releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140912212358/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-offers-motion-to-end-the-government-shutdown-let-s-stop-the
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140912212358/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-offers-motion-to-end-the-government-shutdown-let-s-stop-the | Shea-Porter Offers Motion to End the Government Shutdown “Let’s stop the gamesmanship and turn the lights back on.” | 2013-10-10 | 2013 | 2013-10 | Democrat | House | NH | Carol Shea-Porter | S001170 | web.archive.org | legacy | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ben Wakana, 202-295-7608 WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) offered a motion to allow a vote on compromise legislation that would end the shutdown and reopen the government. Under Shea-Porter’s motion, the House of Representatives would immediately take up the Senate-passed clean funding bill that enjoys bipartisan support and would end the government shutdown. Congresswoman Shea-Porter has strongly denounced the shutdown and has repeatedly called on House Leadership to allow a vote on a clean funding bill to reopen the government, put people back to work, and get our economy moving again. New Hampshire businesses, workers, and families are facing significant hardship because of the government shutdown. Privately run campgrounds in the White Mountain National Forest are closed, costing local businesses and the federal government money [Union Leader, 9/6]. Furloughs are impacting local businesses [WMUR, 9/9]. The Small Business Administration – which, in the past 11 months has loaned $90 million to help Granite State businesses expand, hire and grow – has stopped lending money [WMUR, 9/2]. Yesterday, Gallup released polling on what Americans believe is the most important problem facing the country. For the first time in Gallup’s trend dating back to 1939, more Americans picked Congressional dysfunctional as the nation’s top issue. Dysfunctional government (39%) now eclipses the economy (19%), unemployment (12%), the deficit (12%), and healthcare (12%) as the nation's top problem. USA Today noted, “As the world knows well, congressional Republicans are refusing to reopen the government and are threatening a default on the U.S. debt unless they get what they want. But what, exactly, do they want? That's hard to say, given their constantly shifting demands.” Shea-Porter’s motion is simple: allow the House of Representatives to vote on a clean funding bill to end this reckless government shutdown. Below are Shea-Porter’s remarks as prepared for delivery. +++ Remarks by Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter U.S. House of Representatives October 10, 2013 As Prepared for Delivery I rise today to offer a motion to recommit to end this harmful and unnecessary government shutdown. I do this by offering a motion that would bring to the floor the Continuing Resolution that has already passed in the Senate and awaits consideration in the House. I know that not everyone is thrilled with this level of funding. Many of us in the Democratic Caucus think it cuts too deep into important investments, while some of our Republican colleagues feel it doesn’t cut enough. The Senate bill is a compromise. But it is a compromise that’s acceptable to a majority of us in order to continue the vital functioning of the government that all Americans pay for and that all Americans deserve. Unfortunately, a small faction of the majority party continues to hold the entire government hostage while it tries to obstruct the Affordable Care Act. I understand that they disagree with the Senate and the President on certain issues and respect their positions, but shutting the government down to try and achieve an ideological goal that could not be achieved through the legislative process, through the Supreme Court, or through the ballot box, is beneath the dignity of this body. That is why I urge my colleagues to support my motion and allow us to get the government up and running. Then, and only then, can we resume debate and discussion on other critical issues, like creating jobs, supporting our veterans, and yes, improving the Affordable Care Act. As of today, it has been ten days since the government shut down. That’s ten days where we haven’t had studies going forward at the National Institute of Health, ten days where the Small Business Administration hasn’t been lending money to entrepreneurs and small businesses, and ten days where families haven’t had access to critical services to protect those who need it most. In my own district, the SBA normally gives out an average of $237,000 in loans each and every day, that’s a total of $2.37 million in loans that haven’t been made to the small businesses of New Hampshire’s First District. This is an abject failure of governance on the part of the Majority. What makes it even worse is that we aren’t shut down because we disagree on appropriations legislation or an omnibus, but that we can’t even pass a continuing resolution. I remember when it used to be considered a problem that we were passing a continuing resolution instead of actually passing appropriations. Now, all the American people are asking is for us to open the government. They’d be happy with a clean bill! We could put people back to work with a clean bill. We could continue lending money to small businesses with a clean bill. We could fund vital cancer research with a clean bill. But instead of putting an end to the government shutdown by passing the funding bill that the Senate has already agreed to, Republican leaders in the House are offering bills to open individual agencies and programs instead of the entire government. Make no mistake — this is not an honest attempt to reopen the government. These cherry-picked funding bills serve only to give political cover to the very people who caused the government shutdown. As former Republican Presidential candidate and Senator Bob Dole said, along with my colleague Representative John Dingell, "Piecemeal or partial spending plans do not adequately ensure that our veterans — and indeed, all Americans — have access to the system of self-government established to serve and protect them." Former Republican Senator Judd Gregg from my home state of New Hampshire recently wrote: “A small group of Republican legislators led by the junior senator from Texas, decided to take as hostages government operations and the raising of the debt ceiling. The price of release was to be the death of Obamacare. This approach never had a snowball’s chance in Texas of succeeding…” However, here we are still shut down ten days after the start of the new fiscal year and instead of voting on legislation that, if brought to the floor, would pass and open the government, what are we voting on? The same little, tiny piecemeal appropriations designed for messaging and attack ads that we’ve been voting on all week. It’s Washington politics at its worst. It’s been ten days of this sort of chicanery and it is time to give it up. Let’s stop the gamesmanship. T urn the lights back on. Reopen the government and address the actual, critical problems facing the country. We need more jobs, we need to find ways to grow the economy, make education more affordable, and invest in our decaying infrastructure. All of these are problems our constituents sent us here to deal with and they are what they expect us to work on. That’s probably why yesterday, when Gallup released polling on what Americans believe is the most important problem facing the country, it should come as no surprise to find that, for the first time in history, they picked dysfunctional government. It has always been either the economy or unemployment and jobs that were the most pressing problems. In yesterday’s poll though, it was us. I can’t say I’m surprised because I agree with them. We need to fix this, and that starts by doing the basics like funding the government and raising the debt ceiling. I’ll end with one final quote from my former Republican colleague Senator Gregg. He said, “People who have no interest in governing cannot be allowed to be the dominant voices in a major party.” I agree him. That is why I urge my colleagues to support this motion. Let’s stop holding up the basic functions of government, let’s pass the Senate bill and its compromise funding and then let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work putting the economy back on track. I thank you for support and hope that you will support this critical motion. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |