trillion debt that's been amassed, that the president in his own words said is a failure of leadership and in another instance, unpatriotic. mr. speaker, house republicans have put forth proposal after proposal to fund this government, to keep it open, to protect the american people from the president's hostile takeover f the health care system. sadly, still, mr. speaker, we have a senate and majority leader acting like children, refusing to come to the table to negotiate, prolonging that failure of leadership. each day that passes with the affordable care act going into effect, our nation's fiscal health gets worse. a failure of leadership.

i love america too much to let it fall under these circumstances. i will not stand by and watch as our country crumbles because of a president who is not willing to work with us and come to the table and to carry out this prolonged failure of leadership. m randy weber and america is worth fighting for and i thank the gentlelady. mrs. hartzler: it's an honor to stand beside you and it is a time for solutions and people wonder can we keep the opportunity for the future and with you, i would say yes, we can. we are going to keep working on it. thank you very much. i yield to my friend from the idwest from indiana, representative stutzman. mr. stutzman: i would like to

thank the gentlelady for yielding and organizing this special order about solutions and that's what the american people expect from us as congress, whether you are republican or democrat, the american people are looking to washington to find solutions, to work together to make america strong again. i want to thank you for your comments today and for representing your district so well. you know, it doesn't take much to sort out and to realize the difficulty that we are facing in our country and what our federal government is facing, $17 trillion of debt, a struggling economy, a health care system that does need to be fixed. people are looking to washington to gain confidence in the marketplace. and you know, in spite of washington, you will find bright spots throughout the country

where good things are happening. but it's not enough, though. we can still do better. and it is time for washington to find solutions for our economy, for the american people, for american families so that way when a family sits down to have dinner tonight, they aren't going to be wondering if dad is going to work next week, they aren't going to worry about is mom going to have her job the following month, what's going to happen after christmastime. they hear so many different stories about the new health care law and what it means for them. what is their insurance plan going to be like next year. so many unknowns, questions that are not answered because of the uncertainty that washington has placed irresponsibly of -- on the american people.

while we know we have $17 trillion in debt, a deficit that is running out of balance, a health care law that is crushing the american people today, an independent payment advisory board that has 15 board members that are unelected and unaccountable, who will be making health care decisions for americans in the near term, while the unemployment rate is still at 8%, mandates are forcing companies to cut hours. too much uncertainty is being created by our federal government. and while small businesses are trying to figure out how are they going to make ends meet next year, how are they going to plan their budget when they know the mandates and cost of insurance continues to crush them, how are they going to create new jobs and expand their companies if regulations

continue to hamper them and the new health care law continues to sidetrack them. one of the taxes that is in the health care law that is driving jobs away from indiana is the medical device tax, the wheelchair tax, anything that is hip,as a medical device, a a knee, a joint, any of these things are taxed now because of obamacare. and it's over 20,000 jobs just in indiana. and wausau, indiana, is the orthopedic capital of the world. many otherto zimmer, companies that are doing such remarkable work for the betterment of americans. i know that my grandmother had her hip replaced before she

passed away 10 years ago and it changed her life. it gave her a new ability to enjoy life with her children and grandchildren. this is an industry that is being harmed by obamacare. and it's time that we take a step back and re-evaluate and find new solutions. this tax is putting 2,000 jobs in jeopardy in indiana. and i believe it's time for washington, for the president, for the senate, for the house, to come together. let's stop stumbling from crisis to crisis. that's not the best way to govern. the american people are tired the way washington has these sike calls of political stunts nd fiscal cliffs and all these created, manufactured crises. and many americans know that in order to get a job done, you

have to sit down and figure out a way to get it done, talk about it and go out and do it. washington is broke because washington spends too much and talks too little. so now is the time for us to get serious about our debt. we need to reform our entitlement programs. we need to work towards reforming our tax code. we have solutions. we have ideas. we can make things better for not only the american people, but for the world if we just trust the instincts of the american people. and if we follow those instincts and follow the example of the american people, the federal government would be in a much better place today. it is time for solutions. and i thank the gentlelady for yielding and her leadership on this issue tonight. mrs. hartzler: it is time for

solutions and i very much appreciate you bringing up the concern with the taxes. we hadn't talked about that but the 20 new taxes in obamacare and the medical device tax that is killing jobs all over. the statement that you said will stick with me most, you said washington is broke because it spends too much and it talks too little. well said. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. i would like to yield to my riend from michigan. mr. bentivolio: mr. speaker, i stand before this chamber today to talk about the democrat shutdown. in the house we are standing strong to prevent obamacare from hurting people. just today the "detroit free press," reported two health

