latest legislative action, and new polling on how americans are viewing their elected officials and we are opening our phone lines to you. we want to hear your thoughts on the shutdown. give us a call, republicans can call in at -- a very good saturday morning to you, a rare saturday session taking place today. as that is happening, the headlines in many of the major -- here is the front page of "the pittsburgh post-gazette" -- "the arizona republic" -- front page of "the new york times" -- and finally the story from "the washington post" -- lots of stories with those types of headlines leading the paper today. rollcall'sed now by steve bennett. good morning to you. thank you for joining us this morning. take us through the latest on the shutdown and what is happening today on capitol hill for legislative action. another groundhog day where the houses moving house issures -- the measures -- and another thing they're working on is back pay by those who were furloughed. they will eventually get paid once congress agrees on a way to fund the government. that is being sponsored by a democrat in virginia. it has garnered a bit of democratic support. the white house says they will sign it. it looks like senate democrats will try to move and very quickly through that chamber, provided that the republicans will let them do it quickly. done inhow it has been past shutdowns. it deals with one of the difficult optics for lawmakers. you certainly have a lot of federal workers out there seemed that they are getting -- that they are not getting paid. -- that members of congress are getting paid an. as we look to possible ends to this shutdown, explain what a discharge petition is and how that has come into play here in the last week for hours. -- last 24 hours. guest: if the speaker does not want to bring something to the , that is something that is a desperation move by the rank and file. it is usually proposed by the minority. it was proposed yesterday by the house democrats. you basically get 218 signatures, enough for a majority of the house and -- of the house. rules of theantine house, it takes weeks to get that done. it is a desperation move, one that theoretically if this shutdown is going on a few weeks from now, they could try and bring this to the floor. in reality, this is more of a way of trying to put more pressure on the speaker to bring a bill to the floor, bring a clean cr to the four -- to the floor. this would build an idea that there is a majority, a clear majority that would support a clean cr and that the speaker is thwarting the will of the majority of the house. host: what are you seeing in terms of what is going on behind closed doors, leadership being able to keep their parties in line, and together on some of these votes that they are holding? guest: the speaker keeps trying to tell people to stay united, that is the way they are going to get some concessions out of the democrats. it is really chaotic right now. there are various schools of thoughts inside the republican party. there is a school of thought led by moderates like peter, king of new york -- like peter king of new york. they need to find a way out fast. there is another contest -- there is a miller school of thought that says we have come this far, we have to get something. and then there is the school of thought for really pushing this shutdown to begin with, the tea party in particular. a pound of flesh out of obamacare. they are never going to vote for a clean cr. they are going to demand the president take a bite out of obamacare. if they cannot kill us they want its delayed. if they cannot delay it they want to have some meaningful piece of it taken apart. host: you called the discharge position -- discharge petition ave it durham attic -- move desperate move. a grand bargain is theoretically possible. if you did have a meaningful -- meaningful proposal from republicans that gave democrats intentional -- they've democrats tangible benefits, that is what the president has been waiting for all your long. -- all year long. republicans are never really reciprocated. they have never given a tangible offer that would give democrats something they want. if this thing keeps going on in other weaker to and you are -- another week or two and you are up behind that set the healing divide -- that is potentially a much bigger deal where social security checks do not go out. you have enormous pressure at that point. despite the fact that the president says he will not threats, inder these think it would be very tempting if there was a grand bargain- like thing like the democrats wanted. andunless it is big enough has something the democrats can really support, it is just republicans talking amongst themselves point. thisongst themselves at point. it may be wishful thinking. is a steve dennis leadership editor and white house correspondent. we are taking your calls and comments this morning on the government shutdown on twitter, facebook, and our phone lines are open. on twitter -- we will open up our phone lines now. thomas is waiting from clarksville, tennessee on our lines for republicans. caller: good morning. host: your thoughts on day five of the government shutdown. caller: i believe the democrats need to realize that there is a turnabout right now. the leader of the senate, harry has taught john boehner that all you guys do is use your power and table anything you do not want to floated on -- you do not want voted on by the other party. harry reid in the senate tabled everything republicans want to vote on so they cannot vote on them. therefore you have a stalemate in government because harry reid does not let anything that is passed through the house passed through the senate. the president says it is ok. host: we have a poll on our muchook page asking how has the government shutdown notcted you? in that poll, at all is the answer leading by a wide margin. how has the government shutdown impacted you in clarksville, tennessee? has it impacted you? not atat all -- caller: all. i do not have a pc so it cannot get on there and give you any feedback. host: we will put that number up to 624 you. in's go now to michael chicago, illinois on the democrats want. day five of the government shutdown, your thoughts he e -- your thoughts? cannot understand how the representatives could shut down our country, ruin our markets, and hurt people in our country and our disabled that are are ready suffering. i'm a small business person, i own a small business. certainly i do not have health care. the health care program would asset to keepn myself healthy, as wells as it would be in the same -- as well as it would be the same in the country for others. it would make is a very healthier country. we would live longer. sense thats not make these lawmakers cannot seem to come to an agreement as to how we can keep our country running. we just had a problem with our markets. and now we are going to have another problem with our markets which will affect other countries throughout the world. host: michael from chicago, illinois talking about the markets and how this shutdown is affecting them. here's the story in today's "washington post" on that subject -- h on that subject on how americans are viewing the stock market and the economic confidence, a gallup poll on the subject recently -- i want to show you the results of that poll. here are the numbers from gallup and -- from gallup. sharply.e has dropped they note the economic confidence it -- economic confidence index stands at -34. it is the lowest such average since december 2011. let's go back to the phone, peter is waiting on pennsylvania on our line for independents. good morning. i have a question and a comment. i do believe most senators, rookies and this and president get into public politics for good reason. how many of them recently, if ever, have read "profiles in courage." if they're busy, which i am sure they are, maybe they can go to chapter 11, which is the meaning of courage. i would like to see if they can motivate themselves to address 297,iples as on page shortsighted and there'll precipices -- and there'll precipices -- and narrow precipices, acceptance and prop -- acceptance and copper mines. -- and compromise. on twitter -- up next in california on our line for democrats. i am a disabled veteran. -- iught in lebanon thought in lebanon. -- i fought in lebanon. the tea party wants to make president obama look incompetent, that is their main goal. shutting down the government along with the debt ceiling, any idiot would know that would drag and lag the economy. how it affects the average person out there is when the economy slows down for growth, then you have less productivity in the united states. does nothat says it affect them, either they are stupid or plain ignorant. next from is up oregon on our line for independents. good morning to you. caller:i just wanted to makea about how everybody is crying about losing their insurance, the affordable care --, and baby going to part and maybe going to part time in their work. people going from full-time to part-time because companies want to save money is a pretty common thing. insurance companies dropping are doubling, tripling, and quadrupling their cost is only because of the panic of the shareholders. same thing with ama. they are against obama care because they are not going to beginning to month -- going to be gaining the money they used to. host: would you describe the government shutdown as a minor problem, major problem, crisis, where would you fall on that? caller: it is a crisis when you think about it. these are people that are going to their constituents and saying, we will dance with you. they do not want to get the common person -- we are supposed to be a nation under god. to -- we willling we will wars, but run the debt of the american over thed not panic fact that your insurance has tripled. find out what insurance costs you. it if it is a little much for you, wait until they hash it out and start funding the government again. these people are going to start listening to the american heritage fund. those riffraff that are in there with all these money -- august -- all this money -- host: the insurance exchanges is something we are going to be talking about in our next segment. mark described the shutdown as a crisis. it is a question that gallup also asked this week, do you personally view the shutdown as a major problem, a minor problem, or not as a problem at all? back in 1995, only 12% called it a crisis as opposed to 20% now. 81% of democrats agreed that it is a crisis or major problem as opposed to 67% of republicans and 54% of independents. a video of aw you news conference on capitol hill over the last couple of days. speaker boehner talked about his recent meeting at the white house along with the leadership in democrats their and they're willing -- and their unlooked -- and their unwillingness to negotiate this crisis. [video clip] >> i listen to the president's plane to me 20 times why he isn't ash the president explained to me 20 time -- i listened to the president explained to me 20 times why he isn't going to negotiate. this morning, i get "the wall street journal" and it says i don't care how long the slap's -- how long this lasts as long as we are winning. this isn't a game. we are asking for fairness to the government and fairness under obamacare. it is as simple as that. that was john boehner talking about the shutdown yesterday. here's the story in "the wall street journal" -- jeff is up next from greenville, tennessee. good morning to you. i just wanted to be more dissemination of what the affordable care act really is. it is not access to health care. it is mandatory payment of insurance. that is how the supreme court passed it, as a tax. the democrats seem to think they are going to have more access to health care, which is not probably going to be true. it is going to be chu that they are going to be forced to pay in this year i tax -- think it is $95 if you do not get your health care. next year it will be 600 -- it will be $600. it is not access to health care, it is mandatory purchase of insurance part -- of insurance. host: a few more tweaks that came in -- -- tweets that came in -- a few headlines on that -- one of -- one other headline there -- senator dick durbin, the senate majority will -- senate majority whip talked about the other impacts in terms of federal workers not being on the job at a news conference. [video clip] 72%o think we have laid off of our civilian intelligence employees at this moment in time in our history is unthinkable. to think that 90% of those responsible for enforcing the iran sanctions to stop the of nuclear weapons have been furloughed is unthinkable. speaker boehner thinks he can declare a time-out on the war on terrorism. he can't and neither can the tea party. host: one other story dealing with those furloughed workers, here's the headline from "the new york times." of that see the path fo tha storm. workersled in 100 feama off furlough. that is the federal emergency management agency. we have been following members tweets on the shutdown area and a congressman from florida writes in about the tropical storm -- you can follow tweets by going to our twitter page. carol is up next from fight bill, west virginia -- from virginia.le, west caller: i just wanted to say i have followed all of this from the beginning. to be an american. i voted for president obama. for the first time in my life i am ashamed to be a democrat. harry reid he gets up there and says that democrats will get it all or nothing. are against everything. well, you know, the republicans, i give them credit this morning. there are people like me that are very poor and my family does not want obamacare forced on them. the american people should have a say. i am ashamed to be a democrat this morning. all i hear is how the democrats blame the republicans and how the republicans are not doing anything. from what i am watching on tv, it is democrats everything or nothing at all. our line for on independence from maryland. i understand her point of view but it is illogical to furlough people -- we have to thethe labor -- have to get value out of your labor. [indiscernible] the government is out of control and maybe we need to have a people. of those leader we need a new system. maybe people can vote online. we can make decisions for