Floor Statements

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 211, S. 1569, the debt limit bill.

The time until 12 noon will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.

At noon there will be a rollcall vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1569, a bill to ensure the complete and timely payment obligations of the United States Government until December 31, 2014.

Measure Placed on the Calendar--H.J.

Res. 79

I understand H.J. Res. 79 is due for a second reading.

I would object to any further proceedings at this time.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 340; that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that any related statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Madam President, it is very hard to comprehend that 4 days from today, unless and until a few extremist Republicans--we hope it is a few--too radical to compromise, could force a default on the Nation's financial obligations for the first time ever. Economists say it won't be long before financial markets react negatively to this continued uncertainty.

I believe Monday is a legal holiday and I believe the markets will be closed. That is good. What I see staring us in the face is not a pleasant picture.

Everyone should understand that a bad day on Wall Street doesn't only affect these great big banks or wealthy investors. It affects everyone in our country, not only those with 401(k)s but those who have no savings. It affects everybody, because everyone will lose, not only in America but around the world. The life savings of ordinary Americans are at risk, and that is an understatement.

While this uncertainty is bad, default would be unthinkably worse. To show my angst is real, one only need look at what took place in the House of Representatives this morning. They walked out of another meeting, a conference, a caucus--call it what you

want--defiant: We couldn't do anything.

Therefore, the government remains closed, and the debt ceiling is, every day, closer and closer--every hour now. While this uncertainty is bad, I repeat, default is unthinkably worse.

Because of the collapse on Wall Street a few years ago, the State of Nevada and States all over the country were hammered. This was only 5 years ago. Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings, as did people around the world. The country is beginning to recover, but it is not in great shape.

The crisis we now face is one of even greater proportion. The government has remained closed for 12 days. Think about this. Four States are buying into programs so national parks can stay open. National parks. They were the brainchild of Republican Theodore Roosevelt.

It is very sad what is happening to our country. Defaulting on our debt would risk millions of American jobs--not thousands, not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but millions of jobs. Social Security checks will likely be halted, Medicare payments and even payments for our troops wouldn't happen.

Without exception, the most respected economists and business minds of our time have said that if America defaults on its debt, there will be dire consequences here and around the globe. We have heard this from everybody, not only economists but business people.

I was pleased to see the Republicans engaged in talks with the President, the House Republicans. That is over, it is done. They are not talking anymore. We learned that this morning.

I say to my friends on the Republican side of the Senate, time is running out. They have urged their more radical Members to compromise.

For example, my senior friend from Arizona came to the Congress of the United States with me and the assistant leader. We have been together for 31 years. These are the sensible words of the senior Senator from Arizona:

Sooner or later, the government will resume its function.

Sooner or later we will raise the debt limit. The question is

how we get there. . . . Why don't we do this sooner rather

than later? Why doesn't the Senate lead?

To that end we are trying. We are going to have a vote in 50 minutes on a long-term measure to avert default and give the economy what it needs.

I have told my Republican friends that allowing the government to operate again is not a favor to me; it is not a favor to the Presiding Officer; it is not a favor to Democrats on this side of the aisle. It is something that should happen. We shouldn't consider this a time for doing favors for individuals or groups. We should understand the government should open because it should never have closed in the first place.

The debt ceiling--reasonable Republicans should understand this should be extended, not for a couple of weeks or a couple of months, it should be extended for a long time. We shouldn't have this fight. To think that this is only a motion to proceed to the legislation, it is not a vote on the measure itself, and the Republicans, I have been told, are all going to vote against this. What a sad day for America. They are voting to not allow us to even debate whether the debt ceiling should be raised. Are they afraid of that? Do they want this to go away? It is not going to go away. Each hour that goes by, we are closer to a calamity for our country.

The economy needs more stability than short-term Republican proposals. Congress and the country must not be back in a position a few weeks from now wondering whether Republicans will force our Nation to default on our financial obligations.

To think the House Republicans are saying: Well, we will extend the debt for a little while but we are not going to reopen the government, wow, that is so logical, sensible and good for the country--and I say this very sarcastically.

