from high school to harvard. there systems are much more evenly balanced, in terms of the standards they set up for themselves, for the top student and bottom student. host: anthony carnavale the senate is in session as well. senate democrats and republicans have been working on some sort of deal to avert the debt ceiling default. we are learning the house republicans land to push their own legislation to reopen the government. it would include a two-year delay of the medical device tax. the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., october 15, 2013. hereby appoint the honorable

bill huizenga to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip each, to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from oregon, my friend, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. it's slowly dawning on some of my republican colleagues who were so gleeful about shutting down the government two weeks ago that there will be no reward for not ruining the

economy. some think they should get a prize when they stop senseless punishment of the american people, paying our employees not to work and inflicting needless disruption on the lives and costs to the taxpayers, billions of dollars. it appears that the public has had a hard time figuring all of this out but has understandably concluded that most of the blame is due to the republican crusade against health care reform and their reckless choice of tactics. is it possible that something constructive can come from the tea party debacle? absolutely. maybe we can do our job and look for areas of potential agreement. last week paul ryan and i continued a long-standing partnership on agriculture reform. we had debate showing the will of the house to limit subsidy for the terribly flawed and expensive crop insurance program by slightly reducing

the lavish subsidies to the largest agribusinesses. it's not the final answer, by any means. there's no guarantee that ag conferees will pay attention to the will of the house, but it's a clear area that we can reduce spending and improve programs for most farmers and ranchers. maybe we can find bipartisan agreement that we should not slash infrastructure spending even further. let's have a hearing before the house ways and means committee and explore how to fund the transportation bill that expires in 348 days and creates a devastating infrastructure cliff. if people are concerned about the deficit and government spending, maybe the house could finish work on its own spending bills. my republican friends have shut down the appropriations process more than two months ago. it might be instructed before

demanding more reductions in funding services to see if they can actually pass their own version of the budget. if they can't, maybe they would reconsider taking government spending down to the levels of 1962, which is what their budget program requires. when america had 140 million fewer people, when there was 1/3 the number of senior citizens. , ardless, their negotiating if they're serious and not cynical, they will appoint their conference committees and stop six months of stalling. let's debate whether at a time of retrenchment at the pentagon really need to spend 2/3 of

$1 trillion over the next 10 years on nuclear weapons we don't need and cannot use for american security. 90% of the expensive, dangerous stockpile is unnecessary for even the most ardent believer in nuclear deteshes. t's just morphed into a jobs program. should we suffer our mineral wealth to foreign countries for free? maybe we should re-examine the mining act of 1872, which remains on the books exactly as it was signed into law by president grant. these are areas worthy not just of debate but real, honest negotiation and compromise and action. we can agree on areas to get more value for the taxpayers, help those who need it most, not least, allow the process of government work. if you try in good faith, the

american system of government is not as bad as it looks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. the time for solutions is now. the american people expect their elected leaders to come to the table, work together and put people above politics. today is the 15th day the federal government has been shut down. the 15th day national parks and memorials have been closed to the american people. the 15th day n.i.h., w.i.c. and head start have not had the funding they were counting on. today is two days shy of the deadline when america might reach its $16.7 trillion debt limit. house republicans, as we have for weeks, will continue to offer bipartisan common ground to reopen government and

protect america's credit rating. more than 70 senators are on record opposing obamacare's medical device tax. let's put that tax on hold and reopen government. it's not very fair that members of congress receive special help to pay for obamacare that isn't available to others. let's remove the special treatment and reopen government. it's not right that the american people are on the hook to provide health care subsidies to individuals whose incomes might not even qualify. let's demand accountability for taxpayer dollars and reopen government. since the shutdown began, bipartisan majorities in the house of representatives have voted to reopen government services and spare north carolinians from washington's dysfunctions. we voted to open our parks and memorials because their closure is punitive, and they should never be disrespected by the theater of barricades. we agree national institutes of health clinical trials should

continue, so we voted to fund n.i.h. similarly, we voted to ensure pay for all veterans and restore fema, the f.d.a., head start and the w.i.c. program, among others. but most of our proposals to get government functioning again face senate inaction and white house veto threats. the our way or the highway mindset must stop. the challenges we face as a nation require bipartisan solutions. both parties need to work together to reopen government and manage our debt. house republicans remain committed to responsible bipartisan solutions to end this shoutdown and defend our credit rating. we hope our counterparts in the senate are as well. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. with that the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois, mrs. bustos, for five minutes.

mrs. bustos: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today again to speak about the human consequences of this reckless and irrational government shutdown. we have now reached day 15 of this foolishness. each day i spend time speaking with people from my congressional district who are suffering through this, through no fault of their own. dorothy laura from rockford, illinois, shared the story of her family's history and their truly deep connection and commitment to this country. dating back to the early 1600's, her family has literally given their blood, sweat and tears for america's freedom and democracy. nine generations ago, her family helped build the mayflower, and not only that, then helped coordinate its voyage. her family's ancestors have served in nearly every war in

this country. in the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, the civil war, both world wars. and just recently, she welcomed home her son from iraq. dorothy said it better than i ever could myself. she said, and these are her exact words, quote, all of my forefathers would be ashamed of what has been going on in this country today. she went on to say that what happened to a government by the people, for the people and then said, what i want to see is what my forbearers have fought r, equality, job creation, honor and respect. they are owed that much. end quote. we have the votes right now right here to reopen our government. we can end this madness and go back to governing our country

the way we should be governing our country. dorothy's family and so many families throughout our country are indeed owed that much. mr. speaker, i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. with that the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, for five minutes. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate being recognized for the time, and i appreciate the attention that this chamber and my colleagues are putting on the issues before us. as we look at federal spending, what we have to do is say, what is causing us to be in the position where we are borrowing $2 billion a day, and if we're borrowing $2 billion a day, we have to ask, is that a sustainible practice and something we as a nation -- sustainable practice and something we as a nation we can continue and the answer is no. it's not sustainable. so therefore we have to look at

what is causing us to spend more money that we are taking in. and one of the things that is at the top of that list that is too expensive to afford is the obamacare program, the affordable care act. what i'd like to do today is focus my comments on what we are seeing from the affordable care act and what has happened with the cost of this program and why it has become too expensive to afford and why we have to talk about it and focus on it and put it on the table as we talk about what our nation spends. now, we all remember, supposedly obamacare, affordable care act, was going roughly 900 billion -- - program that was to access

to affordable health insurance for those that didn't have health insurance. but let's look at what happened. this was the estimate, under $1 trillion, $900 billion when the program was passed. but oh, remember, we had to pass it in order to read it to find out what was in it. after we read it the first time, $1.4 trillion. and then every time c.b.o. -- and my source on this is the congressional budget office, the c.b.o.. every time it has been reviewed with some of the nearly 13,000 pages of rules and regulations, guess what has happened, the cost estimate has gone up. $2.6 amacare is a trillion program. so what we're looking at is a near tripling in cost before the program goes into effect.

this is why we continue to say as we look at fiscal health, fiscal restraint, you have to look at what is happening with the cost projections on obamacare. now, for those of us from my state of tennessee, this is something that is not new to us. we had the test case for hillarycare in our state. it's called tenncare and what happened with the tenncare was it ended up quadrupling in cost in a period of five years. now, this cause us us -- this causes us a little bit of concern because we look at what goes with the government-managed and delivered health care services and let's look at medicare and where it was supposed to be in 1968 and then what has happened with its cost. you can look at these lines. the red line. and these are on my website for our colleagues that would like

to go and look at the website. you can see what happened in 1968 and with the red line shows where it has grown to today and something that was -- to end up being about $12 billion a year, we're now spending over $400 billion a year. you can see what was to be the projections here on this bottom line and you see how far it has exceeded its projections. so because of this, we are quite concerned with the growth in the projections of growth for obamacare. look at the track record of government spending. they generally exceed the estimates. so we continue to be very concerned about what will happen with the cost of obamacare and the impact this is going to have

on our $3.5 trillion a year budget. and we continue to say, we have to review this. it is too expensive to afford. and does it fit into what the american taxpayer is willing to pay for because every penny we spend here in washington, d.c., comes out of the taxpayer's pocket. from money that they have earned and then paid taxes, sent to washington, they expected us -- expect us to be very careful stewards of those dollars. and before my time expires, mr. chairman, i just want to point out one other concern that we have with the exchanges and the way they are going to handle information. $600 million to build a computer system that doesn't work and doesn't project -- protect the identity and the information of enrollees into health care.

