Come to the Middle and End the Shutdown

Washington-Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley warns Congress that it must compromise in order to end the current shutdown and get the United States on the right track moving forward.

Below is a video and transcript of the speech.

Thank you Mister Speaker. Mister Speaker, the time has come for reason.

No longer can we afford to allow a small segment of this Congress to drive the debate. It’s not just the tail wagging the dog; it’s the tip of the dog’s tail wagging the entire body politic. The time has come for those in the middle to come together and take back the wheel from those intent on crashing this Congress into a ditch. As I stand here today, the government of the United States is shuttered. Shut down by nothing more than brinksmanship.

Small business loans are not being processed; the Center for Disease Control’s flu prevention program is being halted; the National Institute of Health is no longer accepting kids into a cancer research program. Some food-safety operations have ceased, and cleanup at 600 toxic waste sites has been suspended.

It wasn’t always this way though. There was a time when we had regular order. There was a time when budgets were proposed, funding levels and priorities were debated, differences were hashed out, and bills were passed to fund the government. And even when regular order broke down, we were always able to at least pass a continuing resolution to continue funding the government.

Not this time. This time, an effort to repeal a law that was passed by both houses, signed by the President, and approved by the Supreme Court has shanghaied all federal spending.

Even many across the aisle acknowledge how harmful and irresponsible such a plan is. Senator McCain said “In the United States Senate, will not repeal, or defund Obamacare. And to think we can is not rational.” Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said “We have to stay on the right side of public opinion… shutting down the government puts us on the wrong side.” My colleague Senator Kirk said “let’s not shut down the government just because you don’t get everything you want.” The list goes on and on: Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and many more, all oppose efforts to shutter the federal government.

Yet we continue down this dangerous path. When I first came to this Congress, Congressman Kirk, now Senator Kirk, told me that everything that gets done here, gets done in the middle.

Now is the time for the reasonable middle to come together and reject the strategy that says, “If I can’t win, I’ll just kick the ball in the woods.” Sorry Seth.

Not only is shutting down the government harmful to my constituents, businesses, and the economy, it doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t address our budget deficit. If we really want to get our fiscal house in order, let’s fund the government and bring a big, balanced, big bipartisan deficit deal to the floor.

We did it before and we can do it again. I, along with only, only 37 colleagues, voted for the Cooper-LaTourette budget, which mirrored the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan. Where were those so concerned with the debt then? If the fiscal watchdogs on the other side of the aisle really want to solve our budget woes, let’s get together on a big budget deal.

And let’s do it now – because every day we waste in this useless limbo land is one less day have to address the very real and very harmful problems facing this country. We have got to pass comprehensive immigration reform, a farm bill, an infrastructure funding bill, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Reasonable gun reforms, tax reform, and numerous other much-needed legislation. But without doing the basic work of Congress, like passing a budget, we can’t address the real issues facing us.

As long as we continue to look in the rearview mirror at a law passed three years ago and approved by the Supreme Court, we will fail to navigate the real obstacles before us.

We need to keep our eyes on the road and come together to solve the real challenges that lie ahead.

Thank you and I yield back.