Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 353, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 354, which is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 21; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the George nomination postcloture and that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m.; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Smith nomination, all postcloture debate time be considered expired at 1:45 p.m.; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, we are days away from another MAGA government shutdown. Avoiding one will require the House majority to quickly accept a bipartisan solution. Yet, this week, House Republicans are trying everything but bipartisanship.

Everyone knows that the GOP's proposed CR is a nonstarter here in the Senate. Let me say that again. Everyone knows that the House GOP's proposed CR will not pass the Senate because, instead of even pretending to aim for bipartisanship, this bill had zero--zero-- Democratic input. It calls for a crushing 8-percent cut to virtually all nondefense spending--8 percent. The House Republican proposal, drafted and put together by the MAGA hard-right wing is slapdash, reckless, and cruel.

It includes cutting investments to the Social Security Administration, to law enforcement, to nutrition assistance, to K-12 education, to small business, to rural communities, to protections for drinking water, to lifesaving medical research--cancer and other research--and much more.

The American people need to know just how bad this MAGA Republican CR truly is. This slapdash CR would decimate investments in lifesaving research, hollowing out the National Institutes of Health.

This reckless CR would lower public safety, cutting back on drug and food inspection; weakening wildfire prevention; and eliminating law enforcement officers in the Federal Government, weakening our battle against violent crime and the scourge of fentanyl.

And this cruel CR would gut investments in K-12 education, slash resources for suicide support services, upend Tribal investments, and cut loans to small businesses and rural communities.

Slapdash, reckless, cruel--that is the hallmark of this MAGA Republican proposal in the House.

Then there is Ukraine, which the House GOP bill completely abandons. At the very same time that President Zelenskyy comes to the United States to make the case for standing firm

against Putin, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is essentially telling him: You are on your own.

Nothing would make Putin happier right now than to see the United States waver in our support for the Ukrainian people. Nothing would make Putin happier. Providing aid is not just a matter of Ukrainian security but of American security, too, because a victorious Putin would be an emboldened Putin. That would make the world less safe for democracy and for America. For MAGA House Republicans to oppose Ukrainian aid is a terrible, dangerous mistake that could come back to haunt U.S. security.

Ukrainian aid could have been an opportunity for bipartisanship, but the hard right--against what, I imagine, is the majority of Republicans in the House--has prevented that from happening, too.

So let me say it again: The House package is slapdash, reckless, and cruel, and everyone knows it has no chance of passing the Senate.

The more time House Republicans waste trying to pass this MAGA wish list, while ignoring chances for real bipartisanship, the greater the odds they will push us into a costly government shutdown.

The last government shutdown lasted 35 days and began when then- President Trump said to me and Speaker Pelosi in the Oval Office: ``I am proud to shut down the government.'' That is what he said.

In the 2 years that Democrats held the House, the Senate, and the White House, we didn't have a government shutdown. We didn't have a debt limit crisis. We didn't have the kind of chaos that we see when MAGA Republicans seem to control so much of the Republican agenda. And, this year, we have already seen both: a debt limit crisis and a looming shutdown crisis, just months apart.

Only one thing has changed since last year, when there was none of this chaos: a House controlled by MAGA Republicans. They are back to their old ways.

And, of course, former President Trump is trying to add to the crisis--it is typical of what he always does--practically commanding his MAGA House sycophants to ``shut down the government if they can't make an appropriate deal--absolutely.''

This is the problem with MAGA extremism: It is not capable of governing. It is only capable of chaos, and this year, sadly, chaos has reigned in the House.

It doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be a MAGA Republican-only bill. It doesn't have to be the MAGA way or a shutdown. House Republicans have a choice in the matter, between pursuing real chances for bipartisanship and catering to the hard right. Each time, they have chosen to empower the hard right. They have chosen dysfunction and chaos. They have chosen to ignore bipartisanship.

But what was true months ago remains true today: There is no scenario where we avoid a shutdown without bipartisanship. If Democrats tried to do it only our way, there would be no bill. But now Republicans are trying to do it their way; Democrats are not. And there are plenty of Members on both sides of the aisle who, despite our disagreements, would like to give bipartisanship a chance, and that is what the American people would want us to do as well.

We only have a few days left for House Republicans to come to their senses and choose the more fruitful way. I urge them to reject chaos and choose to work with Democrats.

There are real people with real lives at stake here. Hundreds of thousands of Federal workers all across the country could be furloughed. Services that millions of Americans count on could be disrupted. Our communities will be less safe and our fellow Americans suffering from disasters less provided for. Those are a few of the tragic and unnecessary outcomes if the Republicans in the House let the MAGA extreme control their agenda.

The matter is simple. If both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be avoided. If House Republicans reject bipartisanship, if the hard right is given license to run the show, a MAGA shutdown will be almost inevitable.

Madam President, the lesson of the past few years has been that bipartisanship is key to getting things done in the Senate, even in these divided times.

A few months ago, bipartisan majorities in both Chambers passed an agreement on appropriations top lines for the fiscal year 2024 and avoided a catastrophic default, which would have been so damaging to America.

Since then, Senate appropriators, led by Chair Patty Murray and Vice Chair Susan Collins, have drafted legislation honoring this bipartisan agreement. It took months of work and a lot of compromise, but all 12 appropriations bills have made it through the committee, all of them bipartisan and many with unanimous support. Nobody got everything they wanted, but disagreements did not stymie progress.