insurance companies are dropping e low-cost plans for 146,000 michigan families due to obamacare. this will cost each of these families thousands of dollars more to be covered by obamacare approved health care plans. that's unacceptable. our government has shut down because the extreme liberal democrats refuse to negotiate and rejected bills to keep most f the government open. they are having a temper tantrum and refusing to come out until their demands are met. this is no way to behave. and it is a disservice to all americans. mr. speaker, they are obsessed with forcing health care legislation onto the american people. they want two classes, the majority who live under

obamacare and the elite who use their connections to get waivers. by refusing to fund veterans, to keep the parks open or support pediatric research, senate and house democrats are showing whose side they are on and it's not the american people. i plead with my responsible adult democrat colleagues, it's not too late. let's move forward, join the rest of the american people and support equality under the law. thank you and i yield back. mrs. hartzler: thank you for your leadership and i know you have been going down to the world war ii memorial and sad we have to do that but thank you for your leadership. i would like to turn to one of your colleagues from michigan and yield time to him as much as he would like.

mr. huizenga: putting this together and having this conversation, this is a conversation we need to have with the american people. there is obviously a lot of misinformation that is going out over the air waves as we talked about a number of times and people are looking for that information. and i know i have been tweeting out a few of the articles that have come across on my iphone here. for those of you watching, i would love for you to follow for me. the hashtag we have going on here, it is talking about challenges and solutions we are all looking for. i appreciate you pointing out to my friend and colleague from michigan, who is a great veteran himself of iraq as well as earlier times and done a couple of tours and for me, that world war ii memorial is something very special to be able to be a part of.

there weren't television cameras around, there wasn't media or anybody around except those of us who cared making sure that our veterans had the opportunity to go in and see a memorial that they earned. and i will tell you, as someone who is the son of a disaked world war ii veteran and suffered a crash in italy, i can tell you i know how powerful it is for him, how powerful it was for his buddies that he was able to go to the memorial with and for me as a family member to be along on that very special day at the least that we can do. it's not just the world war ii memorial, but the korean memorial. i had a chance to bring a group of veterans from grand rapids and kent whood. and we went to the korean

memorial. and they were greeted with no crowds but the same barricades as well as the park ranger, who is in a very tough spot. and he proceeded to tell me, he said, congressman, i'm here to tell you that this monument is closed, that this park is closed. i said i'm here to tell you that i'm going to help my constituents exercise their first amendment rights and open up that barricade and we were able to get some people in there. i drove past the martin luther king memorial. same thing. there was buses lined up on the street with their flashers going and tremendous number of people in there exercising their first amendment right, civil disobedience. the gate was kicked open. going and seeing that memorial to a great man the way it should be, open and available right now, without the excuses and rented barricades.

but i also want to touch a little bit on the health care side as we're going through this , i appreciate you saying it's not just challenges but the opportunities. and frankly, we need to be talking to each other to get hrough those solutions, this #time4solutions. and a senate leader has said no negotiations. we are finally getting there. they are hearing from their constituents back home that we need you to be talking. same with the white house. the white house came around a little sooner than what the senate leader did but time to make sure we are having these negotiations and these conversations. a lot of us know the challenges. many of them are very well known. glitches. they might be charitable on what was going on but something that

one of my colleagues, mike rogers, had put forward an op-ed not that long ago and i have a copy of it that i was reading and he is talking about the privacy threat. if you look at the hub, the data hub that is being built, our health care records are going to be exposed to a tremendous number of people. your privacy information, health care information, yours, mine, all the constituents that are out there watching this, their information, your information is at risk. your information is at risk. and it's time we do something about it. . who hasn't heard the, you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. cnn money today was reporting about doctor choice in obamacare. not so much. this is cnn, this isn't me. this is cnn.

