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Rep. Mike D. Rogers

Mr. Speaker, we have now reached a thousand days since the Congress of the United States has adopted a budget. It's not the fault of the House of Representatives. We passed a budget. We passed one last year and are going to pass another one this year. The President has proposed a budget every year, and nobody here much liked it. That's okay. He at least proposed a budget. What we haven't seen is the other body at the other end of the Capitol adopt a budget at all. They don't like the House budget; they don't like the President's budget. And they don't do anything.

The fact is, if we're ever going to get our financial house in order, we have to have a budget, just like families, just like businesses. It's time for the other body to pass a budget. It's time for the President to call on the other body, which is controlled by his party, to pass a budget. I hope he'll do that tonight. Because the fact is we've got to get this country working again. It's all about jobs. And the fact that the Congress can't operate under a budget and get its fiscal house in order is hindering that job growth because it's affecting the financial markets in a negative way.

So to the other body: Pass a budget.