Floor Statements

Madam President, this is a very serious time in the history of the country. It is hard to comprehend, with millions of people being affected tomorrow--in 65 minutes, actually--Republicans are still playing games.

As I indicated, speaking through the Chair to the senior Senator from Illinois a couple of hours ago, just take a couple of examples. We have 15,000 people a day who come to Lake Mead, spending huge amounts of money to help the economy. They come there to boat, to fish, to recreate. Tomorrow morning they can't go.

We have a beautiful recreational area just a short distance out of Las Vegas. When you fly into Las Vegas, you can see the beautiful red hills. It is called Red Rock. Over 1 million people a year come and visit. Not tomorrow. No. The Republicans are shutting down places like that all over America because they don't agree with government. Tomorrow will be a bad day for government and a day of celebration for the Republican-dominated House led by the tea party over there. We hear the next gambit of the House is to request a conference on the CR.

We like to resolve issues. In the Senate Chamber tonight is Patty Murray, chairman of the Budget Committee. She worked so hard to pass a budget in this body. We worked until 5 in the morning to get it passed. We voted on over 100 amendments. We passed a budget. We passed a budget because it was the right thing to do and the Republicans said we should pass a budget--and we did. Senator Murray has for more than 6 months requested a conference on the budget 18 times.

So we like to resolve issues. But we will not go to conference with a gun to our head. The first thing the House has to do is pass a clean 6- week CR. They have that before them. They can do it right now. If they do that, then we will agree to work with Republicans on funding for the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

I propose that the House pass our clean CR, and we will sit down and discuss funding for the balance of the year. That is it. This deal they are pulling out--they have a rule over there that says they want to go to conference on the CR. That closes the government. They want to close the government. This is all a subterfuge to satisfy the tea party- driven Republicans. This very strange agenda is so hurtful to the American people.

So I want everyone to hear what we just said. We will not go to conference until we get a clean CR. If the government closes, what benefit do we have from that? In 2 weeks the government is not only going to close down--we are going to lose the credit rating because they are talking now about not raising the debt ceiling.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. 1566, the Iraq special immigration visa extension.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, this is so important. People who worked with our military in Iraq as interpreters and doing other things that were essential are now targets in the civil war that is going on in Iraq. Some of them have been wanting to leave for 2 years, and this will allow them to do that. I am so glad we are able to extend this.

Every day these people who helped us are subject to arrest, being killed, as are their families. It is so important we did this.

Madam President, through you to my dear friend from New Jersey, who does such a wonderful job in everything he does, especially running the Foreign Relations Committee, I thank him for yielding to me.

This is a very sad day for our country. The President has told the head of the Office of Management and Budget, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to issue a shutdown statement, and she has done that. Here it is: ``MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.''

This memorandum follows the September 17 memo and provides

an update on the potential lapse of appropriations.

No more potential. It is after midnight.

Appropriations provided under the Consolidated and Further

Continuing Appropriations Act expire at 11:59 pm tonight.

Unfortunately, we do not have a clear indication that

Congress will act in time for the President to sign the

continuing resolution before the end of the day tomorrow,

October, 2013. Therefore, agencies should now execute plans

for shutdown due to the absence of appropriations.

That is what she said. So the agencies of government are in the process of closing down. It now appears that the House is not going to do anything to keep the government from shutting down. They have some jerry-rigged thing about going to conference. It is embarrassing that these people who are elected to represent the country are representing the tea party, the anarchists of the country, and a majority of the Republicans in the House are following every step of the way.

This is an unnecessary blow to America, to the economy, the middle class, everyone. The House has within their power the ability to avoid a shutdown. They should simply pass the 6-week CR we sent them.

We are going to come in in the morning and see what they have done sometime tonight. But I would hope they would understand that, within their power, at any time, all they have to do is accept what we already passed. All this stuff they keep sending over here--they are so fixated on embarrassing our President, the President of the United States. They think an election is coming this November. It happened last November. He was elected by 5 million votes over what Romney got--5 million votes. It was not close. So it is really too bad.

