Floor Statements

Mr. President, while Senator Leahy is still on the floor, I want to thank him for his extraordinary work on the conference committee to try to resolve our budget impasse. I know he has been working night and day. He has shared with many of us the work he has been doing on behalf of getting a budget that reflects the will of this body and of the House, and hopefully it will be completed before midnight on Friday.

So I want to personally thank the distinguished Senator, the senior Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, for the work he has done to keep the government open, to provide security for our borders, and to make sure we get all of our appropriations bills done.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed as in morning business.

Mr. President, 54 years ago, 600 nonviolent protesters set off to march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, to protest the disenfranchisement of Black voters in the South.

They got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge when they saw police officers lined up on the other end, waiting with tear gas, clubs, and dogs. The iconic bridge stood between the police and protesters like a physical barrier between hope and violence, democracy and second-class citizenship.

Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments--which cemented into law the freedom, citizenship, and voting rights of Black Americans--passed nearly 100 years earlier across the country, literacy tests, poll taxes, violence, and intimidation stood in the way of this constitutional promise. This was especially true in Alabama.

According to the 1961 Civil Rights Commission report, at the time of the famous protests, fewer than 10 percent of the voting-age Black population was registered in Alabama's Montgomery County. This infamous march from Selma was intended to right the wrong and to shine light on the injustice of all the many laws that kept voting from being accessible to Black Americans.

For months leading up to it, a community of activists--led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and of course our esteemed colleague Representative John Lewis--carried out voting registration drives and nonviolent demonstrations, all against the resistance of the local government and members of the Ku Klux Klan. These efforts laid the groundwork for the march from Selma, which ended with Alabama State troopers attacking the protesters.

The images of the State-sponsored violence were shown across the country, galvanizing the American public in favor of voting rights in a day that has since become known as Bloody Sunday.

Five months later, on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. The bill is one of the crowing victories of the civil rights movement and for our American democracy.

This monumental legislation outlawed the malicious barriers to the polls and held States accountable for the discriminatory obstacles imposed on citizens who sought to fulfill their constitutional right. It opened doors for Black citizens across the South to register, to cast a vote, or to run for office in higher numbers than ever before.

As we celebrate this February as Black History Month, we must remember that Black history is American history. We must remember that too often in our Nation's past, the work to create a more perfect Union has fallen upon the shoulders of Americans whose full rights of citizenship were discounted simply because of the color of their skin. The right to vote is a fundamental American tenet. Yet it has historically been denied to men and women of color.

We must remember that when we tell stories of those who fought and struggled to secure voting rights in our Nation's past, it is because their stories serve as a precursor to our own.

Today voting rights are still under attack. Many who survived the brutal attack on Bloody Sunday and lived to see the passage of the Voting Rights Act have also lived to see the same monumental bill weakened by the 2013 Shelby County Supreme Court decision.

They have watched our President and Republican legislators tout myths of voter fraud to justify strict voter ID laws, partisan gerrymandering, and limited access to voting information. These efforts undoubtedly disadvantage Black Americans more than most and put a scourge on the system that defines our democracy. It is an insult to those who were robbed of their freedom and oftentimes their lives to create a more equal future.

One such example of modern voter disenfranchisement can be found in the fact that the United States denies voting rights to citizens with felony convictions. We are one of the exceedingly few Western democracies that permanently strip citizens of their right to vote as a punishment for their crimes.

Let's be clear. We are not talking about voting rights for felons currently incarcerated; we are talking about voting rights for those who have served their time and have since been released, attained jobs, raised a family, paid taxes, and moved on with their lives. Under the current law in 34 States, these individuals are still denied the right to vote, and that is simply unfair and undemocratic.

Black History Month demands that we bring this injustice to light because felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects men and women of color. One out of thirteen Black Americans is currently unable to vote because of a prior conviction for which they have already served time--a rate that is more than four times greater than the non- Black Americans.

Right now, in total, more than 2 million Americans are unable to vote because of prior convictions, despite having already served their time and paying their debt to society. That is why this year I will again be introducing the Democracy Restoration Act, a bill that would restore voting rights to individuals after they have been released and returned to their community.

I am committed to seeing this legislation passed. My hope is that Black History Month inspires all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me.

We must also combat efforts to intimidate and disenfranchise voters. That is why last year I introduced legislation that would prohibit and penalize knowingly spreading misinformation, such as incorrect polling locations, times, or the necessary forms of identification. This Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Act will prohibit and penalize intentionally and knowingly spreading misinformation to voters that is intended to suppress the vote, including the time and place of an election and restrictions on voter eligibility.

Reliably, these tactics always seem to target minority neighborhoods and are blatant attempts to reduce turnout. Such tactics undermine and corrode our very democracy and threaten the integrity of our electoral system.

In Stacey Abrams' response to the State of the Union last week, she said that ``the foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair

elections, where voters pick their leaders--not where politicians pick their voters.'' This is precisely why I have chosen to speak out about voting rights this month--because this issue defines our moral and democratic character as a nation and because it is an area where we still have so much work left to do.

Casting a vote is one of the most basic and fundamental freedoms in any democracy, and Congress has the responsibility to ensure the right is protected.

Congress has the responsibility to remove barriers to voting and make it easier for people to register to vote, cast their vote, and make sure their votes are counted. No one can appreciate the need for us to meet this responsibility better than Black Americans whose collective story is one of triumph over racist laws and undemocratic norms.

On Black History Month, Congress must vow to follow their example and work together across party lines to make voting easier, fairer, and more accessible to all.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I am pleased that today the Senate passed S. 47, a bipartisan package of conservation and natural resources bills that will help preserve irreplaceable historic sites and conserve unique wildlife throughout my State of Maryland.

I worked with my counterpart, the junior Senator from Maryland, to secure multiple provisions in the bill recognizing the historical and cultural significance of great places, including Baltimore's President Street Station, the oldest surviving urban railroad terminal in America, as well as Public School 103, the elementary school where Justice Thurgood Marshall first learned many of the lessons that would make him a legendary lawyer and American jurist.

For years, we have worked to move Justice Marshall's elementary school and President Street Station closer to improved, permanent preservation so that current and future generations can learn the facts about Baltimore's role in the American Civil War and in the Civil Rights movement. In addition, the public lands package includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has been a vital tool for securing public access in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through the creation of treasured parks, refuges, community green spaces, battlefields, and habitat conservation and restoration projects.

S. 47 also includes reauthorization of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which promotes long-term conservation, education, research, monitoring, and habitat protection activities for more than 380 species of migratory birds, including Maryland's State bird, the Baltimore Oriole.

The Baltimore Oriole and other migratory birds are critical indicators of the health of Maryland's ecosystems, agriculture, and outdoor recreation economy.

I am also delighted the package includes the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area Act, legislation I cosponsored led by my colleagues in the Senate delegation from West Virginia. This bipartisan legislation proposes to protect forest management heritage in portions of West Virginia, as well as two counties in western Maryland, and to develop interpretive and recreational themes. This will bring visitors and small business development to this remarkable region.

