Unblocking all the people. [laughter] good morning and welcome to the trump shutdown. And joined byey many of the members of our Democratic Caucus and leadership of the house of the Democratic Caucus. Democrats worked hard to avoid the shutdown. Not a single democrat wanted to see critical federal programs shut their doors, or put our economy at risk. This is not how we ran government when democrats were in charge. For republicans, they struggled in september to keep government doors open. He struggled in december. And yesterday, they failed. They failed the American People. Certainly shutdown could have been avoided. If speaker ryan leader mcconnell showed an ounce of leadership, a none of thise, wouldve happened today. We would not be here today. If instead of enabling in being complicit in this trump shutdown, by our republican colleagues, the government would be opened today. If they had shown half the effort that they did in passing core of thell, the effort in passing the tax bill for the wealthiest 1 in this country, and the riches multinational corporations in the history of the world, government would be open today. Four republicans and President Trump have shown, they lack the leadership skills that they have know courage, and probably more importantly, they lack empathy, which struggling americans today. And that alone is the reason we are shut down, and the middle class and middleclass americans are working families are being put at risk. For thea penalty we pay trump shutdown. My with that, i now turn to good friend, john young. John thank you, joe. We are at this point, for one reason and one reason only, and that is the incompetence of the leadership of the republican leader of the house and senate, and incompetence in the white house. If you think back, not through this year, but even last year, we never had an operating budget for the first seven months of the fiscal year. We finally got one for five months. So far this year, not only have we gone through for continuing resolutions, we did not get a budget resolution at all until july, which was several months past when it is normally put forward. That was only to get reconciliation instructions. And now, here we are, four months into this fiscal year with absolutelyand plan for the remainder of the year. That is the only reason we are here. Incompetent leadership from these republicans. We are not because of chip, daca, or any other singular issue. Incompetence has done has brought a much bigger urgency to get those items dealt with because they were not dealt with under regular order. So once again, all of my colleagues here, i know will feel the same way. Ablee ready, willing, and to try to help republican majority exercise their basic responsibility to govern this and if they would allow us in the room, we would be happy to do that. Thank you. I willlease introduce one of the members of the chairs of our democratic policy of Communications Community committee. Good morning, everyone. Washington republicans like to talk about how government should be run as a business. Well i cannot think of any business who is successful running things like the republicans are today. Isis exactly what paul ryan doing to the military, to the v. A. , Community Health centers, to the Childrens Health insurance program, for the past year, has been this up and down emotion that hes putting folks through. Whether you are in a doctor in a doctor and a small clinic, a like int in a lab illinois, whether you are a general commanding the troops, how can we expect any of these dedicated americans to do their job when a congress led by the republicans are constantly threatening to pull the rug out beneath them . But that is exactly what speaker ryan has been doing from one day to the next, one month to the next. Since september, i was one of the democrats voted for each of those continuing resolutions. All three times that it has been presented. On this fourth time, i said enough is enough. And i really hoped that by rest ofaul ryan and the the Republican Leadership this extra time to do this, i really ed that they would leave lead to Bipartisan Solutions to our country. But instead, what did they do but after the holidays . They decided to add another week to their vacation. And when it gets down to offering real solutions, we have the party in control, saying they are not ready to offer any of those. It is republicans leaving the house, the senate, and controlling the white house. And i know that when i go home, and when i walked the supermarket aisles and the bread aisles and the milk aisle or the cereal aisle, what i keep you are in years, just get something done. They are fed up with washington doing nothing to help them or their family. They are sick of these midnight deadlines, and they want Bipartisan Solutions right now. And you know what . We agree with that. We want Bipartisan Solutions as well. That is why last summer, we went to a small town in virginia, and we as democrats announced that we had a better deal to offer america. Better jobs, better wages, and a better future. And in order to offer those, the better deal that we need to offer is a bipartisan better deal. We know that govern from crisis to crisis hurts our economy, hurts our national security, hurts the hardworking families across america. So, we are here, all of us, prepared to work through the night, work as hard as we possibly can were, to come up with those Bipartisan Solutions. We are saying to paul ryan that we are willing to Work Together for the good of this country. That is the better do we want to offer. Thank you. And with that, i would like to introduce my colleague and friend, mike welch. Mike thank you. There are two questions. One, how to begin here . And two, hud we find a way out of this . We got here because we are not and now we have the fourth concerning resolution in four months. If this were the city of burlington and vermont, the Fire Department could not enter into a contract to buy decent equipment. The Police Department