Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the legislation before us, the National Defense Authorization Act, and to highlight some of the many provisions in this legislation that are critical as we think about our national security and the future of our military. I chair the Readiness and Management Subcommittee, and I understand that one of the chief challenges which faces our military is readiness. The effects of nearly 10 years of warfare on our equipment and personnel, coupled with the sharp budget reductions under sequestration, have made it more difficult for our Nation's military leaders to prepare our forces for combat.

During our markup of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee sections of this bill, I was pleased to work with my colleague from New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee Senator Ayotte to move more than $1.5 billion from low- priority military construction projects into critical operations and maintenance accounts for each of our military services. This move will help mitigate the worst effects of sequestration on readiness. It is obviously not going to address the whole problem. We have a lot more work to do. Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line for us, and we need to keep the commitment we have made that they should have the best possible training and best available equipment before we send them into combat.

I was also pleased to work with Senators McCain, Leahy, and Grassley to include a 1-year extension of the special immigrant visa programs for both Iraq and Afghanistan. Special immigrant visas allow Afghans and Iraqis who worked directly with our U.S. Government and our men and women on the ground to come to the United States if their lives are in danger as a result of their service. We have heard countless stories of how these young brave men and women risked their lives to help the United States drive out violent extremists from their home countries of Iraq and Afghanistan. As we wind down our military operations, we have a responsibility to ensure that those who are in danger as a result of their faithful service to the United States are protected from harm.

Many of us are now familiar with one of these stories that has been much publicized, the story of U.S. soldier Matt Zeller and his Afghan interpreter Janis Shinwari, who served the U.S. Government for over 9 years in Afghanistan. During an attack in 2009, Shinwari not only pulled Zeller out of a kill zone to safety, he also shot two members of the Taliban who were sneaking up behind them. In doing that, he saved Zeller's life. Following the incident, Shinwari was put on a Taliban kill list.

After many months--really years--of waiting, both Zeller and Shinwari recently reunited here in the United States thanks to this special immigrant visa program. I had the opportunity, with Senator McCain, to meet the two of them in my office several weeks ago. Matt Zeller said that Janis Shinwari is his brother. He expressed how grateful he was to Shinwari for saving not only his life but all of the other members of his unit who were helped by Shinwari.

These stories are incredibly common, and I am grateful to all of our colleagues for their assistance in reauthorizing this program, not just through the NDAA bill that is before us but the short-term extension we were able to get during the government shutdown by unanimous consent in both the Senate and the House. It shows just how much we appreciate, in America, the service these men and women from Iraq and Afghanistan have given to us.

The bill before us also includes provisions from the Next Generation Cooperative Threat Reduction Act, which I introduced earlier this year. The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act is the most successful nonproliferation program in our country's history. The language in the underlying bill would expand the scope of Nunn-Lugar to reflect the current security environment.

Specifically, the bill requires the President to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the rapidly growing threat of proliferation across the Middle East and North Africa. The spread of nuclear weapons is one of the gravest threats we face, both in the United States and across our international community. We need to make sure our efforts to combat those challenges are coordinated and reflect where the current security challenges exist.

I am also pleased we were able to increase funding in this bill for the Department of Defense inspectors general by $35 million. This is important because investment in our Nation's inspectors general continues to be one of the most cost-effective ways the government can work, particularly when it concerns the Department of Defense. In 2012, DOD inspectors general saved taxpayers more than $3.6 billion, and IG efforts have been credited with a nearly $11 return on investment for every $1 spent. As the Presiding Officer knows, given our ongoing fiscal challenges, it is now more important than ever before we ensure every dollar is spent effectively.

Finally, I want to address the issue of military sexual assault that is tackled in this National Defense Authorization Act. It makes significant progress toward addressing the crisis of sexual assault in our Nation's military.

I commend all of the members of the Armed Services Committee who worked to tirelessly address this issue, but I want to particularly call out Senators McCaskill and Gillibrand, who have led the charge and worked to help ensure we include provisions in this act that can address this scourge on our military. Because of their leadership, we are going to pass a bill that will take historic steps toward addressing this problem.

As the Presiding Officer knows, we may have had different ideas about the best way to address the problem, but we are united in our commitment to victims of sexual assault and we will keep fighting for them.

I certainly look forward to supporting the Gillibrand amendment, the Military Justice Improvement Act, along with the Presiding Officer, because it addresses chain-of-command issues that I believe can cause victims of sexual assault in the military to refrain from reporting an incident because they fear either that nothing will be done or that there will be retaliation from their commanders. Regardless of the outcome of that legislation, it is important to reflect on the provisions that are already included in this bill because the bill before us today includes nearly 30 provisions that address sexual assault, prevention, investigation, and prosecution procedures at the Department of Defense. Almost all of these provisions were agreed to unanimously in the Armed Services Committee. Strong bipartisan support for commonsense sexual assault prevention reforms such as those included in this bill sends a powerful message to all of the members of our military, including tens of thousands of victims, many of whom have been suffering quietly for decades, that what happened to them is unacceptable and it will no longer be tolerated.

One of the critical challenges we face in the military is changing the culture surrounding sexual assault. I was pleased to work with our colleagues to include provisions in the bill to help create an environment where victims can feel safe to come forward and report these crimes.

In any organization, the best way to attract the most qualified personnel is to tie an issue to career advancement. Sexual assault prevention and response is no different. That is why Senator Fischer and I included language that elevates the role of sexual assault prevention response officers to ensure we have the highest caliber candidates assigned to those positions.

Also, in recent months I have held roundtable discussions with New Hampshire law enforcement and with members of our University of New Hampshire community who have worked on sexual assault prevention and with members of the New Hampshire National Guard to discuss their best practices, the way in which they are working together in New Hampshire to address domestic violence and sexual assault. As a result of some of those discussions, we have included in the bill a reform that would require the Defense Department to incorporate civilian sexual assault investigation and prosecution best practices into their military procedures.

I wish to close this afternoon by thanking Chairman Levin and Ranking Member Inhofe for their leadership on this bipartisan bill. We still have a lot of work to do here in the Senate, but obviously the foundation has been laid by the work of the committee and by their leadership.

I also thank my staff for their incredibly hard work and dedication, as well as the staff of all of the Armed Services Committee, because without their contributions we would not have made as much progress as we have. From the readiness subcommittee, I thank Jay Maroney, John Quirk, and Mike Noblet on the majority side; Lucian Niemeyer, Bill Castle, and Bruce Hock from the minority; and from my personal staff Chad Kreikemeier, Josh Lucas, Joel Colony, and Patrick Day.

Finally, I want to say a special thank-you to CDR Tasya Lacey. Tasya is a graduate of the Naval Academy, and she served in my office over the past year as a fellow on loan from the Department of the Navy. Her thoughtfulness and insight have been invaluable on a wide range of issues, especially during our efforts to address sexual assault. She is headed back to the Navy soon, but I wanted her to know that it truly has been a pleasure having her on my staff, and I wish her good luck in her next assignment.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I hope we can come together in the next couple of days and get this bill done.

I yield the floor, and I note the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I am pleased to be here to join my colleague Senator Gillibrand in expressing my concerns about how we address sexual assault in the military.

For the past several years, we have all become increasingly aware of the prevalence of sexual assault in our military. Personally, I know I share the outrage of all Americans that one of our Nation's proudest institutions is afflicted by this level of criminal violence. In 1989, Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett III established a policy of zero tolerance for sexual harassment and sexual assault. Two years later, the Tailhook scandal happened at a convention attended by the Secretary and the Chief of Naval Operations.

On June 2, 1992, Secretary Garrett wrote a memo to his military leaders that said:

While each individual must be accountable for his or her

own actions, commanding officers have a unique responsibility

for leadership in ensuring appropriate behavior and attitudes

of those under their command.

