October 1, 2013
Mr. Speaker:
This shutdown should not have happened.
The
framers of our Constitution designed our system to have tension and
differences between the two houses of the Congress. That’s a given.
But
after the House and Senate have exercised their best judgment, they are
then supposed to then sit down and negotiate out their disagreements.
This is the way our bicameral system has worked for 225 years. It is
the only way that it CAN work.
That
hasn’t happened this time. This time, the House proposed a compromise –
nearly two weeks ago – to keep the government open and to defund
Obamacare in order to address the epidemic of dropped health care
policies, massive rate increases, and job cut-backs that we are now
seeing as a result of its implementation.
The
Senate rejected that compromise by insisting on full funding with no
reform. That is their prerogative and represents the best judgment of
that body.
At
that point, the differences were supposed to be negotiated. They
weren’t. The Senate’s leaders refused even to discuss a compromise.
So
the House offered a second compromise: fund the entire government,
including Obamacare, but at least delay its implementation for a year to
address the rapidly growing complaints we are all receiving. Instead
of taking up the measure, the Senate instead chose to take the weekend
off; come in at the leisurely hour of 2:00 in the afternoon – on the day
of the fiscal deadline -- and then summarily rejected the House offer,
again refusing even to discuss a compromise.
With
the clock running out, the House offered a third compromise: fund the
entire government, fund Obamacare, including the malfunctioning
exchanges, but at least delay the mandate for individuals to obtain
coverage for a year while these problems are addressed, and rescind the
illegal action of the President that shields members of Congress from
the costs of this law. It’s a simple principle: equality under law.
Since
the President exempted big business from the mandate to provide
healthcare for employees, it’s only fair that those employees should
also be relieved from the mandate to purchase it. And if members of
Congress can’t afford the new costs of Obamacare, how do we expect the
average American to do so?
But
once again, the Senate summarily rejected the third compromise by the
House and once again, refused even to discuss our differences.
And the clock ran out. And the government is now in a partial shutdown.
Ironically,
House Republicans have been accused of a “my way or the highway”
approach. Yet the record is quite the opposite: House Republicans
compromised and compromised and compromised, only to be met with
absolute intransigence at the door of the Senate.
The
House has now asked for a formal conference committee. This is the
mechanism that has evolved over centuries to resolve even the most
intractable differences between the two houses. Once again, Senate
leaders summarily rejected the offer – this time even before it was
made.
The
only explanation for this conduct is that Senate leaders believe that a
government shutdown inures to their political benefit because they can
blame Republicans. If Mr. Reid and his followers didn’t want a
shutdown, they would have been feverishly working through the weekend to
avoid one – as the House was doing. The fact is, they didn’t, and that
speaks volumes.
Our
system of governance was not designed to operate in this manner. It
CANNOT operate in this manner. The essence of a bicameral legislature
is for each house to act according to its best judgment and then to
isolate the differences and work them out. This is THE critical link in
our deliberative process and it is not happening – not because of any
failure of design, but rather because of designing men.
In
his 1862 message to this Congress, Abraham Lincoln set the only course
open to us. He said, “We can succeed only by concert. It is not ‘Can
any of us imagine better?’ but, ‘can we all do better?’ The dogmas of
the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is
piled high with difficulty, and we must rise – with the occasion…We must
disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
Mr.
Speaker, I appeal to the Senate to set aside its dogmas, rise with the
occasion, and accept the invitation of the House to sit down in
conference. Then let us reason together. And then let us save our
country.