ourselves. the american people are sort of dissatisfied with the practice. it does its own thing. i think that is what the issue is when it comes to all parties to mobilize or it is republican, democrat, or independence. we have to stop this all or in weg politic playing have no control over our destiny and our future where we have a budget crisis, we have drones in the air, and is a surveillance, all of these things are what americans are really looking at. the affordable care act is an issued -- is an issue that needs to be tweaked. we have a few e-mails come in this morning already -- we will have the head of the largest federal employee union leader on "the washington journal." we noted that president obama''s has been put on hold as the white house deals with the shutdown such -- such down -- shutdown situation. the story from "the wall street journal close to -- "the wall street journal" -- the lead editorial of today's "wall street journal" is on the subject -- as we talk about all of the very -- all of the varying impacts of the shutdown, one other aspect is how it is affecting the military service academies. there was some question about whether the navy air force game that is set to take place today was going to take place. i want to bring in mark lancaster, the washington times the pd sports edits -- sports editor -- washington times deputy sports editor. the games are taking place but there was some doubt, is that correct? caller: when the shutdown kicked into gear, everyone around washington and anyone involved with government slowly had it sink in. what is this all going to affect? one of the thing people do not think of in the lead up his service academy sports. pretty quickly it became clear on tuesday that there was some doubt about whether these games could happen. most notably, air force playing at maybe in annapolis today. -- a, a national nationally televised game. -- a decreeme down came down that set forth quite a bit of scrambling on the part of the service academies to show that they can fund these football games. they show that can fund these football games without federal money. host: where does the money come from? the navy's athletic association is basically completely independent. they have a handful of employees, mostly service staff types read some of them are coaches at the academy. but navy basically support itself. it is a separate entity from the cap -- from the academy and the government. air force has a bit more involvement. especially with all this traveling, there is a little bit more there. a private donor kicked in a bit. funds theyto other have, discretionary funds. boston college offered to help pay for traveling for army. host: our competitions taking place for other sports? caller: the navy has canceled everything through sunday, you're talking volleyball, soccer, the other sports. it has not gotten any attention because obviously football is what most people are paying attention to. confusion.lot of it is something that is going to be interesting. obviously the navy air force has high-profile gains that they did not want to lose. when they are playing at a --tern kentucky horse western kentucky or central theigan, they need to get approval -- chuck hagel had to sign off on this happening. with "the lancaster washington times." has there been any thoughts on whether or not the game should be taking place? there is a headline in "the washington post" this week -- how much of that sentiment is out there yo? guest: it is hard to say. this is something for enjoyment. i get the shared sacrifice thing. i know plenty of federal workers who are not getting paid. i am sure there are numerous of thousands of upset people on the national parks being closed. obviously football is not the most important thing in the world. this is also not a situation where the government is shut down because of some horrible act, it is in morning, or something like that. i don't think it is one of those things were should be looked at as discussed that full -- as disrespectful to go ahead and do these things. i don't know what negative impact there is there. i think it is going to be a bit of a moving target. it is all about what -- it is all about paul -- all about politics. it will be interesting to see as this thing bring cash this thing drags out. as thisesting to see thing drags out. atis a giant messy equation host: this point. -- at this point. calls,e are taking your comments, and tweets this morning on day five of the government shutdown. the of opinion pieces in today's papers about it. i want to point to to a piece from it -- a piece about former speaker newt gingrich. back to the phones, terry is linesorth carolina on our for republicans this morning. just like all my democrat friends out there to understand that in 2008, when this was passed, the president told all of us that our voice does not count. and the thing about it is, he picks and choose laws that he wants to enforce and not enforced. democrat have demoed for 40 years, look at integration -- the -- look at immigration. fory brown just signed in illegal aliens the ability to vote. if you thing government can take care of you, especially the democrats, ask the african- american population how prosperous they have been under democratic rule for the past 40 years. host: earl is up next from connecticut on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. american public is really listening to what is going on. it is amazing how the republicans can get up and say that they are going to work with the president, but their main got to abefore he even speech -- behind closed doors they said they were going to make sure this guy fails. how are you going to negotiate and make sense out of -- when your supporters are telling you, i'm going to listen to what you say but not do anything about what you're saying. i want tow stories point you to in the papers. here's the headline from "the new york times" -- another story, a recent shooting that happened on capitol hill, the use of force in that shooting debated. page of today's "washington post" -- here's the front page of "the hartford current," where the woman who was shot and killed in that incident was from. that is the front page of today 's "hartford current." pappas from fort worth texas -- pat is from fort worth, texas. toler: i don't know who believe. i wish we could sue them for lying. experts say this is not going to cost anything. my question is why isn't in the budget? they pass obama care as a separate independent bill if it does not turn out to be economical? people are worried about debt ceilings. aaa ratings are up to aa. notuse the republicans did budget --gh of the they believe it will rise $3 trillion in a short time. we know it did that. everybody has their own different issues and know them -- and none of them are getting addressed the -- are getting you addressed. we will be talking about the rollout of those health-care exchanges and how that went this week. you may want to stick around and listen to that. on the last couple of minutes we are taking your calls and comments on day five of the government shutdown. on twitter -- up next on our line for republicans, good morning. i am disappointed on how my party is handling this issue of obamacare. they're all easily trend blackmail the agenda. -- obviously trying to blackmail the agenda. the whole world is watching how we handle this. we are the best democracy in the world and we are making it that scenario -- a bad example. i think we should put our differences aside. i think we should put our differences aside and get together and do the best we can. host: lisa is up next from kentucky on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: to the gentleman in north carolina, i would like to say although -- to say obamacare became law in 2010, not 2008. the whole reason for the shutdown, it is extortion. the law can be tweaked through legislation at any time. there is no reason to do this other than to gain leverage. the republicans are holding the global economy hostage to gain leverage, that is what this is all about. host: our last caller on this first segment of the washington journal this morning. up next, we will grade the launch of the affordable care act's new health-care exchanges. later, the head of the nation's largest union for federal employees joins us to discuss how the situation is impacting federal workers. all we can long we are featuring the history and literary life of billings, montana. c-span2's booktv will feature -- >> videos, cds, and all kinds of things out to residents of madison county. as part of the outreach program we would like to get things up to the outlying residents. . people are spread out in montana. >> be careful going in and out. we go to senior centers and schools, neighborhoods, all over the county. today we are south of billings montana. we are on the crow reservation. i believe there are 40 students at the school. it is one of the few one-room schools (this area. >> if you find a book you want to read, check to see if it is on this list. >> matthew. >> we have a satellite hookup on our laptop and they can use their library card like it is a main library but. we just use a laptop instead of a regular computer. >> she was the powerbroker behind her husband's administration. after he died, news of corruption him urged. she burned his letters and documents in order to protect his legacy. our series, continues. is where calvin and grace meant for the first time. she was a teacher and he was a tenant in a boarding house. >> this window is where grace would have looked out and seeing calvin across the court -- across the courtyard in the next building could she would put a candle here to signal to meet up meet up. this is where they would meet up and sit and talk and have some time together. 30s andhim being in his her 20s they had to abide by the rules of the school. they needed to meet somewhere where they were supervised and chaperoned while the -- while they were on campus. >> meet grace coolidge, monday night on c-span and c-span three. >> "washington journal closed quote continues. tuesday, the affordable care act officially launched its new marketplace where individuals can sign up for health insurance. here to discuss the pros and cons of the new exchanges and the federal government's role are a fellow at the american enterprise institute and a scholar at the brookings institute. of concern about whether the obama administration would be up to this launch. how would you grade the rollout? guest: i think you are in the very early stages of implementation. remember, there is a three month. eriodd -- a three month p before coverage begins. any new implementation is going to be difficult and challenging. looked down the -- looked on the road. --t: a headline how would you grade the rollout? guest: i would say the administration is saying privately it is not going well. look at all the people around the country, most people cannot get into the system, basically. to be candid, it did not go well. they have time to fix it. the enrollment process will go on. my concern, if i were inside the administration, my concern would be that the problems are not just through -- not just related to volume. there are systemic problems going on. i have read a couple of things from the tech people, i do not know much about this, but on the other hand i would be worried there are problems beyond the volume. there's something systematically going wrong. it is quite a bumpy right here in the beginning. host: you spent four years as the associate director for health of the office of management and budget. how much of these glitches were anticipated the echo guest: -- anticipated? very competent process to get this up and running. there were many problems up front, which are now more or less forgotten. that is what this is for. i tend to think some of it is volume related. they have 8 million unique visitors to this site, a very large number. the question is how it was scaled, how many people can operate on the same time -- at the same time on the system are. people try to anticipate this as much as they can. there are bumps in the road and you cannot anticipate everything. you bind it, fix it, move on. host: the numbers according to today's "new york times" -- a telephone call center has recede -- has received -- they have the client -- they have declined to say how many people have enrolled in guest: -- enrolled. guest: enrollment is going to be about money. it is going to be about the premiums people have to pay and the coverage they see their and whether they think it is worth it. my own sense is that it is going to feel to a lot of the people going through the process, they get a point of comparing premiums. a lot of people are going to say the premiums are higher than i thought. so -- areubsidies are silver plants. even after you pay -- are silver plans. -- you pay au play large premier you're going to be facing a large deductible. i am not sure that that many people are going to be excited about it. host: we are taking callers comments, calls, tweets, e- mails. we have the brookings institute and the american enterprise institute here to take your questions. as folks are calling in, talk about this rollout. what would you be advised to them? guest: i think a lot of people are doing their initial phases of shopping. health insurance is a complicated thing. they are going to have to sort through what plan works best for them. there are many people to help them to my call centers, navigators, people able to assist them. on the front end, what i think is a group sign is you are seeing a lot of people go and express interest. that is 8.6 million hits you referenced. it is a competent thing to do. they should take their time and do it right. a fellow at the ethics public policy center. what would your be advised to the folks having trouble this week? guest: i would agree you're going to have to be patient and signed up through whatever information sources you can what your options are. there is no other way forward other than to look at information online or go to the call center. that is where you can figure these things out. joe at -- joann is up first on our line for independence from louisiana. as far as this latter that was is -- that was instituted by poppy gentle, he has no room to open his mouth. he just recently shut