could not hire personnel. That has to end. We need a budget. The second issue is that the speakers made a tactical decision. By that is to negotiate working with the freedom caucus. Always a dead end because it means the most extreme elements is the one that makes a final decision. The speaker has another option. And it is to work with democrats want to turn the lights on and keep the lights on in government. And third, the priorities the democrats are talking about our mainstream. A daca to be sure, dreamers to be sure. But what we are looking for, money to help our First Responders on the opioid crisis. Money for the v. A. To help our veterans. Disaster relief for victims of natural disasters. Funding for the Community Health centers. And chip. These are not democratic provisions. These are bipartisan provisions. By the way, we want pension stability, a reform system for those folks whose pensions are in jeopardy. Most of whom, by the way, voted for President Trump. We are ready to help those folks. We want the lights on. And our next speaker is congressman is a congressman. Thank you, peter. Americans have every right to feel rushed raided by the government today. Republicans in washington control all three branches of government, and are refusing to consider any bipartisan proposal or compromise that will keep the government open. Democrats have made it clear that a few meet our votes, the budget and what we move forward must reflect our values and invest in our priorities, like funding Childrens Health insurance and Community Health centers, opioid response, and a solution for our dreamers. The decision by Republican Leadership to ignore calls for Bipartisan Solutions, like the usa act that i cosponsor love, and allow for Government Shutdown is a responsible. The usa act i introduce representative will heard is a bipartisan fix for dreamers that includes Strong Border security. The bill is a product of months of hard work with both sides compromising and coming together to solve this problem. To allow dreamers to stay in the only country that they know his home. Congress should act now and should pass these items to fund government. I will stay in washington with my colleagues to Work Together with republicans and democrats to reopen the government, solve this issue, and address the pressing, remaining issues that we need to do. And with that, i would like to introduce representative Linda Sanchez from california. Linda thank you to my colleagues who are here. From day one, donald trump and republicans have chosen a go it alone approach. On day 365, that strategy has once again blown up in their face. I cannot imagine a greater to president art of the deal that the fact that the government controlled entirely by his own party, has shut down. And now, their strategy has led them to a Government Shutdown that they want to blame the democrats for. But it is their inability to govern and lead this country. I think the American People are smart enough to realize who takes the blame. Republicans control the house, they control the senate, and they serve in the white house. This is a trump shut down through and through. They need to give up on their drive to divide our country. They need to get serious about addressing the challenges that our country is facing. Days,e last 365 republicans have neglected Childrens Health insurance, Community Health centers, veterans, our military, those facing a pension crisis, and hardworking americans who struggle to get by day by day. Ago, they let the Childrens Health program expire. Four months ago, they eliminated protections for dreamers. They had ignored the opioid academic and the workers Opioid Epidemic in the Workers Pension crisis. To takes will not allow children and veterans of political hostage. So, democrats are ready. We have been waiting a long time to work with republicans to finish the work that the American People have sent us here to do. Now, it is up to the republicans to open the door and let us in. They have proven time and time again that they cannot do it alone. They have proven that they are incapable of the most basic functions of government, such as keeping the lights on. If public and cant even manage to keep the lights on, how can we trust them to meet the many challenges that our country faces . Americans deserve better, and american should demand better. With that, i will invite the leader to open it up for questions. Questions. Mitch mcconnell is offering a cr service, saying they will do that in exchange for putting the bill on the floor for open debate as well as any other proposals. Is that in your mind, and acceptable path forward . Understand the are going into the fifth continuing resolution. Again, and incompetent resolution. I have said it wants once and i will say it again, we are willing to go to a shortterm cr is, in fact, we have come to a conclusion and an agreement on this parity, which is important to us. The investment, whether it is domestic or defense. We have come to an agreement, or an outline for daca and border security. Agreements, but we are not writing an appropriations bill, but we are saying these are the terms under which we will ask the Appropriations Committee to write the bills. Then, there is reason to have a cr, otherwise, we could have innumerable crs. They could go on forever. This one happened to expire last night. In the first minute after midnight was the First Anniversary of President Trumps first year in office. Heat promised infrastructure he promised infrastructure. You gave us he gave us a train wreck. He always pushes back from it. So he said what this country needs is a good shutdown. We do not agree. What he set of president obama when we do not control the congress, and he controlled the white house, senate, and the house, and obama who did not control the congress, it starts at the top, that is what he said. The problems started at the top and it has to get solved at the top. The president has to get everyone in the room, and he has delete. And