I am going to ask this unanimous consent. We are going to go out tonight and come back at 9:30 in the morning. So the unanimous consent is that we are going to recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning. I want the Senators who are here on the floor to be able to talk for 5 minutes each.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 Tuesday, October 1, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in day; that at that time, I be recognized; that the Senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 tomorrow to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

I ask, before this is implemented, that everyone understand that when we receive that message from the House--I hope we will have it in the morning when we come in--I will make a motion to table it as we have done the two other measures in the last few hours.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that following the statements of Senators Menendez, Durbin, Murray, and Schumer, the Senate adjourn under the previous order.

Sure.

That is right. It keeps the government funded. They have had that for days now. They could do it,

with the way they vote, in a matter of 10 minutes.

Nothing we can do. They are over there now negotiating with themselves, I guess.

It is in their court and has been in their court.

Madam President, behind each Senator is a team of hard- working and dedicated staffers who ensure our constituents have the best possible representation in Congress.

For almost 9 years, Darrel Thompson, my deputy chief of staff for intergovernmental and external affairs, has been a lynchpin of my Washington staff.

Darrel grew up in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, but he fights for my constituents as if he is a native Nevadan.

Darrel works with Federal and State officials and business leaders to foster economic opportunities in Nevada.

And Nevada employers and workers alike have been fortunate to have Darrel watching out for their interests.

Sadly for us, today is Darrel's last day with my office.

Darrel has lived on Capitol Hill for two decades, and he is leaving to realize his dream of running for the District of Columbia City Council seat for Ward 6.

I know Darrel's talent will shine in this new endeavor, as it has in my office.

Darrel has been a trusted advisor on international labor and employment issues, labor negotiations, and job growth.

He has also been an advocate for social justice, and for both the faith and African-American communities.

And he has always been a strong voice for the District of Columbia in the U.S. Senate.

Darrel's prior experience has been also an asset to our team.

Before he joined my staff, he was chief of staff for the Barack Obama for Senate campaign and finance chief of staff for Congressman Gephardt's 2004 presidential campaign.

He also received his master's in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

I am so sorry to see Darrel go, but I know my loss will be the District's gain.

I congratulate him on his 9 years of dedicated service to the U.S. Senate.

I wish Darrel success in his race for city council as well as a lifetime of happiness.

Mr. President, following any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of H.J. Res. 59, which is the continuing resolution. The time until 12:10 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the proponents and opponents of the motion to invoke cloture on H.J. Res. 59. The time from 12:10 p.m. until 12:30 p.m. is reserved for me and Senator McConnell. I will control the last 10 minutes; he will control the first 10 minutes of that block of time.

The filing deadline for all second-degree amendments to H.J. Res. 59 is 10:30 a.m. today.

At 12:30 p.m. there will be up to four rollcall votes in relation to the following, in the following order: cloture on H.J. Res. 59, motion to waive budget points of order, the Reid-Mikulski amendment--we will vote on that--and passage of the resolution, as amended, if amended.

Mr. President, as I indicated, I am not going to give any remarks this morning. I want to leave as much time as possible to those who have not had an opportunity to speak or wish to speak again. I am told the Republican leader will not be here either. So I will return at approximately 12:20 p.m.

I suggest the absence of a quorum and I ask unanimous consent that the time be divided equally.

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

During my time in Washington I have had the opportunity to work with many reasonable, thoughtful Republicans, including those serving in this body today. Those reasonable Republicans value this institution, the Senate, and they respect the government of which it is a part.

Today, the Republican Party has been infected by a small but destructive faction that would rather tear down the House our Founders built than govern from it. These extremists are more interested in putting on a show, as one Republican colleague put it, than in legislating. That is why they prevented the Senate from taking action to avert a government shutdown last night to put on a show today.