down to charity hospitals in the baton rouge area. host: you are talking about an article we read in our previous segment. your thoughts on the rollouts of the affordable care act exchanges that started? i can give you my assonal self on the rollout, far as the problems with the website, that happens with anyone's websites when you have that much communication, that much going through. i am curious as to what brand of makeup -- host: we will stick to the affordable care act. this was anticipated, a large group of people getting on the first today. what was the biggest failure in terms of access on tuesday echo -- on tuesday? caller: i think the sheer volume let to this contention in terms of being able to get to applications. host: was that unexpected caller:? -- unexpected? guest: there is an estimate made of what you think it is going to be. it will be low or high. isit is high, the demand actually great news. it means a lot people are exploring if they are interested. i think they will work these kinks out. host: what is the biggest kink that needs to be worked out the echo guest: it is hard to tell because you have to be itn the details of the system. it is the simultaneous capacity to process the applications. anthony is in illinois on our line for republicans. good morning. yoare you there? go ahead. caller: i have to say i'm happy that republicans are toeing the line. people are forgetting that aspect of the idea. we still do not know what is going on. all of the stuff is coming out to delay, we are going this portion of the affordable care act. obviously it is not that good. i hope they continue to toe the line. host: your thoughts on the strategy by republicans to tie the shutdown to the affordable care act to either delay or block the affordable care act the co--- affordable care act? guest: i did not think it was a good idea to leverage continued funding. i think they are in the right place, which is to push through the budget process changes they think are legitimate. that is how legislative processes always work. think at some point they will enter some kind of negotiation with the white house over the budget over the next year. at which point it is totally fair game for them. if i was going to push i would say push for a delay in the individual mandate. the administration has said unilaterally that they are going to delay the employer mandate paid a lot of people did not think they have a lot of legal basis to do that. ity went ahead and did because it was too onerous on the companies to file all of the information associated with the enforcement process, why cannot do it for the individuals? there are a lot of workers that will probably not get an offer from an employer and they still have to sign up. there is a fairness issue here. one that i think the republicans, if they are smart, could leverage into a real shift in law. host: do you believe the white house would ever agree to changes asked by republicans to the affordable care act? guest: there have artie been some changes made since the bill was -- already been some changes made since the bill was at -- bill was passed. it hasn't been the normal legislative environment that would permit technical amendment bills. that would be the standard course. there have been changes that have been made. i agree with jim totally that i do not think that using the government shutdown or using the debt ceiling is a good way to go about trying to seek these changes. i do believe, and i think jim will agree with me, that costs in health care remain a problem. and to remain an issue and they will be for some time. analysis has pointed that out very clearly. trying to address concerns through a budget process is a good way to do it. we are talking about the rollout of the exchanges this week and we're -- this week. are taking your calls and comments. julie is up next from michigan on our line for democrats. good morning. know and would like to passing thought -- if he can give them a waiver, why don't small businesses get a waiver so they do not have to cut their employees' hours. maybe you cannot answer that acluuse you are not an lawyer. if the affordable care act is so great, why is everybody trying to get a waiver. second of all, why don't they delay it for a year and see what happens? have the people or the house members vote on it. i do not get it. it is not even downgrading the health care costs. guest: the caller makes a couple of good points. major unions have written to the congress recently saying they would like to get out from under the health-care law. the caller is probably reflecting the point of view that a lot of americans have, especially with respect to the 30 hour work week. it was part of the employer mandate delay. there was a one-year reprieve on employer-paid penalties on anyone working more than 30 hours a week if they are not offering health insurance to them. it was put off a year. it still remains a huge issue. a lot of employers have pushed down there part time employees under 30 hours a week so they will not count under the penalty structure scheduled to go into effect in 2015. a lot of people agree with the caller's point of view. the rollout is not going very well. until 2014 --this 2015, not just the employer mandate. to possibly replace the affordable care act with less expensive options. guest: absolutely. there is a mischaracterization that there isn't anything but this law to fix health care in america. it was heavily government- centric. we moved to lots of power to the department of health and human services. we have seen some of that in the glitches that are occurring. it is run by a small into tea, the department of health and human services. a better approach tom a from my point of view, would be to build a market -- from my point of view, would be to build a market-based system and businesses have a bigger role in deciding what is offering and not everybody is taking cues from the federal government. host: if you wanted to chime in on this. based: it is a market- program. it is funded through tax credits. this is not unlike proposals made previously under the osha administration in 1992 and others. bush -- under the administration in 1992 and others. government has to step in behind it with a substitute exchange. i think you will see more states that will express an interest. gave aernor of kentucky passionate explanation of why he moved in this direction and why he took the medicaid coverage option as the net benefit for his see this -- citizens being so great. arkansas is looking to take some of its medicaid people and mainstream them through the exchange. over time, you will see more dynamics. there was an interesting article in the wall street journal. the author was analyzing what the impact of the bidding mechanisms mean for network coverage and how that will drive greater efficiencies in the private sector. there are a lot of market mechanisms. it is primarily market-based. membere are following tweets throughout this shutdown. just a few minutes ago from a republican. obamacare illustrates the need to delay the mandate. we are talking about the rollout this morning. we are taking your calls and comments. richard is up next from brooklyn, new york on our line for independents. i am calling regarding the interesting fact that many of the calls that were made to its first days of inception do not provide one detail. there is one significant fact that is left out when they described what kind of coverage is covered by the plan. they talk nothing about the plan intoriness of the terms of the providers. nowhere is there available any information about what portion of standard fees are going to be payable under these insurance plans to the providers. fees are anything like what medicaid payments are in many states, the fees will be completely inadequate. many physicians will not opt to be part of this row graham at all. tier medical a two- system where all of the real doctors are on harley -- on harley street. host: you played a part in hammering out the details of the affordable care act. do you want to take this question? guest: this is between the insurance companies and the providers. how those rates will compare right now, i am not sure exactly . the best thinking at the time the bill was done was that they would be somewhat better than medicare and definitely better than medicaid, and less than paid elsewhere in the private sector to because of the more competitive mechanism in the exchanges and cells. host: a question for you, mr. capretta . businessesffecting if, as you acknowledge, it has been put off for a year? guest: there was a look at her vision looking at their employment levels going back to 2013. they made a bunch of adjustments earlier in the year before the delay went into effect. now they are saying, do we want to change our hiring and employment patterns knowing that the mandate is still expected to go into effect a year from now. the fact that it got delayed doesn't take anyone off of the hook. they are saying, we will not change our plans based on the delay. this is a complicated issue. the level of part-time work in the economy changes with the recession and the slowdown in the economy. the best data i have seen coming out of the san francisco federal reserve board suggests that there has not been substantial change in -- a substantial change in part-time work. federalizees not health care, but it does have an effect on people. the best thinking out of economists -- there was an article in the new york times on that said, we cannot tell anything from the data yet. it is too soon. our best guess is that this will not be a major impact in terms of the economy. host: we have a few minutes with keith fontenot, the brookings institute visiting scholar, and james capretta. they are taking your questions and comments. a tweet from jan. she says, i am glad my state cares about its people's health and set up their own exchange. tell me about the exchanges. is one more competitive than the other? the federal government took over the exchanges in 34 states. other states elected to build their own. some states, such as connecticut and nevada, appeared to have built an exchange that is working fairly well. maryland, which was supposed to the at the forefront of a well- run system, is having a lot of problems. even at the state level, where the states decide to build their own, some states are doing ok and some states are having a lot of problems, maryland included. the federal exchange is not operable yet. is it expected that one exchange would work better than the other, or is it a mixed bag? will come uptates and run really fast and some states will be behind. these are bumps in the road. for -- fromo years now when there are 17 million people, these are bumps in the road in the rearview mirror that are not so large. host: do you think some states are doing better than others? are there lessons learned that they can come up with already? guest: i think there are. keep an eye on what is going on out there to see what lessons we can learn. there are innovative mechanisms in different states. host: what are the states that have the best run exchanges? guest: very hard to tell at this stage. california looked like it was out and running fairly well. they had some bumps in the road there as well. i am sorry. i think it is too soon to make that kind of judgment. host: we have a caller from virginia on our republican line. good morning. i believe this is the we see when emotional legislation gets passed as opposed to practical and logical. there are some things in the affordable care act that i agree with. but the vast majority of this bill, with the complexity of it, and the cost and the constant delays by the obama -- and theion itself by the obamays administration itself, why are they allowing waivers or something that is regarded as his legacy? one of the things i do want to whenmost importantly, is do these exchanges go into place? ine people are calling defense of obama because it is to legacy or are calling not talk about the exchanges that they would have benefited from. guests can take the question i asked, i would greatly appreciate it. market exchanges go into place. january 1, 2014. consumers must enroll by march 31, 2014 to avoid the penalty. capretta, can you jump in and answer his question? previous conditions and how that is done is very important. secondly, why did the administration delay some of these things? reason was,basic especially from the employer community, the cost of compliance they would impose on the treasury department -- they would make every department report a huge amount of data. they told the administration, we cannot do it. a great story in the wall street journal recounted some of the and theyforth indicated that the requirements were too much. they decided to pull the plug on it. they are goingw to easily impose the employer mandate in 2015 because the problems that are there this year will still be there next year. levincongressman sander tweeted out, the republican obsession with the health-care law has gone too far. it is time for them to reopen the government. from michigan on our line for independents to talk with keith fontenot and james capretta. good morning c-span and good morning america. all this is his mandatory purchasing of health insurance. by the another tactic elite just like they did with the bank bailout. this is just another attack it to squeeze the american public, to take money from them. we have been monitoring this for a long time. the american people are starting to wake up to what is going on here. this is a big tragedy to what is happening to our country on how these global elites have taken over our system of government. fontenot, you have a chance to respond. guest: i think the treasury department decided it was wise not to enforce the employer responsibility requirement in short term because they had not worked through with employers all of the issues. it sounds like reporting health insurance would be a simple thing. it turns out to be quite complex. in any largeommon law to encounter things like this and for any administration to use whatever expression they have two try to figure out how best to deal with it. it is better to try to figure it out than it is to launch. that is a different issue than the individual responsibility. you purchase insurance or pay a penalty. get ation is you want to broad pool. you want as many people in this cool to keep the average cost as low as possible. you will find that is something the insurance companies have a different view of than the employer responsibility requirement. it does not really add to the number of people who get coverage. the employer responsibility requirement itself, though one that was waived, does not have a large effect on coverage at all. you bring up some stats on when those penalties would go into effect. ory would be $95 per person one percent of their -- or 1% of their taxable income. 