The Senate Democrats' position has been and remains this: We open our government and pay our country's bills so we can move forward with good-faith negotiations on a long-term budget. It is not too late for my Republican colleagues to do what is right for this country.

I am very concerned. It seems the worry about whether our country should have a functioning government and should extend the debt ceiling is only from Democrats. This isn't the way it should be.

I admire President Obama for what he has done the last few days. He has invited every Member of Congress, 535, to meet with him. First he had the House Democrats and then the Senate Democrats, another meeting, then Senate Republicans, and House Republicans. Remember, the last time my friend Speaker Boehner was on television, he said: Maybe, oh, 18 times, I haven't counted.

He wanted to have a conversation. The President took him up on that. He invited all 232 Members of the Republican Caucus to come to the White House and visit with him. They refused that. They sent down 20.

I appreciate the President being willing to talk with all of us, and he has done that in detail. The problem is the conversation is one way. The Republicans are not interested, it appears at this stage, of doing anything constructive to extend the debt ceiling and open the government. ``Later'' is what they always say.

Reservation of Leader Time

Mr. President, was I originally recorded as ``yes''?

The record should reflect that I have changed that to ``no.''

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to S. 1569.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators be permitted to speak now during our morning hour business for up to 10 minutes each.

I have just been told by my able assistant here that we are still on the motion to proceed. So we are not in morning business.

Now, Mr. President, just a quick announcement: Democrats will caucus in the Mansfield Room forthwith, right now.

Mr. President, I think it would be appropriate for everyone--this has been cleared with Senator McConnell.

Following the remarks of Senator Landrieu and Senator Johanns, I would ask that--well, I will say that the Senate will stand in recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Mr. President, I appreciate the kind words of the Senator from Louisiana, but I want the Record spread with the work she has done that I have seen in our years together in the Senate. No one has been more of an advocate for a State than the senior Senator from Louisiana. What she did after that terrible hurricane hit that area is now legendary--the ability that she had to change what had been standard procedures and law in this country for decades. We changed that for a lot of reasons. One was her advocacy. We did it because of her.

In fact, the Democrats in the Senate voted for things they never voted for before because of the good Senator from Louisiana. It was not done to help on a temporary basis but long term for the State of Louisiana.

I hope they understand what a difference one person can make. She has made a difference and she has changed things forever in Louisiana already. I am sure the best is yet to come.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period for morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, as most know now--we did a press event so everybody knows, I guess, but I will say it again--I had a meeting with Senators McConnell, Alexander, and Schumer this morning to work on issues before us. The conversations are preliminary, but we are talking. I hope everyone understands how positive this is. It is the first discussions we have had here, period, during the whole pendency of this artificially driven government shutdown and not raising the debt limit when we should.

I am confident Senator McConnell understands that defaulting on our debt would mean millions of jobs in the United States, not thousands, not hundreds of thousands but millions. It could halt Social Security checks, Medicare payments, and even paychecks for our men and women in uniform.

Democratic Senators agree with President Obama and we share a simple goal. We want to reopen the government and pay our bills so we can move forward in good-faith negotiations for a long-term budget to protect jobs, the middle class, and the American economy. That is our goal.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Energy Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 812 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I am told that H.J. Res. 76 has been received from the House and is at the desk and due for activity.

Mr. President, I ask for its second reading and object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 1 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday, October 13, 2013, and that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; and that following any leader remarks, Senators be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 211, S. 1569, the debt limit bill.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will recess subject to the call of the Chair to allow for a Republican special caucus meeting with President Obama.

Recognition of the Majority Leader

Mr. President, this is my opinion. If we allow the United States to default on its debt for the first time in our glorious history, it will be a black mark on our reputation, and that is a gross understatement. There will be a financial disaster, and it will spark a global recession.

As I indicated when I began, this is my opinion, but this is not my opinion alone. If we listen to the economic leaders of this country, respected economists, bankers, and business leaders, this is what they say.

For example, yesterday the chief executive officer of the American Express, whose company is valued at almost $80 billion, said this about default:

What's important to understand is if the United States hits

the debt ceiling and is unable to pay its debts, the

consequences will be immediate and dramatic. . . . If the

U.S. defaults, the [global financial] system literally

unwinds.

