Congressional Progressive Caucus: Federal Shutdown

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honor to serve here
in the United States Congress, but we sully that honor when we waste
the American people's time with misplaced priorities and manufactured
crises.

Mr. Speaker, Congress has one fundamental responsibility: funding the
Federal Government. But unfortunately, Republicans in Congress insist
on undermining these responsibilities at virtually every turn.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans already insist on maintaining reckless
sequester funding that chokes services for working and middle class
Americans, seniors, veterans, and children. Instead of passing
Republican budgets that meet the ever-changing needs of our Nation,
Republicans choose to kick the can down the road through continuing
resolutions that waste precious time and shortchange the American
people.

But if sequestration and continuing resolutions weren't already bad
enough, now we are facing a complete Federal shutdown because
Republicans insist on holding Federal funds for women's health care
hostage. Congress has just 4 legislative days remaining to pass a
funding bill.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are fed up with this brinksmanship.
It is time for us to run the country like adults.

Let's remember why this is happening: Republicans have pledged to
shut down the entire Federal Government because of objections to
abortion services by Planned Parenthood. Never mind that not a single
cent of Federal money funds abortions by Planned Parenthood. Never mind
that Planned Parenthood provides health care and education to more than
2.6 million Americans--both men and women--each year. Never mind that
97 percent of Planned Parenthood's health services are unrelated to
abortions. Republicans would rather ignore these truths and instead
rely on a series of distorted videos secretly filmed by discredited and
shady antiabortion activists.

So instead of using this time to talk about creating jobs, building
infrastructure, reducing college debt, and reauthorizing the Voting
Rights Act, I am forced to stand here on the House floor to remind the
American people about the dangers we face with yet another Republican
shutdown.

Here are a few ways that this shutdown would harm the American
people:
A shutdown would close more than 400 national parks and monuments. It
would increase backlogs for veterans' pensions, compensation, and
disability claims. It would delay tax refunds and Federal home loan
applications; prohibit the National Institutes of Health from accepting
new patients; shut down E-Verify screening for businesses to limit
hiring undocumented workers; shutter Head Start programs for low-income
families and children; and close Federal courts.

The impact of a 2015 shutdown is hard to quantify, but we don't have
to look too far back to estimate the potential impact. In 2013,
Republicans shut the government down for 16 days in a failed attempt to
defund the Affordable Care Act. That shutdown furloughed 850,000
Federal workers for a total of 6.6 million days. The 2013 shutdown cost
$2 billion in lost productivity. Standard & Poor's estimated that the
shutdown cost the U.S. economy $24 billion and stalled the creation of
more than 100,000 private sector jobs, and $4.4 billion in tax returns
were delayed. Small businesses and private lenders had to delay loans
due to lack of access to Federal Social Security number and income
verification tools.

Knowing what we know, Mr. Speaker, it is inconceivable that we could
walk into this type of catastrophe by choice. That must be why the
Speaker of the House, in 2013, called that shutdown a ``very
predictable disaster.''

Mr. Speaker, I would much rather be predicting solutions than
disasters. That is why I look forward to working with my colleagues in
the Congressional Progressive Caucus to stave off this irresponsible
and dangerous shutdown. Again, this is the one thing our constituents
sent us to Washington for: to fund the government. This is our job.

I implore my anti-women's health colleagues to set aside their
partisan bickering and work with us to keep this government open.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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