600 95 dollars or 2.5% $695 or 2 point five percent of taxable income. we have a few more minutes with keith fontenot and james capretta. line fors on our republicans. michael, good morning. sander levin's tweet is hilarious. he was one of the democrats who pushed as hard as he could to exempt congress and his -- and the affordable care act. i appreciate both of you folks. problem oneeing as a the ground is that they have items22,000 billing line with obamacare. one, knows i mean no what they are. what this amounts to is the medical community is scared to death. they go, you give it your best shot on these billable line items. if you get it wrong, we will find you. is there any mechanism that has been set up right now to define these things. the people on the ground do not line items are. i will hang up and listen to your answer. thanks, guys. that is a pretty sophisticated question. i am not sure what he is thinking about. i have a hypothesis. there is something called the ofernational classification diseases. it is a way of reporting and classifying diseases. it is how you break down and record things for medical purposes. the expectation has been this would go into place for some years. it has been delayed and delayed. the provider community was adapting to it. now there is a point where insurance companies have invested in the money they need to change their system and began moving into this direction. i am not 100% certain. not sure exactly what the caller is referring to. that is the best guess. processeen a long, long , very controversial in the medical community still. i am not sure i can say much beyond that. on our from illinois line for democrats. good morning. good morning. thanks for taking my call. my concern is about the navigators. i am trying to set up an appointment for a navigator that will not be available until 2015. there is an office here, which is kind of a health office where the navigators will be. there is a list of documents i'd need to bring when i come and apply. certified orng my certificate or an alien registration card. i am really concerned. what if somebody has to go through a little bit of difficulty to get their birth certificate. is this something that is mandatory everywhere? bit of my situation is, i am self-in short. i lost my job in 2009. insured.self- very expensive for me. really looking forward to the affordable care act because i am on early social security. host: jumped in and talk about the navigator documents. this is a requirement to verify citizenship status when eligibility. i am not sure if the caller cannot find their birth certificate. 800 numberl the 1- name alternative documentation that might serve in lieu of that. law says you have to be a citizen or a legal resident. you have to prove that in some way. it --siest way to prove this is probably the easiest way to prove it. host: we are talking with keith fontenot and james capretta. thanks for coming to talk about the affordable care act. on newsmakers this week, the chairman of the house financial services committee. here is the discussion of where congress is now on the budget and the debt ceiling. --p bank [video clip] throughe not negotiating. we are through negotiating with ourselves. the president called over congressional leaders the day before yesterday to tell them in what he already told them in public. that was, we refuse to negotiate. what theleave that is american people believe in. the house republicans want to negotiate. we expect to negotiate under our constitution. of congress has the power the purse. house republicans will negotiate in good faith. we will not rubberstamp what the president and senator harry reid want to do. obamacare is a huge divisive factor in our nation. regrettably, for house republicans, it is not going away. last offer, what we said was, if obamacare is going to be imposed on the nation, it should equalosed equally, protection under the law. no special rails for washington elites while working americans have to suffer through this program. ultimately, what this is really about is tens of millions of our unemployed ormen underemployed. it is about trillions and trillions of debt. we are on the road to bankruptcy. people say do not rock the boat. put this off until tomorrow. we cannot put it off until tomorrow. the opportunity for the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling is to deal with improving our economy and putting us on the road to fiscal solvency today. today is the time to seize the moment. >> "washington journal" continues. will continue our discussion on the government shutdown with david cox, president of the federation of government employees. how many federal employees does your union represent? we represent 670,000 federal employees nationwide. host: how many are being furloughed as a result of the shutdown? guest: 50% are being required to go to work and being told they will not be paid on payday. and talk tohey come you and ask how this is going to end, what do you tell them? aret: i tell them we working very hard. we have bipartisan support for legislation that will back pay all federal employees. we believe we will be able to get that legislation to move. we are also telling them to call every member of congress every day. our members want to go to work. a want to process social security claims and prepare for this hurricane that is coming and make sure fema is ready to do things for the american people. we want to protect this country from the hardened criminals in the federal penitentiary. host: the bill that is going to be on the house floor today, what is the timeframe? will the president sign it? yesterday i believe strongly that the president will sign it. believe there is strong support in the senate and that that legislation will go through. the real issue is we want to get our members back servicing the american public. we want to go to work. host: on the issue of back pay, we had a caller asked a question about it. loadorkers who are forward -- furloughed, why should they get back pay when the shutdown and? victims.ey were the they were the hostages. they want to be servicing the american people. no fault.t they would have gladly gotten up and went to work every day and done other jobs. shutdownst government , both parties in both chambers of congress have acknowledged that federal employees where the hostage and the situation. stats according to the new york times about who is going to work and who is staying home according -- regarding federal employees. the percentage of folks at nasa that will be furloughed is 97%. of the environmental protection agency. 87% of the commerce department is on furlough. at 81%.rior department if you go all the way down to those with the fewest numbers of , you get down to the social security administration, just 29% are furloughed. homeland security, 14%. beerans affairs 4% will furloughed. payalked about employee that is being affected. that is not the only thing. there are benefits impacted as well. guest: certainly. retirement benefits and things of that nature. back to your statistics and the department of veterans affairs, monday and tuesday of this runningeek, they are out of money. a high number of those employees will be furloughed. the processing of veterans' claims will come to a halt. agencies that have not furloughed are running out of money. a high number of federal employees will be furloughed. the impact on the american public will only grow. host: if you want to talk to give us a ring. our phone lines are open. we have a special line set up for federal workers to call in and tell us how the shutdown is affecting you. 3883.85- otherwise, the lines for republicans, democrats, and independents are open. the federal emergency management agency recalling staff as the golf stand -- storm rues -- brews. to see agencies having to figure out who is essential and who is non- essential? guest: all employees are essential and need to be on the job. with fema, we need to call those employees back. they should have been on the job law last week preparing. it is one of those things you have to be prepared for every day of your life. you cannot let your guard down. host: we are taking your calls the head of the largest federal employees union. good morning. caller: my question or my comment is, i understand that furloughed employees will get their pay with interest when they come back to work. ultimately, this whole thing is to hurt the public. wish i were a furloughed and paid employee. i would be sitting around the house doing yard work or doing my being knowing that when i get back to work, i would get that pay with interest. it just hurts the american people. off, with the current legislation, i do not believe furloughed employees would get back a with interest. any of them do not want to be sitting around the house. any of them have continued to keep up to date with what is going on with their jobs. any of them are very frustrated. my wife is one of them. as of monday, she was told to stay home. this morning, she was upset about the veterans' claims laying on her desk that will not be processed next week. the agony federal employees are going to knowing the american public is suffering because they are not on their jobs -- it is a sad situation. this government lockout does not have to occur. that is my big issue. it did not have to occur. percentages of agencies with employees on furlough. here are some numbers from the department of veterans affairs. just mentioning veterans and veterans benefits processing. 30 7000, 700 -- 37,700 employees furloughed. if you can follow up on that. guest: we do not have the folks doing the intelligence work that needs to be going on for national security. there are many things that occur with the government that rank- and-file citizens do not understand or know are going on. work that protects this country from terrorism. those kinds of things. applyingy folks are for mortgages. all of those things are going to as we continue forward. host: we have a special line set up for federal employees. 585-3883. donald from new york, you are on with david cox. go-ahead. caller: the shutdown has a significant effect on federal employees in new york state and new york city. the republican than the democrats need to get together in a way to basically come to some sort of agreement that would in the shutdown today or on monday so we can get back to work. cox, how would the shutdown affect the federal workers as when itedical benefits comes to obamacare? guest: with federal employees now, their health insurance will continue to be in effect even though they have been furloughed. with the affect of obamacare, at ofs point, we are not aware any changes in employee health .enefit plans with obamacare, that is certainly affecting the uninsured americans at this point. the ability having to go out and purchase health insurance, in the long run, most people in this country will see a decrease in their health insurance premiums. we do spend a lot of money paying for folks who get treatment at emergency rooms who are uninsured. that cost is being passed along, as well as preventative care. you said the american federation of government employees has 650,000 members. guest: we represent about 670,000 members. , department of defense, social security, homeland security, border patrol, tsa. trying to think through many of them. .asa you name it, we represent it. host: how long has the union been around? guest: our union has been around ed one years -- 81 years. host: talk about the impact of federal -- on federal employees in terms of asked of congress -- acts of congress. guest: all new federal employees in paying an additional 2.3% retirement contributions for no increase in benefits to a retirement plan that is 100% funded, fully funded. we have seen most federal employees take a six day for low . we have seen the constant threat of riffs, layoffs. the one thing that i hear the most about is not what is happening to them personally. it is that the agency does not have sufficient resources to supply the services that the american people need. that is what our people are all about. they want to provide services to the american public. furlougheditter, can workers apply for unemployment yeah kill -- unemployment? it varies from state to state. unemploymenty from -- apply for unemployment. if they get back pay, they would not be eligible for tax pay and unemployment benefits. you cannot double dip. i want to make that clear. here ares are saying, these government employees getting back pay and on unemployment. that would not be the case. host: and it is up next from california on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. mr. cox. i want to ask you something. you work for the federal employees. you?is the federal law to the house of representatives, the senate, upheld by the supreme court. that is inaw progress now. it was written as a law. it is the law of the land. why are we having this conversation when you know and i that we have to accept a twothat is written by houses. you're going to laugh. i see you laughing. upheld by the supreme court. why are the people fighting. land isof the respected. host: mr. cox. i will let you jump in. not quite sure which law she is referring to. paid my taxes last payday as each american citizen did. i believe that when congress passes laws, they have a responsibility to respond to all of the laws that are on the books. i think she is talking about obamacare. that is the law. .olks do not like that law all laws can be amended and changed. a process.ough you have to get the house of representatives, the senate, the president. it is a form of checks and balances. people want to change the law. there is a mechanism. host: we are talking about impacts on federal employees with