another of the problems there that are worthy of discussion of this program. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from texas ms. ackson lee for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: good morning, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: so moved. ms. jackson lee: i place a loving picture of a little one and excitement that comes from a head start program to emphasize that my story this morning, and the discussion i want to raise this morning for a brief amount of time. all of us have seen those western movies where the train is rushing down the track and the tracks are no more.

black and white television we used to sit on our seat wondering what would happen. and for the aesthetics of the movie we'd see that train fall into deep abyss. people screaming out of the window or some take away that doesn't see the final crash or maybe it does. so listen to my friends on the other side this morning it seems as if i was watching that same movie. today is october 15, the 15th day of a government shutdown. mr. speaker, we are in crisis, and there are those who are rising to the floor of the house to misrepresent to the american people about some discussion about obamacare that's working every day in this nation. all be it -- albeit as medicare and medicare part d, we all need to sit down and knuckle down and look at ways that we can make it

rk better for the american people. i think the head start teachers and head start positions, the little ones like this one here, -- on of marlin hechter hector, right now today. and for my friends let me say that we have reason to be able to engage in a reasonable solution. a responsible solution. where are they in coming together to make sure that we don't default in the next 24 hours? maybe i should educate them with a little graph that shows that in actuality the debt to g.n.p. under president obama has gone down. meaning the debt has gone down. the sizable increase in the debt was in the past administration, president bush under afghanistan and iraq. everyone knows that.

republican dominated congress, republican president, a war that many did not like. but no one saw the democrats try to shut the government down. why don't they acknowledge where this original debt has accelerated itself? so now we want to move forward and invest in american infrastructure and they are crying about giving americans affordable health care. where's the reason? our friends in the senate, senate democrats are leading on a proposal that many of us yesterday would have said that we wanted a long extension of the debt ceiling. mr. speaker, i have come here to be responsible on behalf of the american people. let me read one sentence, on november 16, 1983. dear howard, howard was the majority leader, howard baker, this letter is to ask for your help and support and that of your colleagues in the passage of an increase in the limit on

the public debt, signed, ronald reagan. it is a misrepresentation to suggest that this is a political stunt. raising the debt ceiling has been done year after year to pay the nation's bills. while countries like our friends like china are pushing forward by saying, maybe you don't need to rely upon america which the world does. because their currency is not growing in the world cycle. we are watching while rome is burning. so i'm asking my colleagues to be responsible. first they could have put the senate proposal of a short-term c.r. on the floor days ago, weeks ago. so now we have a proposal that many of us will probably find challenging to vote for. but i'm ready to listen, and i'm disappointed that our friends are not realizing the devastation that is happening with the government shutdown. as a member of the house judiciary committee, it troubles

me to hear that james coiny, the director of the f.b.i. has said that he has laid off 3,000 people, 3,000 f.b.i. agents who in the midst of law enforcement for america, what kind of country are we? judges of the federal courts are saying they don't know if they are going to be able to go past october 15, and the greatest insult is, the payments that are due the american people on social security and veterans benefits may be in jeopardy november 1 if we don't do the work we are sent here to do. i'd ask my friends to lower the discourse down. let's not wave confederate flags in front of the white house, something that burns in my heart. individuals that want to divide america. let's not call the president what is a faith we should be respecting, let's not denigrate ourselves by suggesting that our president is worships allah, but

it's not denigrating the president as much as it's denigrating millions of americans who are muslims. i am outraged we would raise it to this temperature. mr. speaker, all i can say is let us be in the spirit of abraham lincoln who wanted to bring -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: let us pass a reasonable response to the government shutdown. let's not be talking about imploding or -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, for five minutes. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, you can never satisfy government's appetite for money and land thefment always want more. now we are $17 trillion in debt and headed to $25 trillion in less than a decade under the best case scenario. these are figures that are humanly incomprehensible.

yet our estimates of our future of unfunded pension liabilities are much, much higher. probably at least $75 trillion or more. the nonpartisan congressional budget office is the one that's put out these estimates, and they estimated recently that interest on the national debt will quadruple in less than 10 years to an astounding $857 billion in just one year. if we allow that to happen, the federal government could then pay only for social security, medicare, medicaid, and interest on the debt. nothing for defense, national parks, interstate highways, and so forth. obviously future congresses cannot or would not allow that to happen. so they will then come in with a combination of massive -- huge tax increases and tremendous inflation on the curncy. the -- currency. the fight we are in now is over a lot more than the unaffordable

care act. it is a battle for the economic survival of this nation. anyone who wants their social security or their federal or military pensions, wanted to buy anything at all in the very near future, should be demanding much more fiscal conservatism now. we either bite some painful bullets now or face much more difficult times in the very near future that will break our present problems look small in comparison. we could end up with problems like detroit has now, but multiplied across this nation. president obama when he was in the senate opposed raising the debt ceiling, and said we shouldn't do it o our children and grandchildren -- to our children and grandchildren. and when we are in this war now over spending, this bat for economic survival of our nation, surely, mr. speaker, surely we do not want to ruin the future of our children and our

grandchildren. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut, mr. himes, for five minutes. mr. himes: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise on this 15th day of the government shutdown, a shutdown which has put hundreds of thousands of americans out of work, that will have untold damage on what is already a hesitant economic recovery, and i rise as we contemplate the last maybe 24, 36 hours before an event unprecedented in american history, the possibility that for the first time in this great nation's history we may not pay our bills. we may default on our obligations. with a plea for sanity and a

last-minute plea that we setaside the irresponsibility and recklessness that has consumed this congress for years now culminating in this moment. what has it profited anybody? 74% of americans disapprove of the way the republican majority has handled this. democrats could not have dreamed of a better plan to cut the ground out from under the republicans. this week the international monetary fund met here in washington and global leader after global leader stood up and basically said, what has become of the united states? how can you be so irresponsible? how can this one indispensable nation now be a laughingstock? my constituents are certainly disturbed. i had a conversation with one of them, a guy i have known for 25

years now, he said explain to me what's going on in washington. the republicans, senator cruz, the house the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time are demanding a negotiation. i'm saying yes they are demanding a negotiation. they are using the shutdown and the debt ceiling as leverage to achieve their goals. what are those goals he said? well, it started out with a repeal of the affordable care act. that's where senator cruz start add couple weeks ago. then it moved on to we want congress to not have its employer contribution. then it moved on to simply talk to us. then there was a long list of things. we want the x.l. pipeline approved, we want the affordable care act delayed for two years. a long, long list of policy wishes that the republicans have said they want in this negotiation. and my friend says, so what do you get? what do the democrats get if you build the x.l. pipeline, whatever it is, what do you get? do you get investment in roads and railways and networks?