Despite pleas from the House of Representatives for a quick Senate action, that same vocal minority was determined to waste the dwindling hours before a government shutdown--1 day, basically, they wasted. Although every minute that passes puts this country 1 minute closer to a shutdown, a shutdown that would shatter our economy, they continue to obstruct and to delay.

A bad day for government is a good day for the anarchists among us, those who believe in no--I repeat, no--government. That is their belief. Modern-day anarchists known as the tea party believe in no government. They are backed by a very wealthy group of people who finance this effort to destroy our government.

It is important to note these tea party obstructionists don't represent mainstream Republicans either in this body or mainstream Republicans in our country. But unfortunately their grip on the rudder of the Republican Party is very firm.

For the last few years these radicals in the House and Senate have driven America from crisis to crisis--we lurch from crisis to crisis-- leaving a trail of economic destruction behind them. Now they have taken the U.S. Government hostage and demanded an impossible ransom-- that Democrats repeal the law of this land known as ObamaCare.

The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land for 4 years. The U.S. Supreme Court has declared it constitutional and soon it will help 25 to 35 million people in America who are currently living without health insurance. It will allow them to get access to the lifesaving care they need and deserve.

I don't know if people truly know what it means not to have health insurance, not to have the ability to go to the doctor or hospital when they are sick or hurting. Some of us do. Some of us understand how tens of millions of people in America can't go to the hospital when they are sick or when they are hurt.

When I was a boy--I don't know how old I was, 10 or 11 years old--I was so sick. I can still remember how sick I was. I had been sick for quite a long time in the house we lived in. But, you see, we didn't have doctors in Searchlight. There wasn't a doctor for 50 miles and we had no car. I was very sick. We didn't go to doctors. But it was obvious I was very ill and so one of my older brothers came to visit and he was with a friend. That friend of my brother Don agreed to take me to the hospital. So I went to the hospital. I still have the scar. I had a growth on my large intestine. I would have died had I not gone to the hospital. So I know what it is like not to be able to go to the hospital or doctor when you are sick.

My wonderful mother took in wash. Searchlight had nothing much there, but once, I remember, a TB wagon came through. That was a truck where they would do x-rays of somebody's chest to find out if they had tuberculosis because it was still around. People in Searchlight--I remember Conn Hudgens and others--had tuberculosis. My dad wouldn't go, but my mother went and had her chest x-rayed. The results came back on a little card in the mail, and she had tuberculosis. She was positive for tuberculosis.

What did we do? What did she do? Nothing. Nothing. As a boy, caring about my mother, I worried so much about that. I can't imagine even to this day how she must have felt. In hindsight, it looks like it was a false positive, but that didn't take away the concern I had for a long time. So I can't imagine, I repeat, how my mother must have felt.

So I have had some view of what it is like not to be able to go to the doctor or hospital when you are sick or hurt.

Again, I don't know how old I was, but my little brother, 22 months younger than I am, was coming up on a bicycle and he slid and he was hurt. He was crying. I guess he was 10 years old or something like that, and no one was home. So I helped him get up to the house and lie down. I went and found my mother. My brother never, ever went to the doctor, and he had a broken leg. He still has a bent leg to show today. He laid on that bed. He couldn't touch the bed it hurt so much. He laid there until he could get up and walk a week or 10 days later.

So these people who just nonchalantly don't focus on the fact that millions of Americans have no health insurance--we can't just walk away from this. The health care law we have is important.

Republicans fought long and hard in opposition to ObamaCare, and they lost. It was a fair fight. They made their case against Obama directly to the American people in November last year, and they lost again. Obama won not by a small margin. He won by 5 million votes. What was the main issue in that campaign? It was health care. The American people overwhelmingly reelected the President, and one reason they did is because of health care.

Yesterday, on this floor, from over there, a colleague of ours, the senior Senator from Arizona, John McCain, spoke with great eloquence about this law, a law he opposes. This is what he said:

The people spoke. They spoke, much to my dismay, but they

spoke and reelected the President of the United States. That

doesn't mean we give up our efforts to try to replace and

repair ObamaCare. But elections have consequences. The

majority of the American people supported the President of

the United States and renewed his stewardship of this

country. I don't like it. But I think all of us should

respect the outcome of elections, which reflect the will of

the people.

