Floor Statements

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 474.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 475.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, January 22, be waived.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I have good news. Last night, the Senate reached an agreement to pass a clean extension of government funding to avert a needless shutdown and give appropriators more time to finish their work. We expect to begin voting at 12:30 on two Republican amendments and then to final passage.

Getting here wasn't easy. My colleagues and I worked late into the evening negotiating with the other side on amendments and on timing. But after a lot of hard work and compromise from both sides of the aisle, the Senate will pass the CR today, giving the House enough time to act before Friday's deadline.

Once the Senate acts, I urge the House to move on the CR as soon as possible so we can send it to the President's desk as early as today.

In order to give our House colleagues time to act, I ask that Senators vote quickly once votes are called later this morning. Again, if we can send something to the President's desk today, that will be great.

Once we put the threat of a shutdown behind us, I hope we continue seeing even more bipartisanship as appropriators complete the very important task of fully funding the government in the coming weeks.

I thank my Senate colleagues for working together to ensure the government stays open. Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for the country, for our veterans, for parents and children, and for farmers and small businesses--all of whom would have felt the sting had the government shut down.

And this is what the American people want to see: both sides working together and governing responsibly--no chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown.

But, amazingly, not everyone in Congress feels that way. As we speak, there is still a loud contingent of hard-right rabble-rousers who amazingly believe that causing a shutdown is somehow a good thing if it gets them what they want. The MAGA hard right thinks it is perfectly fine to have VA

offices close or to endanger nutrition programs that help 7 million moms or kids, or to suspend disaster aid for farmers. In the twisted logic of the hard right, the theory is, if enough people feel the pain of a shutdown, the hard right can bully the rest of Congress into enacting their deeply unpopular agenda. Bullying, intimidation, chaos-- this is MAGA extremism in a nutshell.

But here is the thing: The fact that we are passing a CR today shows, yet again, that this kind of bullying almost never works. The hard right's bullying didn't work when we avoided default, it didn't work when we avoided shutdown last year, and it didn't work today either.

I thank my colleagues for their good work, and I expect a strong, bipartisan vote later this afternoon.

Supplemental Funding

Now, on the supplemental, Senate and White House negotiators are getting closer to reaching a bipartisan agreement on a national security supplemental. For the first time, I believe the odds are a little better than 50 percent that we can get something done. But, certainly, it is not a done deal yet.

We have a number of disagreements we are still working through. On issues as complex as immigration and national security, what matters is not just what we do but how we do it. The smallest details matter immensely, and it takes time to work through those details.

Nevertheless, talks are trending in the right direction, and I remain optimistic we will get it done soon here in the Senate.

And the good news is that once Congress avoids a shutdown, it is my goal for the Senate to move forward to the national security supplemental as soon as possible.

Now, yesterday, I joined with congressional colleagues for a meeting with President Biden at the White House to talk about the latest on supplemental negotiations. It was a respectful, positive, and constructive meeting, and everyone walked out with a sense that we need to get something done.

While both parties have plenty of disagreements, all sides did agree on a couple of important points. First, congressional leaders understood that we need to pass additional emergency aid for Ukraine. Again, both sides might disagree on a lot of things, but, on Ukraine, everyone agreed that we must act.

I made it very clear in the room that right now the war in Ukraine is beginning to turn against Ukrainians. While Ukrainian fighters have no shortage of courage and resolve, they will soon face a shortage of supplies, of ammunition, and of armaments that America provided to a large extent.

If we don't pass another round of aid, then a mere month from now the situation could become dire for Ukraine, and, a year from now, America and NATO will be on our back foot, paying a far higher cost to ensure Putin does not sink his tentacles deeper into the European continent.

Second, everyone agreed that we need to do something to fix the situation at the border. The President said over and over again that he is willing to work with Republicans on the border, but it has to be bipartisan, as Republican leadership knows.

You cannot--cannot--do things with one party in a divided Congress. Anyone who says ``it is my way or the highway'' on border is not serious about reaching an agreement. It must be bipartisan.

So we feel good and remain hopeful about the direction of the talks, but I caution my colleagues that nothing has been finalized yet. There is still more work to do, but we are going to stay the course. Our national security demands nothing less. Our friends in Ukraine demand nothing less. The future of Western democracy demands nothing less.

Judiciary Markup

Mr. President, now, on the Judiciary Committee markup, today, off the floor, the Senate continues its work on considering more of President Biden's outstanding nominees to the Federal bench. This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding its first markup of the year on over a dozen highly qualified individuals for seats on both the district and circuit-level courts. Once they are reported out of Committee, we will look for the best opportunities to bring them to the floor.

The nominees being marked up today will continue adding to the courts' diversity--more women, more people of color, more individuals from unique backgrounds. I hope our Republican colleagues will work with us to move many of these nominees through, and I thank the Judiciary Committee and Chairman Durbin for their good and hard work.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order from yesterday be modified so that the only remaining amendments to H.R. 2872 be the following: Paul No. 1384, Marshall motion to commit; further, that there be up to 6 minutes equally divided prior to each vote; and that upon disposition of the Marshall motion to commit, the Murray substitute amendment No. 1381, as amended, if amended, be agreed to, and all remaining provisions remain in effect.

As a result of this agreement, Senators should expect three rollcall votes beginning at 12:30 p.m. on the Paul and Marshall amendments and passage of the CR.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 358.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 357.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 356.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, January 18, be waived.

I move to proceed to legislative session.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, we have good news for America. There will not be a shutdown on Friday. Because both sides have worked together, the government will stay open. Services will not be disrupted. We will avoid a needless disaster.

My colleagues and I on both sides of the aisle worked late into the evening last night to reach this agreement. So I thank everyone for their good work. Keeping the government open wasn't a given. We stayed up, negotiating amendments and timing, but thanks to both sides working together, the Senate is passing the CR with enough time for the House to take it up today and send it to the President's desk well before Friday's deadline.

Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for every American, especially for our veterans, our parents, our children, our farmers, our small businesses, and so many others who would have felt the sting of a government shutdown.

I thank my colleagues on both sides for their good work. It is precisely what Americans want to see--both sides working together and governing responsibly, with no chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown.

I yield to the chair of the Appropriations Committee, who has done such a good job on this measure.