i said, no, we don't get that. well, do you get a commitment to improve the education of america's children? nope, we don't get that. well, do you get something that pretty much most americans think is a good idea which is some kind of comprehensive immigration reform? no, we don't get that. he said what do you get? what do you get in this negotiation? i said all we get is that the government runs. really? the government runs. that's what democrats get in this negotiation. yeah. he said that's not a negotiation. that's exactly right. that is not a negotiation. that is something more akin to extortion. and here we sit where it's not just the government shutdown, which is causing pain to head start kids in bridgeport, fear monks workers as sikorski who are building the blackhawks ferrying our troops in and out of danger. here we stand on the cusp of

saying to the world that you can no longer rely on the full faith and credit of the united states government. folks, i used to work in finance, and there is nothing in finance, there is no sheriff stock, no bond, no income producing property, there is no asset out there whose value doesn't rest on the proposition that the united states treasury is risk free, but the house majority is saying, first of all, that that may not be true. maybe a default is not a big problem. maybe it can be managed. never happened before, but maybe it can be managed. and this bedrock, i'd like to say doing finance without the concept of a risk-free rate is like trying to do physics without graphity -- grevity. nobody knows what it means. we are putting this at risk. i plea for sanity. and i plea and i point out the fact that there are very real costs. the macroeconomic advisors, a research firm, has said the last

couple years has resulted in 900,000 jobs not being created because of this constant hostage taking, this idea we are going to run the country by crisis. almost a million american jobs that are not there because this congress has done that. . it is time at this moment to come together, to be responsible and to do right by the country. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from minnesota, mr. ellison, for five minutes. mr. ellison: thank you, mr. chairman, for the time. i think it's so important as we come here today to take us back where this whole shutdown, debt ceiling sigh kris began, and that is when my colleagues -- crisis began, and that is when my colleagues said we will not open and fund the government, we will not pass a continuing resolution unless you repeal,

defund, delay the affordable care act. that was their mantra. they were standing at those microphones over there. they were gleeful. they were pounding the table and they were really thinking, you know what, the democrats are willing to go back to a day when americans were filing for bankruptcy because they got sick or got injured. they really believed we were going to allow america to go back to a day when you couldn't get insurance if you had a pre-existing condition. they thought we were going to return to a time when we weren't trying to address this big doughnut hole they created with the medicare part d. and we told them, it's not because -- it's not because we spent so much time on it, it's not because you tried to repeal it 45 times and you failed, it's not because the supreme court said it was constitutional, and it's not because in the last election the presidential candidate that

says i'm going to implement health care reform and the affordable care act, one, and beat the one who said they would repeal it by five million votes, those are not the reasons why we stand here. we stand here because we got little kids and seniors and hardworking americans who go bankrupt when they get sick, who sometimes are denied access to care which results in loss of life. that is why we said no. we said we can talk about a lot of things, we can negotiate on anything you want, but we're not going to say, if we repeal, delay, defund the affordable care act, then you will do what it is your duty to do which is to open the government. and so my friends in the republican caucus knew, you know what, the american public is onto our game. we're trying to do everything we can to trick people into thinking it's not really us who are being obstructionists,

extortionists, hostage-takers, we don't want people to believe that it is us doing it. you know what, we got to say something else. we got to do something else. many of you, mr. speaker, who were listening saw a very interesting dialogue that occurred, and you can look it up on youtube, between senator rand paul and senator mitch mcconnell in they were gaming out which words they should use in how to reposition themselves to look reasonable, let's negotiate, let's negotiate, when in fact their condition was defund affordable care act. so they started saying things like negotiate, let's negotiate. hey even came up with this #letstalk. it was six months ago when we wanted to talk. and we still do. but we're not going to say we are going to get rid of the affordable care act and put millions of americans back in jeopardy and then as a condition of doing that, you will reopen the government. what they're trying to do, mr.

speaker, is to say that in exchange for doing their job, they will -- in exchange for throwing people off health care, they will then do their job. in approximate exchange for putting -- in exchange for putting people back at the mercies of an insurance company they will do their job. and now things have gotten really bad because we are two days away from when the treasury has said they cannot engage in extraordinary messrs. anymore, they cannot negotiate america's bills anymore. on october 17 it's d day. we have to do something or bad things are going to happen. as mr. himes pointed out, no one really knows what's going to happen because no congress in the history of the united states has ever failed to pay its bills. it will be the republican house majority that has failed america for the first time in

american history by refusing to pay our bills, not because we don't have the money, not because we're not good for it, because their political ideology dictates that so they are sacrificing our nation. but here's what's going to happen. we don't know, but we do know a few things. we know higher interest rates and less ack -- access to business loans need to finance payrolls. we know the businesses that want to build inventories and invest in equipment and new construction are going to face higher interest rates. it's going to cost more to do that. we know they're estimated about 3.4 million veterans who may see their disability benefits in jeopardy. we will see catastrophic economic effects to our economy. we can see average homebuyer would pay an extra $100. i hear my time is coming to a close, mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. ellison: but i just close by saying this, we have to get

our business in order, and i urge republican moderates to join with us to reopen the government and pay this country's debts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. huffman, for five minutes. mr. uffman: thank you, speaker. this is a critical moment for the 113th congress of the united states. we have an opportunity to let this house work its will, to end the government shutdown, to protect the full faith and credit of our country, to show the whole world that after a three-week bout with insanity the duly elected representatives of the people in this congress finally came to their senses. but i'm concerned that's not where we're heading, here in the 11th house of this crisis, as we deal with the prospect of default, instead of working together to develop a budget that would work for americans,

my colleagues across the aisle in the republican party continue to let reckless ideologues drive their agenda and drive all of us further into a national crisis. now, i have the honor of serving on the budget committee, and along with ranking member van hollen, the democratic members of that committee have been calling since the spring for a conference committee so we could actually work out a budget that could work for both parties and for the american people. but the g.o.p. leadership in this house refuse to appoint conferees, refuse to go into that negotiation. why do they do that? because they prefer the strategy of taking us to this point, into this crisis with the government shutdown, up to the edge of the cliff with the possibility of default because they wanted to maximize their leverage. why have they shut down the government? why have they put us in this position? well, we heard for months that it was their obsession with the affordable care act, with repealing, delaying, defunding

obamacare. and yet three weeks into this crisis, the goal posts are moving. it's not so much about obamacare. sometimes it's in and sometimes it's out. what about the deficit and debt? sometimes it's part of the stated reason for this manufactured crisis. well, back to obamacare, there's no question about it. the c.b.o. says that moving forward with the affordable care act will actually improve our deficit, will actually help us manage better our long-term debt. and we know that there are all sorts of things we could do together. if reducing the deficit and managing our debt was the goal. for example, we could pass bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform which again the c.b.o. tells us would lower our deficits, lower our national debt. but that doesn't seem to really even be what this republican manufactured crisis is all about. it calls to mind the farewell address of our first president, the founder of our country, george washington, who warned about political parties who were at war with their own

government. he warned about factions that were driven to defeat other factions by the spirit of revenge and dissension and how that itself would become a frightful form of dess petism. well, -- dess pitism. well, mr. speaker, it seems like we're walking toward that awful scenario that our first president dreaded. now we're hearing a bit of good news from the other house that senator reid and senator mcconnell are close to a bipartisan agreement to help resolve this crisis. i have no doubt there would be enough votes in this house to pass that kind of an agreement, so to my republican friends, let us vote on that deal or even better, let us vote on the clean c.r. that has been pending in this house for weeks that could get us out of this crisis. it would temporarily fund the government at republican funding levels while we worked on a longer-term budget conclusion. let us vote. it seems to me that the g.o.p. needs to simply take yes for an answer, allow this house to work its will and get out of

this crisis. but unfortunately, we've heard from senator reid that there were deals reached weeks ago, and when speaker boehner brought those deals to the house he found that the fey party faction in his caucus -- tea party faction in this caucus wouldn't support him and they chose to shut this government down. they rigged the rules of this house with the so-called martial law that has prevented democrats from offering any alternatives, any offramps for this crisis. they shut down the government and they hard wired it to stay shut down, and now, like the dog that finally catches the car, my republican friends don't know what to do with the situation that they have created. well, i have a suggestion. instead of continuing to grope for overreaching concessions nd fig leafs, cut your losses. government that you were sent here to govern,

your idea is a bad idea. let us vote to end solutions to this crisis. we don't need an apology for the damage you have caused, the $160 million a day that's undermined our economic recovery and economic loss fathers this shutdown. we don't even need an apology for the thousands of federal employees indefinitely furloughed, for the national parks and forestes that have been shuttered, for the loans to farmers and families trying to purchase homes that have been held up. we don't need you to apologize for halting life-saving research for any of that. just let us vote to end this crisis and if you don't, don't bother apologizing, because the american people will never forgive the damage you have done to this country and to our standing in the world. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until

with these dueling plans, will both the house and the senate reached an agreement and move forward to reopen the federal government on day 15 of the shutdown?