No compromise is perfect, but this package will advance priorities in every corner of my State that have been years in the making. I applaud Senate passage of this landmark legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Protecting Employees Security Clearances Act of 2019 (PESCA). I am pleased to have Senators Leahy, Jones, Baldwin, Kaine, Feinstein, Hirono, Klobuchar, Durbin, Shaheen, Cortez Masto, Hassan, and Van Hollen as cosponsors. Our measure would protect federal employees and contractors from losing their security clearances due to financial reasons, such as poor credit scores, that are attributable to a lapse in federal appropriations. The bill directs the Security Executive Agent to ensure that a lapse in appropriations (including the one that ended last month) is considered as a mitigating factor for initial or continued security clearance eligibility during the adjudication process. More specifically, the bill states that ``No head of any agency may revoke the national security eligibility of a covered employee because of a reduction in the credit score or negative information in a consumer credit file of the covered employee that is attributable to disrupted income payments as a result of a lapse in appropriations.''

Nearly 80 percent of Americans live from one paycheck to the next. They cannot afford to miss even a single paycheck. Federal workers and contractors are no different. ``Excepted'' employees--those individuals who are compelled to work without pay during a shutdown--are guaranteed retroactive pay. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (Public Law 116-1), which I authored, now guarantees retroactive pay for furloughed federal workers. I have co-sponsored S. 162, Senator Smith's bill to provide retroactive pay for lower wage contractor employees. Currently, there is no guarantee that contractor employees will be paid after a shutdown ends.

Many federal workers and contractors are subject to high security standards that include rigorous and routine financial background checks. Missing payments on debts could create delays in securing or renewing security clearances. We shouldn't punish these hard-working, patriotic Americans because they are forced to go without pay during a shutdown they bear no responsibility for causing. Providing retroactive pay is the right and fair thing to do, but forcing these individuals to miss one or more paychecks causes real financial harm. At a minimum, their security clearances shouldn't be jeopardized as a result.

Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association (FBIAA) published a report entitled, ``Voices From The Field: FBI Agent Accounts of the Real Consequences of the Government Shutdown.'' The report warned of the dire national security consequences of the shutdown. It also documented the financial hardships FBIAA members were facing. Two comments from the FBIAA's Central Region summed up the situation. One Agent wrote, ``My wife and I are both FBI employees who were recently transferred to a new city and finally bought our first home. Now we can't pay the mortgage for it. We contacted our lender, and they are refusing to work with us. They don't want our `Hardship Letter', they want money, period.'' Another wrote, ``There have been several employees who have gotten zero assistance from their mortgage lenders and banks regarding home and car loans and still have to make payments on time or get penalized. They are truly struggling to make ends meet.''

Last December, when President Trump met with Leader Schumer and soon- to-be Speaker Pelosi, he boasted about shutting the government down, saying, ``I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down.'' While President Trump was proud ``to take the mantle,'' innocent victims were taking it on the chin. Here we are, less than five days away from another potential shutdown. I earnestly hope we can avoid another shutdown. But in the interim, we urgently need to mitigate the real harm federal workers and contractor employees suffer when they are forced to go without their pay. Passing PESCA is one way to do that. Just 13 days elapsed between the time I introduced the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act and President Trump signed it into law. I hope we can act with the same alacrity with respect to PESCA.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Protecting Employees Security Clearances Act of 2019 (PESCA). I am pleased to have Senators Leahy, Jones, Baldwin, Kaine, Feinstein, Hirono, Klobuchar, Durbin, Shaheen, Cortez Masto, Hassan, and Van Hollen as cosponsors. Our measure would protect federal employees and contractors from losing their security clearances due to financial reasons, such as poor credit scores, that are attributable to a lapse in federal appropriations. The bill directs the Security Executive Agent to ensure that a lapse in appropriations (including the one that ended last month) is considered as a mitigating factor for initial or continued security clearance eligibility during the adjudication process. More specifically, the bill states that ``No head of any agency may revoke the national security eligibility of a covered employee because of a reduction in the credit score or negative information in a consumer credit file of the covered employee that is attributable to disrupted income payments as a result of a lapse in appropriations.''

Nearly 80 percent of Americans live from one paycheck to the next. They cannot afford to miss even a single paycheck. Federal workers and contractors are no different. ``Excepted'' employees--those individuals who are compelled to work without pay during a shutdown--are guaranteed retroactive pay. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (Public Law 116-1), which I authored, now guarantees retroactive pay for furloughed federal workers. I have co-sponsored S. 162, Senator Smith's bill to provide retroactive pay for lower wage contractor employees. Currently, there is no guarantee that contractor employees will be paid after a shutdown ends.

Many federal workers and contractors are subject to high security standards that include rigorous and routine financial background checks. Missing payments on debts could create delays in securing or renewing security clearances. We shouldn't punish these hard-working, patriotic Americans because they are forced to go without pay during a shutdown they bear no responsibility for causing. Providing retroactive pay is the right and fair thing to do, but forcing these individuals to miss one or more paychecks causes real financial harm. At a minimum, their security clearances shouldn't be jeopardized as a result.

Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association (FBIAA) published a report entitled, ``Voices From The Field: FBI Agent Accounts of the Real Consequences of the Government Shutdown.'' The report warned of the dire national security consequences of the shutdown. It also documented the financial hardships FBIAA members were facing. Two comments from the FBIAA's Central Region summed up the situation. One Agent wrote, ``My wife and I are both FBI employees who were recently transferred to a new city and finally bought our first home. Now we can't pay the mortgage for it. We contacted our lender, and they are refusing to work with us. They don't want our `Hardship Letter', they want money, period.'' Another wrote, ``There have been several employees who have gotten zero assistance from their mortgage lenders and banks regarding home and car loans and still have to make payments on time or get penalized. They are truly struggling to make ends meet.''

Last December, when President Trump met with Leader Schumer and soon- to-be Speaker Pelosi, he boasted about shutting the government down, saying, ``I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down.'' While President Trump was proud ``to take the mantle,'' innocent victims were taking it on the chin. Here we are, less than five days away from another potential shutdown. I earnestly hope we can avoid another shutdown. But in the interim, we urgently need to mitigate the real harm federal workers and contractor employees suffer when they are forced to go without their pay. Passing PESCA is one way to do that. Just 13 days elapsed between the time I introduced the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act and President Trump signed it into law. I hope we can act with the same alacrity with respect to PESCA.

Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's attention to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Fairness Act of 2019, common sense legislation I am introducing with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen today. This legislation seeks to eliminate a barrier that potential college students with difficult personal and financial circumstances face when applying for Federal financial aid that too often has left them without a path forward to earning a college education and joining the middle class.

This body has worked to improve the college application process for students and their families over the last several years and successfully lobbied the Department of Education to allow students and their families to submit their FAFSA application in October and utilize prior prior-year tax data. These changes provide future college students and their families with several months to submit their financial information instead of a short time frame between January and February to meet State and institutional-based deadlines for need- and merit-based financial aid programs. These steps have made it easier for students to sit with their families and make informed financial decisions on which college or university will provide the highest quality yet least expensive college education.

