Hensarling: Time for the Senate and President to Show Up

WASHINGTON – Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) – a leading conservative and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee – released the following statement regarding the actions taken by the House to fund the government.

“So far, the House has passed three full bills that would fund the government while addressing the hardships cause by Obamacare. Sadly, the Senate and the president have refused, forcing a shutdown of the federal government. So, to lessen the blow of the Democrat’s shutdown on the American people, House Republicans also passed several bills to fund critical portions of the government:

• H.J. Res 70 – a bill to provide funding for our national parks so that our World War II heroes can access the memorial they so bravely fought and sacrificed for;
• H.J. Res 71 – a bill allowing DC to spend local funds;
• H.J. Res 73 – a bill providing funding for the National Institute of Health so that they can continue vital clinical trials;
• H.R. 3230 – a bill to ensure the heroes serving in our National Guard and Reserves continue to receive their pay;
• H.J. Res 72 – a bill funding our Veterans programs to ensure we keep our promises to our nation’s heroes;
• H.J. Res 85 – a bill funding the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
• H.J. Res 75 – a bill funding the Supplemental Nutrition Program, and the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program;
• H.R. 3223 – a bill ensuring the thousands of federal employees impacted during this shutdown receives pay.

“Sadly, only one of these bills has been passed by the Senate and signed by the president. For the most part, what the American people have heard from President Obama and Harry Reid is ‘No. We will not negotiate.’ My mother-in-law always told me that in life, the least you can do is show up.

 
“Millions and millions of our fellow countrymen are either unemployed or underemployed. The President’s economic policies have failed. We want fundamental tax reform, we want to get rid of the red tape burden, and we want to take our nation off the road to bankruptcy. I say this not just as a Member of Congress, I say this as the father of a 10 year old son and a 11 year old daughter. The President says you can’t mess with this spending bill and we want you to rubber stamp the debt ceiling. Republicans say no, no, no Mr. President. We’ll negotiate with you in good faith. Maybe the electorate gave you the White House, maybe they gave you the Senate, but the American people gave the House to the Republican Party and we will not sit idly by while men and women are unemployed, under-employed, wondering how they are going to feed their family. We’re not going to sit idly by while he bankrupts this nation for future generations. No, no, no! We will not sit idly by. We are ready to negotiate, but we are through negotiating with ourselves. The American people will demand, ultimately, that the president and Harry Reid negotiate and we work together to get this economy back and put us on a road to fiscal solvency so that our best days will once again be ahead of  us.”

 
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A video of Congressman Hensarling's remarks on the House floor about these efforts can be viewed here: https://goo.gl/MlvKJn.