theree saying that, flex, was a major insurer offering policies in 14 different states. what they're saying is that they're looking at more heavier areas of population, eliminating up to half of the doctors. think of that. half of the doctors you currently could go to if you had one of their off-exchange plans won't be available to you. in a lesser populated area, it's only going to be 10% or 20% of those same doctors. i sat for a number of years on the michigan rural health association board of directors as we were looking at health care issues in mmp, especially in rural areas. and if you are starting to limit health care choices, even moreso that be what they are in these rural areas, the damage that's going to be done to people in that relationship that they have

with their doctor and health care provider a place where you maybe have to do telemedicine to get the proper diagnosis and the things that are going on. we've all heard if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. maybe not so much. but the plans are going to be more affordable. well, they have the number right, there was a discussion that this was going to save $2,500 for the average family. unfortunately we now know it's the right number but the wrong direction. it's going to cost -- cost -- the average family, like mine, i've got five young kids, it's going to cost $2,500 additional. that's the wrong direction. some of the lesser knowns. give you an example, my nephew, andrew. my nephew andrew is putting himself through college. he's working as a wait for the a nice restaurant. a couple of months ago, they called everybody in for the staff meeting and said, by the way, we're going to be starting this soon, no more than 29 hours per week. no more than 29 hours per week.

and he said, you know, uncle bill, i can get through this, it's got toning to be easy, it's not going to be my choice but i can get through it. but he's looking at colleagues, single moms, single moms that are say, now where do i go for another 10 hours? now how do i figure out where i'm going to make ends meet and how i'm going to make ends meet? that's why we see letters by those big republican organizations like seiu, the eamster the afl-cio, not exactly institutions normally related and associated with the republican party, they have put in formal letters saying, wait a minute, this is not being implemented the way it's supposed to be implemented. they're afraid of an attack on the 40-hour workweek, as well they should be afraid. that's exactly what is happening right now. we need to be making sure that we're pushing back at that.

the medical device tax has been brought up a little bit. this has a significant impact in michigan. striker corporation out of kalamazoo area. they have said publicly it's going to cost them 1,000 jobs. 1,000 jobs. it's also going to be hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes that are being laid on. this obamacare tax, it's been deemed a tax by the supreme court, so let's talk about it in the terms of a tax. it's time that we repeal this tax, it's time that we not take those thousand jobs away from striker, it's time we not take those jobs out of ann arbor, an innovative hub. it's time we not take the jobs away from the next entrepreneur on pill hill, medical mile, as it's called, make sure they've got the same opportunities, not less opportunities, but the same opportunities. that isn't going to happen under

this. and tsas you pointed out, coverage, the mandatory, forced coverage of abortive services that is mandated in this bill is absolutely wrong. i have a company that's gaining ome prominence in my district, autocam and john kennedy, the majority stake holder and president and c.e.o. of the company was just in washington share his story last week. as a devout catholic he had made the decision that that wasn't going to be something he would offer in his plans. they're self-insured. if his employees wanted to go do that and -- that was their choice but he wasn't going to be forced to pay for it, until this bill. until this bill came along and said, it doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are. doesn't matter that you own the company. it doesn't matter that your religion says this is wrong. we know better. this government knows better. and we're going to force you --

force you -- to spend that money to provide a service that you whole heartedly disagree with. does that sound like the american way to you? does that sound like the american way to any of us? absolutely not. yet somehow we're viewing this as acceptable. waiverers in politically connected has been talked about. as long as you got good friend that's either in the white house or at health and human services, we can probably work something out for you. how does that feel? now today, though we finally maybe got to the root of it. the senate had been going along, no negotiations, no negotiations, no negotiations, oh, but if you want to spend some more money, if you want to roll back those automatic across the board cuts that we had agreed to two years ago, maybe we'll start talking about some reforms. that's what it is. as we talked about. this is about spending. this is about a group of people that want to see government grow. they want to see the footprint

of the government just smash down on top of everything here and take control of our daily lives. that is really what the problem is. so now we're seeing what the senate is really all about. it's about spending. it's about more spending and more control for them. now, that's got to start. now the opportunities side. i want to wrap up, i know we've got other colleagues here, we're having a great conversation, appreciate your hash tag, #thetime4solutions. this is about opportunities. the invention of velcro you talked about, how we got there. i learn most of the times you learn more from the things in life that are tough, not the easy things. major shifts in society are not easy. they might be simple, but stile -- but sometimes those simple things aren't easy. this is neither simple nor easy because it's the wrong direction. first and foremost, we need the white house to acknowledge these

problems. they won't even acknowledge these problems. it's all hunky dorry, peaches and cream here in washington, d.c. we're rolling this program out, excuse us, we had to make sure you don't worry about those, quote, glitches, that were in the system as we rolled it out. don't look at the exemses -- exemptions and carveouts we've had. please don't, whatever you do, please, oh, please, don't talk bout how this is a growing frustration that the american people have. because that would somehow acknowledge that the american people might know better than they do down at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. you know, we have to acknowledge those problems and words speak louder than -- actions speak louder than words. the words are, everything is fine. the actions are very, very different, though. the actions are very, very different out of this administration as they've signed

