Congress
“Today, House Republican leaders released the 2014 legislative schedule. The House should take full advantage of the days we are in session next year to engage in bipartisan compromise toward achieving the results our constituents expect from us: creating jobs, setting our fiscal house in order, and investing in the long-term competitiveness of our economy.
With less than 20 legislative days scheduled for the remainder of the year, there are a number of critical issues that Congress should take action on immediately.
"I was very saddened to learn of the passing of my friend, Ike Skelton. He was an extraordinary American, and I had the privilege of serving alongside him in Congress for nearly thirty years, where I saw his compassion, his humility, and his deep-rooted Missouri values up close.
“Bill Young was my friend. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. Bill Young was an example for us all. I will have the privilege of speaking on Thursday, at his request, at his funeral. Bill and I served on the Appropriations Committee for twenty-three years together. Then I left when I became Majority Leader.
“Lorraine Miller is a trailblazing leader who has served our country with distinction as the first African-American Clerk of the House of Representatives, and she will do an outstanding job leading the NAACP as its interim President and CEO.
"I join in mourning the loss of Rep. Bill Young, with whom I was honored to serve in Congress for over thirty years and to work alongside on the Appropriations Committee for much of that time. He embodied the spirit of cooperation that helped achieve important bipartisan legislation - a spirit he continued to promote throughout his time in Congress.
“I was deeply saddened to learn this morning of the passing of my friend, former Speaker Tom Foley, and my thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Heather, and their extended family.
“Once again, House Republicans are in disarray, unable to govern as a result of division and dysfunction. Even when promising a continuation of their policy of sequester and another defunding of the Affordable Care Act – gifts to the extreme wing of their party – Republicans lacked sufficient support and were unable to bring their bill to the Floor.
“In presenting a Congressional Gold Medal today in memory of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, we mark a day long awaited. Thanks to the efforts of Congresswoman Terri Sewell, Congress is recognizing and honoring the lives of the four little girls brutally killed in the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.