Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, tonight delivered the following statement in support of ending the government shutdown and removing the threat of default on our nation's debt:
Mr. Speaker, fifteen days after the shutdown began, the House is finally considering a bill to reopen the government and avoid the economic calamity that could have ensued if the United States defaulted on its debt.
It is incredibly disappointing that Republicans have dangerously put our economy and American families at such great risk. I ask them tonight: has it been worth it?
800,000 federal workers have been furloughed. Families that depend on critical services from disaster aid to nutrition assistance have been left in the cold. Billions in economic activity has been lost. Fitch Ratings placed the United States on "rating watch negative" due to political brinkmanship.
Despite clear opposition from the American people, many Republicans are poised to oppose this short-term bill tonight to reopen government, pay America's bills, and negotiate a reasonable budget agreement for 2014.
Congress has already enacted $2.5 trillion deficit reduction measures since 2010. Looming across-the-board sequester cuts threaten all our priorities from job creation, to Head Start, to military readiness, and everything in between. For example, if we do not act before January 15th, defense spending will be cut by approximately $20 billion below 2013 levels, and we could jeopardize up to 1.6 million American jobs over the next year.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot meet these serious challenges without a spirit of bipartisanship and a commitment to working in good faith. I urge the Majority to learn the lesson of this irresponsible shutdown: do not allow the fringe in your party, those disconnected from reality and whose sole goal is obstruction, to continue to dictate the agenda of this House.
No member of this esteemed body should ever again threaten the full faith and credit of the United States or shut down the government to advance a reckless ideological agenda.
I support this bill tonight with hope that my colleagues in the Majority will work in a bipartisan way to avoid a repeat of this tragic episode when the funding and debt ceiling deadlines in this bill are reached in the new year.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