17 changes into this law as we've seen these carveouts, as we've seen them do things like make sure that the individual mandate is kept in place but the other mandates are not put in. i know my colleagues are here too and i want to give them time. i'm going to wrap up with this and my friend from missouri, thank you for doing this. it's time we do make those substantive changes and restore some faith, restore some faith with the american people that we have their best interests and make sure that congress can live under the same laws that they vote for and that they pass for. with that, i appreciate you having this conversation tonight. mrs. hartzler: thank you very much, bill. those were very eloquent rarblings. you really brought home the need that it's time for solutions and all the challenges we're facing. before i go to my other friends here, i want to get this motion in. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous

material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. hartzler: thank you. now i want to go to keith rothfus who is new here but he hit the ground run, appreciate your leadership, keith. what would you like to share tonight? last week, we had a visit from h.h.s. secretary kathleen sebelius, she attempted to enroll some western pennsylvanians in the exchanges. according to press reports, those who showed up were not even able to enroll or even access the website. apparently glitches were to blame. as reported in yesterday's "new york times," one industry source said these are not glitches. the extent of the problems is pretty enormous. it's awful. these problems took more than two years to build and cost the american taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. the health care law's troubles

aren't limited, however, to the website issues. many western pennsylvanians have reached out to me to share stories about how they're seing their hours redeuced or losing their jobs. other western pennsylvanians are seeing health care payments go up or losing coverage altogether. a woman recently got in touch with me and told me her family recently received a letter from her insurance company and they'll lose the health insurance they've had for more than 25 years on december 31. the alternatives they've been able to find will cost them three time what is they've been able to pay today. it is a time for solutions. we do have a new solutions we're proposing the american health care reform act which would lower costs and encourage our colleagues across the aisle and in our conference to take a look at that and i thank the gentlelady and yield back. mrs. hartzler: upping -- thank you. now i want to go to mr. anbar. mr. anbar: many americans

watching on tv right now are frustrated and angry with what they're seing in washington. they don't understand why political conflict has to get in the way of solutions. they're saying, and they're saying to all of us, why are the politicians putting their political agendas ahead of what is good for the country? and i share that frustration and anger and i understand what they're saying. they're say, why can't the politicians get their act together? why can't they reopen the government and avert default? but you know, as important as it is to reopen the government and as important as it is to avert a short-term default and those are very critical, it's equally important that we stop business as usual in washington. it is important that members of congress do what they were elected to do, which is exercise leadership, stand up for what is right, and what is in the long-term best interests of the nation. and what is in the long-term best interests of the nation is to stop spending money we don't have. mr. barr: it is to stop wracking

up mounds of debt that are literally mortgages the future of our children and grandchildren and pushing this country to the brink of national bankruptcy. some have accused house republicans of holding the country hostage solely for the purpose of defunding or repealing the president's signature legislative achievement, obamacare. why is this relevant? the president says obamacare shouldn't be part of gos to fund the government or raise the debt limit but my constituents in kentucky recognize the president's health care law for what it is, a massive increase in federal spending. its projected cost has more than doubled since the president originally cramed it would reduce the deficit. it will cost american taxpayers $2 trillion over the next decade. and its true cost will continue to grow. obamacare was rammed through congress on a partisan basis through a process specifically reserved for budget related bills, the reconciliation process. so for anyone to suggest that

obamacare is unrelated to the budget is both cynical and inconsistent with congress' ongoing responsibility to scrutinize federal spending. after wracking up $7 trillion in debt in just five dwhreerks president stubbornly refuses to negotiate over obamacare. but make no mistake. congress would not be doing its job if it ignore odd ba ma cair and its massive costs in the ongoing debate about how to save america from bankruptcy. so mr. speaker, let me just conclude by saying this. it would be unfair for young people and the next generation if we simply raise the debt limit without also addressing the underlying cause of the problems, without addressing the cause of our fiscal situation. and that is runaway government spending. this is our opportunity. this is our moment. let's see this -- seize this opportunity on a bipartisan basis, it is time for solutions.