Despite our work, a number of our students are being left behind and cannot take advantage of these changes. Many of these students face difficult personal and financial situations. For instance, some have left home due to abusive family environments; others may have parents who are incarcerated. Still others may be unable to locate their parents. All of the students in these circumstances are unable to fill out the FAFSA application. Rather than fill out one universal Federal financial aid application form, a potential college student must contact each institution she or he is applying to and undergo a ``dependency override'' process before a college or university will put together an estimated financial aid package for the student. Under this process, a student applying to one university in my State of Maryland, for instance, must submit nine different pieces of financial information, a personal statement, and references to verify their independent status. These students, often first generation students unfamiliar with the process for applying to school, may give up on the dependency override process and fail to finish the college application process or leave significant Federal financial aid on the table.

Mr. President, I think it is unfair that we place additional burdens on these students. We should not make opening the door to a brighter future harder than it is already. In Maryland, we know that access to a high-quality, yet affordable, education is the key to success and increasingly required for entry into the middle class. Regardless of a student's background or the circumstances that he or she has fought to overcome, it is my belief that this Congress should work to ensure maximum access to higher education.

The FAFSA Fairness Act would seek to correct this inequity for some of our most vulnerable students. If enacted, my legislation would allow students in these difficult personal and financial circumstances to fill out a FAFSA form as a ``provisional independent'' student and receive a provisional determination of their Federal financial aid award from the Department of Education. The colleges that the student applies to would receive notification of the student's special circumstances and conduct outreach to inform the student of the process for completing a dependency override. After a student has completed the dependency override form, the school would provide the student with a final financial aid award package that includes Federal, State, and institutional need- and merit-based aid so the student could bargain shop for the best financial aid award package between multiple schools. After such students have been admitted to college, this legislation would allow them to remain focused on their classwork instead of annual recertification of their independent status by maintaining the dependency override decision for as long as they remain in school or if the university is made aware of new information about their status. My legislation would provide students with a pathway to complete the FAFSA, one of the first steps towards applying to college and obtaining a foothold in the middle class. It also provides students with an opportunity to identify the colleges and universities that match up the best with their financial situation and educational goals.

I am proud to lead this Senate effort with my colleague from Maryland and appreciate the work of our delegation, especially U.S. Representatives Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, and John P. Sarbanes, who are introducing a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. I urge my Senate colleagues to join in this effort to help some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students achieve their dream of higher education despite their difficult family and financial circumstances.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's attention to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Fairness Act of 2019, common sense legislation I am introducing with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen today. This legislation seeks to eliminate a barrier that potential college students with difficult personal and financial circumstances face when applying for Federal financial aid that too often has left them without a path forward to earning a college education and joining the middle class.

This body has worked to improve the college application process for students and their families over the last several years and successfully lobbied the Department of Education to allow students and their families to submit their FAFSA application in October and utilize prior prior-year tax data. These changes provide future college students and their families with several months to submit their financial information instead of a short time frame between January and February to meet State and institutional-based deadlines for need- and merit-based financial aid programs. These steps have made it easier for students to sit with their families and make informed financial decisions on which college or university will provide the highest quality yet least expensive college education.

Despite our work, a number of our students are being left behind and cannot take advantage of these changes. Many of these students face difficult personal and financial situations. For instance, some have left home due to abusive family environments; others may have parents who are incarcerated. Still others may be unable to locate their parents. All of the students in these circumstances are unable to fill out the FAFSA application. Rather than fill out one universal Federal financial aid application form, a potential college student must contact each institution she or he is applying to and undergo a ``dependency override'' process before a college or university will put together an estimated financial aid package for the student. Under this process, a student applying to one university in my State of Maryland, for instance, must submit nine different pieces of financial information, a personal statement, and references to verify their independent status. These students, often first generation students unfamiliar with the process for applying to school, may give up on the dependency override process and fail to finish the college application process or leave significant Federal financial aid on the table.

Mr. President, I think it is unfair that we place additional burdens on these students. We should not make opening the door to a brighter future harder than it is already. In Maryland, we know that access to a high-quality, yet affordable, education is the key to success and increasingly required for entry into the middle class. Regardless of a student's background or the circumstances that he or she has fought to overcome, it is my belief that this Congress should work to ensure maximum access to higher education.

The FAFSA Fairness Act would seek to correct this inequity for some of our most vulnerable students. If enacted, my legislation would allow students in these difficult personal and financial circumstances to fill out a FAFSA form as a ``provisional independent'' student and receive a provisional determination of their Federal financial aid award from the Department of Education. The colleges that the student applies to would receive notification of the student's special circumstances and conduct outreach to inform the student of the process for completing a dependency override. After a student has completed the dependency override form, the school would provide the student with a final financial aid award package that includes Federal, State, and institutional need- and merit-based aid so the student could bargain shop for the best financial aid award package between multiple schools. After such students have been admitted to college, this legislation would allow them to remain focused on their classwork instead of annual recertification of their independent status by maintaining the dependency override decision for as long as they remain in school or if the university is made aware of new information about their status. My legislation would provide students with a pathway to complete the FAFSA, one of the first steps towards applying to college and obtaining a foothold in the middle class. It also provides students with an opportunity to identify the colleges and universities that match up the best with their financial situation and educational goals.

I am proud to lead this Senate effort with my colleague from Maryland and appreciate the work of our delegation, especially U.S. Representatives Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, and John P. Sarbanes, who are introducing a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. I urge my Senate colleagues to join in this effort to help some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students achieve their dream of higher education despite their difficult family and financial circumstances.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, first of all, I want to thank Senator Smith for her leadership on this issue. This involves 1.2 million contract workers who could very well not only lose their pay from the 35 days of the Government shutdown but not have any mechanism to receive that backpay.

Senator Smith has filed legislation that is fair legislation, it works, and it is the right thing for us to do. These workers did not lose their pay because of anything they did wrong. These are the same as government workers because they are performing government work. They are maintaining our buildings, cleaning our buildings, providing security for government buildings. In some respects, these are very similar to our direct Federal workforce.

We know that this 35-day, dangerous, outrageous, and unnecessary shutdown caused tremendous harm. We know the harm it caused 800,000 Federal workers. Over half were forced to work without pay, but they showed up and worked because they are patriotic Americans who believe very much in the mission they are doing on behalf of this country, the noble service of public service on behalf of their fellow citizens. Can you imagine trying to figure out how you are going to find money to put gasoline in your car so you can drive to work to do your service and not get paid for that day of work or how you are going to pay for your daycare or how you are going to pay for your daily expenses? But they are loyal, patriotic people who showed up every day for work. Close to 400,000 were furloughed and locked out without pay.

As Senator Smith said, this body, with the help of the House and the signature of the President--S. 24, legislation I authored with Senator Smith's help, the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act, makes it clear that in the event of a shutdown, our Federal workforce will get their paychecks. They will not get them timely. They are still going to be inconvenienced. They are still not going to be able to pay their bills. But they will know that at the end of the day, when government reopens, they are going to get their paychecks, as they should and as every Member of this body agreed is the right thing to do, because our Federal workforce was not responsible for this shutdown.

But it goes beyond just 800,000. It even goes beyond our contract workers. Our economy itself suffered. I had an opportunity to be the ranking Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. I can tell you that small businesses throughout the country were very much impacted by this 35-day shutdown. I am talking about small businesses that didn't have a direct relationship with the government or contract with the government--small businesses near our national parks.

