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Hoyer: I Urge My Republican Colleagues to Keep Government Open and Reach Budget Agreement that Replaces the Sequester, Funds Our Nation's Priorities

September 17, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC –Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) spoke on the House Floor today calling on House Republicans to stop threatening a government shutdown and to work together on a bipartisan budget agreement to replace the sequester. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:

“[Mr.] Speaker… we have only seven legislative days left until another unnecessary, costly, and entirely preventable government shutdown. We need to negotiate an agreement to replace the sequester with a responsible alternative. And because Republicans have refused to start these negotiations – I have talked to Mrs. Lowey, the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee; I’ve talked to Mr. Van Hollen, the Ranking Member of the Budget Committee; and I have talked to [Majority Leader] McCarthy – but we have had no discussions of how to keep the government open just [seven] legislative days from now.

“If the government were to shut down, as it did in 2013, it would cost our economy billions of dollars and put our national security at risk. Hundreds of thousands of public service workers would be furloughed and millions of people would be cut off from critical programs and services.

“Many Republicans are urging their leadership not to risk a shutdown. Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania said, ‘I don't think we need to do a replay of 2013. It would be an enormous tactical and strategic blunder.’ And Indiana Senator Dan Coates, conservative Republican, called the shutdown a ‘failed tactic for political purposes’ that ‘is not going to succeed.’

“I urge my Republican colleagues to stop threatening a shutdown, not all of them but some of them, and instead take action to keep the government open as we work to reach an agreement on a budget that replaces the sequester and funds our nation's priorities responsibly.”