i thank the gentlelady for her leadership in this special order. let's not just raise the debt limit and keep kicking the can down the road. let's solve america's problem and finally force the government to live within its means. ank you. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from new york, mr. jeffries, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. jeffries: i ask unanimous consent that all members may be given five legislative days to revise and stepped their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. jeffries: it's my privilege to stand with my colleague with representative horsford and to co-anchor the c.b.c. special

order, this hour of power, where for the next 60 minutes, members of the congressional black caucus have the opportunity to talk directly to the american people about the situation that we face in this country right now related to both the government shutdown and the impending debt ceiling crisis that we confront. of apeaker, this is day 14 government shutdown brought to us by reckless, irresponsible and unreasonable behavior by our friends on the other side of the aisle. it's a government shutdown that is hurting the american people. it's hurting children placing their head start programming at risk. it is hurting seniors, who rely

on the meals on wheels program. it's hurting expectant mothers who may not be able to receive the nutritional assistance they are qualified for. t is hurting 800,000 civil servants who have been cast out of their jobs, uncertain as to when they may be able to return. it is hurting america. but as bad as this government shutdown has been, we are also faced with a crisis that might be even worse if we are unable in this house to raise the debt ceiling within the next several days. the treasury secretary has indicated that the united states effectively will run out of the capacity to pay all of its bills

and its creditors if we do not raise the debt ceiling by thursday, october 17, just a few days from now. now, the debt ceiling has been a vehicle that all too often has een mischaracterized perhaps intentionally, perhaps out of ignorance. i'm not certain. but let's just clear the record as to what the debt ceiling actually represents. it is a backward-looking vehicle. not a forward-looking vehicle designed to give the president the ability to spend more. that is a gross mischaracterization. the debt ceiling is a back-ward looking vehicle to give the president and this administration the capacity to

pay bills that this congress has already incurred. we just want the congress to undertake its constitutional responsibility pursuant to the 14th amendment where, in section 4, it makes clear the validity of the public debt authorized by law shall not be questioned. and congress in section 5 of the 14th amendment, has the responsibility to adhere to that constitutional requirement. we're going to explore this theme and the consequences of a debt ceiling default during this special order. and we have been joined by the dynamic leader of the congressional black caucus, the distinguished chairperson from the great state of ohio, representative fudge.

ms. fudge: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank my colleagues, congressman jeffries and congressman horsford leading the congressional black caucus special order hour. mr. speaker, here we stand 72 hours before the united states treasury reaches the debt limit. we are 72 hours away from compromising our ability to make social security, medicare, medicaid and veterans' benefits payments. we are 72 hours away from risking default on our nternational obligations, 72 hours from stocks plummeting and interest rates soaring and reversing gains in the markets. our nation is 72 hours away from the possibility of a severe economic disaster, both at home and abroad. unfortunately, the house

majority's inability to move beyond partisan politics has created one economic crisis after another. our country is still feeling the effects of the economic downturn and subsequent recession that began in 2007. communities around the country continue to struggle with high unemployment, less access to loans for small businesses and a fragile housing market. it is irresponsible to do further damage to our economy by even threatening to allow america to default on its bills. we must first do know harm, mr. speaker. yet, that is exactly the position we are in because of house republicans. don't be misled by republican talking points that would lead you to believe that raising the debt limit leads to more spending. this allows us to pay debts that have been accrued and debt that has been authorized by this congress. while both parties have

politicized debt limits in the past, we have never seen this degree of brinchingsmanship. prior to this dysfunctional congress, they never contemplated default or crossing that threshold and forcing the nation into the depths of economic disaster. when legislative language was attached to the debt limit, it was part of a package that passed with strong bipartisan support. cannot afford the con sequences of a dault default. we need to work together to find a solution and put partisan bickering behind us. our nation has worked too hard to put us on the path of recovery. it is time to move forward. the american people expect congress to do its job. the c.b.c. stands ready, ready to work with our colleagues to

raise the debt ceiling and get our economic house in order. i yield back. mr. jeffries: i thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her remarks. we are going to invite now the distinguished gentlelady from the great state of texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee, who has joined us today to share her remarks and observations as to this debt ceiling crisis that we are confronting right now. i yield to congresswoman jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentleman for his courtesies and look at this in a somewhat unique fashion to speak to the