now, at the oneyear failureary, a big, fat for that first year. So it is know use having another cr must be have the terms of engagement on how to go forward on the pay on the parity, on on pensions, on daca, and border security. Is it better to have a government open while you negotiate these matters on the side . Have a cr for a few weeks . Ms. Pelosi this is the fifth one. And the secretary of the navy , secretary mattis said we cannot deal with new and revealing threats. We know our enemies are not standing still. As it can be. E the secretary of the navy had similar words. About transportation. It is about education. It is about all of our meetings of the American People. The republicans do not want to invest in a domestic agenda. They are using the kids as an excuse. They are using children of chip as an excuse. Using the children of the dreamers as an excuse. Not to address the fiscal discussion that we must have. Let me just say this. We do not want a shutdown. And we have made that clear all along the way. Now, if we are going to have negotiations while our government runs, the question is, who are we open to serve . Are we open to serve the veterans . I dont know how many of my colleagues have the 80 hospitals v. A. R districts hospitals in our districts. I have two. These people have made significant sacrifices. Not funding the programs they need to fill out their goals. Lets address these issues, the children. The children of the Health Insurance program. The fact of the matter is, they thesefusing to fund hospitals. Where these children have to go to get their care. They are refusing to fund Community Health centers. Refusing to fund properly teaching hospitals. All of which we are here to say, lurch fromontinue to one cr to the next. Lets lay out a smooth trajectory so that our military can plan. So that our veterans can live out their lives with dignity. So that our children will have a case to go to get health care. That is what we would like to see, and that is why we are standing here. Ms. Pelosi let me just say, what i said about having this cr, we could do it in an hour. There is known to information. We could do this in an hour. We can establish this if they wanted to do it. We have stood ready to cooperate and yield on many scores in order to get that done. Our distinguished Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee is here, and so many other members, who are with us and helping to work on these issues and getting ready for the march. They stand here ready to work. Sleaze up and ready to work. Up and ready to work. Otherwise, we are becoming accomplices to their incompetence, and we cannot do that to the American People. The buck stops here. Happy anniversary, mr. President. Your wish came true. You wanted a shutdown. The trump shutdown is all yours. Leader, how long are you willing to go . And as the stroke of midnight, the white house released a statement that the democrats were acting like disruptors. Are you the face of this shutdown . Else with anybody republican talking points . [laughter] americans ought to be confused or consistently, the strategy of the Republican Party has been to take america hostage and shut down the government. They did it under gingrich. They did it three years ago for 16 days. And they are pursuing that policy now. This is a shutdown that President Trump welcomed. He would allowey put on the floor, issues on which we have consensus. Speaker ryan said this, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time. And then he said, we will not duck the tough issues. We will take them headon. His failure to do either of those has realized the president s objective of shutting down this government. The answer to your question ms. , absolutely. The answer to your question is, absolutely. None of us here have supported policies to shut down the government. What we have supported our positive policies for the American People. And we have not spent a minute putting on the floor, an agreed , over the last four years, a parody of domestic and military spending. Both of which we support. Both of which, speaker ryan 2014, 2015, and 2017. White doesnt he why doesnt he agree on that now . I dont know the answer, but it has led to the fact that this incompetent leadership has not sent one appropriation bill to the president of the united states. This is not just about a cr. What is a cr . Funding government. Know business, know enterprise no business, no enterprise no government cannot function 30 days to 30 days without inefficiency and losing money. On the 4 billion cost crs. Republicanour colleagues, hear what speaker ryan said. Do what speaker ryan said. Do what President Trump said. When they talk about illegal immigrants, the only reason they are illegal is because donald trump made them so. Donald trump made them so. And what the he say . He said, congress, fix it. And i will sign it. Tot did he say yesterday leader schumer . Come down to the white house and lets work it out. Senator schumer went down to the white house and hes thought it was worked out. When somebody in the white house , maybe it was himself worrying with himself. Onemaybe it was some other that says, we dont want to make a deal because what you wanted, mr. President , was a shutdown and show them. Lets be responsible. Ms. Pelosi maybe it was mr. Mulvaney. ,ut speaking the sean hannity mr. Mulvaney said, i found out for the first time last night at the person who was technically shutting down the government is me. Which is kind of cool. [laughter] ms. Pelosi this is how playful they are, and i think the president thinks this is some kind of novelty. So, going back to the question before me. You say it is not just about daca, yet we are talking about this issue again. How far are you willing to go . That is what we really want to know. How far are you willing to go with the shutdown to get your demands met . And are you willing to give up and a grin on daca . It sounds like Republican Leadership elite doesnt want to go there. Ms. Pelosi