the president of the largest federal employee union. , theitter, rick writes shutdown is so unnecessary and so shameful. we have a line set up just for federal employees. on that line is rick from florida. rick is an independent. good morning. sir.r: good morning, good morning, mr. cox. i heard you made the statement that it is not the federal employees, the ones who are furloughed, it is not their fault that they were furloughed. for the same reason, it is also not our fault for the ones who are considered essential personnel and are required to stay. as you well know, if those pay, what get retro about the ones who are forced to and like police officers firemen. those personnel did not have a choice. all of our annual leave has been canceled. allowed to use our sick leave. if we are sick or have a doctors appointment during all of this time, we can no longer use our sick leave. it will be leave without pay. the second part of this. with this last shooting up here -- i know you are supporting us for the law enforcement officers to receive their law enforcement retirement pay. host: you are in a police department you have been deemed -- deemed it essential. you are not getting paid? getting paid. we are getting our annual leave as regular in our sick leave. everything is staying the same. use ourlem is we cannot sick leave until all of this is over with. i cannot go tod work and i call in sick, i am getting leave without pay. x, why don't you address this? deemed anyou are essential employee and you are sick and unable to go to work that day, they cannot grant you sick leave during a government walk out or shut down. they will say you are furloughed leave withouth is pay. as such, we believe the legislation that is introduced says that when you come back to work, you will be paid for that time when the shutdown is over. the 1995through government lockdown. as aked at the v.a. registered nurse. i was sick a day and i had to call in. they said, i cannot grant you leave, but we will deem you as furloughed that day. i went and took care of the doctors appointment -- doctor's appointment. this is the thing with the government knocked out. it is wasteful to the american citizens. government employees want to be on the job. they want to be providing the services the american people need. it's is not about money. the money is in the united states treasury. this is about the renfrew's oh of the house of representatives to -- refusal of the house of representatives to appropriate the money. host: did that answer your question? caller: it answered the question pertaining to leave. there is a misinterpretation. i will certainly try to clarify it. guest: that is the guideline that the opm has on their website. are in constant contact on a ombly bases with opm and over issues. it is frustrating to employees and frustrating to managers. in this victims process. the greatest victim is the american public. how much confusion have you seen him on federal employees? we are filling thousands of calls a day in our districts throughout the country. they are fielding thousands of calls a day. local leaders are being flooded. a great deal of mass confusion. a lot of problem's. all of that time spent on those issues instead of a police -- a lot of problems. professionals, doctors, nurses running the health care institutions been focused on their job. this lockout has to end immediately. the american people deserve better. they deserve the services. host: this question of back pay continues to come up. on twitter, if taxpayers are obligated to back pain federal employees, federal employees should be obligated to service the taxpayers. employees process social security disability claims. they protect the borders continuously. airportoyees are at the protecting us from terrorists that would hijack airplanes. someone is inspecting the food and the drugs. is notn issue and what happening today, scientists are working on at nih cure for cancer or a cure for other diseases. government does those types of things. host: one more question on this from larry in north dakota. if one federal employee has lost a dime in the past 17 government shutdowns, is it not true that they were paid for what amounts to an act of vacation? i am not aware of all 17 government shutdowns. i am aware of the 1995 shutdown. federal employees were paid during that time. issue is, this is so through theseo go hurdles of shutting down the government. it is nothing but a reactor go stage play of shutting down the government. theatrical stage play of shutting down the government. we need the house in the senate to resolve the issue and move forward. host: kevin is on our line for independents. you are on with david cox, president of the american federation of federal employees. caller: why am i still paying federal government taxes if the government was shut down a week ago? they did not shut down the law that collects taxes. i would not speak for how congress operates. i would probably tell you clearly that i am in agreement with you. taxes.our i would ask the house of representatives why they have not offered the opportunity to c.r.a clean sa3404u -- host: we have a special line for federal employees. lori is on that line. i work for the fire department. they were supposed to receive pay this week. they are not going to receive that pay, obviously. what is that going to do to the economy around here? they were counting on that money. i was counting on receiving a paycheck. i do not know if my last paycheck went into my account. out theyitten my bills stone that paycheck. -- ie money is not going have written my bills out based on that paycheck. if that money is not going to be there, what will that do to my credit rating? what will that do to my ability to pay the bills i have always paid? how am i going to survive? you were one of the federal employees that should past friday,d this yesterday, that money should have went in to your account. that was money you had earned before october 1. two-weeknment is on a pay lag. as such, that money should have occurred because that money had already been appropriated by congress. it is the time you have worked or not worked after october 1 that would not be paid on your next payday. as far as the farmers, if they appropriated before october 1, they may have occurred. this will be devastating to the economy. if they are not being paid, they will not spend that money. cities, stateo governments, all of those things will not be occurring. lori did looks like encourage federal employees to put away money ahead of time. what kind of guidance do you have? guest: we have been telling our italy's this entire year -- our employees this entire year. furloughs,on cuts, pay freezes for three years. we have tried to make people aware of that. we saw this coming many months ago. we had continuous communication with our membership about the fact we are not sure what is going to happen. he could be facing a government lockdown this year. moved to the debt ceiling crisis, we have been making folks aware. averageour members bringing home about $500 a week. do understand, even as hard as they are trying, they are not able to put a lot of money away. head,ut a roof over their buy groceries, meet the basic $3.50 forpay gasoline. that takes a lot of money every week just to get to work. host: you talked about the contractor side of this. a lot of federal employees work with contractors. a defense contractor was looking to for no their employees in light of the government shutdown. e asks, the furloughed employee numbers do not include the contractor employees that were given stop work orders this week. why are these stats not being included? there is a large shadow workforce of the federal government, between 2 million and 4 million contract employees . our understanding is the be paid by thel government. as such, the contract did employees may not be paid by the contractors because a government building has sat down and those people could not get into the building. the contract that that contractor has with the federal government would receive their money because the government has a contract with them. it is somewhat of a double standard. for the contract employee, they are out there. in many instances, a lot of this ing, thatt contract work can be done at a better value. that is another thing the government have to look at on a regular and ongoing basis. the government have to look at bringing work in-house. from david is up next texas on our line for republicans. you are on with david cox with the american federation of federal employees. x, you talkedo andt the theatrics involved how scientists are not able to do what they do to prevent cancer. there is discussion about patients not getting treatment. you talked about how you are working hard to help congress move past this. are you are sharing the democrats to accept bills like the one that would put the health agencies back to work or arepecifically that, you in line with the democrats saying it has to be a complete build? it is a partial shutdown. it seems the best thing to do is to make it as minimal a shutdown as possible and deal with what is left. aest: we do not support partial government opened back up. lockedernment was not down in piecemeal fashion. it was all closed down and it needs to be all opened back up. process can go on for a long time. you can bring the scientists need theih, but they support personnel. there has to be the clerical- administrative versa mail to make those function. somerical-administrative make thoseports to function. we cannot piecemeal opening the government. it all has to operate as a whole. host: david is still on the line. do you have a follow-up? is a partial shutdown. of the government is shutdown. it appears to me that the position has created as much pain as possible. like barricading open-air monuments or putting a barricade across the road to mount rushmore, which was a state road and they made them take it down. when somebody goes out of their way to put a finger in somebody's i to make them suffer to make their political point ye to make them suffer to , it ispolitical point not necessary. democrats want to call this hostagetaking. when any side is trying to get work, it is all political leverage. certainly. there are laws on the books. what happens when congress fails to appropriate money to operate the government. there are long lists. week, i sawst mountains of paperwork showing what happened. parks are deemed nonessential. they are closed. hospital arehesda deemed essential and told to go to work. clerical employees are told you are not essential. do not go to work. there is no rhyme or reason. i agree with the caller. we need to get budgets passed. congress has had all year long to pass budgets. a need to pass budgets. has said he would sign a clean continuing resolution that had sequester numbers in it. the senate has said they would vote for a clean continuing resolution that had sequester cuts in it. house democrats have said they would support and vote for a clean resolution that had sequester cuts in it. i believe the speaker has to allow a vote on a clean up or down continuing resolution. talk about the future of the federal workforce in light of the shutdown. recruiting down the road, what does this do? has a severe impact. people want to go to work for the federal government and supply the services. they are looking at other areas. the government has always tried it on being able to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. federal employees are not greatly paid. you look at the pay scales for federal employees and they are not highly-compensated individuals compared to the private sector. they want to go to work. only in the federal government are you going to get the research done at the national institute of health does. that is very important. ou look at the v.a. it is a massive research center. it is the best health care center in this country. it has its problems. it is a great health care system that supplies care and does great research that all american citizens benefit from. host: thanks for joining us. we will take you live to today's the chaplain: lord, paraphrasing the love of st. francis, may this congress be an instrument of your peace. where there is hatred, let it so love. where there is injury, pardon i here there is despair, hope. where there is des where there is joy. o divine master, grant that our congress may not so much seek to be consoled as to be consold, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. for it is in giving that we receive, it is impardoning that we are pardoned. it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from california, mr. bera. mr. bera: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, on thursday the capitol was in lockdown when miriam casey led the police on a high-speed chase. she may have been delusional, paranoid and had medicine for schizophrenia. a person that has mental illness does not need a firearm to cause us harm. mr. murphy: the problems with r nation's mental health illness, 750,000 attempted sue sides. the house energy and commerce committee identified inefficient in-patient or outpatient laws. community mental health centers are underfunded. federal privacy laws have problems. and n.i.h. is woefully underfunded. i ask my colleagues to help us deal with serious mental illness in a serious way. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. bera: mr. speaker, i rise to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. bera: mr. speaker, day number five of the government shutdown. day number five. yesterday, you said something that i couldn't agree with more. mr. speaker, yesterday you said this is not a game. last night, my staff gave me a letter from one of my constituents, sara. her close friend battling a rare bone cancer. she's been in chemotherapy and fighting for her life. she has a 1-year-old daughter. she was recently accepted into a clinical trial, a last chance to try to save herself and save her life. now, congress has shut down that trial and put the trials on hold. here is what sara says. please don't let my friend and don't let her daughter grow up without a mother. mr. speaker, i couldn't agree with you more. this is not a game. this is real life. