“So today is a sad day, in view of the fact that our government has shut down. It’s a sad day for workers across this country -especially government workers”, said Rep. Rahall who I thought could bust out in tears at any moment.
On October 1st, 2013 Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for 60 seconds, on this the first full day of the Republican imposed government shutdown to lament the fact that it is a very “sad day in America.”
“Mr. Speaker, nobody in this House has wanted the government to shut down, as it has today. Indeed, Speaker Boehner himself predicted no government shutdown several months ago and was holding by that–until he became hijacked by a certain element of his party. In May of 2007, President George Bush was President, the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate, and 140 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to defund the Iraq war. In September of the same year, Congress voted to increase the debt limit.”
“Now imagine if Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats had threatened to breach the debt limit unless the Republicans agreed to defund the Iraq war. At that time, approval of the Iraq war was polled at 33 percent in favor and 64 percent against”, he said.
So today is a sad day, in view of the fact that our government has shut down. It’s a sad day for workers across this country–especially government workers. Those on the extreme right are happy about it. We read their quotes every day in the press. Michele Bachmann said: We’re very excited. It’s exactly what we want. We got it. Another Member on the majority side from Texas said: Let’s roll. Let’s go for it. Yes – it’s a sad day”, said Rep. Rahall (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
Rep. Rahall is the ranking member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over our Nation’s highways, railways, airports, seaports, bus lines, and pipelines, as well as the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He also serves on the following Task force, coalitions and caucuses:
Member, Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease
Member, Coalition for Autism Research and Education
Member, Congressional Buy American Caucus
Member, Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse
Member, Military Veterans Caucus
Member, National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus
Member, Rural Education Caucus
Member, Rural Health Care Coalition