or the integrity of its proceedings as required under rule 9. . hese precedence are noted. it was articulated by the chair on january 24, 1996, as follows -- to quote -- to rule that a question of the privileges of the house under rule 9 may be raised by allegations of

perceived discredit brought upon the house by legislative action or inaction would permit any member to allege an impact on the dignity of the house based upon virtually any legislative action or inaction, end quotes. the chair would not distinguish between those precedence addressing resolutions that called for specific legislative action and the resolution that merely provided a statement about such action. both express a legislative sentiment and are properly initiated through the introduction of a resolution via the hopper. for these reasons, the resolution offered by the gentleman from florida does not constitute a question of the privileges of the house under rule 9. mr. grayson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to -- the speaker pro tempore: there is an objection. he objection has been heard.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on questions previously postponed in the following order. ordering the previous question on house resolution 373 by the yeas and nays and adopting house resolution 373 if ordered. the first vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. the second vote will be conducted as a five-minute vote. the unfinished business is the vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution 373 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 66. house resolution 373, resolution providing for consideration of the joint resolution, house joint resolution 89, making appropriations for the salaries and related expenses of certain federal employees during a lapse in funding authority for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes. providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 3273, to establish a bicameral working group on deficit reduction and

economic growth, and providing for consideration of the joint resolution, house joint resolution 90, making continuing appropriations for the federal aviation administration for fiscal year 2014 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 226 and the nays are 186. the previous question is ordered a question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, ayes have it. gomp govern i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is ordered. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 227, the nays are 186. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the house will be in order. members are asked to take their conversations off the floor.

he house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution 373, i call up the joint resolution h.j.res. 89, a joint resolution making appropriations for salaries of accepted employees and ask for its immediate consideration.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerp will report the title -- the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house rointjution 89, resolution making appropriations for the salaries and related expenses of certain federal employees during a lapse in funding authority for fiscal year 2014. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 373, the joint resolution is considered read. it will be equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw, and the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. if the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. crenshaw: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and

xtend their remarks. and include extraneous material on h.j.res. 89, and that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. crenshaw: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. crenshaw: madam speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the house, the legislation that i bring before the house today is very simple, very straightforward, very clear, very understandable and quite frankly i think it should be noncontroversial. because what this bill does is simply say that the federal employees who have been working during this shutdown are going to be paid and they are going to be paid on time. now, a lot of people during this shutdown have been coming to work every day. they've worked for countless hours for the citizens of our

nation, and they deserve to be paid. it's very simple. if you work, you get paid. for instance, the capitol police, they're on the job. they're working every day. you might remember last week, they rushed into harm's way in the line of duty. now, those federal employees deserve to take home a paycheck because they're on the job. there are other federal workers that are working every day during the shutdown. some of them are working to make sure that our safety and well-being is in place. some are working to make sure that the critical needs of our citizens are met. some are working to make sure that businesses aren't unduly harm during this shutdown. and some are working to make sure that the federal

government extends a helping hands to those people that are the most vulnerable and truly in need. and so what this bill does is simply say, as long as the shutdown is going on, until it ends, the people that come to work every day deserve to be paid. they deserve to be paid on time. and remember, the people that come to work every day, they're just like everybody else. they got bills to pay. they got mortgage payments they got to make. they got to pay their rent. they got to make car payments. they got to pay their utility bills. they got mouths to feed back home. and there's no reason they should be punished because the democrats and the republicans in theand the white house can't agree on how to move forward on funding the federal government. now, it's the goal of this congress, as always, to make sure that the federal employees are paid and they're paid on that by e usually do

passing appropriations bills, and we do that, fund the programs and salaries of pay on a continual basis. it didn't happen this year. i hope we don't find ourselves in this position ever again. but right now it's time to come together. this is a logical, commonsense step to take. make sure the people that go to work every day, they get paid on time. we came together on saturday, this weekend and said that those federal employees that have been furloughed, on a unanimous vote, we said they would be paid on a retroactive basis. so i hope that we can come together today on a unanimous vote and say the people that go to work are going to get paid on time. and so i urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution, and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. serrano: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i