In the end, the Tailhook scandal resulted in 90 victims--83 women and 7 men--140 officers facing possible punishment and zero criminal prosecutions for incidents of assault. All of these events occurred under the same zero tolerance policy that military leaders espouse today.

The Tailhook scandal was only the beginning of our awareness of the silent crisis within the military. Since that time, there have been numerous scandals in every service. Yet 20 years later we are not only told that the system works but that the status quo, maintaining the chain of command on this issue, is vital to solving the problem. This, of course, ignores the reality of the sexual assault crisis.

In fact, according to the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault occurred in 2012, and that was an increase of 37 percent since 2010. Clearly, something must change and it must change now.

Thanks to the hard work of Senators Gillibrand, Boxer, Blumenthal, and Hirono, along with so many supporters on both sides of the aisle, this issue is back at the forefront of our national debate. We now have a historic opportunity not only to make additional meaningful commonsense reforms to our military criminal justice system, but I think the Defense authorization bill that we are going to take up before the end of this year, hopefully, has a number of very critical proposals to address sexual assault in our military, and I certainly support those. I was pleased those provisions got unanimous support within the committee. But I do not think we went far enough in that bill.

We also need to send a powerful message to the tens of thousands of victims, many of whom have been suffering quietly for decades, that what happened to them in our military is unacceptable. In too many of those cases it is criminal. And it will no longer be tolerated.

The Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 addresses what victims tell us is the No. 1 problem in the current system. Victims decide not to report sexual assaults because they fear their commanding officers will not take the issue seriously and they will be retaliated against or nothing will be done.

According to the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, 50 percent of female victims said they did not report the crime because they believed nothing would be done with their report. And 25 percent of women and 27 percent of men who received unwanted sexual contact indicated that the offender was actually someone in their own military chain of command.

Our legislation addresses the chain-of-command issue. It removes the decision of whether to go to trial from the chain of command and puts it into the hands of experienced prosecutors. This is a straightforward change. It is designed to promote transparency and accountability in the prosecution of these crimes.

It would also ensure that impartial individuals specifically trained to handle these cases determine whether they move forward, which permanently eliminates the conflicts of interest that exist in the current system. We need all victims to know that if they come forward, their cases will be handled fairly and impartially.

Several days ago in America, we celebrated Veterans Day. Many of us went home to our home States to honor the men and women who, throughout our history, have served in our military. Our military's traditions of honor and respect are too important to continue to be plagued by the issue of sexual assault. That is why I urge my colleagues to support the Military Justice Improvement Act, because we strengthen our military when victims of sexual assault have the confidence to come forward and report crimes, and when we remove fear and stigma from the process. We strengthen our military when we create a process to deliver fair and impartial justice on behalf of the victims of these crimes.

Every man and woman who wears the uniform deserves these rights, and after more than 20 years of waiting, it is way past time we come through for them.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be until 7 p.m. for debate only.

Mr. President, almost 50 years ago Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. This landmark legislation prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Many of us in the Senate remember the passage of that legislation. And many of us, unfortunately, saw firsthand the painful examples of legally sanctioned discrimination that existed before the Civil Rights Act.

I grew up in a State where I went to segregated schools. I can remember the separate drinking fountains and going to the movie theater where if you were an African American you had to sit in the balcony. These practices were wrong, and they ended because of the Civil Rights Act.

Well, this week the Senate has the opportunity to extend our national quest for equal opportunity for all by passing the Employment Non- Discrimination Act. This legislation simply prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and I give great credit to Jeff Merkley for sponsoring this legislation and for pushing for it.

I was proud as Governor of New Hampshire 16 years ago to sign legislation making New Hampshire only the 10th State in the country to include sexual orientation in its antidiscrimination laws. That State legislation went further than the bill before the Senate this week. It not only covered employment, but it covered housing and public accommodations as well. At the time, both the New Hampshire Senate and House were controlled by Republicans. Yet the bill passed both bodies with large bipartisan majorities because it was not seen then as a partisan issue.

Including sexual orientation in New Hampshire's antidiscrimination laws was just one more step forward in New Hampshire's long history of promoting civil rights. No one in America should be hired or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I realize, as we all do, that no law can erase prejudice. Prejudice will continue to exist after the Employment Non-Discrimination Act becomes law. But that is not the issue. The issue is whether it is acceptable as a matter of law in the United States to hire or fire

someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

When we declared our independence from Great Britain back in 1776, our Founders stated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal. . . .

Of course, I would add women to that. But equality under the law is part of our national creed. We have an opportunity this week to take another step forward in advancing equal opportunity for all. Let's pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act with a very strong bipartisan majority. I hope we will do that. I hope we will do it this week.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise to join my colleague Senator Durbin from Illinois in support of Patricia Millett's nomination to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. As he said so eloquently, Ms. Millett has broad bipartisan support, extensive public and private sector litigation experience, and she would make an outstanding addition to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. After graduating with honors from the University of Illinois and Harvard Law School, Ms. Millett clerked at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She then spent 15 years at the Department of Justice, including 11 years as assistant to the Solicitor General in

both Republican and Democratic administrations. Again, I think it is important to point out she has support on both sides of the aisle.

Ms. Millett has argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court as well as dozens of others at the circuit court level, and she currently manages her law firm's Supreme Court and national appellate practice.

She was unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, and that is their highest rating.

In addition to her professional work, Ms. Millett is very active in her community. She has been a literacy tutor for over 20 years, and through her church she volunteers at homeless shelters.

Ms. Millett has strong support across the political spectrum. Again, as Senator Durbin pointed out, she has been endorsed by seven former Solicitors General of the United States, three former Republican attorneys general, law enforcement groups, and civil rights groups. She also has tremendous support from retired members of the military and groups representing military families.

In addition to being a highly qualified nominee, Ms. Millett will fill one of three current vacancies on the 11-member DC Circuit Court. Again, as Senator Durbin pointed out, the DC Circuit is considered the second-most important court in our Nation. It is critical that it be fully staffed with qualified judges. The court handles important terrorism and detention cases, it hears a large volume of complex issues involving administrative actions of the Federal Government. The DC Circuit is also considered the most important civilian court for members of the Armed Services and veterans.

Former DC Circuit Chief Judge Patricia Wald noted ``the DC Circuit hears the most complex, time-consuming, labyrinthine disputes over regulations with the greatest impact on ordinary Americans' lives: clean air and water regulations, nuclear plant safety, health care reform issues, insider trading and more.''

The Senate should have the opportunity to vote up or down on all of President Obama's nominees to this important court. It is way past time we took action on this nomination.

I urge my colleagues to support the Millett nomination.

I yield the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.

I am very happy to be able to come to the floor this afternoon to join those who have already spoken to commend the fact that we have finally come to an agreement, it appears, that will end this government shutdown, that will allow the country to pay its bills, and that will, hopefully, address some of the uncertainty and harm that has come to families, to businesses, and to this economy over the last several weeks.

I wish to thank and applaud the leadership of Majority Leader Reid and Republican Leader McConnell for being able to come together to reach this agreement. I also wish to commend the many people who have come to the floor this afternoon, led by Senator Collins, who have been working over the last week to try to come up with some ideas to provide a framework for an agreement. I was especially appreciative to be part of that group of 14 of us, along with Senator Collins--and I think her leadership was very important--along with Senator Klobuchar, Senator Pryor, and the many people who have come to the floor, in providing some impetus for people to work together and to move forward on an agreement that could finally end this shutdown. I certainly appreciated the comments of Senator Pryor when he talked about the need for us to work together, to listen to each other, and to put aside the blame game and address the many challenges facing this country. That is clearly where we need

to go next, and I certainly hope we will all in this Chamber recommit ourselves to doing that.

We need to pass this compromise quickly so we can end the shutdown's negative effects on our economy. We need to move forward and think about how we can get some agreement long term in the future, and I think the bipartisan efforts that have been shown over the last week will be very important to doing that.