I had a meeting with Senator Van Hollen in Montgomery County, MD, with small businesses in the community. Because there were so many Federal workers who had been furloughed without pay and contract workers who didn't have paychecks, the average business that was there that day--there were many there--their business was down 20 to 60 percent. They are not going to be compensated for this.

Of course, the American people were denied the services they needed, whether it was the FBI in full force to keep them safe or food inspectors doing their work. This was a disastrous shutdown.

We can do something for the contract workers. As I said, these are people who are doing work on behalf of this Nation. They are working in our buildings. They are keeping our buildings safe. They are keeping our buildings clean. They are working for modest pay. These are not highly paid jobs.

They were not paid during those 35 days, and unless Senator Smith's legislation is passed, they will not get compensated.

I want to thank Senator Smith for S. 162, the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act. It is well-drafted using existing mechanisms to compensate low-paid contract service workers. It is the right thing to do. We estimate that as many as 1.2 million people could be affected by this. This has had a major impact on their lives and on our economy.

During the shutdown last month, I received a letter from Robert Conrad, president and CEO of LJT & Associates. LJT & Associates is a midsized firm based in Columbia, MD, that is the top contractor for NASA's Wallops Island flight facility on the Eastern Shore.

Mr. Conrad wrote: ``The shutdown has had a significant negative impact on our business and, more importantly, our employees and their families . . . As a result of this lengthy government shutdown our company has not been paid by NASA and other agencies for work performed in November and December 2018 and this lack of payment continues to worsen by the day. As a result, we are faced with decisions to furlough or lay off our valuable employees. Unlike federal civil servants, our employees will not receive pay for suspended work during the shutdown, making the impacts of the layoff a permanent financial burden for them and their families.''

Well, let's respond to Mr. Conrad. Let's respond to those 1.2 million Americans who are doing work on behalf of all of us. The shutdown was not their fault. As we compensated our Federal workforce, let's also provide a safety net for those who lost their compensation as a result of this shutdown, the low-wage service workers.

I hope we can find a way to quickly pass S. 162, and I again thank Senator Smith for her leadership.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I want to thank Senator Smith, who called me during the holiday recess and said: We have this problem. How do we fix it?

I really appreciated the phone call I received from Senator Smith. She recognized that we had to build support for the legislation but also make it work right because it is much more complicated to figure out the target group we are trying to help to make sure it is drafted in the right way. She reached out to get that type of help on drafting, as well as getting support among the stakeholders to make sure the bill was properly drafted. It took some time, and now we have a bill that we can all be proud to support.

So once again, I want to thank my colleague from Minnesota for the manner in which she has gone about presenting this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator Wicker to bring your attention to our proposed Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act. This legislation will provide incentives for dental and dental hygiene graduates to remain as dental school faculty by eliminating certain loan assistance benefits from being counted as taxable income. We rely on dental faculty to train the next generation of oral health providers, but too often, these educators find themselves pushed to work in private practice in order to pay off their student loans. The Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act will ease some of this financial burden and allow faculty to stay where they are most needed.

There are currently over 5,000 dental health professional shortage areas nationwide--areas where it is hard to find a dental provider even with insurance coverage. By 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) projects that the United States will have a national shortage of 15,000 dentists. We can only hope to solve this problem if we can recruit and retain enough faculty to train the next generation of dentists and dental hygienists. Crippling educational debt should not prevent our Nation from having the oral health care providers it needs, and this bill will help address that.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that February is National Children's Dental Health Month. Since 1981, this month has afforded us the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of children's dental health. We recognize the significant strides we have made, but we also acknowledge the work that remains to be done. I invite my colleagues to join me to use this month to renew our commitment to ensuring that all children in our country have access to affordable and comprehensive dental services. To echo Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, ``there is no health without oral health.''

Despite being largely preventable, tooth decay is the single most common chronic health condition among children and adolescents in the United States. It is four times more common than early-childhood obesity, five times more common than asthma, and 20 times more common than diabetes. Among children in families living below the federal poverty line, 52 percent have cavities. Children with cavities in their primary or ``baby'' teeth are three times more likely to develop cavities in their permanent, adult teeth, and the early loss of baby teeth can make it harder for permanent teeth to grow in properly. If tooth decay is left untreated, it not only can destroy a child's teeth; it can have a debilitating impact on his or her health and quality of life.

Many have heard me speak before about the tragic loss of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Prince George's County resident, in 2007. Deamonte's death was particularly heartbreaking because it was entirely preventable. What started out as a toothache turned into a severe brain infection that could have been prevented by an $80 extraction. After multiple surgeries and a lengthy hospital stay, sadly, Deamonte passed away--twelve years ago this month.

Even in less tragic cases, tooth and gum pain can impede a child's healthy development, including the ability to learn, play, and eat nutritious foods. Recent studies have shown that children with poor oral health are nearly three times more likely to miss school due to dental pain, and children reporting recent toothaches are four times more likely to have a lower grade point average than their peers without dental pain.

Tooth decay and oral health problems also disproportionately affect children from low-income families and minority communities. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 80 percent of childhood dental disease is concentrated in 25 percent of the population. These children and families often face inordinately high barriers to receiving essential oral health care and, simply put, the consequences can be devastating.

In 2009, Congress reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with an important addition: a guaranteed pediatric dental benefit. Today, CHIP provides affordable comprehensive health coverage--including dental coverage--to more than 8 million children. Thanks to CHIP, we now have the highest number of children with medical and dental coverage in history. In addition, in 2010, Congress included pediatric dental services in the set of essential health benefits established under the Affordable Care Act.

I am very proud that my State of Maryland has been recognized as a national leader in pediatric dental health coverage. In a 2011 Pew Center report, ``The State of Children's Dental Health,'' Maryland earned an ``A'' and was the only State to meet seven of eight policy benchmarks for addressing children's dental health needs. In addition, in the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, every qualified health plan now includes pediatric dental coverage, so families do not have to pay a separate premium for dental coverage for their children and do not have a separate deductible or out-of-pocket limit for pediatric dental services. I am pleased to say that our actions have been working, and our numbers are improving. In 2004, nearly 23 percent of all children had untreated tooth decay. In 2016, that number dropped down to 13 percent.

I urge my colleagues to join Senator Wicker and me in supporting the Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act to help address our critical nationwide shortage of dental healthcare providers and especially dental faculty. We will not continue to allow crippling graduate student debt to deprive the American people of the teachers and mentors we need to train the next generation of oral healthcare providers.

Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator Wicker to bring your attention to our proposed Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act. This legislation will provide incentives for dental and dental hygiene graduates to remain as dental school faculty by eliminating certain loan assistance benefits from being counted as taxable income. We rely on dental faculty to train the next generation of oral health providers, but too often, these educators find themselves pushed to work in private practice in order to pay off their student loans. The Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act will ease some of this financial burden and allow faculty to stay where they are most needed.