Who said this again? Who said this? Who is this John McCain? He is a proven fighter, in war and in public service. This is a man who held the mantle of the Republican Party's nomination to be President of the United States. He is not some gadfly but an American patriot, and history books will talk about that in generations to come. The Republicans heard his message, for which the Senate and the country should be grateful.

So there is challenge this fall, closing in on the end of the fiscal year, for those of us who respect the system of government devised by America's Founders, those of us who believe in the rule of law and that elections reflect the will of the American people will face a test. Can we prevent an economically disastrous government shutdown, and can we protect the full faith and credit of the United States?

From one newspaper--not lots of newspapers, one newspaper--look at the headlines ``GOP hard-liners block strategy to avoid shutdown''; ``Government shutdown would entail cost''; ``Shutdown could carry pay risk even for employees kept on the job.''

One newspaper.

``Agencies prepare to furlough workers in the face of partial government shutdown.''

``Shutdown grows more likely as House digs in.''

This is from Governor Christy: ``Shutdown would be a failure.'' He says it would be irresponsible.

``As government shutdown looms, Americans brace for possible disruption, disappointment.''

Another headline: ``Surrounding jurisdictions develop shutdown game plans.''

``Threat of shutdown delays some Colorado flood relief.''

Is it any wonder the stock market is going down? Is it any wonder that people are concerned? Is it any wonder that someone such as the woman who works for the Park Service, who came to see me yesterday, said to me: I have been through this before. I am not going to get paid for my work.

So the question is, Can we overcome modern-day anarchists? In just a few minutes the Senate will take the first step toward wresting control from these extremists. Democrats will vote to avert a government shutdown, and I am confident many of my Republican colleagues will vote with us to allow the government to perform its basic duties. Together, we will send a message to radical Republicans that we will not allow the law of the land to be used as a hostage, a law that has been in place for 4 years.

I am pleased so many of my Senate Republican colleagues seem to understand the stakes of this debate--the economic health of a still struggling Nation and the economic well-being of still struggling families. I urge sensible Republicans in the House of Representatives to follow our lead, to follow the lead of Republicans in the Senate, and let the House Democrats vote. Don't just make it a majority- minority; let the 435 Members who serve in the House of Representatives vote and pass a clean bill to avert a shutdown. Defy the anarchists. Respect the rule of the law and help the Senate govern.

I ask unanimous consent that the time remaining for Senator McConnell and myself be yielded back and that we begin the vote.

Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, I move to waive all applicable sections of the Act and any other applicable budget points of order for purposes of the pending joint resolution and the amendments.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I yield back all time on the motion to waive.

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

I ask consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, with the concurrence of the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 204 and 205; that there be 30 minutes for debate, equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; 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.

I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 214 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

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

I ask unanimous consent that from Friday, September 27, through Monday, September 30, the majority leader and Senator Boxer be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions.

Madam President, I wish to thank all my Republican colleagues and, of course, Democratic colleagues who acted responsibly today to prevent a government shutdown. House Republicans should follow the example set by Republicans in the Senate.

I want everyone to listen and to hear. The Senate has acted. This is the only legislation that can avert a government shutdown and that time is ticking as we speak. The Senate will be back in session on Monday. In the meantime, if Speaker Boehner wants to avoid a government shutdown, he will pass our resolution; otherwise, it is a government shutdown.

The President just spoke on national TV outlining how bad that would be. We have said it on the floor, but it doesn't have the power of the President telling everyone how bad it will be, and it will be very, very negative for our economy and for the American people in general.

House Republicans should think long and hard about what is at stake and who would be hurt by a government shutdown. Each of us, all 535 Members of Congress, were elected by the American people to serve them, and the American people deserve better than a government that lurches from crisis to crisis caused by a handful of people. American families deserve a government that works for them, not against them.