may i respect fully disagree with your characterization. There wasnt one daca, or one dreamer in the world, we still have a discussion about the money side. This is about the money side. Mr. Welsh talked about the priorities be put forth. He had that in a letter to the president , which overwhelmingly, the members of congress have talked about. It is about opioids. It is about veterans needs. Nationalt pensions, institutions of health, disaster assistance, chip. About thediscussion budget. It also happens to be a discussion about the dreamers. They want to have a separate vote, we are happy to have it. But that is what this is about. If there ever was a dreamer my view and what i see is fear in their eyes of their own caucus because their own caucus doesnt want to have the parity in terms of domestic increases as we have had defense increases. I dont know. It is not as easy as just talking about daca because this is a conversation were having. They are using the dreamers as an excuse not to invest in our domestic agenda. And what if we proposed, we said want to work with you . If you want to increase defense spending, then you have to increase the mastic. Our proposals are strictly bipartisan. We are not coming up with anything that wouldnt get an overwhelming vote on the floor of the house. Epidemic,the opioid the veterans, meeting their needs, chip, disaster assistance, pensions. These are nonpartisan issues. But the issue is will they invest in the domestic agenda . That is at the heart of the matter. And that is the reason they are using daca as an excuse. They are using the kids as an excuse and are using chip as an excuse. Let me tell you this. If i was speaker and we had a democratic president and had an opportunity to send a chip to the white house. It was one of the first bills we passed. I just want you to know that when we took that vote in february 2009, 144 republicans voted against chip. Them, ryan, carthy, the Republican Leadership in the congress. In many of these members talk about how they are madly in love with chip, and they voted against it. 144 republicans voted against chip at that time. One witht they had children pay for Childrens Health. We had to reject that one. Now, they are using it as a shield for their incompetence, and using the dreamers as a shield for their incompetence. C word of the children, lack thereof, competency, lack thereof, consistency, lack thereof. If you want to cover this, cover the background. This would be the fifth cr. This is the fifth republican shutdown since 1990. We believe in governance. We dont believe in shutdowns. And this is the course they are taking us. But it is a good debate. I thank you for your question because it gives us a chance to pull back the shades and say, it is an about that. If there was never a dreamer on the face of the earth, we still have this budget debate about what our values are . Chip, whyy care about did they work to exhaust themselves of everything like votes, time, legislative interests to pass the tax bill, and then say, we cant pass chip . We could pass chip by 12 30 today. Let me ask you, leader pelosi, you talked about in the past that a Government Shutdown could contribute to a previous speaker being run out of the building. Do you think that paul ryan risks losing his gavel should he renegotiate open the government . As ahat would your advice former speaker be to overcome some of those hurdles . Let me just say this. I think that is a question better directed to the republican caucus. Right now, what we are focusing on is to propose something they thought we would propose something they thought they would except because it was bipartisan. We wrote to the president to make sure that schema to make sure that he was aware of that. The fear that i see in their eyes is that their own caucus doesnt want to invest into the domestic agenda. And why . They fear it will increase the deficit, which they are ready borrow from our childrens future, 1. 5 trillion with interest in over to give tax rates to the top 1 of the country and in corporate america. That is what their priority is and that is why they are weak on this in terms of how we buy a budget. Write arms of how we budget. Paul ryan has a really simple decision country first, party first. The demands we want are not demands. They are common commitments to the folks who meet their pensions, to First Responders with opioids, to the Community Health centers in the Childrens HealthInsurance Programs and someone. In paul ryan has made a decision to go with the tea party, to go toh the freedom caucus, and give to folks willing to work with them. Thank you all very much. Approaching the known our on the east coast as democratic heading tothe the house floor. The u. S. House coming in. The stores of our the shortterm spending measure, no agreement in the senate last night on the continuing resolution, to fund the government through february 16. The house will come and for what. S called a quote call it is bringing the house members to the floor. What is going on is the House Rules Committee meeting to consider the ability to take up it is happening in rules. The senate is coming into session. You can follow our coverage of the senate on our companionate work, cspan2. S marchns the women is underway. It is on cspan3. You can follow it on cspan. Org. The house and senate are going into session. Government facilities and other part of the government will shutdown beginning midnight last night. This vote in the house and later, the house is back at 3 00 eastern what we expect this the houseat 3 45 will vote on the rule for consideration of any measure that may come up, allowing them to open up. Minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The speaker my colleagues, at this hour, the federal government is needlessly shut down because of senate democrats. One party in one house of this congress is deliberately holding our government hostage. This did not need to happen. But it is important for people to understand why this