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one inute. mr. brooks: mr. speaker, i speak on the house floor for the third straight day to request that president obama obey the pay our military act, that fully funds all defense workers who, quote, support the armed forces, end quote. since every defense worker by definition supports the armed forces, furloughs for every defense worker should end. over 60 congressmen and i are highlighting this issue in hopes of returning 400,000 furloughed defense workers to their jobs. i am pleased to announce that we're making progress. yesterday, secretary of defense chuck hagel agreed that, quote, there's no job in our department of defense that doesn't support the military, end quote. hence, the pay our military act's only furlough ending requirement has been met. mr. speaker, president obama must end all defense worker furloughs. why? because it's the law and because america's national security is at stake. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. miller: mr. speaker, members of the house, this last week must have been quite a civic's lesson for members of the tea party who thought they could shut down the government and in fact shut down the government and nobody would miss it. but soon they discovered that there are serious problems with that, and now we see one bill after another to restore the n.i.h. because they found they stranded cancer patients and other people in need of their health, to restore the w.i.c. program because they found out that the newest born infants in this country would be without nutrition, the veterans' programs because they found out our veterans would be stranded, the assistance to go to school would be cut off, our national parks. they never thought those communities would be impacted by the national parks. they didn't care about that. they shut them down, but they were here asking for relief. they found out they needed the weather service because the hurricane is approaching our gulf states. they needed fema, someone to help with the evacuation routes. the c.i.a., laid off 70% of those in the c.i.a. this goes on and on and on. welcome to america, a big diverse nation where we -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, we have a chance on the floor today to move this body in the right direction, to move us closer to a solution. there is bipartisan bill offered by mr. moran and mr. wolf, both of virginia, a bill i co-sponsored and a bill thankfully the president agreed to sign. it would allow all federal employees to receive their pay retroactive from october 1 for the entirety of the budget impasse. mr. fitzpatrick: the stalemate we are at now has 400,000 people unsure about their paycheck. there are those at work now who aren't being paid for it. this includes,000 of federal law enforcement officers who continue even today to protect this building and those of us in it and around it. i've been in touch with federal workers in my district, lawing law enforcement, and they should know there's agreement they should receive their pay when the government reopens. mr. speaker, i'm going to be voting in favor of this legislation for all the federal employees in my district and around the country who deserve some certainty while we wait for this impasse to end. mr. speaker, let's continue to talk and let's end this impasse. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much. i rise to speak about the human consequences of this needless human shutdown, the impact of real people back home. mrs. bustos: there are those who are hurt and worried about what's going on in washington and how can any of us blame them. let me give you an example. i have a woman from the quad cities who reached out to our office. she's worked at the rock island arsenal for 15 years, and she told me how much she loved her job. but she was furloughed earlier this year because of sequestration, and now she's out of work indefinitely because of this needless government shutdown. she's worried, like any of us would be, about how she's going to make ends meet, how she's going to support her family and how frustrated she is with the government. we need to encourage good people, like this woman from the quad cities, to stay in public service, not drive them away. she is one of more than 2,500 workers at the rock island arsenal who are impacted by this. i say to my colleagues on the left and my colleagues on the right, let's work together and solve this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee seek recognition? mrs. blackburn: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, words have meaning -- pardon me -- and i find it so interesting as i come to the floor this morning that i continue to hear my colleagues talk about a clean c.r. well, for my colleagues and for my constituents, i want to explain what this means. ey want say, no attachments, no further accountabilities, no spending reductions, just give us the money. and i would remind them the levels that we're spending at are due to sequestration, it's the law. it's the law. by implication they are saying, what you all want is unclean or evil or dirty. what we are for, mr. speaker, s an accountable transparent c.r., an accountable transparent process, transparent and fair to hardworking taxpayers, fair to future generations like my grandson, my nieces, great nieces and nephews who are going to have to pay the bill. let's have an accountable spending process. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for one minute. mr. lujan: mr. speaker, words do have meaning and instead of working together to do our jobs and resolve these critical issues, republicans have taken a decidedly different approach, one that seem to have been looking forward to for some time and to make another desperate attempt to stop the affordable care act. the government shutdown could be the most damaging scene to hit our economy since the budget sequestration they imposed on americans. and i would say to my colleagues that i just heard from, the prayer this morning is so appropriate, a prayer of st. francis, make me a keeper of your peace. there are people that are hurting and are in trouble. let us look inside to the moral obligations that we have and see what we can do to come together. please, let us vote on the continuing resolution passed by the senate. these are the republican budget numbers the democrats have agreed to compromise with. please. listen to st. francis, look inside and see what we can do together. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, how have we ended up here in a government shutdown that nobody wanted? the answer is simple. because the senate has refused to even come to the negotiating table on a spending agreement. the house has passed four measures that would have kept the government open and operating but they were all ignored by the senate. first, we voted to keep the government open and to fund the president's health care bill. mr. benishek: but they ignored that. second, we voted to keep the government open and only delay the health care bill for one year. they ignored that. then, we voted to keep the government open and simply make the rules for the health care exchanges the same for all americans. they ignored that. and lastly, we just asked the senate to talk to us. they ignored that. the obama administration has given exceptions to their allies, big business and some unions. why shouldn't the american people be given the same kind of treatment? the senate should come to the bargaining table today and end this shutdown today. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: the fault -- the reason we have the shutdown is because of the republican leadership. the irony today is that the republicans keep talking about the other side of the aisle here, the other house, yet, they're going to go home at around 12:00 today, if not sooner, and not come back until monday after 6:30. so if you really cared about negotiating and doing something, you wouldn't send everyone home for the next three days. you are not serious. the spending levels have already been agreed on. i heard our democratic leader, ms. pelosi, on the floor the other day saying she agreed with the spending levels. so the money isn't the issue. and i don't even hear the health care reform being talked about much any more on the republican side of the aisle. i have no idea why the speaker of the house continues to keep the government shut down other than maybe they think they can show that they can do it. this is absurd and it's cruel on the people, the people that are being furloughed, the effect on the economy is just awful at this point with this continued shutdown. you come here and say you're going to piecemeal approach and we have bills every day to open up a little part of the government. open the entire government. pass a clean resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, the chair will postponefurther proceedings on the motion to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or which the vote incurs objection under clause 6, rule 0. any recorded vote on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution 58. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: house resolution 8, house resolution expressing sense of congress regarding the need for the continued vainlt of religious services to members of the armed forces and their families during a lapse in appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from south carolina plrks wilson and a member opposed each will control 20 minutes. mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to revise and stepped their remarks and insert extraneous material on the concurrent resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: i rise in strong support of the concurrent resolution offered by my colleague, representative doug collins of georgia, a dedicated chaplain and iraq veteran of the united states air force reserve. his resolution goes to the heart of our ability to worship without interference. i thank him for bringing it to the floor. the resolution expresses the sense of congress regarding the need for the continued availability of religious services to members of the armed forces and their families, during a lapse of appropriations. with my wife and four sons currently serving in the military, i know firsthand of .he importance of chaplains specifically addresses the issue that this house became aware of yesterday, religious services for military personnel are being curtailed or not offered at all because federal civilian employees serving as chaplains contracted to perform the duties of military chaplains have been furloughed. this is an extremely important issue for us to work together. there is no doubt the furloughing of personnel contracted to perform the duties of military chaplains is having an effect. just in this region, church services, baptisms, weddings have been curtailed. the active duty priest at the naval yard has canceled mass. it's a large church and don't have a priest there this weekend. another, half of the masses have been canceled. the impact is more severe overseas where options are more limited than the united states. the general schedule of federal civilian and contracted chaplains are being told that if they do come to their jobs, they will be trespassing. this is just not right. the performance of religious services and the provision of the ministry under the first amendment of the constitution. if the department of interior can permit world war inch i veterans to visit the memorial constructed to honor their service, certainly the secretary of defense can permit first amendment activities. the secretary can and must allow military chaplains and other personnel including contract personnel hired to perform duties of a military chaplain to perform religious services in the same manner and same extent as chaplains are otherwise to perform religious services and ministry when there is an appropriation. it's that simple. mr. speaker, i urge the secretary of defense to do the simple thing, the right thing. allow all chaplains in the armed forces to be their military and federal civilian employees and contractors to minister unhindered to the men and women of the armed forces of the united states. i congratulate doug collins, chaplain of the air force reserve for bringing this resolution to the floor and urge all members to support it. