Posted on 10/02/2013 8:42:52 PM PDT by oxcart
Dear friends and neighbors in central Oklahoma,
At midnight yesterday, the federal government officially slowed down when Fiscal Year 2014 began. Today, most federal offices were still open, but they had reduced staff levels. Twenty-four hours ago, the House passed a formal request to the Senate to select lead negotiators,so we could meet to work out a compromise. The House selected our negotiators, set aside a room to meet,and waited for the Senate. Unfortunately, two minutes after opening their legislative day, the Senate voted to “table” the House measure and refused to meet with the House today.
It is frustrating when a simple conversation could clarify so much.
I have heard over and over from many Oklahomans that they want to see some changes to the Affordable Care Act,and they want to get the government open again. I will continue to work with that mandate.
There is one area where the House, Senate, and President have come to an agreement and passed a bill providing uninterrupted pay for our military and DOD civilians. Our armed forces and civilian support have suffered the most this year during the sequester, and it was essential that they were protected during this government slowdown. But early this morning, I learned that the Department of Defense narrowly interpreted that law to apply only to a small group of civilian defense employees. This ignores the clear language of the House bill that mandates that all military and civilians are protected from the slowdown, including our National Guard and Reserve members serving in active duty status, full-time Guard members, and dual-status technicians. I have sent a letter to Secretary Hagel to ask him to rectify this situation immediately.
Since the House had such strong bipartisan support for the military, we believed that there was an opening for other bipartisan cooperation. We wrote three clean bills to provide immediate full funding for all veteran services, national parks, and the District of Columbia. Since time is essential and we felt there was no controversy on funding these priorities, we brought the bills to the floor with a rapid procedure that required a two-thirds majority vote. But only 30 Democrats joined Republicans tonight, so the bills fell just short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Tomorrow, we will have to bring the bills back up to pass them with a simple majority, which further delays the process.
Protecting veterans, opening the national monuments, and allowing the District of Columbia to operate should not divide Americans. The District of Columbia is the only city in the country with a unique constitutional status. They collect tax dollars, like other cities or states but cannot spend their own funding without approval from Congress. The bill rejected by House Democrats this evening simply would have authorized DC to spend their own tax dollars.
Next week, 82 World War II veterans from Oklahoma and their guardians will board a plane at Will Rogers Airport and fly to DC to see the monument built in their honor. Under a government slowdown, however, the World War II monument is closed for business. The vote this evening would have opened national parks, including the WWII monument, to those who deserve to see them.
After only three years of serving in Washington DC, I am amazed how often molehills turn into mountains because people will not sit down and resolve their issues face to face.
I will continue to keep you up to date on the government slowdown facing the families of our federal employees, and I look forward to a swift resolution. Please continue to contact my office at (405) 234-9900 or (202) 225-2132, if you have any questions or comments. However, my office has also implemented staff furloughs, so our response to your questions may take longer than usual.
Is there a list of which House GOP members are still fighting with Cruz and still going after Obamacare and trying to get the Senate and the WH to compromise?
I am interested in seeing a list and seeing who is still keeping the fight going in the House.
Shut it down until weeds are growing in the center of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The longer the shutdown goes on, the more people will wonder about the need for many government operations. Dems are afraid of this.
Yes, which is why the shutdowns reach much, much farther than shutdowns have in the past. Obastard wants to hurt as many people as he possibly can, then blame Republicans. Too soon to tell if it’s working.
Compliance with Obamacare violates Doctor Patient Confidentiality.
Obamacare is in violation of the Doctors Hippocratic Oath as follows:
” - - - All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal. - - - “
Another line of legal reasoning involves comparing Obamacare to all the do’s and don’ts the Federal Government has put into Law about our “privacy rights” such as HIPPA, questions that future employers can and cannot ask at one’s job interview, etc.
A criminal at arrest time has the “right to remain silent” which is not an option for any of us - - - , as our Doctors have been forced by the damn Federal Government to betray us over our very loud protests.
Class Action Law Suit anyone?
Might be something for Senators Cruz and Lee to file on our behalf ?!
Consider the emotions today of all those Federal Employees who have young children.
They are not going to be happy, happy, happy with Barry’s AG Eric Holder for stopping the National AMBER ALERT Program over the weekend.
Surely, Mr. Fast and Furious Holder thought this Amber Alert cancellation through and made an exception for Michelle Obama’s two darling children?
BTW, I wonder if Barry, General of the Senate Harry “Mean Ol’ Guy” Reid, and Colonel of her former self Nancy “Always in a fog” Pelosi realize that other Federal employees ALSO have young children that need to be protected by the National Amber Alert Program?
BTW, BTW, the boy-toy, wanna-be dictator Barry Soetoro, aka Mr. Michelle Obama, COULD order his personal Corporate Jet, Air Force One, to be mothballed, by Executive Order, of course. (He must have a few blank EO forms lying around his empty chair, or his Golf bag - - - ).
That simple gesture just might, could, show that Barry also “feels our pain.”
Barry could also BARRYCADE his own personal Golf Course, and BARRYCADE the Oceans, only on Federal land, of course. (Governors are so touchy these days about THEIR State’s shorelines)!
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