Remarks

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers today gave the following statement on the Honoring Our Promise to America's Veterans Act, which passed the House on a vote of 258-157:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation, which continues to provide our nation's veterans with access to important benefits that they have earned for their dedicated service.

To let these important health benefits slow or stop would be to renege on our promise to our soldiers, that in exchange for taking care of this nation, this nation will take care of you.

This legislation continues funding for the processing and delivery of disability claims and other health benefits, at the current annual rate of approximately $82 billion, until December 15, or until we enact full-year appropriations.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers gave the following statement on the Pay our Guard and Reserve Act, which passed on a vote of 265-160, on the House floor today:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the brave men and women of our military, who stand at the ready to defend this homeland.

"This legislation will provide the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve with due compensation for their service – on time and in full – throughout the government shutdown.

"Our intention with the Pay our Military Act was to support ALL of our men and women in uniform. This legislation merely fixes a technical drafting error to amend this.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to move forward once again with H.J. Res. 59, the short-term continuing resolution that will keep the government open after the end of the 2013 fiscal year, at midnight tonight.

We simply can't wait a second longer. At this late hour, we must move ahead at an accelerated pace to keep the doors of our government open. For the sake of our nation, we must pass this continuing resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to move forward with H.J. Res. 59, the Continuing Resolution that will keep the doors of the government open after the end of the fiscal year on Monday.

It's unfortunate that yet again we are in this situation – facing yet another shutdown showdown, with no solution to our many fiscal problems in sight. Funding the government with a continuing resolution should not be Plan A, Plan B, or even Plan Z. But our challenges are many, and our timeline is short, so passing this CR today is essential.

The House passed a version of this bill last Friday, and the Senate amended it and sent it back to us to consider once again.

The motion before us agrees to the Senate amendments with two further amendments, one delaying Obamacare for a year, and one repealing the medical device tax.

Good afternoon, Chairman Sessions, Ranking Member Slaughter, and members of the Rules Committee.

I am here before you today to present an amendment to the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, the Continuing Resolution that will keep the doors of the government open after the end of the fiscal year on Monday, September 30, 2013.

I seek an appropriate rule to provide for the expeditious consideration of this important legislation.

As you know, we face a very short timeline for getting this done. With amendments, we will need to send this bill back to the Senate for approval, and we have only three legislative days to get this to the President for his signature to avoid a government shutdown.

I do not need to remind my colleagues, both in the House and the Senate, that a government shutdown would be terrible for this country. The American people have spoken, and they do not want a government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present H.J.Res 59, the Continuing Resolution that will keep the government operating into the next fiscal year.

The base CR is straight-forward – it is clean, it is short-term, and it continues reductions in federal discretionary spending. Most importantly, it will prevent a government shutdown.

The legislation also includes an amendment to the base bill, which adds the text of H.R. 2682, the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013, and the text of H.R. 807, the Full Faith and Credit Act.

H.J.Res. 59 will fund the government for the first 76 days of fiscal year 2014, until December 15, 2013.

It provides $986.3 billion in funding – approximately the same rate as the current, post-sequestration level with some minor adjustments.

Good afternoon, Chairman Sessions, Ranking Member Slaughter, and members of the Rules Committee. I am here before you today to present H.J.Res. 59, the Continuing Resolution that will keep the government operating following September 30, 2013, the end of the current fiscal year.

I'm here before you today to seek an appropriate rule to provide for the timely consideration of this legislation. Time is running out, and the House must take up – and pass – this bill as soon as possible.

This CR is a mechanism to keep the doors of the government open after current appropriations bills expire.

The base of this CR is clean, includes no controversial riders or policy reforms, is short-term, and prevents a catastrophic government shutdown.

Mr. Chairman, today I present H.R. 2610, a bill providing fiscal year 2014 appropriations for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies.

This THUD bill conforms to the 302(b) allocation of $44.1 billion in budget authority, and is in line with the House budget of $967 billion. Under such an allocation, we prioritized programs and spending, and were able to achieve three very important funding goals: meet the ob lim funding levels of MAP-21; keep the commercial air space running smoothly; and preserve and renew the housing option for all HUD-assisted families under lease in fiscal year 2014.