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is reserved. the gentleman from washington is recognized. >> i do not oppose this resolution. it sounds sensible going forward, but i do want to raise a couple process issues. i found out about this 20 minutes ago and i think it is emblem attic of how much this body has broken down. we have to talk to each other. i have staff, armed services committee has the staff to work together. we worked together on the armed services committee been than any other committee in this congress and that isn't saying much. but we have. mr. smith: we just simply have to talk to each other. why would you spring this on us at the last minute. it's not something we object to and getting past this issue, it is part of the entire problem. republicans are complaining because the senate isn't talking to them and the president isn't talking to them about the c.r. and debt ceiling and there are reasons for that, but we have reached an epidemic of not talking to each other on something as small as this. mr. wilson: would the gentleman yield? mr. smith. on the armed services committee and i commend you. we work together in extraordinary fashion and in fact, the national defense authorization act has passed the house as an indication of your goodwill and good faith. i believe the reason has come up so quickly, because this was only learned late yesterday. the consequence of the thought of chaplains to be declared trespassing is inconceivable and it needs to be addressed. mr. smith: right. but again, the communications level has fallen apart. on our side from the next we don't know what we are go being to be voting on. the schedule has been changed in a moment's notice. even back in the shutdown of 1995, there was greater communication between the majority and minority about what was going on. in fact, we had a lot of these small bills that funded pieces of the government. one thing the majority did, they granted the full house a vote on what a clean resolution means and only pertains to spending, it doesn't pertain to policy issues. the house republicans voted it down, but at least we had a vote, ok. and we had a discussion about what we could fund during the shutdown. the complete and utter breakdown in communication between the majority and minority party, the house, senate and president is doing a disservice for this country. i don't care if we get in a room for four hours and yell. we all have our talking points and i have heard them this morning and i have heard them so much and the american people and i are sick to death of those talking points. they are poll tested, wonderful, play to the base and great, and day five going no where. the basic problem here number one on the c.r. is the health care policy issue that basically the republicans, no secret want to get rid of the health care law and they don't have the votes to do it and they are willing to hold up the funding of the government. and that's a very important point that plays into the larger issue. we are -- what is it, 12 days now away from defaulting and we are going to default at this point, because what i hear from my republican colleagues is oh, no, no, no. we don't want to cut. as long as we do tax reform we will be fine and i want to explain briefly to the american people what the difference in the positions are here and i'm going to be as fair and honest. republicans believe we should cut spending and it means mandatory programs. we have cut discretionary level. down to the level. the spending level is down there. and the deficit is high. they want to cut spending. and the president has on more than one occasion put entitlement cuts on the table. the difference of opinion is whether or not we should also raise taxes as part of that deal to deal with the deficit. the president, senate, democrats in the house, which is irrelevant because we don't have the votes, for you guys, you do in the senate and the president has the veto. if there is going to be any entitlement cuts they have to be tax increases and the republicans say absolutely not. so that is the divide. and the problem is republicans won 231 seats in the house. they lost the overall vote in congress by 52-48 but redistricting plays out the way it does. so they are trying to take the votes in the house and jam their broader agenda down everybody's throat and the piece that they have is they are willing to not fund the government and raise the debt ceiling in order to put us in a bad position. democrats cannot vote to cut entitlements if there are not tax increases attached to them. i hope someone somewhere wakes up to this reality before we default and stop insisting that in the next 12 days democrats are going to agree to cut entitlements with no revenue and do some complicated tax reform bill that cuts taxes even further. because that reality does not sit in, we are in for several weeks of greater calamenty. with that, i support the resolution and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. smith -- excuse me, mr. speaker, i commend mr. smith. he has reached across to try to work together and by referencing the shutdown in 1995, there is a difference and it begins at the top. sadly, the president of the united states two weeks ago last night called to announce he was not going to negotiate. in the 1995 shutdown, there was communication between the president and the speaker prior to a shutdown and during the entire shutdown. i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, dr. john fleming. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. fleming: thank you, mr. speaker and i thank congressman wilson and doug collins for bringing this measure up today. mr. speaker, the first amendment rights of our military do not sunset with the lack of appropriations or even in a shutdown. the free exercise of religion is codified in the constitution of the united states and celebrated by every american including those of us who have do or will wear the uniform. military chaplains faithfully serve a unique role in the military bringing the gap between religion and freedom and all people can celebrate mass or participate in a worship service. despite this protected right, the department of defense has decided to effectively close the doors of many churches and chapels. this weekend by not allowing military chaplains to perform their religious duties on military installations because the federal government has not passed the relevant appropriations bill of f.y. 2014. mr. speaker, i contend that the freedom of religion does not follow the federal government's fiscal policy. the freedom of religion is a 24/7 constitutional right that should garner support from this administration and our military leaders. i stand strong with our brave men and women serving the military and urge my colleagues to support this resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from washington is recognized. submit submit i yield 1 1/2 -- ubmit submit i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from new jersey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: the president has talking ks of his term to the republicans and he has been faced with shut the government down. i rise in support of this bill. on eight occasions when president bush was president we had the majority on our side and we agreed to a continuing resolution, a clean continuing resolution. we had our many differences with president bush, over the iraq war, health care and budget. on eight occasions, president bush came to the democratic majority and asked to continue running the government and we said yes. the principle is whether negotiations means you have to have everything you want all the time and shut the government down. that's not the way we do business. that's why three-quarters of the american people agree shutting down the government over the health care law is the wrong thing to do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: i yield two minutes to my colleague, the gentlewoman from tennessee, marsha blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. as we have all heard, we received this news yesterday that our priest and ministers could end up facing government arrests if they attempt to celebrate mass or openly practice their faith on a military base during this government shutdown, a shutdown we did not want. a shutdown that could have been avoided had the president and senator reid agree to negotiate with us. this is so unfortunate, and what we see is no mass, no communion, no confession, no prayer, no faith, no religion. but, mr. speaker, what we have to realize is that religious beliefs predate government. government should not be able to tell those who are religious whether they can practice their faith freely regardless of our government funding situation. what we are seeking is accountability, transparency and reducing what the federal government spends. government funding is irrelevant to the religious rights and freedoms that are enshrined in the first amendment of our constitution. and some don't get to throw away the constitution just because they're unwilling to sit down and negotiate and work with us through this process. we're not going to sit here and say even if you volume to serve the faithful that we are going to deny you. so i ask you, mr. speaker, will our priests and ministers this weekend, some of them, on my post in fort campbell in my strict, are they going to be arrested if they cite a hail mary as they lead in prayer? i think we need to pass this legislation to agree that we let our men and women in uniform pray, let america pray. government shouldn't arrest anyone because someone wants to play politics with this situation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: first off, i support this resolution. nobody is getting arrested for praying. i really wish we could keep the debate here in the well a reality. i believe the issue is they have been furloughed in some instances so they are not allowed to carry on the services. so i don't want that misimpression left dangling out there that somehow we're arresting people from being to church. i wish the debate would remain a little bit more accurate. i just want to make one other point. hile it is true that 1995, president clinton fought the republicans. ultimately, he did not give them any of the policy items that they were asking for. all president obama basically is saying, look, you want to talk, talk. we can't talk about dismantling my health care law. we can't talk about adding policy riders to the c.r. or to the debt ceiling, because we need to keep the government running. and there is one other difference which i know my republican colleagues will not address. the republican majority under newt gingrich in 1995 gave this house a vote, just like the senate has given everything you sent over them a vote. they voted it down but they had a vote. this house will not give us a vote on the c.r. that the senate has passed. if you feel as strongly about it as you do, do what the republicans in 1995 did, bring it up and vote it down. that's democracy. that's in the constitution, too, by the way. that would be helpful. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington reserves. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: mr. smith, i appreciate, again, your support of this. but it is important because sadly information has been provided that chaplains would be subject to trespassing charges. so this does, obviously, interfere with the ability of freedom of speech and religion and assembly. i now yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from kansas, mr. tim huelskamp. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kansas is recognized for two minutes. mr. speaker, is it really the policy of this administration to make church services illegal, to threaten catholic priests with jail if they celebrate mass this weekend? unfortunately, this policy seems to be another tragic reflection of the complete disregard this administration has for americans of faith. what's worse, it's an unprecedented denial of a fundamental constitutional right of our men and women in uniform. like denying access to the world war ii or lincoln memorials for the first time. this is the first time in 17 previous funding lapses covering 16 sundays that our brave chaplains have been threatened with arest ifs they perform their godly -- if they perform their godly duties. secretary hagel must issue a directive that chaplains perform their duties that ..o.d. normally use for this is not empty words on a dusty archaic document to be viewed in a museum. no, for men like my uncle, father leonard, who is an active duty chaplain for the last 30 years, the first amendment is the first thing you do every day as a chaplain, leading men and women of all faiths. .t's something real for one who was recently awarded the medal of honor this year. for father emil was not against some empty words. it's the reason he gave his life for his country. it's the reason he's honored and recognized and how he drew men and women of all faiths. in honor of father capon and all current and former military chaplains and all members of the armed forces, let's strike a blow for religious liberty today. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution and send a clear message to this administration that the rights of those serving in our armed forces cannot be suspended simply to create political and personal pain. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: i reserve as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: i yield the remainder of the time to the sponsor of this resolution, the u.s. air force reserve chaplain, the gentleman from georgia, mr. doug collins. mr. smith, do you have any other speakers? mr. smith: i do not. you have the right to close so i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. wilson: and i yield to doug collins, a u.s. air force reserve chaplain. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he wishes to consume. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend from south carolina whose dedication to our men and women in uniform is among no fear in this body. i thank him for his service and for his family and others. i tell you today, i rise, mr. speaker, really with a troubled heart but also with one that is on behalf of the men and women of the air force and the armed forces and others that are facing something today that they should not have to face. there's no doubt our nation is facing many difficulties and both across the aisle can understand that. and we are fighting for the future of our children and grandchildren. those are legitimate fights. i respect my colleague from across the aisle. these are legitimate fights that we are having here. however, today as i stand, i came to this body to also look for practical things and looking for things that amaze me at times and this is one that does. as we do and as we fight for others, we must ensure that the basic rights of americans do not fall to political theater that occur in this body. military personnel and their families make sacrifices that many of us cannot fathom and they do so to protect the freedom that we take for our -- too often for granted. because of their sacrifice, our nation is a beacon of hope to the dark corners of the world where freedom of speech and religion exists only in fairy tales. yet, today military chaplains who've been contracted to come to bases face a closed door. they cannot go even if they wanted to volunteer to practice their faith during the lapse of appropriations. each of us in this body across the nation should pause for a moment to consider, think about what i just said. if a chaplain wants to minister, a contract chaplain wants to minister to a military station abroad who has no access to a church, a mosque or a synagogue, they would be in violation of the law. i'm a military chaplain, and this breaks my heart. too often we come to this floor and we talk in abstracts. we talk about concept, political jargon, talking about matters that only matter probably less than three miles of this building. but today is different. today we stand with one resounding voice to our military members and the chaplains that we won't allow their first amendment rights to be violated because the other body wants to make a point. the law requires the federal government to ensure military personnel can express their faith or nonfaith in all corners of the world. that is why the military chaplainsy exist and we contract with others who can provide that faith. general george washington issued an order on july 9, 1776 providing through the continental congress for a chaplain for each regiment stating, the blessing and protection of heaven are at all times necessary, but especially so in times of public distress and danger. the administration is apparently unsatisfied denying veterans access to memorials, now they must go after -- in the words of george washington -- the blessing and protection of heaven for our military families. he body has seen its political discourse and they have seen lapse in appropriations over the decades but never before in the history of the nation has the military chaplains and those they contract with that serve our military personnel being prevented from meeting the needs. i worked alongside men and women in iraq. many that were religious and many that were not but my purpose is they could show their first amendment rights as they wish. they must provide religious ministry regardless of our fiscal state. if they want to play games through theatrics, so be it, ut i don't want these to occur . we must continue serving military personnel. however, there's a chronic shortage of active duty chaplains, particularly for catholic and jewish faith. for example, 25% of the military ascribe for catholic faith, but catholic priests make up 8% of the chaplain corps. 