pending crisis and to join with my colleagues and particularly in following the chairwoman, congresswoman fudge, and thanking her for setting the tone of the interests of the congressional black caucus to be collaborative and to be problem solvers. let me thank the distinguished gentleman from new york in his timeliness in bringing us to the floor and the gentleman from from nevada in speaking to the american people and certainly to our colleagues. i do want to offer to my colleagues a legislative initiative that i hope all of my friends, republicans and democrats, will join in sponsoring h.res. 375, which confronts this house from refraining the house to

budgetary dispute to nongermane legislative matters. as i listen to my friends on the other side of the aisle, one person sought to refute the representation that all of us have made is that we have never been in a position to hold hostage the whole budgeting process through the idea of a legislative fight. and i would beg to differ on the interpretation of my republican friends that that has occurred. it did not occur during the shutdown dealing with president clinton and the speaker of the house then, speaker gingrich. and in fact, we passed a number of appropriation bills that had already been passed. and so there was not this dire, complete collapse. even though the government was shut down, complete collapse that we are facing now. in addition, there is a representation that we pass any number appointed appropriations during this shutdown.

were only those political votes. the reason they were ineffective and members of our party voted against them, they were political votes. they were meant to get democrats on the record for half funding health and human services, half funding indian services, half funding homeland security, half funding any number of departments that, in fact, did not make sense. so let me give you the real cost, if you will, of where we are today and give it through the perspective of my committee, and that is the judiciary mmittee and one of our major f.b.i., that clearly has focused on the domestic security of this nation, very vital work. just about 72 hours, f.b.i. agents joined with my local

officials in houston and busted a human trafficking operation, little girl, sexually used and abused and manipulated, if you will. but here's a quote from the f.b.i. the impact of sequestration, which is part of the budgeting process, puts us further behind enemies and criminals that pose threats to homeland security. and they list a whole lit annie of issues that are impacted. undermining counterterrorism, exposing vulnerable populations, closing white collar cases have been delayed, limiting mortgage and fraud cases, constraining use of official vehicles, losing informants, reducing field time, increasing retirement, all of this impacts on the very basic responsibility that we give to them and it seems sad that we're

putting these individuals who are putting themselves on the front line of criminal enforcement, that we are, in fact, causing that to be halted. quantico, we know is the training ground for agents and others all across america. quantico is quiet. i have no new agent classes going through there. i can't afford it. there are any number of issues we could comment on. but let me continue by moving to my state, the state of texas. but before i do that, here's a document from the administrative office from the united states courts, something that the judiciary has concern, and we're told as of tomorrow possibly that judicial matters may be shut down, may be stopped, because of the restrapets on our article 3 judges and that is shameful. that means justice is stopping, public defenders are not being

paid, although all of those folks are coming, although there may be a major impact in the court system. i would like to turn my attention to the discourse that is occurring and let me make mention of why we should not be holding obamacare and american people hostage. i want to say coming from my district, i met with 40 navigators. they want to make sure this works right, but they had smiles on their faces because they are saying the people are eager, they are eager in texas. we don't have our state exchange. we have done damage to those who need insurance. it's a shame what we have done in texas. those who have been assigned to get an outreach are smiling, not because they get paid a whole lot of money but because they are reaching people who are desperate and want to be insured. i ask unanimous consent on the

obamacare save my family from financial ruin and talks about a young boy with a brain tumor and leading up to the point of having -- losing all of his insurance, his family was saying. he might have been born with this tumor but only diagnosed when he was six years old. played basketball and did a lot of things until they determined in later years, i think he was age 14 that he had this horrific brain tumor. only because of obamacare, only because of obamacare that his life now will have the kind of coverage of insurance that we re zoirous of. but i want to finish my remarks. there's a lot i can say about texas, i might offer one point to make sure i have it in the record. we all are concerned about our individual states and so for my friends back home, this is a

state that has some 36 members of congress two senators and i'm on the floor fighting against this shutdown. and the reason texans need to be aware that it's important that you fight against this shutdown and put a clean c.r. on the record is that this would cost 582,609this would cause texas residents who took out a home mortgage last year $36,000 over the life of a typical 30-year loan, as i'm jumping into if we go into default in the next two days. it would affect 446,000 texans, have 0,000 vets would concern about disability compensation november 1, 24,000, 25,000 would be poor -- poor and