may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. serrano: let me start by saying that i wish we were here on the floor today in order to consider a bill that would reopen the entire federal government. this bill would pay all federal employees across the government as they normally would be paid. irrespective of the shutdown. this is the right thing to do for all of our accepted federal employees who have continued to work during the shutdown. while this bill will provide some certainty to those individuals, we all know that there is much easier and better method of accomplishing this goal, and that is to consider and pass the clean senate continuing resolution which would reopen our federal government immediately. i'm still unclear as to why republicans are refusing to allow a vote on the most basic solutions of this reckless shutdown. while this bill guarantees timely pay for our employees, it does not reopen the federal government. that means it does nothing to solve the many problems that

american people are facing as a result of the republican decision to shut down the government. within the subcommittee that i am the ranking member of, the financial services and general government subcommittee, the shutdown has required the small business administration, for instance, to furlough almost 2/3 of its work force. the agency has had to shutter almost all of its loan programs for our nation's small businesses, including loan programs for veterans, women-owned small businesses and small businesses located in underserved areas. within the federal judiciary, the federal defenders currently have enough funding to continue operations for a couple of weeks. however, once that time is up, they may be unable to fulfill their constitutional duty to uphold the sixth amendment right of criminal defendants. the consumer product safety commission has been cut from 540 employees to 22, making it near impossible for the agency to perform its duty of fully

reviewing thousands of different kinds of products. . the i.r.s. has furloughed most of its work force by failing to provide questions answer to questions. and the i.r.s. brings in the vast majority of our nation's revenue and the republican us to is not allowing pay the bills and perform duties that remain essential to consumers, investors, taxpayers and small businesses. a clean c.r. would do just that. i realize that the majority wants to do this piecemeal one at a time. i think i'm doing some math and at this rate, the full government would be open by

2025. i hope we can do it before that and reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. crenshaw: i recognize five minutes the distinguished chairman of the full appropriations committee, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise in support of this legislation. this bill addresses a critical issue facing the congress right now. it ensures that the essential personnel who have been working throughout this shutdown receive their hard-earned pay on time. these diligent men and women are protecting our homeland, ensuring our safety and well-being and providing critical services for our people and shielding our economy. they have been by our sides as we work to find a way out of the mess we find ourselves in. they have been guarding this building, putting themselves in harm's way. it's our responsibility that

they receive due compensation for their service to this nation. in addition, the house will consider a second piece of legislation this afternoon, which will be combined with this bill and sent to the senate. the second bill will provide a path forward to bring all parties to the table to end the government shutdown. for a week, this house has been toiling, working, trying to find a way to end the impasse and end its mitigated effects as we work towards a solution. we have provided bills that would fund the entire government and avenues to reopening certain government functions and we even proposed a conference committee hoping the senate would finally agree to talk to the house. we heard nothing. but a week later, we are still no closer to a resolution. the senate has turned down

nearly every bill we've sent them and rejected every compromise we've offered. they have flatly refused the conference committee to attempt to find some sort of solution. and after eight days of a shutdown, it's high time that we all start having real adult conversations about how to get out of this mess. this second bill will establish a working group, madam speaker, that will provide a framework to get the house and senate together to hash out our differences on the myriad fiscal crises that we are facing. if enacted, it will require by law, members from both houses to meet and work our way toward a final agreement. there's far too much at stake now to be stuck in our ways. we must work together in a productive fashion if we wish to get anything accomplished. it's imperative that we get our fiscal house in order and put

our budgets on an attainable and sustainable path. must have a common, agreed-upon, top-line discretionary spending level with the senate, which will allow our annual appropriations work to be completed this year. to do this, we must enact meaningful, commonsense entitlement program reforms that will slow the mondays strouse growth of these auto pilot programs. we need to ensure they are sustainable in the future and stop them from devouring our federal budgets, including funding for our domestic programs and national defense and plunging our nation further into debt. i believe the members of this house and of the senate are reasonable people, people of goodwill, people who wish to do right by this country. that's why i hope that this house will approve both of these

bills today. this is the right thing to do, to help find an end to this government shutdown to tackle our spending problems and our debt limit and to show the people of the united states that we are here to legislate, not pontificate. they expect and deserve no less. so i urge my colleagues to support this bill and this path forward. i thank the gentleman for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. serrano: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, my dear friend, mr. moran, the low-key mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: i thank my good friend from new york and i trust that my very good friend from kentucky wasn't referring to anybody on this side of the aisle when he used the term

pontificate. but i'll reclaim my time here. obviously, madam speaker, on this side of the aisle, we are going to vote for this bill. the democrats never want to shut down any of the government in the first place. but i want to remind my colleagues that the vast majority of employees in their districts are considered nonessential. and i would like for my colleagues to reflect on what that means within each individual family when a bread winner, who has been working hard at a job, making his family proud or her family proud, comes home and has to announce that they are furloughed, because they were considered to be nonessential. imagine if that happened in the house and we had to divide up between essential and nonessential, how we would feel. i know it brings smiles as it did in the caucus a few minutes ago, but think about it.