So, again, bipartisanship is getting things done. That has been proven over and over again in recent years. But the reverse is also true. When a small band of Senators chooses partisanship over progress--when they mimic the chaos of the House Freedom Caucus--it threatens the good work of this Chamber.

That is what happened last Thursday, when one Senator's objections prevented us from moving forward with the appropriations process. One Member, mimicking the House Freedom Caucus, has derailed the Senate and prevented us from considering amendments, including Republican amendments.

It is a reminder that in both Chambers a small band of hard-right Republicans are dead set on grinding down the gears of government. For these MAGA Republicans, it is as if gridlock is a virtue and cooperation a crime.

I ask this small group of Senate Republicans: What happened to wanting to do appropriation bills regular order?

We said we would allow amendments. We have put a minibus on the floor with the cooperation and guidance of Senate Republican appropriators. These stunts of this very small band

only serve to undermine regular order in the first place and fly in the face of what our Republican colleagues asked us to do.

That is the danger of MAGA extremism. It is incapable of governing. It only produces chaos. It is so bad that, last week, MAGA extremists in the House prevented even a defense bill--even a defense bill--from moving forward. It is a scary pattern we are seeing emerge with some on the hard right: extremism at all costs, even at the cost of our national defense. I urge my Republican colleagues to resist and reject these hard-line attempts to derail the Senate's work.

A great majority of Senators from both parties want to see us move forward. In the coming days, I will work with my colleagues on getting the appropriations process back on track so we can finish processing these appropriation bills and get us one step closer to funding the government, because we all know, if the government shuts down, it will hurt millions and millions and millions of Americans who did nothing at all.

Continuing Resolution

Madam President, on the CR, September 30 is only 12 days away. If bipartisanship is allowed to work, we can avoid a government shutdown before then. Sadly, things in the House are not off to a good start. Last night, House GOP Members released what they called a deal for a CR but in reality reads like a hard-right screed. Instead of working with Democrats to keep government open, House Republicans want to cut virtually all nondefense spending by a devastating 8 percent--8 percent--8 percent cuts to law enforcement, cancer research, and other critical priorities. Not one penny is dedicated to the President's disaster relief request, despite the anguish in so many States. No health extenders are included, no attempt to reauthorize the FAA.

And with no Ukraine funding, the proposal is an insult to Ukraine and a gift to Putin. I cannot think of a worse welcome for President Zelenskyy, who visits us this week, than this House proposal, which ignores Ukraine entirely.

Last night's proposal in the House can be boiled down to two words: slapdash, reckless--slapdash because it is not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown and reckless because, if passed, it would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people. Again, this Freedom Caucus wish list is not a serious proposal for avoiding a government shutdown and, if passed, would never have enough votes to make it through the Senate.

To his credit, the Speaker knows a shutdown would be a terrible outcome. When I spoke with him in late July, we had a very encouraging conversation about the need for bipartisanship to avoid a shutdown. We both recognized that a bipartisan CR would be the way forward. Two months later, a bipartisan CR is still the only answer for avoiding a government shutdown.

I urge Speaker McCarthy, as well as reasonable House Republicans, to resist the 30 or so extremists within their ranks who seem dead set on provoking a crisis. The House Freedom Caucus cannot be allowed to bully the rest of the House into submission, as hard as they might try.

Time is short to finish the job. If both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be avoided. If the hard right is given a license to run the show, a shutdown is almost inevitable. It is that simple.

United Auto Workers Strike

Madam President, now, on the UAW strike, today, the United Auto Workers enters its fourth day on strike for better wages, health benefits, and safer working conditions.

America wouldn't be what it is today without strong unions like the UAW. The UAW helped build and strengthen the middle class, and, for decades, the UAW has been a leader in the fight for workers' rights and fair labor standards. So it is no surprise that the UAW is once again leading the way with this historic strike on the big three car companies.

The UAW's demands to these companies are simple: better pay, better benefits, better working conditions. Surely, that is not too much to ask of these car companies, which brought in record profits over the last few years. The workers helped create those profits. They are largely the reason there are such profits, and now, they deserve to get some of the benefits.

I stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters at the UAW, and I urge the big three car companies to bargain in good faith to quickly reach a new contract that is fair and equitable for workers.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, in a moment, Senator Murray will move to suspend rule XVI and file cloture on that motion. This is an effort to move forward on the minibus and keep the appropriations process on track here in the Senate.

It is unfortunate that one Member who does not represent the views of most Senators prevented us from moving forward last week, but I believe a majority of Senators want to keep moving forward.

Our Republican colleagues have asked for regular order, and we have worked with them to let that happen. It was with the cooperation and guidance of Republican appropriators that we brought these three appropriations bills to the floor, and we have said we will allow amendments.

In short, we are doing what our Republican colleagues have properly asked for--pursuing regular order. So I hope Senators from both sides will vote to allow the appropriations process to continue.

A deep debt of gratitude and thank you for the hard work to Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and appropriators on both sides of the aisle.

Withdraw Motion to Commit

Madam President, I withdraw my motion to commit H.R. 4366 to the Appropriations Committee.

Madam President, I move to commit the bill, H.R. 4366, to the Appropriations Committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 347, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 348, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 334.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Oliver nomination postcloture; further, that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and following the cloture vote on the Lin nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that if cloture is invoked on the Lin nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that upon disposition of the Lin nomination, the Senate resume legislative session and the consideration of H.R. 4366; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.