The fact is, while the agreement is good news, we know the agreement is only short term and that we are going to have to figure out a way to address keeping the government open, address paying the Nation's bills, address coming up with a long-term budget agreement, and we do not have a whole lot of time to do that.

I hope people will understand the very real impacts I have been hearing in my office, I know Senator Collins has been hearing that as well, and people throughout this body have been hearing from people across the country about what the impact has been.

Yesterday I participated in a Small Business Committee hearing to hear the impacts of the shutdown on small businesses across the country, and I appreciate the leadership of Senator Landrieu in organizing that hearing. It gave a voice to many of the small businesses, to many of the people across this country who have been suffering as a result of the shutdown. I thought it would be helpful to share a few of those stories as a reminder that as happy as I am that we have reached agreement, we have a lot of work to do in the future to make sure this does not happen again.

One of the people we heard from yesterday was New Hampshire community banker Chuck Withee. He is the president of Provident Bank. They have four locations in New Hampshire. He told me that small businesses, as we know, ``are the backbone'' of what they do at his community bank. He said the ``shutdown has had a material and profound effect on many small businesses in the Southern New Hampshire region'' because of the shutdown of the SBA loan programs.

We all know how critical access to capital is to making sure businesses can operate. Chuck testified that Provident Bank has 12 loans that are stalled right now. They are just waiting for the SBA to open. They have a total of $2.7 million in small business loans--that is at just one small bank--that are currently on hold because of this crisis.

Sadly, according to Chuck, the consequences of this holdup may be permanent for some of those businesses:

There are purchase and sale agreements hanging in the

balance, that may lapse and have to be renegotiated. . . .

The small business owner may also lose credibility and the

ability to negotiate similar contracts in the future.

He went on to say the numbers do not really include the dozens of applications for loans that would have come through the door but did not because of the shutdown.

He also talked about a new program that Provident was just about to launch before the shutdown, a program that would focus on microloans for very small businesses--those businesses that usually have borrowing needs of between $10,000 and $100,000 that would have been able to get loans as part of this program. Because of the shutdown, the bank had not continued that program. He indicated they hope to roll it out as soon as the government is operating again. But clearly there are businesses that have been hurt in the interim.

We heard from people across the country at that hearing yesterday, from another SBA lender, Sally Robertson, who pointed out that one of the borrowers she is working with has posted a $149,000 deposit on a new project--that if they cannot close in a timely fashion, they are going to lose that deposit.

We heard from some small businesses with Federal contracts. They have their contracts on hold, so they have had to dip into their cash reserves or furlough workers.

We also heard from a representative from the tourism industry who pointed out that travel and tourism in this country is losing $152 million a day during this government shutdown.

I know everybody here has heard stories such as that from their home States. I am sure the Presiding Officer has heard those kinds of stories from the State of Wisconsin.

Hopefully, we will reopen the government, we will pass this agreement today, we will be able to get those small businesses up and running again, we will be able to provide some certainty for those Federal contracts, we will be able to bring back to work those furloughed workers and make sure they get backpay. But the challenge is that we cannot let this happen again.

I am hopeful--because we have a budget conference committee going forward--there will be a process by which we can put in place a longer term budget agreement so we are not facing another shutdown in January, right after the holiday season. We do not want people to think they cannot spend money during this holiday season because there is going to be another government shutdown or because the country might think about again defaulting on its debts in early February.

As Chuck Withee from Provident Bank said yesterday: Small businesses will remain uncertain. They could face higher borrowing costs if Congress comes close to the brink yet again. It is an admonition I am certainly going to take to heart, and I hope all of us will.

Again, I thank everybody who has helped in reaching an agreement today. Hopefully, this will be approved by both Houses of Congress, we will get the government open, we will pay the country's bills, and we will not let it happen again.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I very much appreciate my fellow Senator from New Hampshire Ms. Ayotte for her remarks. I would echo those. She and I have both been to the floor over the past few weeks to talk about the devastating impacts of this government shutdown. It has been an unnecessary hardship--a very real hardship--placed on so many New Hampshire families, so many New Hampshire businesses, and the challenges it meant for the economy of our State and for the Nation.

I ask my colleague if it would be important, as we think about going forward and trying to deal longer term with the need to come up with a budget for this country, the need to address paying our bills in the long term, if this kind of bipartisanship we tried to exhibit for New Hampshire would be important for all of us to think about as we try to solve those challenges long term and also for us to try to reassure the people of New Hampshire that I believe we are going to be working together to try and do that, and hopefully everyone else here will do the same?

I thank my friend and colleague from New Hampshire.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague from Hawaii Senator Schatz and share his points. I think most of the American people share his perspective this is an awful mess and it is way past time that we fix it.

I am hearing from people in New Hampshire every day who are affected by the negative consequences of this shutdown. I heard from some employees at the Berlin prison. This is a medium-security facility in the northern part of New Hampshire. It has not even been fully staffed. It does not have all of the inmates there. Several of the employees have emailed me talking about what their situation is.

One woman says:

We are expected to work and not get paid for the time

being. But it's going to be tough when both working members

of the household are government employees who aren't getting

paid. I am expected to make my Federal student loan payments

on time as well as my private student loans. How is one

supposed to do that when the government is not paying them?

They expect payment. Well, so do we.

I also heard from a gentleman whose family is back in New York because he is still getting settled in Berlin. He has a child who is ill. He says he was told last week that any sick or annual leave could be used, but it would be considered as a nonpaid day during this shutdown. He says:

I have been dealing for the past 3 months with my youngest

child who's been having kidney problems and had surgery

recently. My wife has been having kidney difficulty and had

surgery. So now I cannot respond to my family's aid because I

would be concerned about whether or not I am going to be able

to get paid for these sick days. We are hearing from people

across New Hampshire. Hundreds of Federal workers have been

furloughed in the State. New Small Business Administration

loans have been stopped. Federal Housing Administration and

VA loans have been slowed. Facilities in the White Mountain

National Forest have been closed.

This is the peak weekend for foliage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Yet because of the shutdown, facilities, bathrooms in the White Mountain National Forest are closed, campgrounds are closed, the small businesses that depend on those for the rest of their season are taking a huge hit. So many of the manufacturing businesses in New Hampshire are being affected.

I heard from a company called Nanocomp, which is a real innovative, small New Hampshire company producing next-generation carbon nanotube technology. They have a number of Federal contracts. They have already been hit by sequestration. So this is a double whammy. Their CEO said to me:

We would burn through our very thin cash reserves as a

result of this shutdown, and when that money is burned, it is

not able to be replaced. So our basic financial viability can

be irrevocably damaged, even after the crisis passes.

For this company, the consequences of this shutdown could be irreversible. I heard from another small business owner with a company called GlobaFone. He called because he is so frustrated because again his government contracts are not being paid. He does not know what that is going to mean. Their cashflow is uncertain. He is not sure if his line of credit with the bank is going to continue.

There are very real consequences from this government shutdown.

Then of course, on SBA loans, according to the Granite State Development Corporation, which is one of the largest SBA lenders in New Hampshire, about 20 loans have been put on hold with the Granite State Development Corporation because of this shutdown.

Then, we have heard from some of our community banks that provide for SBA loans that those loans are being held up. There is no doubt this is having a huge impact in New Hampshire on families, on small businesses. But it is having an impact across this country.

That is affecting activity. As the Presiding Officer said so well in his comments, this is having a huge impact on how the economy of this country is doing. As we think about the concerns we have heard expressed about the debt and the deficit, one of the improvements to reducing the deficit and the debt as this economy recovers is the recovery itself. It has improved economic activity. It is making sure businesses can do better. They can hire more workers, people get back to work, and they can pay their taxes.

