BISF hosts debate over government shutdown

11/18/13 6:00pm

The Baker Institute Student Forum held its fall 2013 debate between the Rice Conservative Forum and the Rice Young Democrats on Nov. 13. Debaters verbally sparred over who was to blame for the 16-day United States government shutdown that occurred in October. 

Rice Convervative Forum

• "On the day of the shutdown, the House passed a bill that requested a joint committee to resolve the crisis, and the Democrats refused. Democrats voted against that bill because they were not open to compromise on any level whatsoever."  James Dargan, Wiess College junior
• "Republicans agree that the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. It was upheld in the Supreme Court, and the president won an election campaigning mainly off of the law. That being said, we're trying to improve the law. Whether you think it's a terrible idea and you want to completely repeal it and replace it with something else or you think it's a major step forward in American health care, it's still not a bad idea to make sure it works for Americans by delaying it for a year. Given that we've spent upwards of $600 million on it, I think it would make sense to make sure the investment comes to fruition." Steven Moen, Lovett College senior
• "A government shutdown occurred in the Reagan administration, and this was under a Republican president and a Democratic majority. If the positions in the government were reversed this year, a shutdown would still have occurred." Zach Birenbaum, Hanszen College freshman

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Rice Young Democrats

• "This is how the legislative process works: a bill passes, and it goes into effect. If you're not happy with it or your district is not happy, you should try and write a new bill. You shouldn't hold an entire party hostage and use the American people as a threat to get rid of something that you don't like."  Hira Baig, Sid Richardson College junior
• "The reason that the government shutdown happened is because Republicans refused to allow both houses of Congress to go to conference. They rejected that move 19 times."  Nathan Joo, Will Rice College junior
• "[The Republicans] planned the shutdown. It's no coincidence that the start of the Affordable Care Act and the government shutdown happened at the same time. In fact, there was a document called "A Blueprint to Defund Obamacare" signed by conservatives across America to hold the shutdown and keep the American people hostage. The shutdown was not a defense of conservative values or of the conservative constituency, but rather a breakdown of the democratic process in Congress." Tanya Rajan, Martel College sophomore

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