jack lew is thursday or friday. no later than the end of the weekend. our phone lines are open. we will also hear from you. we have a line for independents. we are also checking your tweet #cspanchat. suspending the medical device tax is unacceptable. it needs to be permanently removed. he is joining his democratic colleagues with this news conference. we come back with live coverage. >> how is everyone today? are we ready?

i am pleased to be joined by the vice-chairman of the democratic caucus of the house, a gentleman from new york. i and the chairman of the democratic caucus. pretty thorough discussion are not in our democratic caucus. it is extremely well attended. stand. through where we ourappears that once again house republican colleagues are prepared to put the american economy at risk to advance their political agenda. they seemed to be running contrary to their republican colleagues in the senate. to be running contrary to the desires of the american will have a good number of colleagues in the house of representatives.

us not jeopardize the american economy. it.s not heard let's not further hurt american families that have been put out of work as result of the government shutdown. i think most of us are here to let us exercise our right is what presented as for the people to vote to reopen our government and to not put our economy at this reckless approach that house republicans thing his puttingo take any number of american families in jeopardy. i think it has been made very economists, republican

leaders, by regular families. two of our interest rates to rise dramatically. it would not only harm the economic recovery that we have seen were the last 3.5 years more than 7.5 million jobs were created. it would put at risk the family that just sent the child to school to pay for that education was student loans. would put at risk payment of social security benefits to those who are now retired and earned those benefits. this is 18 years old. a savings bond. a savings bond that my daughter olivia received when she was born.

it was a gift for her. she had not yet cashed it in. it is a $50 savings bond. this is similar to what social security recipients have in the social security trust fund. this is what a lot of americans have when they have these mutual funds and these other accounts were part of this is in bonds. this is being put at risk. by the irresponsible and our houseehavior republican colleagues who are prepared to disregard what seems to be a reasonable approach taken by the senate to try to resolve this issue so we do not have a default on the payment of to a riskyhat leads

next several days which we have never experienced for the american economy. urge a republican colleagues to please and your family duty. please let us of vote on a clean bill to reopen our government and pay our past bills. let's remember not just the folks on wall street. let's think of all the people on main street. let's send the country and move forward together. there are commonsense solutions that we can all work on. if we act reasonably, we can get this done. no one should put their political agenda before the american economy and the american middle class. with that, let me yield now to my colleagues. >> thank you. it is remarkable that we are

here today talking about defaulting on u.s. debts. whenords come to mind analyzing the most recent republican legislation. irresponsible is one word. reckless is another. in an attempt to torpedo what appears to be the reasonable is workedr response out by republicans and democrats in the senate. i have said before and i will say it again, the american people expect the congress to produce a budget and to pay the u.s. bills on time. we still have a government that is shut down. we are on the cousp. that is unacceptable to the american people.

we cannot let down the american people. we cannot let down the republican congress. we cannot let down the road. time for reasonable men and women on the republican side of the aisle to step forward and tell the speaker that regardless this is what they are enabling. it was to pass the bill to extend government open and operating again. senate ascribed the reasonable. that if thatg comes to fruition houston a craft would be willing to put up with a significant number of votes?

know what the senate will produce. disagree, what they are willing to do is try to come up with solutions even though they may disagree. they are open to different or new ideas. new and openo any ideas. we do not want them to risk our livelihoodamerican in order to discuss these new ideas. let's keep our economy going. the newcuss all of ideas and come up with some common sense solutions. impression because they were saying they are good conversation and maybe there were some reasonable ideas that

were percolating. they will come out and do something contrary to what their senate republican colleagues are doing. it seems a reckless attempt to try to circumvent what the senate is doing, which at this late hour, less than two days go over the cliff and allow our economy to be put at risk i not paying our bills, that to me seems very irresponsible and falls far short of common sense. a disagreement with republicans? we are being told republicans are going to rehash old ideas and they are going to try to into apolitical ideas budget bill were these political ideas have no place.

aboute also not talking inserting these political ideas on a measure to keep the economy running. if they wanted to shut the economy down, a good portion of the government, that does not help any american. we are ready to have that conversation on all those different ideas and see if we could reach some common sense solutions. the senate seems to be moving in that direction. we have yet to see what the senate would propose. what we are hearing our republican colleagues saying in the taste of senate republicans. it also flies in the face of

what the american people want and what the american economy needs. >> they're trying to negotiate some type of deal. >> i do think the traditions of the house in the senate are somewhat different. i will also say that i know there have been discussions about the speaker with the leader as well. it is not completely as you would indicate. he has the majority of the vote. intellect is an of the caucus. thatieve that he enjoys position.

responsibility to bring to the floor the legislation that will pass. what we believe is in a responsible approach to governing. he can bring a bill right now to the floor that can reopen government. he can bring more easily than the senate can to avoid defaulting on our nation's debt. the responsibility lies in the hands of the people. i leave that gives john boehner a great deal of ability to move on his on to avert what i believe will be a disaster. they do not know what they want at this point in time. we are back to a bill here in the house with a hot podge of field issues that have not

stirred their colleagues in the senate. they have said they do not agree . for theit is time republican caucus to bring this before. >> there are some pretty strong disagreements here in congress on what to do. the speaker and our republican colleagues he can disagree but we can still talk. you when yourise find how when you talk you can come to an agreement. while we do not always agree, that is not a reason not to talk to read we would urge the speaker to engage in the conversation. wouldlong time they

criticize the president, claiming that he was not willing to talk or negotiate. all along the president have been willing to talk. the difficulty is this. if they want to have conversation, they should do it with folks that are next-door. we probably would be not only willing to come to some common sense solution but we could do this without jeopardizing our economy and scaring the american people so much. we will take one last question. >> use the lack of flexibility for the treasury, health-care measure, what are you hearing? >> you mentioned some of them. the president made it very clear that he wants to keep the economy moving. he does not believe any american should be left without work simply because of a political fight. that is where we find or sell.