disabled vets it could be questionable about the pension they live on. but i want to close with something that's disturbed me as we've watched the rhetoric. i have pages and pages, we all are emotional, we all have the talent of rhetoric. d we all have, you will, the affection, you will, for the use of words, hyperbole, metaphors, using examples, making our point. mr. speaker, i respect that. i'm not a thin-skinned person. i am as much engaged in debate on this floor as many of my friends. but all of us should be sensitive to the words that suggest that we have other motives. so i come to the floor today to raise issue with what is perceived in many communities of the different treatment of

president obama. you can read between the words why he's treat sod differently, why he is cast about with such utterly, ugly and demeaning suggestions and in demeaning him, you're demeaning a whole body of other folk. i take issue with that. so let me call and ask, maybe larry clayman if it's his name, of freedom watch, will call us back and give a response to his words uttered yesterday that i find totally out of order. protected by the first amendment, absolutely. i have no quart with -- quarrel with that. but i believe it's important to put this in the record as we talk about this government shutdown because if we're going to get where we need to go, we need to all realize we have a greater cause and that is america's cause. i finish on these words. apparently he was moved yesterday in front of the

vietnam veterans memorial which many in the million vets movement denounced yesterday, he said, we are ruled by a president that bows down to allah. i'm already insulted because i believe in the freedom of religion. respect the dignity of all religions he is not a president of we the people, says mr. clayman of freedom watch, but a president of his people. i don't know who ha this -- i don't know who that is. all i know is the president was elected to be president of all the people of the united states of america he goes on to say, we should wage a nonviolent revolution. i've never been ashamed of the nonviolent civil rights movement, we didn't call it a revolution, but a movement. but he says we should wage a nonviolent revolution. this president should get the koran out of his hands. denigrating a religion that i believe is absolutely appalling,

get off his knees. is there some documentation about the president's private prayer allegiances or responsibilities or desires that this gentleman knows what he's talking about? and get out of town that is, i believe, one of the most appalling statements we have heard charged against a president of the united states in a time of crisis. when the american people are looking for hope, looking for serious response, and i would hope that they would be -- that there would be members of the republican conference that would come to the floor tomorrow and join in with the solution that may be offered as it is being discussed in the senate and i hope they'll denounce these words as i am denouncing them tonight for we will never get a solution to move this nation forward if we are to denounce religions that are respected and given the privilege of being worshiped by those who worship.

by the first amendment. to try to denigrate a president by denigrating a religion and going in the circumstancele of diminishing all of us. i want to thank the gentleman for giving me this opportunity. i may ask for some more time if i'm able to stay around as we go forward, because there's a long list of, i think, what we're being deprived of. but i do want to let everyone know when i was home in the district for the short period that i was, i know that those in texas who are suffering are happy about obamacare. they want taos get it altogether right like we did with medicare part d that did not work when it was first put in place but they are happy. and i would hope that as i indicated these words on the floor, we would take the words of chaplain barry black and stop sowing in the wind and stop in essence doing things that undermine our very leadership.

thank you, chaplain black, for giving us these words of inspiration. maybe we'll take notice and when words are said that are ugly, inappropriate, and without any truth, i'm looking for my friends tomorrow to come on the floor and denounce these ugly words that were said by this gentleman that have no bearing in truth and have the audacity to denigrate faith that are in essence respected and show their love for higher power. we should all be grateful that the different faiths we allow in this nation, not allow, but grant the authority under the first amendment of freedom of religion can pray to their god, pray to god and ask for the blessings of god on this nation. with that, i thank the swrelt for his courtesies and yield back. mr. jeffries: i thank the gentlelady for her observations and i hope that all people of decency on both sides of the aisle, of course, would denounce the hateful words that we saw on

display here in the nation's capital this weekend. we're pleased to have been joined by the distinguished representative from the great state of virginia, representative bobby scott and i now yield time to him. mr. scott: thank you. i thank the gentleman from new nevada,e gentleman from for organizing the special order and the gentlelady from ohio for her leadership in the black caucus and the other members who are par tess pating tonight. our economy has been improving slowly over the last few years and we need to do everything we can to make sure that we create s many jobs as possible. thursday, the united states faces a crisis, that is whether we'll pay our debts or whether we will, for the first time in our history, default on our debts. now the debate on the debt ceiling really isn't much of a debate because every credible economist has already concluded that failure to adjust the debt