So no one misinterprets what he said, I will read it again.

What's important to understand is if the United States hits

the debt ceiling and is unable to pay its debts, the

consequences will be immediate and dramatic. . . . If the

U.S. defaults, the [global financial] system literally

unwinds.

His dire warning has been accepted and echoed by reasonable Members of Congress, including many Republicans. Even Speaker Boehner admitted in 2011, the last time Republicans forced this country to the brink of default, that failing to pay the bills would be catastrophic. He said:

Not raising the debt limit would have serious--very

serious--implications for the worldwide economy and jobs here

in America.

But this year Speaker Boehner seemed willing to risk default day after day, holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to extract extreme political concessions.

Yesterday it was very good to see my Republican colleagues, some at least, come around to the idea of a clean bill to avert default. Think about that. They are talking about extending the debt ceiling for 2 months--for 6 weeks. Please.

But some have admitted the clean bill to avoid default should be the standard. I certainly agree with that.

I repeat, we do not believe a 6-week delay of a catastrophic default is enough to give the economy the confidence it needs to continue growing and recovering. Using their theory, we would have another one of these periods of bedlam in Washington before the most important purchasing season at any time during the year, Christmas, right before Christmas, when people are beginning to buy things for Christmas.

We will vote tomorrow on a 15-month measure to ensure the United States lives up to its obligations, giving the economy certainty and stability over the long term. But Congress's work to restore faith in government won't end with avoiding default.

The Federal Government is still closed for business, causing hardship and heartbreak for millions of American families, such as the Trowbridge family in Reno, NV. They have a 17-year-old son Austin who was scheduled to receive an experimental bone marrow transplant at NIH in Washington. Without the transplant, he could die, just as his brother did 5 years ago from the same disease.

But the National Institutes of Health are shuttered, along with the rest of the government and the Centers for Disease Control. The assistant Democratic leader has laid out 79 different programs that would need to be reinstated to open the government, and we are getting them piecemeal--piecemeal.

In the meantime, people are suffering, not only Federal employees but the people who depend on them. We have four States that are trying to work something out with Secretary Jewell to have the States pay for opening national parks.

It is time for Republicans to give the Trowbridge family and others some relief. Reopen the government, the whole government, so kids such as Austin can get the treatment they need. Families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty can't get the death benefits they deserve. Why? Because the government is closed. Every American family who relies on the Federal Government can't get the help and services they need.

Reopen the Federal Government, let's pay our bills, and then let's negotiate a sensible budget solution that secures our country's long- term fiscal leads.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 211, S. 1569, the debt limit bill.

Following leader remarks the time until 1 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders and their designees.

At 1 p.m. the Senate will recess subject to the call of the Chair for a special caucus meeting with the President.

Measures Placed on the Calendar--H.J. Res. 84, H.J. Res. 89, H.J. Res.

90, H.J. Res. 91

There are four measures at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I would object to any further proceedings with respect to these measures en bloc.

The President issued a warning to Congress:

The full consequences of a default by the United States--or

even the prospect of a default by the United States--are

impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration

of the full faith and credit of the United States would have

substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and the

value of the dollar in exchange markets.

The President went on to warn of ``risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage'' of failing to avert such a default.

This is not Barack Obama; this was Ronald Reagan in 1983.

Four years later in 1987, Reagan again warned Congress about the impacts of a default on the economy. He said:

This brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds

and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits.

Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in

the financial markets, and the Federal deficit would soar.

Yet three decades later, an alarming number of Republicans have denied or downplayed the seriousness of a first-ever default on the full faith and credit of the United States.

To these default deniers, east is west, north is south, black is white, and right is wrong.

Let's talk about what raising the debt actually means. It simply means we are going to pay our bills. It is not a vote to spend more money to authorize new programs or to buy new things. It is a vote to pay the bills.

The Federal Government has already incurred these bills, bills for roads and bridges--we have already built them--the warships we have already commissioned, wars that have been waged and tax breaks that have been charged on a national credit card.