more than a hundred thousand americans have not been able to work for 15 days. we are now hearing that the markets may gyrate as a result of the uncertainty about not paying our past debts and bills. will media republican say that in order for them to move forward and allow americans to go back to work in our economy we have done risk, over 45 times. we have been there together. we have done that. we are willing to talk about new ideas. for republicans to continue to rehash old ideas that are part of their political agenda and do it while we have a gun to the and want to make sure

their interest rates do not we hope that our republican colleagues will understand that we can come to some common sense solutions together even if we disagree. hope that this desire to be reckless and irresponsible would just and. it has gotten too long. no one should put at risk and american family that is working hard or the economy finally recovering. >> i am going to make a prediction. the building republicans put on the floor, if it is jotted in the way we think it will be drafted, -- if it is drafted in the way we think it will be drafted, i do not think it will

ever pass the senate. it will never pass the senate. what statement is that send to the american people? two days before october 17, the day the treasury said we would run out of the ability to pay down our debts, we will default on our debts, what message is that sending to the american people? tot message is that sending the world as well? i would suggest an irresponsible and reckless message. >> that news conference from representativeth xavier becerra, democrat of california, and representative theph crowley of new york, chair and vice chair of the house democratic caucus chair, reacting to reports that the house gop plans a preemptive move to counter the senate debt deal. -- story from "roll call"

we are keeping an eye on the stake out location on capitol hill. sourcesfrom news including the associated press. the house plan would repeal the tax on medicare devices. it would include no health care employer subsidy for members of congress. it would fund the government to january 15. and the treasury can borrow through february 7. those last two dates are part of the framework agreement by senate republicans. the first two are new with what house republicans are putting forth. we are seeing some movement outside the house republican caucus. if the speaker comes in, i will have to stop you, but tell us

what you are hearing at this hour. >> you have outlined it pretty well in terms of what is going on on the house side, with house republicans gathering. i will tell you that senate republicans were scheduled to gather at 11:00 a.m., to be briefed by their leader, mitch mcconnell of kentucky, on the outline of the framework of the senate agreement he has been working on with majority leader harry reid. that meaning has been pushed off and will now take place during the weekly republican conference lunch, which we have every tuesday here in the senate. each of the parties meats. and there are stakeouts and reporters. talk to the leaders afterwards. it is a normal tuesday in that regard. are hearinghings we this morning as the plan involves is that one of the

remaining questions that last i heard from my sources here on the senate side is whether or is ahe february 7 date hard and fast deadline for the debt limit, or if the treasury secretary would still have the flexibility to go beyond that ofe by using a bunch accounting methods that we normally see used to forestall the arrival of a possible default. that is one of the things that is still up for discussion. another thing that is important the house, if in fact does manage to pass its bill that includes the medical device , and what we have come to call the v amendment -- vitter amendment, regarding congressional staff health care

entre visions, there is a notion that would be helpful for procedural reasons in the senate. they are going to attach it to a bill that has an expedited status once it arrives in the senate. >> c-span radio is heard nationwide. we are talking at five minutes past the hour, waiting for the speaker of the house, john boehner, to come to the microphone. yesterday, there was an agreement in the senate. we did not get any specific details late in the day. a meeting scheduled at the white house was postponed to give lawmakers time to work out the agreements. a description that house republicans do not want to be jammed down the throat, as you put it, with the senate plan. there was a meeting led by senator ted cruz and about 15 to 20 house republicans at tortilla coast, on capitol hill, a tex-

mex restaurant. how will that change what we are seeing today? not clear if specifically that meeting caused the change we are seeing at the house today. it is tough to determine the cause and effect. myt we do know, and colleague matt fuller learned from sources of his, is that cruz met with -- 15 to 20 house conservatives in the basement of tortilla coast, which is previously most notable in national headlines because once upon a time, many years ago, a current house ajit chairman, paul ryan, worked at , ages ago.rant we learned that kevin mccarthy, the majority whip in the house, had actually also been at the

restaurant separately at the same time. he was somewhat curious as to what senator cruz and the more conservative group of house republicans were doing there. it is unclear if this is related or not, but it matches up with the reporting from this morning of the amount of conservative angst about the senate plan, that seems to be leading speaker john weiner and others to move in a different direction. us, what could update we expect to hear from the speaker -- some movement should be but coming -- should be coming momentarily. speaker boehner wraps up a meeting with members of the house republican caucus. expect that to outline the latest plan for forward by house republicans. we see some movement, and the waiting continues.

the president has said repeatedly that members of congress do not get to demand ransom for the failure of a sick responsibilities to pass a budget or pay the nation's bills. unfortunately, the latest proposal does just that. your take on that? >> that is a white house rejection letter of the plan that the speaker and other house republicans are putting forth. not a terrible surprise. i do not think they have officially said it. but general sentiment seems to the administration, positive toward the negotiations going on at the senate. certainly, the house plan has ite carrots and sticks in than the senate plan certainly would. evenenate plan is somewhat getting narrower by the minute, it seems.

>> we heard from pete sessions. he said the white house is dropping house republicans like a hot potato. clearly, there is a big division between senate and house republicans on a way forward. >> it is true. at some point in time in the last few days, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell made the was going tohat he negotiate directly with harry reid, and the two of them would try to work out an agreement, which has all the makings of being exactly the kind of plan wet would jam the house, as have seen in several of these past negotiations. it looks like house republicans are trying to prevent a repeat of it, but that is difficult to do when both the senate and the white house are controlled by the democrats. >> joining us live on capitol hill.

his work is available online. things for updating us on the very latest. house republicans plan a preemptive move to counter the senate debt deal. essentially, here are the details. the bill will repeal a new tax on medical devices. it will take away federal health-care subsidies. it will fund the government through january 15, and give the to borrowhe ability normally. you may hear more details as a speaker updates reporters in just a moment. here he is. >> good morning, everyone. our leadership team met with our members today, trying to find a way forward in a bipartisan way, that would continue to provide fairness to the american people under obamacare.

are a lot of opinions about what direction to go. decisions about what exactly we will do. we will continue to work with members on both sides of the aisle to try to make sure there is no issue of default, and to get our government reopened. >> we just talked to our members. i think it has been clear all along what we as republicans in the house have wanted. we have wanted the democrats to sit down and talk to us, so we can work out our differences. we have been saying since day one that there should be no special treatment under the law, and there should be fairness for all americans, both elected and unelected. i am glad harry reid and the senate have finally come to sit down and talk with the republican leader there. that.ourage we also, as the house republican conference, think it is very important for us to stress, in

whatever proposal we move fairness.ill reflect no special treatment for anybody under the law. >> we think individuals should be treated fairly. big business should not have special treatment. number's up congress should not have special treatment. we are very cognizant of the calendar. we want a bipartisan solution that gets us moving forward and gets america working again. >> for weeks now, republicans in the house have been leading with solutions. we believe this is a time for solutions, and they need to be based upon fairness for all. we recognize that people across the country continue to struggle and have their challenges. as a foundation, we want to ensure that laws are implemented , whether it is moms, dads, small businesses, seniors, young people trying to move their way

forward. we remain committed to being part of the solution, to working in a bipartisan fashion, to find commonsense ways to make sure we are doing what is good and right for america. bills toanges in your the president's health care law -- were they worth they complete government shutdown? we want to move forward and make sure they provide fairness to the american people. >> can you guarantee the people that congress will not go past the deadline and push us into default? >> i have made clear for months and months that the idea of default is wrong. we should not get anywhere close to it. today you going to vote -- >> are you going to vote on a plan that would make changes to the senate bill? >> there are efforts on both sides of the aisle to try to find a way to move forward

today. thank you. >> does that mean you do not know if you have the votes at this point? >> members of the house republican leadership, led by speaker of the house john boehner. live coverage here on c-span and c-span radio. the house will reconvene in about 45 minutes. at the moment, there appears to be two different plans, one from the house, one from the senate, 03 opening the government and extending the debt limit through some kind of early or mid- february. house leaders also taking aim at the medical device tax. we are keeping an eye on what is happening in the u.s. senate, where there is a stakeout set up as well. we expect to hear from senate democrats and republicans later this morning or early this afternoon. this is from tom, who is joining us via twitter.

cumbersome and spoke earlier on the house floor. -- keith ellison spoke earlier on the house floor. americans worked very hard to get out of our personal debt. every week, we decide who is going to get paid this week and who has to wait. we live within our means. and we want our government to govern within its means. we do not get the liberty of just borrowing more, or printing more. should raisek they the debt ceiling. obamacare is the unaffordable obamacare. trash it. we need to just quit borrowing. the republicans need to stand their ground.