There are currently over 5,000 dental health professional shortage areas nationwide--areas where it is hard to find a dental provider even with insurance coverage. By 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) projects that the United States will have a national shortage of 15,000 dentists. We can only hope to solve this problem if we can recruit and retain enough faculty to train the next generation of dentists and dental hygienists. Crippling educational debt should not prevent our Nation from having the oral health care providers it needs, and this bill will help address that.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that February is National Children's Dental Health Month. Since 1981, this month has afforded us the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of children's dental health. We recognize the significant strides we have made, but we also acknowledge the work that remains to be done. I invite my colleagues to join me to use this month to renew our commitment to ensuring that all children in our country have access to affordable and comprehensive dental services. To echo Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, ``there is no health without oral health.''

Despite being largely preventable, tooth decay is the single most common chronic health condition among children and adolescents in the United States. It is four times more common than early-childhood obesity, five times more common than asthma, and 20 times more common than diabetes. Among children in families living below the federal poverty line, 52 percent have cavities. Children with cavities in their primary or ``baby'' teeth are three times more likely to develop cavities in their permanent, adult teeth, and the early loss of baby teeth can make it harder for permanent teeth to grow in properly. If tooth decay is left untreated, it not only can destroy a child's teeth; it can have a debilitating impact on his or her health and quality of life.

Many have heard me speak before about the tragic loss of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Prince George's County resident, in 2007. Deamonte's death was particularly heartbreaking because it was entirely preventable. What started out as a toothache turned into a severe brain infection that could have been prevented by an $80 extraction. After multiple surgeries and a lengthy hospital stay, sadly, Deamonte passed away--twelve years ago this month.

Even in less tragic cases, tooth and gum pain can impede a child's healthy development, including the ability to learn, play, and eat nutritious foods. Recent studies have shown that children with poor oral health are nearly three times more likely to miss school due to dental pain, and children reporting recent toothaches are four times more likely to have a lower grade point average than their peers without dental pain.

Tooth decay and oral health problems also disproportionately affect children from low-income families and minority communities. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 80 percent of childhood dental disease is concentrated in 25 percent of the population. These children and families often face inordinately high barriers to receiving essential oral health care and, simply put, the consequences can be devastating.

In 2009, Congress reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with an important addition: a guaranteed pediatric dental benefit. Today, CHIP provides affordable comprehensive health coverage--including dental coverage--to more than 8 million children. Thanks to CHIP, we now have the highest number of children with medical and dental coverage in history. In addition, in 2010, Congress included pediatric dental services in the set of essential health benefits established under the Affordable Care Act.

I am very proud that my State of Maryland has been recognized as a national leader in pediatric dental health coverage. In a 2011 Pew Center report, ``The State of Children's Dental Health,'' Maryland earned an ``A'' and was the only State to meet seven of eight policy benchmarks for addressing children's dental health needs. In addition, in the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, every qualified health plan now includes pediatric dental coverage, so families do not have to pay a separate premium for dental coverage for their children and do not have a separate deductible or out-of-pocket limit for pediatric dental services. I am pleased to say that our actions have been working, and our numbers are improving. In 2004, nearly 23 percent of all children had untreated tooth decay. In 2016, that number dropped down to 13 percent.

I urge my colleagues to join Senator Wicker and me in supporting the Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act to help address our critical nationwide shortage of dental healthcare providers and especially dental faculty. We will not continue to allow crippling graduate student debt to deprive the American people of the teachers and mentors we need to train the next generation of oral healthcare providers.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object because we had floor time immediately after my friend from Texas, could you give us an idea of how much time you will be using on the floor before we have the time--we were supposed to come immediately after you. That is my reason for raising that issue.

There are about 15 Senators who are waiting for the time. We were originally supposed to start at 3:30. Now we are starting later. I know Senators are going to be inconvenienced. Some have commitments.

I will remove my objection. I really want it understood that we thought we would be starting our time before that.

Mr. President, I had previously noted on the floor the group of Senators who want to join together to send a clear message that we are committed to working together to end this shutdown and responsibly deal with border security in a truly bipartisan manner. This is a group of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. Senator Murkowski is leading this on the Republican side of the floor today.

I ask unanimous consent that for the next hour, the two of us control 30 minutes of time; that I control 30 minutes and Senator Murkowski will control the other 30 minutes of time.

Mr. President, during this floor time, I think you are going to see clear messages coming from Democratic Senators and Republican Senators that this shutdown needs to end, that we need to pass a short-term, 3-week clean CR so we can have time to consider the President's request and work together on a bipartisan border security package.

I want my colleagues to know we have been meeting regularly in an effort to try to see where we can find common ground. We feel pretty confident that we can find common ground if we can get government open and get to work in a responsible manner to deal with border security in the best interest of the people of this Nation.

Mr. President, I will first yield to my friend from Virginia, Senator Warner, then I will yield time and give up the floor to Senator Murkowski.

I couldn't agree more with my friend from Alaska and the way she worded it. We are going to work together to open the government as quickly as possible.

I yield to my friend from Delaware, Senator Coons.

At this time, I yield to my colleague from Arizona, Senator Sinema.

Mr. President, I am now pleased to yield to my colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen, who has been a real partner during his stay here in the Senate. We have traveled the State of Maryland together, and we know firsthand the hardships of this shutdown. We have seen the faces, and we have seen the consequences.

Mr. President, I have joined Senator Isakson on many bills since I have been in the Senate, and I look forward to working with him to find the solution with regard to border security issues. I thank him for his comments.

I yield to my colleague from Maine, Senator King, who has been so instrumental in trying to come up with concrete ways to end this shutdown.

Mr. President, I certainly appreciate the words from Senator Portman. The two of us have been working together since we were in the House of Representatives, and we are proud that we have a record of concrete accomplishments, working together across party lines. Sometimes we had to take on the leadership of both of our parties, but we got things done. So I am encouraged by his comments, and I really do believe we can work together to resolve this issue.

With that, I would like to yield to my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Manchin, who has been a real leader on the practical impact that this shutdown has. The story about what is happening in the prisons located in West Virginia I think really frighten all of us.

Mr. President, I am pleased to yield to my colleague from New Hampshire, Ms. Hassan.

Mr. President, over the last hour, many of our colleagues have come to the floor--Democrats and Republicans--with different views about how we should deal with border security issues and how we should deal with the problems at hand but with a common willingness and commitment to reach a bipartisan agreement.

In order for that to be accomplished, we need time. Therefore, we are filing this afternoon a bipartisan amendment to the underlying bill that would provide 3 weeks for a continuing resolution for government to be opened so that we can work together to deal with the border security issues.

I agree with Senator King in his optimism that we will be able to reach an agreement. It is interesting that Senator King is an Independent. This should not be a partisan problem on border security. We should be able to resolve the issues.

I thank Senator Murkowski for her help in organizing this event. We tried to work in a truly bipartisan manner in order to give optimism, and I think, rightfully so, that we can solve this issue if we have the time to do it.

I urge all of our colleagues to join us in this effort. Let's open government, let's have 3 weeks, and let's all be committed to deal with border security in the manner in which this institution in the past has been able to deal with tough issues.

I again thank my colleague from Alaska, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, today I wish to honor Lainy LeBow- Sachs, a Baltimore icon whose name has rightly become synonymous with public service and philanthropy. After 23 years at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and 16 years before that as one of then-Governor William Donald Schaefer's key special assistants, Lainy has announced she is retiring. My wife Myrna and I are proud to have Lainy as one of our dearest friends and closest advisers. So today, I would like to pause to reflect on the remarkable legacy she has created.