275,000 men and women in uniform are served by 234 active duty priest, thus the need to have contract chaplains. due to this shortage of active duty chaplains, it's extremely common for them to contract to ensure the spiritual needs of our military members are met. with the government shutdown, the chaplain corps in military bases worldwide are not permitsed to work, not even permitted to volunteer even if they are the only chaplain on base. as my friend from south carolina and others have mentioned, the restrictions on basic freedoms that are being had around here, and just within this area, at langley, t the navy yard, these are all areas in which they have been cut back and that is a shame. i'm grateful to my colleagues who join me this morning and house leadership for their commitment to ensuring that military chap lanes are able to serve -- chaplains are able to serve the men and women of our armed forces. if this body does not pass this legislation, the ability of military personnel and their family to participate in religious ceremonies will continue to be at great risk. i ask my colleagues to join me in protecting the first amendment rights to those who give their lives to protect ours. and before i close, i agree that many times we haven't communicated and we don't communicate as many would want us to. but i've also heard that timing was a problem here and we should have saw this coming. well, let me just say that timing should never be a hindrance to this body protecting the first amendment rights of any of our citizens and especially of our military personnel. in fact, it should be our highest calling and the thing we run to this floor to discuss. and should we have seen it coming? tell you, what sadens me is i would have never believed that the administration or anyone else would deem protecting a constitutional right as nonessential. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution 58. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. wilson: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking a vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 371, i call up h.r. 3233, federal employee retroactive fairness act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to provide for the compensation of furloughed federal employees. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 371, the bill is considered read. the bill shall be debatable for 40 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform. the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. couplings will each control 20 -- cummings will each tro 20 minutes. mr. turner: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. turner: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized mr. turner: mr. speaker, the house remains actively engaged in finding a solution to end the current impasse. the house has passed a number of commonsense bills to fund our troops, continuing funding for veterans' benefits and allow the district of columbia to spend its own funds and the house passed legislation to bring defense civilian employees back to work, unfortunately the administration is purposely refusing to use the authority granted to pay our military act roughly 400,000 defense civilian employees are at home unable to work. while we wait for the president and senate to reach across the aisle, it is important to provided needed certainty to federal employees who have been furloughed without pay. each and every one of us has federal employees in our district, most of whom are guided by sense of public duty. civilian defense personnel, doctors and nurses at the veterans affairs medical center and records professionals and countless men and women throughout my community have been subject to furlough. in the gulf coast region and other disaster-prone areas, federal employees monitor storms. in the aftermath of these natural disasters, fema workers are sent into horrible conditions to help restore broken communities. at nasa, employees reach for the stars of the they encourage future general rages to not be bound by seemingly intellectual barriers. our law enforcement work to capture those who seek to do harm to the homeland and our allies abroad. h.r. 3223 ensure federal civilian workers will receive retroactive pay regardless of their furlough status. federal workers who have been furloughed have historically received their pay retroactively. h.r. 3223 provides our work will a guarantee their pay resume. i urge support for this bill as we continue to work on legislation to reopen critical operations of the federal government. mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: i rise in strong pport of h.r. 3223 federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. this would provide back pay to 800,000 hard-working and dedicated employees furloughed as a result of a government shutdown we are now enduring. today is day five of the shutdown created by the tea party extremists who are harming our country by holding our government hostage. they are placing our economy and our national security in jeopardy by waging an ideological war to overturn the law of the land and put insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions for tens of millions of our fellow americans. our dedicated public servants ought to be at their duty stations serving the american people right now. they want to be working. they should be working. but instead, they are locked out because the house republican leadership refuses to allow a vote on a clean bill to fund the government, a bill that would pass today. 17 years ago, federal workers were given back pay after newt gingrich record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996. it was the fair thing to do then and it is the fair thing to do now. our federal employees have been under relentless and unfair attack in recent years and have ack cry filesed much -- sacrificed much already. $200 billion through the deficit reduction pay freeze. retirement benefits have been slashed and on top of that, mr. speaker, many have suffered through sequester-imposed furloughs and many families have seen their lives needlessly disrupted by the shutdown. the least we can do for our fellow citizens who work for this great country is to give them the reassurance of knowing that they will receive back pay. the irresponsible piecemeal approach pursued by republicans owe myths huge parts of the government and attempts to pick and choose those who will be paid and those who won't. that is not an efficient or effective way to run the government. and the american people are sick f it and they must be heard. h.r. 3223 and i give great credit to mr. moran and mr. wolf, a bipartisan group of great virginians. i employ them but this 3223 would ensure all federal workers will be paid once this manufactured crisis is over and the government is reopened. this is not their fault. and they should not suffer as a result. it's long past time for republicans to reopen the government. instead of disrupting the lives of our fellow citizens and wasting time and taxpayer money. house republicans should reopen the government today, not yesterday, right now. by simply bringing to the floor a measure that funds the entire government without taking away the health care of our fellow citizens. for these reasons, i urge my colleagues to join all of us in supporting h.r. 3223. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from ohio. mr. turner: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, the author of the bill we are considering today that would retroactively the pay to federal workers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wolf: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. i want to thank leader cantor and his staff and mr. moran and mr. cummings and all the others and my staff and all the staff who did this very, very quickly. this was done during the reagan administration and clinton administration. who are the federal employees? the federal employees are the f.b.i. agents that if they got a call saying their loved one was kidnapped, the first person they would call an f.b.i. agent. i was with mr. hoyer two weeks ago at the navy yard, the 12 people who were killed at the navy yard. they were all federal employees and mr. hoyer can tell you, when the c.n.o. talked about it, they are part of the fleet. the capitol policemen that we gave a standing ovation, they are federal employees. the v.a. doctors at walter reed working on those who have served in afghanistan and iraq, they are federal employees. i remember i was with mr. hoyer when we were down at o.p.m. earlier this year when they had stars on the wall of 27 federal employees that died since 2012 and since that time, the number of stars have been added tremendously. saw the movie "zero dark thirty." the woman who did that movie, has she been furloughed? should she not get paid? >> i remember being at the memorial service, if you saw the ok and -- movie and read the book, seven individuals died. i saw the families who were mourning their parents. they are federal employees. 12,000 c.i.a. employees have been furloughed and gone, maybe missing that one communication. i strongly urge a strong vote and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from state of maryland, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding and i want to thank my colleague frank wolf. there's no harder advocate, more effective advocate for federal employees. he and i have worked together for over 32 years on behalf of the interests of those people who work for the american people every day to make them safer, healthier, more informed. and i want to thank myself, the majority leader, thank the ranking member. i want to thank the gentleman who offers his support of this bill and i want to thank my colleagues. mr. speaker, we are five days into a government shutdown caused by -- well i'm not sure what it's caused by. as a result, approximately 800,000 middle-class workers who serve the american people are furloughed without pay. all of us talk about working americans how we want to make sure they have the jobs that they need to support themselves and their families. our federal employees have been asked to accept cola freezes for the past four years and endured changes to the retirement benefits and the furloughs imposed by the sequester. i'm glad to see the chairman of the appropriations committee on the floor. there has been no more stronger voice on the irrationality of the sequester than my friend from kentucky. only my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can say with certainty, if they can, when our federal government will be able to go back to work. but the american people are already noticing their absence, whether safeguarding our national parks, performing medical research at n.i.h., overseing disaster relief efforts, making sure nutrition assistance gets to the children and federal employees make a critical, a critical contribution to the country and communities and the american people they serve. we saw their selfless devotion on display this thursday when as the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf said, when u.s. capitol police who are currently on the job without the promise of pay protected all of us who work in the capitol complex during a security incident. i'm proud to represent 62,000 hard-working federal employees in my district. yet most of the federal employees are not in the washington metro area. 80% of them are dispersed throughout this country. many of whom serve in civilian defense roles like at indian river and webster field. but each one of you can name a facility. one of them wrote expressing his frustration. he writes and i quote, i'm quite tired for being punished when my only crime is supporting our great nation with my labor. may i have one additional minute? mr. cummings: grant the gentleman an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: i thank my republican colleagues for recognizing that pain in bringing this bill to the floor. another constituent of mine end at pax river saying the shutdown. as we are doing, we must reopen our government and could do so today, this hour, but until the majority allows a vote on the bill to reopen the government, let us at least provided the dedicated patriotic federal employees who want nothing more than to go back to work with the peace of mind that they will still be paid for their service. i want to thank mr. moran. he has been an extraordinary leader on behalf of federal employees. congressman connolly, steve lynch, others on the republican side who have been aligned on that effort as well, surely, we the board of directors of the greatest enterprise on earth can take care of our employees and give them confidence that they deserve and i thank the speaker for the additional time. and i yield back the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from ohio. . .

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