as far as they putting -- we do not need more government jobs. we need more private sector jobs. kick the can down the road. >> let me go to the more immediate deadline. thursday or friday, we reach our credit limit. should lawmakers raise the debt limit, or should we default? >> you know what? you just don't print more. you have to stop sometime. either stop now, or you have to stop later. sometimes, you have to quit borrowing in order to get out of debt. >> thanks for the call. democrats line, your take on all of this. are you with us? we will try one more time. from texas, on the democrats line. lubbock,ining us from texas, independent line. >> good morning. few remarks to make about this situation. that the my heart

democrats and republicans did not want to shut down the government. but when they have not even read the vote, do not even know what is in it, i think that is an insult to our intelligence. but it went through, so it went through. what obama says, it is my way or he did not, he says say nothing like that. that is a lie. and he has been caught in more lies than i can count on both hands. >> thanks for the call. this is one of those days where we expect to hear from a number of the principles, including senate leaders. we heard from speaker of the house john boehner. he said there could be a vote on all of this later today. senate activity is on c-span two. any news conferences can be seen

on c-span 3. a comment from the president, through his spokesperson. the president has said repeatedly that members of congress do not get a ransom to fulfill their asic responsibilities. the latest by house republicans does just that, in an attempt to appease small government republicans who shut down the government in the first place. they have been working in a bipartisan effort to end a crisis that has affected american families as well as business owners. with only a few days until the u.s. exhausts its borrowing authority, it is time for the house to do the same. here is the framework of what is in this republican deal. this would repeal a new tax on medical devices, part of the affordable care act. it would take away federal

health care subsidies for lawmakers. it would fund the government through january 15, the targeted date. it would raise the debt limit through february 7. robert is joining us next from tulsa, oklahoma, republican line. good morning. we will try one more time for robert. next, going to go to try in lakewood, florida. democrats line. good morning. unemployed 23-year- old male, struggling to find a job. i have no reservations about type of employment. i want to get back to work. i live with my parents with virtually no bills. unfortunately, the government is not in that position. we have made obligations to people in this country and must extend the debt ceiling to fulfill that. it is disheartening to see our leaders sit and argue constantly they areny indication trying to work on a bipartisan

effort to fix any of these issues. if you go back to high school, and you take an economy class, keynesian economics says that in order to get out of a recession, you need to spend money. we need to increase our debt ceiling. obamacare, if it works, which i hope it will, which will require a lot of young people to sign up, to prevent people with pre- existing conditions from being turned down by insurance companies. this is great legislation, and we should be appreciative of the fact that president obama was able to get this passed. the republicans have tried to repeal it 40 some odd times. they need to let go. they need to understand this bill is law. they need to show the country that they care about the people who live here. it is very disheartening to me to see our leaders act in such an immature way. >> how long have you been out of college? >> i have not been out of

college. i had to stop going to college, because i could not afford it. >> thank you to the caller. we are also told the president is going to meet with the house democratic leader, nancy pelosi. ,ot many public events today but negotiations happening behind the scenes. on our facebook page, we are asking this question. can a debt ceiling deal be reached? no.re asking you yes or so far, many of you are saying no, a deal cannot be reached. you can join in on the conversation by logging on to facebook. michael is joining us on the republican line from palm desert, california. >> good morning. how are you? i want to say to all of the loyal republicans out there our humble leaders, john boehner and ted cruz -- do

not temporarily raise the debt ceiling, ok? every time there is a lawful , we should ransom that bill until or unless every republican and a solidredit gold toilet and a ferrari and a porsche. people do not need penicillin. let them eat cake. >> lisa has this point. #cspanchat.is us fromvictor, joining lakeland, florida. independent line. good morning. >> good morning. i am an asian american. for the first time i am speaking , i feel that i should also be

heard. feel thattrongly veryrats are [indiscernible] they are leading the country nowhere. this $30 trillion debt is very high. we should take steps that reduce. but they are taking steps that only increases the debt. >> thanks for the call. mariano says, this seems like house republicans are happy. they left the press conference laughing. i'm i missing the joke here? -- am i missing the joke here? >> how are you doing this

morning? stuff been watching this for two weeks. pretty constantly. i am retired. i am 60 six years old. i drive a school bus. i am listening to all the people being furloughed. i want people to know that there are people out here like me who drive a school bus. we are furloughed every summer. every summer, we lose three months, basically. i feel sorry for them, but there are other people this happens to every single year. the other thing i have been hearing is, the republicans and democrats, arguing back and forth, are arguing a mute point. there are plenty of problems with obama care. americans know there are plenty of problems with it. why can't democrats just say, yes, there are problems? lettuce and this government shutdown.

and we promise we will negotiate the problems and fix them. some sort of honest promise. but they are not doing that. they do not need to do it. >> thanks for the call from maryland. senate democrats and republicans, led by harry reid and mitch mcconnell, indicated they were optimistic of an agreement. this morning, we heard from house republicans, putting together a counter proposal -- and comments from speaker of the house john boehner that house lawmakers could vote on something as early as late this afternoon or this evening. if that does happen, we will have it here on c-span.

next is howard, joining us from baltimore, maryland, democrats line. >> what i cannot seem to therstand is, this is greatest and richest country, the united states. they have people that have served their country, and even ones that are coming back today. it does not make sense for them to cut people's checks, people that have worked all their night, -- all their life, and to retirement age. they start getting retirement, and all of a sudden, they cannot get their checks. this is a country that is supposed to show other countries have to make sure that democracy is taking care of the right way. it is like you have children arguing with each other, the democrats and the republicans.

negotiate, sit down, and stop all this bickering, because it does not make sense. i have to say thank you. >> the republican line next. joining us from winona, missouri. go ahead. >> talking about obamacare and -- i hope john boehner stays true. find thoseg to people who do not have this child care and all this. instance, everyone gets paid. all your government gets paid. all the health care. who pays for it? the taxpayers. if you are going to have it that way, there will be no money at the end of the year.

just give it all, the whole united states, health care. that would solve all of this. >> thanks for the call. keeping our camera at the location where we heard speaker of the house john boehner a moment ago. he was joined by house republicans. within the next seven or eight minutes, house democrats will react to the latest republican plan. of course, republicans in the majority in the u.s. house. democrats in control of the u.s. senate. you at to share with comment from pete sessions, republican of texas. here is what he said in response to what the senate president and democrats and republicans were working on. tothat is what we are going wait to find out, what is in that other bill. and i think we should find out tonight. >> are you going to move your own short-term deal?

>> we are going to wait, and then we will know. >> the debt ceiling? >> i am reacting that i want to find out what the deal is, and then i will be able to tell you whether it is good or bad. we are waiting. we do not know what the deal is. >> do you think you are in a better place now than you were 48 hours ago? >> no. that we believed that we could have worked with the president, and the president dropped us like a hot potato. deall he did not want to with us. he wanted to deal with the senators. >> will leaders meet again tonight? >> that was congressman pete sessions last night. he is a key player in all of this, the chair of the house

rules committee. anything that comes to the floor must first come through his committee. dropping house republicans like a hot potato. "politico."e from house republicans moving their own bill. we will hear from democrats in the next five to seven minutes. from alabama, on the democrats line. good morning. >> i drove an 18 wheeler for 21 years. i did not have no choice. driving because i have had seven heart attacks. i have a different realtor on my heart. i have it -- a defibrillator on my heart. i am a diabetic. my legs are swelling. i cannot even drive a car no more. i am 62.