Lainy was born in Newton, MA, but moved to Baltimore in 1970, where she spotted a flyer for someone who was running to be the city's next mayor. Intrigued and looking for a way to engage in the community, she began volunteering on the campaign. The candidate in question was William Donald Schaefer, who, with Lainy's help and knack for connecting with people, went on to win that election and several others after it until becoming the Governor of Maryland in 1987. Lainy was by his side throughout it all, serving as one of his closest advisers and confidants. She became known around Maryland for her strength of character, work ethic, and uncanny ability to facilitate meaningful connections between State and local officials with shared goals and ideas for making Maryland a better place in which to live and work.

After Governor Schaefer's retirement, Lainy's talents were widely sought-after. She was approached regularly by public officials, businesses, and nonprofits, all of them eager to have one of Maryland's most influential and effective public servants on their team. None of the opportunities resonated, until she was approached by Dr. Gary Goldstein, the president and chief executive officer of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. For those outside of Maryland who may be unfamiliar with Kennedy Krieger, the institute is, as its website states, ``an internationally recognized institution dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults with pediatric developmental disabilities and disorders of the brain, spinal cord and musculoskeletal system, through patient care, special education, research, and professional training.''

The chance to work on behalf of children with developmental disabilities, to raise their profile, to put their needs and care in the spotlight and devote her time to something so worthwhile and meaningful, the opportunity called to Lainy. She began directing Kennedy Krieger's external relations, leading the institute's philanthropy, public relations, and government relations efforts into a new and prosperous era. Her penchant for inspiring others to care as deeply as she did, combined

with her famous Rolodexes full of contacts and friends from across the State, made her an indomitable force of good will. Kennedy Krieger's fundraising skyrocketed under her leadership, as did the institute's profile, allowing it to invest in groundbreaking medical research and, above all, to care for more children. Over the course of her tenure, she led three capital projects that raised a combined total of more than $117 million, all in the name of improving and expanding healthcare for our children and grandchildren. She built the institute's new external relations department from the ground up; it started with only her; today, it employs a staff of 34 like-minded philanthropists dedicated to keeping Kennedy Krieger growing. Dr. Goldstein, the man who convinced Lainy to join Kennedy Krieger, says it best: ``She has been phenomenally successful. We are quiet, nerdy academics around here. She took us up a step by a factor of ten.''

Lainy has been so successful throughout her career both because she works hard and because her compassion and empathy shine through in all that she does. When she asks someone for help or for resources, it is always clear that the ``ask'' comes from a place of deep, heartfelt sincerity. When she uses her influence to connect people, it is because she genuinely believes in them and in the work they are trying to do. Everyone has always understood Lainy to be extraordinarily thoughtful, earnest, effective, and empathetic, and that character has inspired immediate trust from everyone she meets. That trust has been her currency, and she has spent it on helping others.

What makes Lainy so remarkable isn't just that she is so talented; many people are. Rather, it is that she has always used her talents to improve other people's lives. In his book ``Wishful Thinking,'' Frederick Buechner wrote, ``The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.'' From the day Lainy first arrived in Baltimore nearly 50 years ago, she has found that place in her life, and all of our lives have been enriched.

When I say that Lainy is retiring, I need to add some caveats. She currently serves on the boards of Beth Am Synagogue, the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the Baltimore Jewish Council, the BB&T advisory board, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Serving for Lainy comes as naturally and, apparently, as necessarily as breathing.

Lainy has come to define the best of Maryland, and her legacy is now and forever woven into our State's history. She has channeled her considerable skills and connections into work that has changed lives and facilitated incredible progress in caring for some of our most vulnerable children. On behalf of those children, their families, and the entire State of Maryland, I extend to her my sincere and eternal gratitude.

Madam President, it is day 33 of this dangerous and unnecessary government shutdown.

Let me share with my colleagues that this morning, I stopped by an IBEW office that was set up by the Maryland Food Bank. We are very proud to have the Maryland Food Bank in Maryland. It provides the necessary food for hungry Marylanders who go through tough times and can't get enough food for their families. I don't think we ever thought it would have to set up a special location for Federal workers and for those who are impacted because of a Federal shutdown, but it is exactly what it did today. I am very proud of those at the Maryland Food Bank. I thank them for their services to the people of our State. They have now been able to provide basic food to patriotic Federal workers who are not getting their paychecks.

This will be the second pay period this week for which Federal workers' pay stubs will read ``zero'' for the work they will have done. Of the over 800,000 Federal workers, 30 percent are veterans. They are patriotic Americans who show up every day to do work--to keep us safe, to deal with our national security, to deal with our food safety. The list goes on and on and on. They are showing up today and working on the 33rd day. They are being asked to carry out their work with their having no prospects of getting paid in the near future. These are patriotic Americans.

The number is more than 800,000. We also have contract workers who get contracts from the government. Many of these contractors employ low-wage workers to do basic work for the government. These workers are not getting paid.

We have small businesses that depend upon contracts that are not being fulfilled right now because of the government shutdown. They are laying off workers.

Then we have the general impact on our economy. It is projected that we are going to lose all of our economic growth, which will slow down and create more unemployment in America.

All of that is happening because of this shutdown. It is in our national security interest to end this dangerous shutdown. The FBI is on shutdown, meaning many of its workers are not even being brought in, and those who are being brought in are having a difficult time doing their jobs. On Thursday, the FBI Agents Association released a petition that describes the shutdown as a matter of national security. It urges leaders in Washington to reopen the government.

``On Friday, January 11, 2019, FBI Agents will not be paid due to the partial government shutdown, but we will continue our work protecting our nation,'' the petition reads. ``We urge our elected representatives to fund the Department of Justice . . . and the FBI because financial security is a matter of national security.''

My colleagues, these are people who go to work every day to keep us safe, and we are asking them to do that without their having a full complement of supporting workers and to do it without being paid.

Recently, I met with our airport security people--the TSA and others--who are charged with keeping our airports safe. They are responsible for air traffic safety. They asked me how they can do their work when they are distracted. How are they going to pay their bills? They also don't have the full complement of support staff necessary. That is what it is at risk.

We know security is being compromised in our Federal Prison System. On Friday, prison guard Brian Shoemaker was patrolling the halls of Lee penitentiary in Southwestern Virginia when an inmate tried to squeeze past him into a restricted area. Seconds after Shoemaker told the prisoner to turn around, the inmate lunged at him and punched him in his shoulder. Mr. Shoemaker did not sustain a major injury, but it did not escape him that he was working without a paycheck at one of the most dangerous Federal jobs in America during this partial government shutdown. Fears for his and other prison staff members' safety are escalating as 16-hour shifts become routine and as a growing number of guards call in sick in protest and work side jobs to pay their bills.

``I don't think we should be subjected to that kind of thing and not receive a paycheck,'' said Shoemaker, age 48, a 17-year veteran of Lee penitentiary. ``I'm walking in here and doing my job every day, and it's very dangerous.''