Yet that very economic recovery is what is being threatened right now by this shutdown. We know that as bad as this shutdown is--and we are in the 13th day--that 4 days from now we have an even more disastrous potential impact to this country and to our economy looming. Economists across the ideological spectrum have warned that if the Federal Government defaults on paying our bills, if we reach that debt ceiling and we do not continue to pay our bills, we could see businesses stop hiring, retirement accounts and families nest eggs could lose much of their value overnight. Interest rates would rise, which means higher costs for consumers, small businesses, and the Federal Government. Consumer confidence, which is so important for small businesses, would drop sharply. We are seeing that already. In the last few weeks we have seen the sharpest drop in consumer confidence since the fall of Lehman Brothers back in 2008.

We have heard from some people who are debt deniers, debt ceiling deniers, that these are just scare tactics, that these terrible consequences would not happen. But, in fact, we saw that in 2011; when we were having this debate again about whether we should raise the debt ceiling, there were dire consequences to that debate. In late July and early August, leading up to the debt deal of 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,000 points. As a result of that drop, average Americans with retirement accounts saw their household wealth plummet by $2.4 trillion.

Our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in America's history, and the crisis resulted in an additional $1.3 billion in borrowing costs for the Federal Government. As the Presiding Officer said so well: If you care about the debt and the deficits facing this country, why would we inflict that kind of burden again on the economy by saying we are not going to raise the debt ceiling.

The potential consequences, if we refuse to raise the debt ceiling, on November 1 we have already heard from Treasury Secretary Lew that Social Security and Medicare, which have not been affected by the shutdown, would clearly be affected by a default. It could delay or disrupt Social Security checks, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' benefits, military salaries.

According to the Treasury, delayed or disrupted payments would prevent 57.5 million Americans from receiving Social Security benefits in a timely manner. This could put the most vulnerable people in America in jeopardy and prevent them from receiving the benefits they have earned and the benefits they need to live on.

My former colleague and fellow Senator, Judd Gregg, a Republican--he and I don't always agree on everything, but we certainly agreed on the negative consequences of our failure to act to increase the ability of this country to pay its bills.

In an op-ed that was published by The Hill newspaper, Senator Gregg said the brinkmanship on default is: The political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all of the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-win strategy. A default would lead to some level of chaos in the debt markets, which would lead to a significant contraction in economic activity, which would lead to job losses, higher spending by the Federal Government, and lower tax revenues, which would lead to more debt.

That sums it up very well. Senator Gregg understands, as I think most of us do in the House and Senate, that for us to refuse to raise this debt ceiling, to allow the country to pay its bills, to allow the country to default, would be shortsighted, irresponsible, and reckless. I hope that we are all going to come together to get this done in the next couple of days and save this country from even more disastrous consequences.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, we are now in the 11th day of this unnecessary government shutdown. Just as my colleague from South Dakota, Senator Thune, pointed out, there are some impacts in South Dakota as a result of this shutdown. We are seeing those very real consequences in New Hampshire as well, and I am sure the Presiding Officer is seeing those in North Dakota.

It has become clear to me by talking to people in New Hampshire that the longer the shutdown goes, the worse the impact on families, on small businesses, on people who need the services from this government.

But as difficult as the shutdown is, there is actually another crisis that looms on the horizon that would have even more disastrous consequences for our economy, and that is the possibility of a first- ever default on this country's debt.

For the first time ever, if we default, the country would not pay the bills it has incurred--the bills it has incurred because of decisions made by this Congress or previous Congresses.

As economists across the ideological spectrum have warned, the consequences of a default would be severe. We could see businesses stop hiring. That would have an impact, as we are already seeing as a result of this shutdown, on the economic recovery we are experiencing. Retirement accounts and families' nest eggs would lose much of their value in a very short time. Interest rates would rise, which would mean higher costs for consumers, for small businesses, and for the Federal Government, as we need to borrow. And consumer confidence, which is so important for small businesses and for the economy, would drop sharply.

Some people have suggested that these are scare tactics. But these consequences are very real, and we know that because we have been here before. In 2011, which was the last time we came close to defaulting on our debt, the mere prospect of that default was enough to have significant impact on our economy.

In late July and early August of 2011, the period that led up to the debt deal in 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,000 points. As a result American families saw their household wealth plummet by $2.4 trillion. We saw a sharp drop in consumer confidence, and by the way the current circumstances that we are in have seen a similar drop in consumer confidence over the concerns about the shutdown and the default.

In the last few weeks we have seen the biggest drop in consumer confidence since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. Then in 2011 our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in America's history. The crisis in 2011 resulted in $1.3 billion in additional borrowing costs for the Federal Government, thereby increasing the Nation's debt.

So for all of those people who said we are not going to raise the debt ceiling, we are not going to pay the bills this country has incurred because we are worried about the debt and deficits we face, the fact is that action alone increased our debt by $1.3 billion.

There is no question that we need to get this country's debt and deficits under control. I think all of us who are here believe that. But the best way to do that is to reach a comprehensive long-term bipartisan agreement that looks at all areas of spending, that looks at the domestic side of the budget, at the defense side of the budget, at mandatory programs and at revenue.

Despite the partisanship that we have seen too much of here, I still think that kind of an agreement is possible and that is critical. Senator Thune talked about certainty for farmers who are not sure what is going to happen with the farm bill. But that kind of uncertainty is going across the economy for businesses, from whatever sector they are in, because people do not know what we are going to do here in Washington about dealing with this country's long-term budget.

As some of my colleagues have noted, the response to the financial crisis and the great recession led to a higher deficit. There is no question the country was in trouble. One of the ways we helped to address that was to increase spending on vital safety net programs, while revenues declined--to try to stimulate the economy, to put people back to work.

Those policies as well as the fiscal policies that were enacted over the past decade, including two wars, tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, all of those things made the country's debt and deficits increase. Actually in the last few years we have seen significant progress to reduce spending and to narrow our deficit.

We put in place discretionary spending caps that have reduced spending by the Federal Government, and we let the tax cuts for wealthiest Americans expire which raised additional revenue. All told, we put in place approximately $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction. This has not been easy. There has been a lot that has been affected that I would not have chosen, but the fact is we are on a more sustainable budget path.

One of the best ways we can improve our budget outlook is by growing the economy, by focusing on jobs that boost revenue and decrease the need for social programs. While we certainly have more work to do on that front, consistent job growth has helped increase revenue and reduce our deficit.

Since this President took office, we have seen this country's deficit fall by over 50 percent. That represents a remarkable improvement, and all that is coming with the financial crisis and the recession that began in 2008. So

just think about that. We have reduced this country's deficit by over 50 percent.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that our deficit will drop to 2.1 percent of GDP by 2023 from its current level of 4.2 percent. We have made great progress, and we are on a path to make even better progress. The budget that the Senate passed is a very good place to look at how we achieved additional savings and how we continue to grow our economy.

That budget would give us an additional $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years. It would also make very important investments in our economy, in families in this country, in infrastructure, in business, in education. That is a conversation we need to have. I think we should go to a conference committee on the budget. It has been unfortunate that we have not been able to get agreement in this body to do that because we have a small group of people who keep preventing that.

But that is not really what I wanted to talk about this afternoon. What we need to do is, we need to get this government back up and running. We need to agree that we should pay the bills this country has incurred and not default. We are continuing to see, as I said when I started, the very real impact of this government shutdown on families and small businesses across New Hampshire and the country.

I talked earlier on the floor about some of the small businesses that have been affected in New Hampshire. But today I want to talk about some of the Federal employees who are affected. I heard from an employee at the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, NH. This is a medium-security prison. It is new. It has not even been completely staffed, and it does not have all of the inmates there yet. This is from one of the employees who is currently working there--without pay as she points out.

She told me that her husband had already seen his hours cut at his job. Now she says:

I sit in fear that I will not receive a pay check at all. I

will not be able to pay my mortgage payment, my student loan

payments, our vehicle payments, or any other debts. I also

assume that my daughter's daycare is not going to accept an

IOU. I also will not have the money to buy pellets for my

stove or fuel for my furnace for the upcoming winter.