and i am on disability. and that is the only thing i got coming in. that is the only thing that i can bring in. they need to come to an agreement, and quick. your storyor sharing with us here on c-span. next, sarasota, florida. independent line. >> i am tired of the silliness put forth by people who are complaining that the aca is communist. we are people with a mortgage on our home. havee forced by banks to insurance to protect that mortgage, for the banks. this insurance is a form of socialism. my house burns down, the next guy, who is paying the insurance policy premium, is paying for my house burned down. if i drive a car, the government

insists i have insurance. socialism means insurance. the government needs insurance to protect us from catastrophe, like cancer. thank you. >> thanks for the call from sarasota, florida. this is a story we showed you a moment ago from politico.com. of the speaker of the house a few minutes ago as he spoke to reporters. leaders todayan trying to move their own bill to open the government, lift the debt ceiling, and enact a host of health care related policies they hope the senate will accept. house republican leadership announcing a plan to reopen the government until january 14, lift the debt ceiling until february 7. this would also withhold the tax on medical devices for up to a year. white house officials saying unfortunately the latest

proposal from house republicans does just that, in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of tea party republicans, who forced a government shutdown in the first place. that statement a few moments ago from the white house. houston press expected to react to all of this as well. democrats expected to react to all of this as well. been watching this since getting out of high school in 1980, democrats wanting to give everybody everything, and make everybody reliable on the government, obviously. me and my sister are both republican, and we both work for government operations. as far as i am concerned, they can go ahead and keep it shut down, because it is saving us money and getting the government off our back. if they show they are really

wanting to create jobs for the this country, would go a lot further. we are the ones paying the taxes that pay government workers. they can shut it down if they want to. it is fine with me. up onats need to lighten that have it my way, or it is not the right way. that is all i hear out of democrats. .hey need to do it our way otherwise, they are doing it the wrong way. >> from portland, oregon. thanks for the call. fairness? hold ad was it to shutdown over something government staffers, senators are already covered under? there is this that house republicans hope to move on, a new plan. the white house ripping the new

republican plan. meetingthe president is with democratic leader nancy pelosi. below that, senate leaders near eight do to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. a meeting will take place at about 3:15 eastern time, led by nancy pelosi. here is the democratic leader of the house. >> the senate has been working in a very bipartisan way to come up with a solution and a way to go forward. from what we have heard of their negotiations, they are near a final version. from what we have heard, it sounds pretty positive. of course, i would like a longer listing of the debt ceiling. nonetheless, this is great progress. that progress has evidently

struck fear in the hearts of the house republicans, whose reckless, radical behavior has called upon them to sabotage the the unitedeffort in states senate. this is day 15 of the shutdown, which has hit my country hard, and harder by the day. understand.te republicans want to, in the house of representatives, sabotage the bipartisan effort in the senate will stop that will hit our economy hard, our standing as well. what is also interesting is how it fits the american people in their pocketbooks. as will mean higher interest rates on student loans, car payments, mortgages, business loans, if you happen to be a small business person. it is going to affect your 401(k). and why? and why? it is hard to understand, is

this is very, very damaging. what you saw here earlier -- was that here? the speaker was here? a speaker did not have the votes for his proposal. here, they any hope do not have the votes. why are they doing this to the american people, sabotaging the good thing coming out of the senate? in thispublic time, and case, time is money. time is money. it will be very costly to our economy, even if eventually we do lift the debt ceiling. the policy and interest payments will be in the billions of dollars. the republican habit of sabotaging any effort to move forward is a luxury our country cannot afford. you can see by their comments they did not have the vote. there are some radicals on the right who do not want to live

the debt ceiling. you have moderates who say they want to do so in a way that is clean, that will pass, and that the president will sign. if there is a deal, they say, we should not support it. >> i think the american people were heartened by the fact that senators were talking. appearances, all close to reaching agreement which would open up our government and make sure it was clear the united states was not put at risk. as leader pelosi has indicated, it made sure interest rates would not spike, that 401(k) values of retirees would not go down, that people would not be adversely affected. have done what they once again, we understand from the republican conference, is to snatch confrontation from the jaws of reasonable agreement. that is what's so angers and

upset,he public so rightfully, with their government. they want reasonable solutions, so they and their families can have some confidence that their government is being run appropriately, the more importantly, so their lives are not disrupted. so that when a veteran makes an application, there is somebody there to take the application for social security or disability, somebody to show them around the national parks. all of these things, we are undermining the confidence of the american people. the brinkad that on of an agreement that would open up our government and make sure that america pays its bills, that the republican conference met this morning, apparently after a number of them talked to ted cruz, and said, it is not good enough for us. i now want to yield to jim clyburn, the assistant leader.

>> i think that what we are experiencing at this time is a tremendous effort on the part of the republicans in the house to once again undercut the fabric of the american people that was rendered last november. what they have added to this legislation will add more extraneous issues dealing with the affordable care act, something that ought to be --tled on i'm we had gotten and we had gotten away from. athink we are experiencing nine-month low in consumer confidence, because people are republicans'of the verdictto accept their

and move on to the next issue. i expect that sometime within the next few hours, the speaker , an assessment not just of his conference, but of the american people, can allow an issue to come to the floor that would give us -- raise the debt ceiling. give us a continuing resolution. allow for some negotiations on the budget that will put americans back to work, as we argue over these issues. i will yield to our distinguished chair of the caucus. >> thanks, jim. 15 days after republicans drove americans over the cliff and told them not to come to work, we are on the verge of watching republicans shut down the

economy as well. and simply because there is a family feud going on among republicans, senate republicans have chosen to try to sit down with their democratic counterparts to try to come up with a solution. we could disagree. if we can come up with a common sense solution, that will move all of us forward. this last-ditch effort on the part of house republican colleagues to disrupt, irresponsibly disrupt, those , leaves all of us at risk. no american family should have to pay the price for the reckless behavior of some politicians, or try to get their way in a budget bill, and in a bill to pay our past debts, at a time when so much is at risk. we saw thefter

depths of economic downturn, we have seen 7.5 million americans go back to work. we cannot watch our colleagues sabotage those good efforts, and an effort to move forward. we urge our republican this 11th not, in hour, to put the american economy at risk. we urge our republican colleagues to make up with their own republican brethren, and come to an agreement we can live with for the american people. with that, i yield to the vice chair of the democratic caucus, joe crowley. >> something that continues to change is the logic behind the republican shutdown of government. first, it was about defunding or repealing the affordable care act. and it was about the budget. now it is about something else. something else with the intention to sabotage the

bipartisan solutions that democratic colleagues in the senate were trying to work out. one thing still has not changed. the last two weeks, the republicans continue to ensure the government shuts down. and by their behavior, are on the cusp of seeing that a national debt is not paid. as the leader mentioned, the practical elements of that, and how it will actually affect the average american, is catastrophic. with that, i turn to congressman stephen drew of oregon. >> thank you. we found a middle ground. in aund the middle ground negotiation between the republican leader of the senate and the democratic leader in the senate. once again, house republicans have made a decision to hurt middle-class families, to reject a commonsense solution in order to advance their political agenda. that is very disappointing. house republicans are in a car.

the car is speeding to a cliff. the car has no brakes. the steering wheel only turns to the far right. somebody in the house republican caucus has to grab the wheel and hit the brakes. stop the house republicans from speeding our economy off this cliff. driving middle-class families off this cliff. are 17, 20, 30 house republicans who have said they are willing to grab the wheel and hit the brakes. now is the time to do it. we are getting to the point of no return. no return is when the car goes over the cliff and takes middle- class families and the american economy with it. yield to the ranking member of the house budget committee, who has been leading us toward a balanced approach to deficit reduction and the right priorities, chris van hollen. >> thank you, steve. right now, as we are gathered here, ray damage is already

being done to the american economy. 15 days into the government are alreadyu beginning to see slow economic growth in this country. simply the threat of default, which is days away, is having a negative impact on the economy. you are already seeing the impact in short-term interest rates. when that begins to filter through the economy, that means interest rates go up on everybody, and everybody gets hurt. despite that fact, in the last couple of days, we have heard a lot of house republican colleagues say it would be a good thing if the united states defaulted on the debt. some of them have said it is no problem because we can pay bondholders, holders of u.s. treasuries, at the expense of folks on social security, folks who rely on medicare, our troops on the field. that apparently is their prescription. in those members of the house tea party caucus saw that a bipartisan agreement was

emerging in the senate, they decided to work to sabotage it. willuestion right now is, the speaker, and will some of those self-proclaimed moderates -- will they stand up and say they support a sensible bipartisan solution to this, and will not allow the continued sabotage to go on, which is hurting every american right now and will only get worse as the days go on? we hope common sense will prevail. with that, i yield back. pelosi, -- >> we have been hearing about a deal for a while. what is the holdup? are you concerned we are getting so close to the deadline there will not be enough time to avoid default? >> i heard it yesterday.