Mr. Shoemaker is one of 36,000 Federal prison workers who is deemed to be an essential employee by the U.S. Government, which means he is expected to report for work during the shutdown even though he will not get paid until the government reopens. He has worked 33 days without pay.

Even though these employees are supposed to work, union officials at 10 prisons, including Lee, who were reached by the Washington Post, say the number of employees who are not showing up for work has at least doubled since the shutdown began. This cannot continue.

As a result, those who are showing up are routinely working double shifts, correctional officers and other prison staff members say. Secretaries, janitors, and teachers are filling in for absent officers. There is at least one prison--Hazelton Federal Correctional Complex in West Virginia--at which the number of assaults on officers has increased since the shutdown, according to a union official there.

``There has been a rise in people calling in sick and taking leave during the shutdown,'' said Richard Heldreth, the local union president at the Hazelton prison. ``The staff who are showing up are dealing with this violence, long hours and extra overtime with the uncertainty of when we will be compensated.''

The list goes on.

I had a chance to meet with some of our Coast Guard workers this morning. The Coast Guard is in a partial shutdown. Here is one of the critical national security Agencies of this Nation that is not working at its full strength. We have heard the President talk about border security. He has compromised border security by not allowing Homeland Security to be fully operational--to have all of its capacity--and its workers to be paid to do their work.

Research is being very badly hurt as a result of this shutdown. A coalition of more than 40 patient and healthcare provider groups is warning about the effects of the government shutdown on the FDA. This marks the first time advocacy organizations have weighed in on the more than month-long lapse in appropriations.

``We fear that this continued shutdown not only puts the current health and safety of Americans' safety at risk, but has begun to put future scientific discovery and innovation in jeopardy,'' the group wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump and senior congressional leadership. The effort, spearheaded by Friends of Cancer Research, has drawn in the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Research!America, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

The shutdown is keeping the FDA from reviewing new drug and medical device applications and from conducting certain inspections of food and medical product facilities. It has also slowed the hiring and onboarding of new staff at an Agency that is already grappling with hundreds of vacancies. Some FDA research and policy development has also come to a halt.

The FDA regulates products and industries that comprise about one- quarter of the U.S. economy. The FDA ensures a safe food supply; protects patients from contaminated and unsafe medical products; and approves new lifesaving treatments, the group wrote.

The list goes on.

Diplomatic missions around the world are being compromised. I had a chance to talk to one of our Ambassadors in a key country of great interest to the United States. He confided in

me that without a full complement of staff, his mission is being compromised, and our national security is being put at risk.

Let's take a look at the faces of the people who are impacted by this shutdown. I already mentioned the fact that just a few hours ago, I was at the Maryland Food Bank location at which I saw very proud, patriotic government workers stand in line to get bags so they could pick up food because they didn't have the money to pay for food for their families. That is what is at stake.

I have received letters from Federal workers who are concerned about whether they will be able to continue their dental and vision health protection because those payments are not automatically made when we are in shutdown. The workers are supposed to make those payments directly. How many workers are going to be able to or will even know that they need to make the payments? They may see the loss of critical coverage.

I know it is affecting people's credit scores. We know credit agencies are not very tolerant with late payments. Yet government workers are going to have to slow down in paying their bills because they will not have money. Most workers live paycheck to paycheck in paying their bills. Now their credit scores are going to be affected, and that is going to affect the cost of credit. It may affect such things as their security clearances, which will affect their employment.

I have heard from several Federal workers. I heard from one who said: I have this dilemma. I live 90 miles away from where I work as a Federal worker. I am expected to be there every day. I don't have the money to pay for gasoline for my car. Yet I am expected to pay for that without getting a paycheck. By the way, I don't have the money to pay for the childcare for my children. How am I expected to show up for work and do essential work when I don't have the money to take care of my needs so I can get transportation to my job and take care of my family's needs with safe childcare?

This is the face of the people who have been impacted by this partial government shutdown. Her circumstances are really shocking.

One might be surprised to learn that many Federal workers are expected to use their own personal credit cards to pay for government expenses. If they travel on behalf of the government, they use their own credit cards to pay for those expenses. I am told it averages somewhere around $600 a month. At the end of the month, they have to, of course, pay their credit card bills, but they have their reimbursements from the Federal Government for these legitimate expenses. In a government shutdown, there is no Agency that can reimburse them for that money. The credit card companies are going to demand that they pay. These are government expenses, not theirs. What do they do? This is where we are today with the tragedies.

There was an ad in the paper that really got to me. It was written by a government worker who said she was looking for a job.

She writes:

I'm currently furloughed due to the government shutdown and

am available for baby-sitting during the workday. I have

plenty of childcare experience from raising my two children,

ages 3 and 5, so I know how hard it can be to find last-

minute weekday childcare. Alternatively, I'm also happy to

provide science tutoring for any high school or college

students. I have a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular medicine

and can help with biology, genetics, microbiology,

biochemistry, cell bio, or research methods. Please message

me if interested, and I would be happy to provide you with

additional information. Thanks.

Here is a Federal worker whom we want to keep in Federal service. She needs money to pay her bills and is willing to be a babysitter but has scientific training. We know she could be gobbled up in the private sector for a lot more money than she is making as a government employee, and we are going to lose her. We are going to lose a lot of talented workers who ask: How much longer can I put up with this? How much longer can I work without pay? The critical missions that she is performing on behalf of America will be compromised and lost. This is what is at risk. This is what we are risking.

I haven't even gone into all of the different Agencies or the work that is important to Americans. HUD's being closed means FHA loans are not being processed and that you can't go forward with your closing on a home. I know several senior housing projects are being put on hold, which jeopardizes quality, affordable housing for our seniors. The IRS season is beginning, but it doesn't have its full complement. People want their refunds, but they are going to be delayed. The list goes on and on and on.

This is President Trump's shutdown. Many of us, on both sides of the aisle--Democrats and Republicans--understand border security issues. In the fiscal year 2019 appropriations, our appropriators did their work. The distinguished ranking member, Senator Leahy, is on the floor. He worked very closely with Senator Shelby on every single appropriations bill in a bipartisan manner. We did our work in the U.S. Senate.

Seven of the appropriations bills have not yet been completed through no fault of the work of our appropriators. Four of them passed the Senate by a vote of 92 to 6. Why don't we just pick them up and pass them? We have tried. I have asked unanimous consent. Because we don't want to offend the President, the Republican leaders have refused to allow us to consider them. Two others passed the Appropriations Committee by votes of 31 to 0 and 30 to 1.

With regard to Homeland Security, on border security the committee did its work on the fiscal year 2019 budget. They came up with a game plan on border security. We did our work on time, in a bipartisan manner. We know how to deal with border security issues. We have the expertise to work to make sure that we spend our money in the most appropriate way to defend our border and to protect Americans.

So what should we do? First, we should open the government. There is no excuse for the government to be closed. We are a coequal branch of government. We need to act as a coequal branch of government. It is our responsibility. We will have that chance tomorrow.

There will be a vote on the floor of the Senate to pass a short-term continuing resolution. This is identical to what we acted on by unanimous consent before the President changed his mind.

