Statement of Representative Danny K. Davis on Ending the Shutdown and Raising the Debt Ceiling

Statement of Representative Danny K. Davis on Ending the Shutdown and Raising the Debt Ceiling

October 16, 2013

I am pleased and relieved that the United States Congress has a vote scheduled on an agreement to end the shutdown of our government and raise the debt ceiling. I plan to vote yes on the agreement as I now understand it.

I am disappointed that the agreement to end the shutdown only extends into January of 2014 and the agreement to raise the debt ceiling only extends until February 2014. I am even more disappointed that the sequester will continue with no relief for those who have suffered its consequences.

There is no acknowledgment of the cost and harm resulting from this shutdown and the threat to our nation's economy. If one were looking for winners and losers coming out of this totally unnecessary crisis one would have to say the winners were the American people who will see their government go back to work for them. And the losers . . . the American people who will never recover either the direct costs of this shutdown or the lost opportunities due to the shutdown at a time when our economy is still struggling to put millions of Americans back to work, to save families from foreclosure, and to provide basic services including security, health care and education.

No progress has been made on the profound differences which have virtually paralyzed this Congress and no consensus has been reached on abandoning the tactics of holding our government and our economy hostage rather than engaging in honest debate and compromise. Upon passage of this agreement the Congress must turn its attention to passing a budget and a vision of how we can effectively address the urgent needs of the American people along with a number of other pressing legislative issues. I am eager to engage in that constructive process and trust that we will move forward in that vein without delay.