ceiling will cause serious adverse consequences to the domestic economy and the global economy that owlingt to end the debate. for those who want more information, you only have to look back a couple of years where the republicans made a credible threat on the debt ceiling and the s&p just based on the credible threat, although we raised it in time, the s&p downgraded the credit worthiness of the united states for the first time in history system of we really don't know exactly what would happen, we know it's all -- none of it is going to be good. we'd be looking at possible increases and interest rates, lost jobs, stock market chanced, and people's pensions at stake. government checks going out like social security and veterans' benefits, doctors not being paid on medicare, all adverse consequences for failing to adjust the debt ceiling. now republican colleagues have threatened to use this crisis as

an opportunity to gain legislative advantage to pass legislation that they can't pass through the normal process. unfortunately for them, the nation magazine published their wish list. starts, of course, with undermining obama cair but then it goes on to, quote, entitlement reform, better known as cutting social security and medicare, keystone pipeline, corporate tax cuts, sabotage e.p.a. clean air regulations, offshore drilling, it gos on and on. they published the list. the full faith and credit of the united states should not be a bargaining ship held hostage unless some legislative ransom is paid. suppose the democrats played the same game and put on the table immigration reform or gay rights, the jobs bill or gun safety. and we're going to shut down the government or mess with the debt ceiling unless we get our way on that legislation. how dysfunctional a government would we have then? in the past, there have been

debt ceiling and people have referred to the fact that in the past, there have been negotiations over the debt ceiling. but those are different gos. those are negotiations on the debt ceiling under the -- in the context of, of course, we're going to adjust the debt ceiling. then you put things on the bill if you can get your minimum on the bill that bill is going to pass. it's never been in the context of if i don't get my way we'll explode the economy. until two years ago when the republicans pulled the stunt and s&p downgrade our credit rating. about 45 times since the 1980's we've increased the debt ceiling. it's always been in the context of, of course the debt ceiling will be increased. this isn't like a credit card where you increase your credit limit so that you can spend more. we've already spent it. we have passed the spending bills. we've already spent the money.

the question is whether we're going to pay the bills and if you're going to discuss fiscal responsibility, it ought not be -- it ought the time when you're deciding whether to spend the money. not after you spend it, whether you're going to pay the bills you've already incurred. we're discussing this debt ceiling while the government is shut down, shut down for what reason? started off on obamacare, republican senators have already said that wasn't going to happen, wasn't a good idea to shut down the government over obamacare. now they've apparently pretty much given up on that and some have said, we've shut down the government, we got to get something. the problem with getting something for shutting down the government is that there's a airly fundamental concept in psychology positive reinforcement if you reward somebody for doing something, they'll do it again. if you get a reward for shutting

down the government this would become part and parcel of the legislative process if you can't get a bill passed, shut don the government until you get it passed. several republican legislators have praised the fact that we've passed some piecemeal bills to reopen government one little agency at a time. it looks to me like every morning they read the newspaper and find out the latest disaster caused by their shutdown and then things like servicemen not getting death benefit, the world war ii memorial, cancer patients not being treated at the national institutes of health, head start. every morning they read the tragic effects of the shutdown and run to the house to address the disaster of the day and get some 30-second sound bite to cover up the fact that all they're doing is cleaning up part of the mess they already caused. passage of these piecemeal bills serve to elongate the shutdown. we need to reopen the

government, put an end to all this, while some of us are working hard to produce jobs this shutdown is costing hundreds of thousands of jobs. finally, mr. speaker, the republicans have criticized democrats for not fwoshting. i just want to remind everybody we're talking about the budget, the democrats started with one number, the republicans with another number. the democrats didn't come halfway. or 2/3 of the way. they just agreed to the republican number on a short-term basis so we can continue to negotiate without shutting down the government. so we need to reopen all of the government, stop losing jobsing let's pay our debts, and then we can get to the real serious negotiations on the budget. i thank the gentleman for yielding and look forward to reopening government, paying our bills, and then getting into the tough negotiations. mr. jeffries: i thank the gentleman for his observations and for remining the american people that the president, the

senate majority, democrats in the house of representatives have always been prepared to sit down and attempt to find common ground as it relates to the challenges that we confront here in the country. we've been asking for conference committee to be put into place so we can discuss the budget passed by the house and passed by the senate and figured out how we can negotiate around those differences, since march. but the house majority has refused to appoint members to negotiate the budget differences. but we're not going to be put into a position where essentially you say, give us everything we want. the right wing republican agenda for this country, rejected by the american people in november of 2012, but notwithstanding that fact, give us everything we want or we're going to shut down the government or force a default that plunges this tr