She is worried about the long-term mental and physical well-being of those who are working without paychecks at the prison because many of her colleagues are living paycheck to paycheck.

We have talked a lot about the courage and dedication that many of our Capitol Police officers showed on October 3 during the shooting incident here. It was extraordinary to see people put their lives on the line without getting paid. The same is true of people who are working at our Federal prisons. They are putting their lives on the line every day they go into work in a dangerous environment.

I heard from another furloughed employee of the prison. She said:

I am a single parent with two sons . . . My sons depend on

me and only me. I have to pay for my sons' lunch and

extracurricular activities, which keep him out of trouble and

gives him something to do. I also have medication that my son

and I need on a monthly basis which we cannot go without . .

. The oil here in Berlin, NH, is absolutely high.

Berlin is in the north country of New Hampshire so it gets cold there in the winter. She concluded:

What are we going to say to the bill collectors? Can anyone

answer that?

What kind of answers can we give to these people who are putting their lives on the line every day working for the government to protect all of us? Yet we are not giving them the paycheck that they earned.

I also heard from a furloughed employee with the Department of Agriculture in New Hampshire who is on furlough. She said:

It is an understatement to say I am a bit anxious and

scared. I live from paycheck to paycheck.

She told me she is worried about going into debt as a result of this shutdown. She said, ``I love my job at USDA and feel I make a difference every day to make this a better world.'' She urged me to work with my colleagues here to get her back to work.

Those are just a few examples of the stories that we are hearing every day from people in New Hampshire who are affected by this shutdown. The consequences are very real and they get worse with every day that it goes on.

As bad as that is, the consequences of a default of this country refusing to pay its debt are even worse. While Social Security and Medicare have not been affected by the shutdown, that would change if we default. A default could delay or disrupt Social Security checks that are due to go out at the beginning of November. Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, and military salaries, all of those could be affected by a default. According to the Treasury, delayed or disrupted payments would prevent 57.5 million Americans from receiving Social Security benefits in a timely manner and interfere with payments to 3.4 million veterans.

This could put the most vulnerable in jeopardy and prevent them from receiving the benefits they have earned. That is why the majority in both parties, in both Chambers in Congress, recognizes that defaulting on this country's obligations is not an option.

My former colleague and fellow Senator Judd Gregg, who is a Republican--and while we do not agree on everything, this is one issue we certainly agree on. In an op-ed published by The Hill newspaper he said that brinkmanship on default is:

The political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with

all of the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-

win strategy . . . A default would lead to some level of

chaos in the debt markets, which would lead to a significant

contraction in economic activity, which would lead to job

losses, which would lead to higher spending by the federal

government and lower tax revenues, which would lead to more

debt.

In other words, as Senator Gregg said it so well: It is short-sighted and irresponsible. There is no doubt we need to keep working on a long- term budget for this country. But we have to do it in a way that is responsible. That is why I certainly hope that the Senate will be able to agree on the legislation that is currently before this body. I hope the House will come to the table. I hope we can all agree that allowing this country to default on our debt, to not pay our bills, would have disastrous consequences.

We are not going to be that irresponsible. We still have some time to get this done. Not long. So far the financial markets and the American people have been more than patient. Everybody is frustrated. Everybody understands that it is time for us to act and to act now.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, as my colleague from Kansas said, I also came to the floor today to talk about the unnecessary government shutdown that is continuing and is having widespread ramifications in New Hampshire and across the country.

I would like to respond to some of what he said about the Budget Control Act and about the current state of the deficit. The fact is the deficit, under this President, has been reduced by more than 50 percent since he took office. It is on course to reach a little over 4 percent of GDP by the end of 2015, I believe. By 2023 it is expected to get even lower--down to a little over 2 percent. There is no doubt that we need a plan to deal with the long-term debt and deficits of this country.

Most of us who supported the Budget Control Act thought that was what we had done. We put a committee in place that was actually going to come up with an agreement on how we could get to a long-term plan to deal with this country's debt and deficits. It is really unfortunate that some of the people who were appointed to that committee didn't share in that commitment.

I think it is important to remind us all where we are. We have made significant improvements on reducing the deficit in this country. We have been willing to look at a long-term agreement to deal with the debt and deficit, and I think that is what we ought to do. I would hope that as the result of this government shutdown, we can get some agreement from both sides of the aisle to actually do this.

My main purpose in coming to the floor today is to talk again about the impact of the shutdown on too many people who were caught in the middle between this unnecessary inflicted crisis that we are seeing in Washington and the impact that it is having on families, small businesses, the economy of New Hampshire, and the country.

We are now in the ninth day of the shutdown. In New Hampshire we have seen hundreds of Federal workers who have been furloughed. Some of those workers are back to work. Fortunately, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard most of those people are back to work, and that is very good news. We still have people at the Forest Service, and we have people who work for the Federal Government in other capacities all over the State who have not been fortunate enough to be called back to work.

I would just remind everybody that even for those people who are back at work, they are not being paid. They are working without pay.

In New Hampshire Small Business Administration loans have been halted, and that is true across the country. The Federal Housing Administration and VA loans have been slowed down. At the White Mountain National Forest, which is a Federal forest that hosts more visitors than Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined, people who are traveling through our beautiful White Mountain National Forest at this time of the year so they can look at the foliage are not even able to use the restrooms because of the shutdown.

This morning I wanted to speak about some of those businesses I have heard from who are being hurt by the shutdown. New Hampshire is truly a small business State. Ninety-six percent of employers in the Granite State are considered small businesses and they are the backbone of our economy. They are also where most of the new jobs are going to come from.

Two out of every three new jobs in the United States is created by a small business, but the shutdown is hitting them hard. I heard this morning from two of our businesses that have been established in the State for a long time. They have national reputations.

Titeflex, which is an aerospace company in the lakes region, does a lot of business for the Department of Defense and they also provide supplies to larger companies. They told me their inventory is piling up on their docks now because they don't have anybody to inspect it, because those Federal officials who do that are not working. They are furloughed. They said it is really going to be a problem in 10 days if they don't get this resolved, when they have to report to the corporation their bottom line numbers, which will show on their reports, and that will affect their company.

Then I also heard from some representatives of Smith Tubular, which is a medical device equipment company that does business with the VA and with the military, and they also do a lot of work with the FDA. They said they are seeing their contracts affected, and they have heard from FDA that they couldn't provide the payments they normally provide to them because there is nobody at FDA to process those payments. So that is having an effect on the ability of businesses to innovate, to provide the products that are needed.

We have seen an impact on lending in New Hampshire. The Small Business Administration has reported that loans are not being originated. One does not need a Ph.D. in economics to understand that if small businesses can't access capital and credit, there are real economic consequences. One of our largest SBA lenders in New Hampshire is a company called the Granite State Development Corporation. Twenty of their loans are on hold already because of the shutdown.

Then this morning I heard from a community bank in New Hampshire called Provident Bank that it has about half a dozen SBA loans being held up right now. One of those loans is for a newly starting up entrepreneur who wants to open an Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt franchise in New Hampshire. All the paperwork is ready to go, but Provident Bank can't get the final approval for the loan until the SBA is up and running again. So if the shutdown continues, Provident Bank is concerned that interest rates are going to rise, and if interest rates rise, the cost of borrowing for small businesses is going to go up.

As the Presiding Officer knows, because her State is much like New Hampshire with a lot of small businesses, access to credit is the lifeblood

of those small businesses. Right now, we are preventing them from getting the help they need.

Then we have small businesses in New Hampshire that rely on consumer demand. I heard from Charles Moulton, who is the owner of a New Hampshire maple syrup company called New Hampshire Gold. This is the time of year when people are coming to see the foliage and sample our maple syrup in New Hampshire. He has four employees and his maple syrup company has a storefront in New Hampshire, but it also sells one of their signature products, their maple syrup, to Zion National Park in Utah--kind of an unlikely location for a New Hampshire maple syrup, but New Hampshire Gold sells to tourists who come there from all over the world during the summer and early fall. But now, because Zion National Park is shut down, as are all of our national parks, New Hampshire Gold sales have dried up. While they continue to sell in Concord, NH, in their retail store, much of the cushion they needed to get through the winter into next year comes from that location at Zion. They can't afford to lose those dollars as they are thinking about how to get through the rest of this year.