maybe a little bit the day before. and today. i think they have made a lot of progress in a short time. that does not mean it is the bill we would have written. i think we should be extending the debt limit for at least one year. i do not think we should be discussing it. i think it should be a given, as the constitution indicates, that the full crate -- full faith and credit of the united states will always be honored. but it is a middle ground, a common ground. it enables us to go forward, to go to the budget tabled by the middle of december, two open government until the middle of january, i which time we will hopefully have a solution to keeping it open, and to go to february with the debt ceiling. you may be have heard more than i have heard, but i have not been hearing it for a long time. i think this is a relatively new development. i just wanted to make a point about the debt ceiling, because

this is day 15 of the shutdown of government, 800,000 people out of work, many more affected in the private and nonprofit sector. this is very bad for our country. but to default on the full faith and credit of the united states should be out of the question. why would they sabotage a good faith effort, when all of these issues can be debated at the budget table, or can be taken up under the regular order of the house, in terms of legislation where we may find common ground? but not to hold the full faith and credit hostage. it is a luxury we cannot afford. they do not have the votes. it seems to me that those who are acting in good faith to say they would like to open up government and raise the debt ceiling -- maybe they are the ones who are resisting. or maybe it is those on the far right, who do not want to lift the debt ceiling. whatever it is, the only

conversation i have had with the speaker on the subject is yesterday, when i called him and said, if the senate bill materializes, why don't you take that up immediately? take that up tomorrow. send it to them. under their procedures, they can take it up under a much more rapid form them if they originated the bill. when the speaker talks about working in a bipartisan way, i do not know who he is talking to. >> the speaker was here a bit ago and pulled back from endorsing this plan. playing devil's advocate -- what then? you are familiar with the internal pressures he faces with a certain wing of this congress. said, would the responsible thing be to put the bill on the floor and have it fail, which could spur the markets, much like the tarp? >> the tarp, house democrats saved the country from going over the brink, because if he

could not deliver the votes them from his caucus, when it was his own president of the united what a president bush -- speaker has to do is get the job done. anyway they want, let them. they will vote anyway they want. but bring it to the floor and let a bipartisan vote come together to end the shutdown of government, lift the debt ceiling, and take it to the budget table, where we can discuss any and all issues at that time. it is not about, it just depends on their 218 votes. there are 435 members in congress. there is a responsibility to the public to bring this bill to the floor. or else -- what you heard, we all heard at the press conference -- what you heard was a plan to default on the full faith and credit of the united states of america. by design, that is their intention.

make no mistake about that. do any of my colleagues want to say something about that? >> what about the mcconnell plan? >> we would have a vote. i said to the speaker, put this remove all doubt, and to open government. act, becauses to the house has procedures that let us move much more quickly than the senate, as the world is finding out. he indicated that was a possibility. but we might have other possibilities. it was not a very clear response. goingnetheless, without into that, obviously, instead of taking the easy route, it is middle ground -- i think the debt limit is too short. nonetheless, i am willing to

accept it. i would say we would have an overwhelming number of house democrats -- and i am going to yield to the distinguished whip to respond further. must the,ct is there what, 38 republicans who might vote for this? >> 39. >> that was san diego, a different piece of it. sandy relief a different piece of it. of them lived in new jersey. but let us say it was not even 20% of the caucus. -- this is a very big deal. this is the full faith and credit of the united states of america. the whole world is watching to see what happens here. thehicle is moving in

senate. this is an effort to sabotage it, touch means delay also. but not only that. to undermine it in the senate so that we do not know where the end of the road is on this. it is reckless, irresponsible, radical. no words are adequate to describe how out of the question what the republicans are trying to do here -- again, we extend the hand of friendship. we are willing to accept some of the terms in order to get things moving. steny? >> first of all, the responsible thing to do for the speaker is to do what he says he wants to do all the time. let the house work its will. let the american people's representatives vote. let them decide whether they want to open government, whether they want to make sure that it pays its bills. there was a lot of talk about young guns. the young guns are causing harm

to our country. let me tell you what they said. "we pledge to stand on all tole, and most of serve as responsible stewards of the public trust, by listening to the american people." the american people overwhelmingly, in poll after poll, and on the november 2012 , have said they want this country to move forward. they want it to pay its debt. they want their government open. the responsible action for the speaker to take is to do exactly that. is specifically quoted in young guns as saying, washington is not interested in honest up or down votes. i guess they wrote this book in 2009.

process, produces the outcome it desires through any means necessary. ryan, urged the speaker to put the bill on the .loor ". let the american people see we paying america's bills, and going to conference to discuss further commonsense solutions. that is what the speaker ought to do. that is what i urge the speaker to do. much more importantly, that is what the american people are urging the speaker to do. >> do you think they have the votes to pass their plan? >> i have no idea. >> i would like to weigh in on that. i know the role of the speaker. i saw a speaker who did not have the votes. i guess they said they were

having a press conference. they should have won. but they did not come out and say what their proposal was, and they did not come out with -- they are still working on it all stop for some reason, they said they were working in a bipartisan way. i do not know what they were referencing. on the right, they have the resistance. i think the moderates in the caucus are going to have to have a moment of truth. are they going to continue to be enablers to this behavior that is establishing a bipartisan effort, that is hitting the american people in their own pocketbooks of damaging the national economy? are they going to continue to enable the speaker in doing that, or are they going to do what they know is right, which is to end this? thing, just to reinforce that point -- you have got a lot of self-proclaimed moderates on the republican side of the house, who back home are telling their constituents that

they want to have a vote up or down to immediately open the entire government, and want to make sure that we pay our bills on time. the question for them and their constituents is whether, when they are here in congress, they are going to do as they say they are going to do back at home. maybe this is a moment where they are finally standing up to the tea party faction of their caucus, but the jury is still very much out on that. i hope they will do the right thing. >> i will go further in my analysis of their vote. was a proposal to leader reid which he excepted, the president accepted, and we accepted it, but i do not think they ever had the votes when they proposed that, and that is why they had to back off. offer.d not accept the 123 times or so to the floor to the -- to argue that. they did not have votes for what they propose to the president over the weekend.

they did not have the votes for that. that is why they backed away when the president said no. they do not have the votes for what they have today. they have their own internal combustion that is going on. the conflagration from that is very harmful. leader, on the entitiesid the rating are talking about downgrading the united states tonight. you have any information? >> what we do know is that it dollars,t billions of the implication of a possible downgrade. two years ago, we did not downgrade, but the threat of it -- we did not default, but the threat of defaulting brought a downgrade upon us. >> could there be a downgrade early tonight? >> i have not been warned of

that, but i do know it is possible. we have discussed how much that would cost. it would cost billions of dollars, just the discussion of it. this really should be on off- limits subject. is for debts incurred. a lot of this debt is the bush administration era debt. if they do not want to pay those bills -- this is not about what happens in the future. this is about the bills that have already been incurred. how do you walk away from that? you pay china first, and the rest of you can wait? >> democratic leader nancy pelosi and members of her delegation speaking to the press. chaplain, reverend andrew hoffer o.p., dominican house of studies, washington, d.c. the chaplain: let us pray.