“We want to open the government. We want to end this. But we want to keep as much of the government functioning while we do it.”, questoned Rep. Barton.
On October 5, 2013 Rep. Joe Barton of Texas asked for and was Granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for one minute regarding the government shutdown.
“Mr. Speaker, we’re seeing an interesting dialogue today in the 1-minutes.”
“Last week, House Republicans brought to the floor a bill before the shutdown to pay our military. Both sides totally supported that, the Senate accepted it, and the President signed the bill. So that’s law. Early this week, after the shutdown occurred, House Republicans brought to the floor to fund the Veterans Administration, to fund National Institutes of Health research, to fund and open our national parks. My friends on the other side of the aisle–most of them, not all–voted “no” against that and called it a gimmick”, he said.
“Today we brought a bill to the floor, the House Republicans, once the shutdown is over, to pay furloughed workers. Again, on that one today, both sides embraced it and said it’s a good thing. Now my friends on the Democratic side are getting up and arguing against themselves. We want to open the government. We want to end this. But we want to keep as much of the government functioning while we do it”, said Rep. Barton (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov/).
Rep. Barton he Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy & Commerce. Making him extremely influential in Congress.