New Hampshire Gold is just one of the thousands of small businesses that have been hurt by the shutdown of our national parks. Visitors to the parks spend nearly $13 billion a year in regions within 60 miles of the parks. This shutdown is hurting not just visitors to those parks; it is hurting small businesses such as New Hampshire Gold and all of the other small businesses around our parks who depend on that tourism business.

There is no doubt this shutdown is hurting our economy. Economist Mark Zandi projected that a 3-to-4-week shutdown would reduce gross domestic product by 1.4 percent during the fourth quarter. He noted that the projection likely underestimates the economic fallout, since it doesn't fully account for the impact of such a lengthy shutdown on consumers, businesses, and investor psychology.

The bottom line is clear: The shutdown is bad for our economy, it is bad for middle-class families, and it is bad for the country.

As we look at the looming deadline for when we need to raise the debt ceiling so we can pay the bills this country has incurred, there is potentially even greater fallout for America. Holding the economy and critical services hostage to score political points is irresponsible. We need to open the government. We need to raise the debt ceiling so we can pay our bills. With the economy finally showing signs of improvement, the last thing we should be doing is what is happening right now.

I am hopeful the House will do what is right. I am hopeful they will pass a short-term funding bill. That action will get our government running again, and then we can continue to negotiate on what we need to do to address the long-term debt and deficits in the country, as well as talk about where we need to invest to make sure this country stays competitive in the future.

I yield the floor.

Quorum Call

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I come to the floor again today to talk about the effects of this government shutdown that are being experienced in New Hampshire. As I begin, let me start where a number of my colleagues have this morning, and that is by thanking the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police for the great job they did yesterday, and particularly the Capitol Police, who are willing to put their lives on the line, as we say frequently, every day to protect us, but in this case where they are doing that and they are not getting paid, that is certainly a tribute to the commitment

and the dedication they have to this Congress and to this government.

I hope that as Members of the Senate and as Members of Congress, we will take inspiration from that dedication and recommit to trying to end this government shutdown and end the negative impacts it is having on people across this country. We are just 4 days into the shutdown-- this is day No. 4--but every day we see more and more of the effects it is having across the country and in my home State of New Hampshire.

My colleague Senator Ayotte was on the floor earlier talking about some of the frustrations people are experiencing as a result of the shutdown. As I said earlier this week, hundreds of Air National Guard civilian employees have already been furloughed. We have Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers who are facing furlough. We have new SBA loan originations that have come to a halt, so businesses aren't able to get the capital they need. So many other important services and so many other people are being affected.

I really wanted to talk today a little more in-depth about the effect of the shutdown on one of New Hampshire's national treasures, the White Mountain National Forest.

This time of year the Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains really starts to see bumper-to-bumper traffic. You might not expect traffic jams in a remote location like that in the middle of the mountains, but when tourists come in to see the beautiful fall foliage in New Hampshire, it really is a boon to New Hampshire's economy, and they are everywhere.

New Hampshire's director of travel and tourism, Lori Harnois, estimates that about 7.8 million people will come to New Hampshire between September and the end of November, which is 2 percent higher than last year. According to Lori, more than spending time, these visitors will spend over $1 billion, which is about 3 percent more than was spent last year. That is why this season is so critical for the small businesses in New Hampshire that depend on the tourism industry. This is really about the economics of New Hampshire and the ability of so many of our small businesses and their owners and employees to survive throughout the year. Local stores, restaurants, and attractions rely on this season to meet their bottom lines.

Many tourists coming to New Hampshire visit our Federal forest lands in the White Mountain National Forest. Those lands are administered by the U.S. Forest Service. The White Mountain National Forest stretches over 800,000 acres in New Hampshire and Maine, and it is one of the most visited outdoor recreation sites in all of United States, with nearly 6 million visitors a year. More visitors than go to Yellowstone or Yosemite Parks come and visit the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For everyone who has been there or visited one of the many landmarks in the forest, it is no surprise because its natural beauty has kept visitors coming back for centuries. Given its proximity to cities such as Boston and Montreal, it is a great place to bring families. Nearly 60 million people in the United States alone live within 1 day's drive of the White Mountain National Forest.

Unfortunately, this year, during the busiest few weeks of the year, tourists are going to be shut out of important services because of this unnecessary government shutdown. Restrooms for families in bumper-to- bumper traffic will be closed along the highways and trails in the national forest. Garbage collection is going to be suspended. Campgrounds will be closed starting over the next few days. Families looking to camp in the White Mountains will have to find new lodging or change their plans.

Ongoing repairs to bridges and roads in response to Hurricane Irene-- we are still cleaning up as a result of the damage from Hurricane Irene--those projects are going to be put on hold, and only a few staff members are going to still be there to respond to emergencies, conduct repairs, and help direct people.

This is leading to a frustrating experience for tourists, and it is frustrating for all of the businesses that depend on the people who come to visit. The shutdown could really hurt a very important industry in New Hampshire at a critical time.

All told, about 120 employees for the White Mountains have been told to stay home until Congress reaches a budget agreement. And as we have heard here in Washington, as we know from our own staffs, these employees have done nothing to deserve these furloughs. They have worked hard, they have been dedicated, but they are going to have to try to make ends meet because Congress can't get its act together. No wonder people are outraged.

Our Federal forest lands are not only critical drivers of the tourism industry, they support New Hampshire's timber industry. If this shutdown continues, the Forest Service will have to determine whether to suspend existing contracts for timber-harvesting on Federal lands, and these companies will have to shut down their operations at one of the best times to harvest timber. So the impact will also be on all of those people who work in the timber industry and depend on that industry for their livelihood.

I wish to highlight some of these effects because we need to remind ourselves just what this government shutdown means for the people who are being hurt, what it means for the small businesses and their employees, and what it means to the economy in my State of New Hampshire and the economy across the country. We are clearly seeing the effects of the shutdown in New Hampshire. If we don't act, these effects will become more and more severe every day.

I hope we can begin to see talks going on between Members of the House and Senate. I hope those who are holding up the continuing resolution in the House--the legislation that would get this country operating again--will reconsider. All it takes is the Speaker to bring that legislation to the floor. He keeps saying we haven't negotiated. In fact, we have negotiated. We negotiated for over 1 year before we passed the Affordable Care Act. We negotiated before this continuing resolution was agreed to, and the Senate, in fact, accepted the numbers, the cost of that continuing resolution to keep the government open. We thought our numbers were better, but we accepted the House numbers because we wanted to try to negotiate and reach an agreement. Unfortunately, what we have seen is that the House has reneged on that agreement.

It is now time to bring that legislation to the floor, to get this government operating again, and to end the negative impact and the real hardship so many people across this country are experiencing.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I came to join my colleagues on the floor this afternoon to talk about and to call on our colleagues in the House--those Republicans who have been taking this irresponsible action--to stop what they are doing and help us resolve this government shutdown.

We are involved in a completely manufactured shutdown of our government. This is something that didn't have to happen. Right now, there is a majority in the House ready to pass a bill to keep our government open, to start it back up again, to end this crisis. But here we are. We are in the midst of the first government shutdown in 17 years because a small minority of the minority party in the other House is holding this government hostage so it can pursue its agenda of trying to end the Affordable Care Act. I don't know why they don't want to make sure that people in this country can get access to health care. I am not going to talk about that this evening.

This is irresponsible. We are already seeing the effects of this crisis in New Hampshire and across the country. We have thousands of Federal employees in my State of New Hampshire who could face furloughs. That includes workers at our Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Those folks are from Maine and New Hampshire, but they are looking at furloughs.

