Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day.

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

I understand that there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading, en bloc.

Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings, en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2025; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the

time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 191, S. 3012, ripen at 12:15 p.m.; further, that following disposition of that vote, the Senate execute the order of October 22 in relation to the Meredith nomination; finally, that the cloture motion with respect to the Taibleson nomination ripen following disposition of the Meredith nomination.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.

Mr. President, 3 weeks. It has been 3 weeks since Democrats shut down the government. Democrats chose to put the demands of far-left activists ahead of serving the American people, and over the last 3 weeks, it is the American people who have borne the consequences of the Democrat shutdown. Thousands of flights have been delayed. Nutrition assistance for millions of needy families is in jeopardy. Military families are turning to food banks in ``unprecedented'' numbers.

Democrats apparently are willing to prolong the suffering until their far-left base is satisfied. We have given Democrats here in the Senate numerous opportunities to end the shutdown. We have held now 11 votes on a clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution to end the shutdown and the pain that comes with it, and they said no every time.

We gave Democrats an opportunity to consider the bipartisan Defense appropriations bill--something that, I might add, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 26 to 3, an overwhelming bipartisan vote. We gave them an opportunity to consider that here on the floor so we can at least protect our national security and pay our troops. Democrats called it ``unacceptable'' and a ``distraction'' to pay the troops.

We even offered to give them a vote on a healthcare proposal of their own design if they vote to reopen the government. The answer again was no.

I don't know what Democrats are looking for, but if they are looking for Republicans to give in to their hostage taking, they should think again. I have been very clear since the beginning. On the first day of this shutdown, I said Republicans would be perfectly willing to discuss the issues Democrats are raising but only after we reopen the government.

I said, and I quote, quoting myself here:

[W]e're not going to engage in bipartisan discussions while

Democrats are holding the federal government hostage to their

partisan demands.

Interestingly enough, that is the exact same position the Democrat leader espoused during the 2013 shutdown. He said then:

As we said a thousand times, we are happy to discuss how to

fund the government but not with a gun to our head. Open up

all of the government, and then we can have a fruitful

discussion. . . . Then we will discuss things, but--as has

been said over and over--not with a gun to our heads.

That is from the Democrat leader back in 2013.

He espoused the same position, interestingly enough, again in 2019, noting:

We cannot--cannot--ever hold American workers hostage

again.

Yet here he is in 2025 holding American workers and government funding hostage. I guess he has forgotten his own words, or maybe it is just situational, like a lot of things. They just adopted a political position, not a real one.

Republicans are ready to sit down with Democrats just as soon as they stop holding the government hostage to their partisan demands. As I have said, we have actually offered to guarantee them a vote on the ObamaCare issue they are raising, but Democrats continue to dig in.

They say we have to agree to their demands before they will agree to pay our troops, before Federal workers can have certainty about putting food on the table and paying their bills, before needy families can be sure that nutrition assistance will be there for them. They say all of this has to wait until after we fix a problem Democrats created, because, let's be clear, the ObamaCare cliff that Democrats are so worked up about is a result of their own choices.

Democrats wrote ObamaCare. They passed ObamaCare without a single Republican vote. They created the ObamaCare COVID credits without a single Republican vote. They extended the COVID credits, and then they chose the expiration date without a single Republican vote. That is right--they chose the expiration date, and then they chose not to address that expiration date when they had the majority here in the Senate for the last 4 years. But now they want you to believe that this is somehow a ``Republican healthcare crisis.'' Give me a break. Give me a break.

If Democrats truly want a discussion on how to fix the healthcare mess they created, then they should be voting to reopen the government, and we have a bill right there at the desk that will do just that. It is clean. It is nonpartisan. It has no new Republican policies. It has no partisan policy riders. It just extends current funding levels for a few short weeks until we get an opportunity to finish the rest of the appropriations process.

Right now, we are just five Democrat votes away from passing that here in the Senate and sending it to the White House for President Trump to sign. And if just a handful--a handful--of Democrats would step forward, we could reopen the government literally in a matter of hours, today.

As I said from the very beginning of the shutdown, I made it clear that if Democrats reopen the government, we

can immediately sit down and talk about the ObamaCare cliff they have created.

Instead, Democrats have wasted now 1, 2, 3 weeks when we could have been having those discussions.

And while the American people have suffered, Democrats have been courting praise from the far left. They spent their time looking to be praised for fighting against President Trump when they could have been working with him and with Republicans on solving a problem they claim to be concerned about.

I will say it again: Republicans are ready to go to work. We have been ready. We are just waiting for Democrats to take yes for an answer.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motions filed on Monday, October 20, ripen at time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, on Wednesday, October 22.

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

Mr. President, I withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 191, S. 3012.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 471.

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

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, following the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Lewis nomination; and if cloture is invoked on the Lewis nomination, all postcloture time be expired, and the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Meredith nomination; further, if cloture is invoked on the Meredith nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nominations at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, no earlier than Thursday, October 23; further, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; finally, that the mandatory quorum calls with respect to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, as well as the Meredith and Lewis nominations be waived.

Mr. President, I ask the Chair to execute the order of October 21, with respect to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371, and I further ask that following disposition of that vote, the Chair execute the previous order with respect to the Lewis, Meredith, and Mercer nominations in that order.

Madam President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining rollcall votes in this series be 10 minutes in length.

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