A vote to avert default is a vote to pay the bills for all these and more.

Many Republicans are in the press today, and have been for the past week or 10 days, arguing, Why worry about it? It will all work out.

These same Republicans who argue that we should default on the Nation's bills voted time and time again to spend borrowed money, and a lot of it, without any regard for the long-term effect it would have. These Republicans voted to sell government bonds to China, Saudi Arabia, and Japan to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republican Senators have come to this floor and lamented raising the debt. We have to raise this debt because of two unpaid wars costing trillions of dollars; tax breaks for the wealthy costing trillions of dollars, all given to the rich with borrowed money; wars fought with borrowed money.

During the Bush administration, these same Republicans were happy to run up America's credit cards to the tune of trillions of dollars. Their theory was lower the taxes; it will be great for the economy. They are now howling about the debts they created, the debts they voted for. Never mind that with little help from Republicans in Congress, President Barack Obama has reduced the ratio of deficit to gross domestic product from 9 percent to 4 percent. This is very good, in spite of the debt he has been trying to get charge of; it wasn't his.

Now that the bill for the Republicans' excesses has come due, the bills for wars they supported and the tax cuts they have received, they are not willing to pay them. They want to walk out on that check.

Many of these same Republicans also say we can avoid default by prioritizing whom to pay and when we pay them. They say we should pay foreign debtholders first. They all agree with that. China would be first, then Saudi Arabia, and maybe Japan.

We shouldn't and couldn't pay Social Security recipients under that scenario, veterans or Medicare. No matter how much we would want to, we couldn't do it. There would be no money to do it. In addition to having shockingly skewed priorities, Republicans are also using very flawed logic.

Here is a real-world example. Let us say the Presiding Officer has a mortgage, car payment, and a cell phone bill. The Presiding Officer has to decide: Which one should I pay? I can't pay them all. Which one should I pay?

It doesn't matter if the Presiding Officer picks one of them because he has defaulted anyway. He can't pay his bills. He likely would never be able to buy another car, cell phone, certainly not a house. His credit would be ruined for the foreseeable future.

The same thing would happen to our country. One week from today--and that is not a definite time, it could be a couple days before or a couple of days after, but we are there; let's say a week from now and use that as a point of reference--the United States has no money. It can't borrow any money. The Federal Government paid China but failed to pay Social Security recipients, unemployment benefits or the salaries of our brave men and women fighting in uniform.

The damage not only to our credit rating, world credit rating, but also to our global reputation would be profound and irreversible. The risks, the costs, the disruptions and the damage would be incalculable. This is what President Ronald Reagan said.

Why don't they listen to this man they say is such a great leader-- and was. I agree. He was a tremendous President. I didn't agree with him all the time, but he was a real leader. He, more than anyone else, is responsible for ending the Cold War. There are many who say he couldn't fit in the Republican Party of today.

Robert Dole, who was the majority leader of the Senate from the State of Kansas, a patriotic American, said himself he doesn't fit in the Republican Party today.

The stakes couldn't be higher. A global economic recession, and possibly even depression, face this great country. This is why President Obama reached out to House Republicans, inviting them to the White House yesterday afternoon for a serious discussion. Guess what they said. We are too busy. We will send a few of us, but we are too busy. Remember, the House is led by this same man who said he wanted to have a conversation, but they are unwilling to have one with him.

I was disappointed to hear that the same intractable Republican leaders who caused the current government shutdown were unwilling to even allow their Members to meet with the President for a constructive conversation. Again, they will send--I think they picked 17 out of the 232 they have. This great conversation is one they don't want.

They want to talk, but their actions tell another story. They have caused enough economic turmoil with the reckless shutdown of the Federal Government. If that is not enough, now we have the debt ceiling coming in about 1 week. If Republicans force default on the Nation's debt, it would be magnitudes worse than the damage they have already caused our great country with this senselessly created government shutdown.

Yesterday, Fidelity, the Nation's largest mutual fund manager, with $500 billion in assets, announced it would sell all of its short-term government bonds because of the threat of default. Today there will be more.