Let's remove the hostage-taking of the American public. Let's have a short period of time to prove that we can use the legislative process here, as we have in the past, to work on border security issues and pass a bipartisan border security bill, but not under the tactics the President of the United States is currently using. We can act that way on behalf of the American people.

This is a dangerous shutdown. We have seen the results, and we know people's lives have been compromised and our national security has been affected. We need to take the leadership.

I hope my colleagues will join me tomorrow in voting for the continuing resolution so we can open the government and use our legislative process to deal with the border security issues and to deal with what is important to the American people.

With that, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I thank Senator Murray, Senator Harris, and my colleagues who are on the floor.

I point out that we are now on day 26 of this outrageous and dangerous partial shutdown that was totally avoidable. It has been caused by one person--President Trump--and is now being assisted by the Republican leadership in this body by its not allowing the U.S. Senate, which is a coequal branch of government, to take up legislation that would reopen government--legislation that has previously passed this body and would, clearly, pass on a vote if the majority leader would allow us to have that vote. We could then reopen the government.

The unanimous consent request that I offered yesterday with my colleague

from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen, would allow the appropriations bills that have nothing to do with this current dispute with the President to be fully functional, and it would allow for a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security. We could then work, as we should work, to deal with border security and immigration issues. Yet the majority leader objected to the Senate's taking up that legislation, and the shutdown continues.

There are 800,000-plus citizens who work for the Federal Government who are being denied the ability to either get paychecks for the work that they do or are being furloughed without pay. In each one of those cases, there is a hardship that is having an impact that goes well beyond just the 800,000.

There are businesses in Baltimore that are wondering whether they can keep their doors open because they depend on Federal workers to come in and use their services. Whether it is a laundry, a cleaner, a restaurant, or a supply store, they know their sales depend on people having checks to pay their bills. The Federal workforce does not. So it is affecting secondary employment. There have also been a lot of layoffs by those who depend on the contract services of the Federal Government.

There are many individual stories, and Senator Van Hollen and I have traveled throughout our State and have met with government workers. We have heard the account of one person who was supposed to close on a new home, his first home. He is not going to be able to do that because he doesn't have a paycheck that shows the wages necessary in order to support the mortgage because his most recent paycheck is zero.

We have heard from a person in my office who is an air traffic controller. Her husband is also an air traffic controller. They are responsible for relatives who are dependent on them. One needs a medical procedure, but they are not going to be able to move forward with that medical procedure because they don't have the out-of-pocket costs that are going to be necessary to pay for that. The list goes on and on and on of hardship--of people wondering whether their credit scores are going to be affected, which could affect their employment because they are going to be late in paying their mortgage payments. That is assuming they get paychecks in the next couple of months because, then, their homes could well be foreclosed on.

I could put a face on each one of these 800,000, but let me just share an account by Lamar Cobb, who is a lead transportation security officer at BWI Marshall Airport. I was there earlier this week, meeting with the government workers who are keeping our airports and our air traffic safe. These are dedicated people who are working without pay. He came forward.

One of the reporters there asked: Can you give us an individual hardship that you have actually confronted?

He explained that he has a 10-year-old daughter whom he describes as his heart and pride and joy. He had to take her out of cheerleading because he could not pay for it while he works at BWI without receiving a paycheck. Then he said something that, I think, really hit us all. He said at the press conference: It may not seem like the end of the world, but to a 10-year-old, it is pretty close.

These are the circumstances in which we are putting our fellow citizens by saying: Work without pay or be furloughed without pay.

It makes no sense at all. We should never have had the shutdown. We could end it now by the Senate's carrying out its constitutional responsibility as a coequal branch of government. Let's vote on the legislation that can reopen government. Let's do what we are responsible to do--let's end this shutdown.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I am here with my colleague Senator Van Hollen. The two of us are going to make a unanimous consent request to reopen the government.

I know the distinguished majority leader is here. We are on day 25 of this tragic, outrageous, needless, and dangerous partial shutdown. Senator Van Hollen and I have met with government workers, and we heard their account. They can't pay their bills. Mortgages are going without payment. I heard yesterday from a Federal worker who can't pay their children's extra activities at school for dance lessons. They can't help their relatives deal with their problems. They are postponing needed health treatment issues.

I read last week on the floor of this body a letter from Kristen Jones and Brad Starkey, air traffic controllers who explained how they can't take care of their family needs. So 800,000 people are furloughed without pay or working without pay--30 percent are veterans. Small businesses are shuttering their operations because they depend upon government workers for their business. From cleaners to restaurants, they are finding they don't have the business they used to have.

Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, indicates the economic impact is $1.2 billion a week on our economy.

We heard that small businesses have to lay off employees because they are not getting their Federal partnerships. I used the example of the Senior Services of America. They laid off 176 employees because the USDA and Forest Service can't honor their contracts. People can't close on their home mortgages because they don't have pay stubs to show their income. The FHA can't certify loans with HUD being shuttered. Core missions are being compromised.

I talked to air traffic controllers yesterday--people in air safety. They don't have their full complement. They are professionals. We have the most professional government workforce in the world, and they are dedicated professionals who do their job, but we are asking them to do it with half the number of employees and without getting a paycheck. That is outrageous.

This shutdown has to end. The President wants it. We are an independent body. We are a coequal branch of government. We could open up the government. Yes, we can negotiate border security, but we have to have the government open. You can't negotiate under circumstances where the President is holding the country hostage, and he undermines his own negotiators. It cries out for Congress to take the lead.

I agree with Senator Graham when he says we should open the government and then let us negotiate using the regular process of Congress to debate the issues of border security, including immigration issues. We are a coequal branch of government. Two bills are on our desk. Both have passed the House of Representatives.

I am going to make a unanimous consent request with regard to H.R. 21, and my colleague Senator Van Hollen will deal with the rest of the government. H.R. 21 has six appropriations bills that are not related to the issue of border security. They have already been acted upon by this body. They are not part of this dispute. It is Financial Services and General Government. It is Agriculture. It is Interior and Environment. It is Transportation and HUD. It is State and Foreign Operations. It is Commerce, Justice, and Science. They passed this body either by a 92-to-6 vote for the Appropriations Committee or unanimous or near unanimous by our Appropriations Committee under Republican leadership in a bipartisan manner. We need to reopen the government.

Therefore, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 5, H.R. 21, making appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019; I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I say in response to the distinguished majority leader, I just don't understand why the Senate is missing in action. We are a coequal branch of government. Let us speak about opening the government. There are Members on both sides who understand that we can debate border security, and we can reach agreements, but you can't do that with a partial government shutdown.

This is President Trump's shutdown, and now with the majority leader's objections, the Republicans in the Senate are assisting this shutdown.

Briefly, in response to the majority leader, the first priority should be reopen government. That needs to be our very first priority of business.

In regard to the legislation the leader is referring to, let me point out that those bills could have been passed in

the last Congress where Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate. The majority leader made a decision on floor time that it was not a priority to be considered in the 115th Congress.

Let me also say, in regard to Israel, it will benefit from the foreign ops appropriations bill to be passed, which is part of my unanimous consent request of an additional $200 million, but that is being held up because of this shutdown that has been caused by the President and has now been assisted by the Republicans in the Senate.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.