We have already heard from over 300 civilian technicians for the National Guard in New Hampshire who were notified they are going to be furloughed. I have started hearing from constituents whose lives are affected by our inability here in Washington to address keeping this government open.

I heard from one of my constituents in Portsmouth, a man named Robert Cody. He writes:

Dear Senator Shaheen,

Please do not allow a government shutdown to occur. The

consequences to individuals and the economy will be

catastrophic.

He goes on to say:

To put this on personal terms, my daughter just finished

graduate school and began work as a consulting doctor at a

Veteran's Administration hospital providing care to wounded

veterans. If a shutdown occurs, she will lose her job and be

faced with crushing student loan debt and no way to pay back

the loans or her living expenses. The veterans who will be

deprived of her care will be victims of the shutdown as well.

Her situation is just one of many.

Robert, you are certainly right about that.

Hard-working individuals must not be forced to suffer to

make a political point.

He goes on to say:

Please do the right thing! The consequences to the economy

and unemployment will be far-reaching, and you will be blamed

if you contribute to this looming disaster.

I say to Robert: I couldn't agree more with what you have said. I think we need to work together. We need to try to avoid any further harm to people who depend not only on the jobs--the people who are going to be laid off--but also those people who benefit from the services the Federal Government provides.

Salaries for our Federal workers aren't just important for them and their families; they are also critical to their local economies. When hard-working New Hampshire citizens aren't able to get their paychecks, they stop making their mortgage payments, they stop paying their utility bills, they stop shopping at local stores. That is what we are going to see if this shutdown continues. It will inflict serious consequences on the economy.

New Small Business Administration loans are not being originated. SBA loans are critical for job creation in New Hampshire. Our small businesses represent 96 percent of all employers. In 2012, SBA helped 630 small businesses in New Hampshire get access to over $130 million in loans. Now, because of this shutdown, businesses are not going to have access to those loans.

The Federal Housing Administration loans are slowing. Our housing market has really just begun to recover, but it is still fragile. Now, because of the shutdown, we are going to be holding up home sales because much of the FHA staff is furloughed.

Of course, this is terrible timing for the tourism industry in New Hampshire. We are just beginning our fall foliage season. It is a spectacular time to travel around New Hampshire. We have tourists who come from all over the world, who spend money in our local restaurants, who stay at our hotels, and visit our attractions. Many of our small businesses rely on this time of the year to provide the revenue they need to continue operating all year long. We know the tourists who come from overseas stay longer and spend more money. But if the shutdown in government means we are going to be turning away many of those customers, applications for visas are going to come to a halt. According to the Congressional Research Service, during the 1995-1996 shutdown, approximately 20,000 to 30,000 applications by foreigners for visas went unprocessed each day, and U.S. tourism industries--the airlines, the hotels, the restaurants, all of the affiliated businesses that depend on tourism--lost millions of dollars.

We also have a visa center in New Hampshire that works on those visas. They are shut down as part of this government closure. We have a lot of small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country that rely on Federal contracts as they grow and create new jobs.

I talked to one of those small business owners today--a man named Lou Altman with Globafone. I have known Lou for a long time. He has worked in New Hampshire and around the world. He called to express his deep frustration about our failing to pass a continuing resolution to keep this government open.

Globafone's satellite technologies help Federal agencies meet critical needs, in addition to providing technology for many developing countries. But with the shutdown, everything is up in the air for Globafone. They are not certain what this means for their government contracts. As a result their cash flows are uncertain. Since their cash flows are uncertain, their line of credit with the bank is uncertain. I do not blame Lou for being frustrated for wanting to know why we cannot work together to get this done.

I would say to my colleagues in the House, you cannot take this government hostage and expect that we are going to be able to negotiate. This government shutdown is bad for our economy, bad for middle-class families, bad for our country. Unfortunately, what we have seen this week is that some have decided they want to inflict another manufactured crisis as a tactic to prevent health care reform from going into effect.

The people that I talk to in New Hampshire do not think this is a good approach. They know that a government shutdown is serious, that it has consequences for our economy and jobs. Considering that impact, it is no surprise that economists have forecast that our failure to deal with this crisis will have a significant impact on our economy.

Even a 3- or 4-day shutdown could slow growth by 0.2 percent, according to economist Mark Zandi, and an extended shutdown could reduce growth by 1.4 percent. So holding the economy and critical services hostage to score political points is reckless and it is irresponsible. With the economy showing signs of improvement, this is the last thing we should be doing.

It does not have to be this way. I was a Governor for 3 terms. In two of those terms the other party controlled both chambers of our legislature. But we were always able to enact a budget before the fiscal year ended. We had a lot of differences along the way. But both sides understood that in order to reach an agreement, in order to pass a budget, in order to keep government operating, we had to compromise. It would have been impossible to imagine the New Hampshire legislature not getting a budget to my desk because they wanted to play political games or that they would have sent me a budget that they knew I was going to veto.

This Congress can certainly do better. We must do better. My colleagues have pointed out that the Senate in taking up the bill to keep the government funded, the continuing resolution, agreed to accept the dollar amount that the House wanted us to pass. So we compromised on this continuing resolution. What we saw for our willingness to do that was the House decided they were going to put all kinds of amendments on this bill to keep it from getting passed.

I certainly hope that we can pass this bill, that the House will take it up. All the Speaker needs to do is take up the clean bill that the Senate sent them because they have the votes to pass it. If he is so sure that the votes are not there, then let people vote on it and see what happens.

But we know that is not the case. We know that the votes are there to pass this bill. Because it is being held hostage to a small minority in the Republican caucus, this government is shut down and tens of thousands of people across the country are experiencing difficulties as a result. I certainly hope that we are going to see some action soon. I am going to continue to work for that. I am sure all of us in the Senate will try to see that something gets done so we can reopen this government.

I wish to thank my colleague from Alaska Ms. Murkowski and also the chair of the Appropriations Committee Senator Mikulski for their comments because I think, as Senator Mikulski said, the majority of the Members in this body believe it is important for us to keep the government open.

We may disagree about the Affordable Care Act, but one aspect we ought to be able to agree on is that it is in the best interests of this country to keep government open. I believe the same is true in the House; that if the Speaker would bring up the Senate-passed CR, that is clean, that does not have any amendments on it, that extends funding for government through November 15, that accepts the top line numbers for the amount of money we would spend during that period, accept the House numbers, if the Speaker would let that be voted on, on the floor, I think it would pass the House.

It is unfortunate that he has been unwilling to do that. But the reality is, as both Senators Mikulski and Murkowski said, a shutdown of the government is not just about what we are doing on the floor tonight or what the House is doing, it will have ramifications way beyond that.

We had a meeting last week with some economists that included former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin. One of the things he said to us was that unlike the last government shutdown in 1995, when there was not a real long-term impact from that shutdown, we are looking at a real long-term impact from a potential shutdown. We have already heard Mark Zandi, an economist, say that if it continues longer than a few days, if it continues for weeks, as it did in 1995, it could affect our growth in the fourth quarter over 1 percent.

At a time when the economy is struggling, we cannot afford to have that kind of a hit to our economy. Families who are seeing their 401(k)s just beginning to recover, pension plans that are beginning to see recovery, cannot afford to have that kind of a hit. We have already seen the stock market reacting. So we know there is going to be an impact.

In New Hampshire we have 4,000 Federal employees who are going to get furloughed starting tomorrow if we are not able to keep the government open. That affects not just them and their family, that is bad enough, but it affects the grocery stores they frequent. It affects the gas station. It affects every business they are shopping in.

We know 1,000 small businesses are not going to be able to go to the SBA and look for loans if the government shuts down. We know people are not going to be able to get their mortgages through the Federal Home Loan Agency because it is not going to be operating.