Yesterday, government bonds were considered the safest investment in the world. Will they be so tomorrow? Time will only tell. If the United States fails to pay its bills, that safe haven will disappear very quickly.

We are going to vote Saturday on the ability to proceed to a clean debt ceiling. We will find out how Senate Republicans wish to proceed. Economists say the consequences of not paying our bills, not extending the debt ceiling, would be immediate and catastrophic. This isn't a bunch of Harvard leftwingers.

Even Republican economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said debt deniers are dead wrong. He said a failure to raise the debt ceiling leads to very bad economic outcomes and chaos in financial markets.

Fidelity's move is only the first sign of economic chaos and will continue to spread the closer America comes to defaulting on its bills. With every day that passes, it is more and more important for Republicans to stop denying the reality of default and start working with us to find common ground.

All we have said is open the government. Let us pay our bills. We will negotiate with them on anything. We will have a conversation with them about anything. Open the government. Let us pay our bills. Then we will negotiate.

Recognition of Minority Leader

Reserving the right to object, the senior Senator from Texas has always been very courteous to me. Yesterday was no exception in withholding his unanimous consent request when we discussed this issue. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, as he indicated.

I indicated that I thought that if we waited until 3:30 we would have this matter revolved, as that is what I had been told. In fact, it was a little after 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon that Secretary Hagel issued a statement announcing that the Department of Defense had entered into an agreement, as my friend said, with the organization my friend mentioned, and that would provide the family of fallen servicemembers--over the weekend, the Senator from Texas is correct, we had five soldiers killed, one of whom was a woman, four men and one woman. The agreement Senator Hagel came up with would give everyone-- provide to family members of the military the full set of benefits they have been promised, including the $100,000 death benefit gratuity. So the death benefit issue has been resolved. The Department of Defense stepped forward and took care of everything, so this issue is largely moot. It is clear the action on this legislation is now just for show here.

We all agree it is bad that the government shutdown led to this added grief for the families who had suffered such a terrible loss. Now we need to do what we can to prevent any further bad results--and there have been plenty of them in other areas. The right thing to do is to prevent more of these in other areas, and the House should just vote to open the government. This issue has been taken care of, and it is terrible that we even got to this point.

We should not forget that as long as the government remains closed and the Republicans refuse to open the government, the military is unable to, for example, buy armor and equipment needed to prevent future deaths in the military. For the families of FBI agents killed in the line of duty, it is the same problem--they can't receive their death benefits. Veterans' benefits are delayed and disrupted.

As for this bill, the Secretary has now acted. We all agree the issue is taken care of. If my friend from Texas feels more comfort as a result of doing this, which I think is unnecessary, I don't object.

Madam President, my friend, the distinguished senior Senator from Illinois, gave an analogy that applies to a lot of what my friend from Texas said. First of all, we haven't done appropriations bills. We haven't done appropriations bills because the Republicans won't let us. We can't even get cloture on a way to proceed to one of them.

But I want to be sure the record is clear that my friend from Texas doesn't have to give me the benefit of the doubt on what I said. If there were ever an example of this whole process being for show, it is this: We have a lot of things we should be working on. The country is within 1 week of defaulting on its debt for the first time in the history of this country. We should be focusing on that. The government should be open.

We had the unfortunate incident where we had five of our troops killed over the weekend in Afghanistan, and it brought to our attention they were not going to get their benefits because the part of the government that gives them that money is closed.

Now, we didn't close it. But Secretary Hagel, a former Republican Member of this body, worked it out so they are all taken care of. They are all taken care of. So this unanimous consent I agreed to is for show. It doesn't mean anything. They are being taken care of anyway.

So I appreciate the Senator giving me the benefit of the doubt, but he doesn't need to give me the benefit of the doubt. This whole thing is for show. This whole government shutdown is for show. It is a show that I don't quite understand the ending of, but that is where we are.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 6 p.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, and that the Democrats be limited to 10 minutes each. Basically, the reason is we have lots of speakers on this side. I need not say more.

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

Mr. President, with the Presiding Officer's permission, I ask the clerk to report the cloture motion I have filed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 199, S. 1276.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the Carper title amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.