it's wrong to have this arbitrary distinction. 90% of the i.r.s. is considered nonessential. 90% of the department of energy, 90% of the environmental protection agency, 81% of the interior department. 70% of the intelligence agencies are considered nonessential. they're not nonessential. they're working hard. they ought to be able to get back to their job. we need them to be back to their job. it's disappointing that the senate is holding up the bill we voted for unanimously on saturday. i hope they'll let that loose, but the reality is when we vote to pay people, we recognize they deserve to be paid. and if they're being paid, all of them want to be working for that pay. so that's what we need to do. we need to open the entire government. let everyone work for their pay

as they want to do. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. crenshaw: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, outstanding member of the appropriations committee, mr. kingston. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from is recognized for to minutes. mr. kingston: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in support of this bill because people do need a paycheck and need to be able to plan their expenses based on their income and we have disrupted that income flow, so it makes sense to say let's get the pay schedule back on track. but i want to say something in a broader context that after offering the senate through different compromises on keeping the government open, three different compromises that were rejected, and then a fourth offer to let immediately last sunday go to a conference and start negotiating our

differences, all of those were rejected. even in that context we have found a few things we can agree on. the military pay bill which included not only the men and women in uniform but the support staff that they have. mr. moran pointed out, we came together for the furloughed employees to get back pay for the time they are out of work. and we passed from the house the n.i.h., national institutes of health, which passed on the use floor on an overwhelming ipartisan basis and passed w.i.c., head start, impact aid and we have a number of others. why, madam speaker, are those important? because many of us have actually chaired and participated in conference committees where house and senate members come together to iron out their

differences and frequently the gap is huge and frequently the differences are numerous. and we know from experience that if you can start chopping those big differences into small steps, eventually you close the gap. and that is what the house appropriations committee, under chairman rogers, is doing. and much of it with the support of democrat house members. but if we can get some of these things off the table -- could i have another minute. mr. crenshaw: i yield another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia has another minute. mr. kingston: if we can agree on military pay and the civilian support staff for the military, if we can agree on furloughed employees, and we can agree with n.i.h. that science and public health should be off the table, then, madam speaker, that big gap that stands between us and the senate right now, it begins to narrow and we create a little

bit of momentum for a solution. there are still going to be great differences that aren't going to be easy, but i think it is very important for us to come together and find the things we do agree and move in a positive direction on them. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. serrano: i yield two minutes to one of the great gentlemen, the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: as ranking member of the committee on oversight and government reform, i rise in strong support for paying our federal workers, but i oppose the parliamentary gimmicks being used by the majority to consider h.j.res. 89. this resolution would ensure the more than 1.2 million dedicated federal employees who have been

required by their agencies to work during the government shutdown will receive their paychecks on time. these committed men and women have been at their duty stations without pay for eight days since the republican extreme ifments -- extremists took hostage of our fellow sitens. it -- citizens. it is only fair and right that we pay them for the services they have rendered. they have mortgages, student loans and children in college and have to provide for their families and they need their pay zhrep checks. the ouse passed h.r. 3223, retroactive fairness in pay act. which would give back pay to federal employees as a result of this government shutdown. a republican senator is blocking consideration of that bill in

the senate. our federal workers have endured relentless assaults over the past three years and sacrificed much already. they have suffered through a three-year pay freeze, reductions in their retirement benefits and sequester-imposed furloughs. it is time to stop the assault on our federal workers. ask that we support this for our federal workers and i support h.j.res. 89 but note that by simply bringing to the floor a clean measure to fund the entire government, this bill would not be necessary. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. crenshaw: can i inquire as to how much time each side has remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida has 9 1/4 minutes remaining and the gentleman from new york has 13

minutes remaining. the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: i yield four minutes to the distinguished gentleman, mr. wolf. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for four minutes. r. wolf: i thank chairman mr. wolf: i thank mr. crenshaw and also chairman rogers for his help today and also on aturday and also their staffs. for their help in bringing this legislation to the floor. i believe and i think if you look at the vote on saturday, that most members, all members, believe federal employees should be paid, period. too many federal employees and their families don't know when their next paycheck will arrive and are worried about paying their next mortgage