We know in New Hampshire, as in Alaska, that tourism is going to be hit because visas are not going to get processed. We know that at the Department of Defense, half of their civilian workers are going to be furloughed; in New Hampshire, our Portsmouth Naval Shipyard--in New Hampshire and Maine. I see my colleague from Maine. The shipyard workers are going to get furloughed.

So this is going to have a huge impact on families, on businesses, on the economy. We cannot afford this kind of political gamesmanship. We have to work together. We have to solve these problems, not just for the future of this country here in America but also for our standing in the world, where the rest of the world is looking at us, asking: What is the matter with the Congress that they cannot solve an issue that they ought to be able to come together to address?

I certainly hope in the next couple of hours we can see some progress in the House. I hope the Speaker will bring a clean CR to the floor, will let the Members of the House vote on that so we can keep the government operating for the good of the country.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to discuss a small, but critical program that represents a test for this body and for this country: The Iraq Special Immigrant Visa program. It is a test of whether we stand behind our commitments abroad. It is a test of whether we help those who help us. And for others out there who might consider assisting the U.S., it is a test to see if we follow through on our promises. If we don't act now, the Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa program will expire along with our obligation to thousands of Iraqis who risked their lives to help U.S. troops at war.

The latest version of the Iraq Special Immigrant Visa program was initiated by Congress in the fiscal year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. It was originally designed to allow for certain foreign nationals in Iraq who served alongside U.S. forces to receive special visas to come live and work in the United States. The visa program was created to help secure a path out of harm's way for those Iraqis and their families that provided important skills to Americans, like translation services, and are now targeted because of their affiliation with us.

The Iraq visa program is currently set to expire today on September 30, 2013. Without action by the Congress to extend this program, thousands of Iraqi applicants, already under threat due to their faithful assistance and valuable service to the U.S. Government, will see consular work on their cases stopped and their dream of escaping the daily threat of violence will be suspended.

Even if we eventually decide to reauthorize the program at a later date, the stoppage will result in delays of months or even years for these applicants as they completely restart an already long and overly arduous process. Many of these interpreters and assistants who risked their lives for Americans are now in hiding running from place to place to escape retribution attacks against them and their families, any delays could mean their lives.

Now, since I started working on this special immigrant visa issue, I have come across countless stories of bravery demonstrated by Iraqi interpreters who stand shoulder to shoulder fighting with our military men and women. My office has also heard directly from retired military officers who served alongside these Iraqis and are now fighting to get them out of Iraq to the safety of the United States. I would like to just briefly read a few excerpts from these tremendously inspiring stories:

From one retired Marine Corps captain:

I am a retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps, who served

proudly in Iraq between 2004-2005. Among our tasks was

conducting nightly kill and capture raids in Anbar Province .

. . Our interpreter was our lifeline to the local population

. . . He became an invaluable member of our team, and our

close friend . . . Because of his nearly four years of

service to U.S. forces in Iraq, he was left imperiled and at

risk of death at the hands of Iraqi militia . . . We came to

trust him and treat him as one of our own.

From a Marine Corps infantry officer who did two tours in Iraq:

I owe my life and the lives of my Marines to [my

translator] . . . During high intensity combat operations

throughout the second Battle of Fallujah, [he] constantly put

his life in danger to protect Marines and civilians . . .

Over the course of that deployment, [he] not only served

heroically alongside Marines, but he also became a second

father and a close friend.

From that same marine:

I have had the opportunity to meet many other Iraqi

refugees. They represent the best of our Nation. They chose

to put themselves in harm's way because they have always

believed in what our country is supposed to stand for . . .

They are eager to share in the American dream and to

contribute in meaningful ways on the home front as they did

overseas. They've earned that opportunity.

I could not agree more. But, unfortunately, thousands of Iraqis who have earned the chance to come to the United States might not make it, and simply because we failed to act. That is unacceptable.

Now, a number of Members on both sides of the aisle, including myself, have been working hard for the last 6 months to find a way to extend this critical program. Senators McCain, Leahy, Graham, Levin, Durbin, and others have been champions of this effort. We have extensions of this program in the comprehensive immigration bill, the current version of the National Defense Authorization Act, and in the annual State Department appropriations bill. Unfortunately, none of these will be signed into law by the deadline.

I was hoping that the House of Representatives would include an extension in their original continuing resolution legislation, but, unfortunately, they did not, leaving the Senate with few procedural opportunities to include it. However, we may have a second chance here in the hours ahead, and I would urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to find a way to extend this program.

Now, there is no doubt that the administration needs to do more to actually process the visa applications. The stories we are hearing about the backlog are entirely inexcusable. Applicants ought to be able to cut through the redtape and bureaucratic nightmare to get their visas processed quickly and more efficiently, while still ensuring proper vetting and background checks. However, we have no hopes of improving the program if we don't extend it.

We have a responsibility to fulfill our obligation to the thousands of civilians who risked their lives to help our country during a time of war. The contributions that Iraqi and Afghan civilians made to our military efforts have been tremendous. Those who served as translators were an invaluable resource and ally to our men and women in uniform. We can't turn our back on them now, particularly as terrorist organizations target these civilians for retribution. We made a promise to Iraqi civilians and now we must honor it.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the Stoddard family of Sandown, NH. In May of 2010, Cole Stoddard was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer. Cole was 4 years old at the time of his diagnosis, and he passed away nearly a year and a half later on January 20, 2012, at the age of 5. Since Cole's passing, his parents, Tony and Michelle Stoddard, and their children, Tara and Troy, have made it their mission to raise awareness about childhood cancer and encourage people throughout the country to learn more about the disease that annually takes the lives of nearly 1,500 children in the United States.

The Stoddard family has worked tirelessly over the past year in their efforts to designate the month of September 2013 as ``Childhood Cancer Awareness Month,'' and 41 States have already signed on and made this designation. Tony has also encouraged people to wear the color gold in September to further raise awareness about this devastating disease. Tony's advocacy has brought the Stoddard family to the famed Fenway Park in Boston, MA to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and Boston's Prudential Center was lit gold to acknowledge the cause. Landmarks in places as far as Australia, Ireland, and Switzerland have been colored gold to recognize Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

In the United States, approximately 11,500 children under the age of 15 will be or have been diagnosed with childhood cancer this year. It is the leading cause of death by disease in children in our country, and its causes are largely unknown. While medical research has led to better treatment and a significant increase in 5-year survival rates over the last 30 years, more needs to be done.

I would like to thank and recognize the Stoddard family for their tireless work toward raising awareness about childhood cancer. Their noble efforts have already made a positive impact on thousands of young lives, and I know that I join all of New Hampshire this September in wishing them the best of luck as they continue their mission in Cole's honor and memory.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 10th anniversary of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Project.

In 2001, as Governor of New Hampshire, I partnered with my friend and our former colleague, Senator Judd Gregg, to form the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Partnership Task Force. This broad coalition joined forces to protect the largest remaining undeveloped block of New Hampshire land from future commercial and industrial development. We developed a bipartisan plan for conserving the land for traditional recreational use and forestry.

Ten years ago marked the completion of the final phase of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Project, which in total protects 171,000 acres in Pittsburg, Clarksville, and Stewartstown. This wonderful project enjoyed the support of the thousands of community members who live and work in New Hampshire's North Country. This land includes pristine undeveloped lakes, crystal-clear streams, and healthy forests of balsam fir, maples, and birches.

These treasured lands are integral to our State's economy and environmental heritage. It is a working forest where value for man is managed in concert with value for wildlife. They are home to some of New Hampshire's most scenic areas and notable, rare species, such as the loon and bald eagle. Each year, tourists and Granite Staters alike travel to the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters to enjoy the spectacular scenery and diverse recreational activities the area has to offer, including hunting, fishing, canoeing, and snowmobiling. Between its tourism and timber-related jobs, this land contributes vitality to the North Country's economy.

Today, the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters are a cherished part of New

Hampshire's identity, and the people of New Hampshire are committed to preserving this inspiring landscape for future generations.