Floor Statements

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 Terry Miller, a defense fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges until October 10, 2025.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we are now on day eight of the government shutdown, which is truly unfortunate and unnecessary and totally at the behest of leftwing Democrat special interest groups that have pressured the Democratic leadership into a position that makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person.

I want you to think about where we are. Think about this scenario: You have a bill passed by the House of Representatives, over here in the Senate--24 pages long, clean, short term, nonpartisan, no policy riders, no Republican priorities--a clean resolution to fund the government. And there are 55 Senators--55 out of 100 Senators--who are voting for the clean, short-term funding resolution that would open up the government.

The President of the United States has said that, as soon as it is passed in the Senate, he will sign it into law. So what you have is complete unified support for a short-term funding resolution to keep the government open and make sure that all the government employees who are currently being impacted and their families can get back to work and get paid again.

And so it is always interesting when the Democrat leader comes down here and describes this fantasy world where the bill that they proposed, which would only get 47 votes here in the U.S. Senate--not even 50, not 51, not a majority, and certainly not the 60 that are necessary to pass consequential legislation in the Senate--it wouldn't get a single vote in the House of Representatives.

So they have got a bill, a proposal, that they say keeps the government open, that can't pass the Senate, wouldn't pass the House, and wouldn't be signed into law by the President.

You tell me--you tell me--who is responsible for the government shutdown.

Republicans passed a bill in the House. It is over here in the Senate, 24 pages long, sitting right at the desk. We can pick it up and pass it today and send it to the President, who will sign it into law, and the government opens up again.

Or--or--you can take this proposal the Democrats have, which has $1.5 trillion in new spending, allows for free healthcare coverage for noncitizens, completely obliterates the $50 billion rural hospital fund that we put in place to support rural hospitals in this country that are struggling, and they think that would pass. It doesn't pass here, doesn't pass the House, and wouldn't get signed into law by the President.

So just a logical person, think about this. Think about the juxtaposition of those two positions, and you tell me who is shutting the government down. We have a straightforward, simple proposition: a 24-page funding resolution to keep the government open, with no partisan policy riders, no gimmicks, short term, which funds the government through November 21 to give us an opportunity to do the government funding the way we should do it, through the appropriations process, where we have the committees meeting and Republicans and Democrats contributing, and then bring it to the floor and have an open amendment process here. That is the way the government should normally be funded.

And so what this does is it provides a short-term extension in order for all that to happen. That is all that we are talking about.

They have other issues they want to bring up, which I have said before we are happy to discuss. And, yes, there are some things that I think there is interest on both sides in trying to address when it comes to healthcare in this country. But you can't take the Federal Government hostage and expect to have a reasonable conversation on those issues. The government needs to be funded. Federal employees need to go back to work. Federal Agencies and Departments need to be open and providing the services that the American people expect. It is that simple.

And that is really what this is all about--again, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. It is whether or not they want to support a 24-page funding resolution that keeps the government open or continue to vote for $1.5 trillion in new spending, free healthcare for noncitizens, and completely wiping out a $50 billion rural hospital fund that is designed to support rural hospitals in this country-- something that would get 47 votes here in the Senate and not a majority in the House of Representatives, and wouldn't get a single vote, honestly, among Republicans in the House of Representatives, and would not be signed into law by the President--versus something, again, passed by the House, here at the Senate.

All we need is five more votes. There are a majority of U.S. Senators today who support the short-term funding resolution, 55 out of 100. We need 5 Democrats.

You tell me who shut the government down.

And I think that the public is becoming wise to this debate and this argument and these fallacious arguments that are being made by the Democrats. In fact, there is a new Harvard-Harris poll that came out Monday that found that 70 percent of voters oppose a government shutdown--70 percent.

And of interest to my Democratic colleagues, 65 percent of voters, including 63 percent of Independents, think the Democrats should end the shutdown by accepting a continuing resolution like the clean funding resolution I just described that is in front of us.

So what are my Democrat colleagues doing? Well, after their resounding defeat in the Presidential election last November, you would think they might be paying attention to the strong majority of voters who would like the shutdown to end as well. You would think they might notice that 63 percent of Independents--voters I am sure Democrats would like to capture in the next election--want Democrats to accept a resolution like the clean CR in front of us. But you would be wrong, because Democrats are still deeply in thrall to the far left, and they are taking their marching orders for this shutdown from far-left interest groups. And I mean that literally.

A recent Axios article reported:

Progressive grassroots groups are blasting congressional

Democrats on speed dial to ``hold the line'' in any

negotiations to reopen the government.

Now, that followed an Axios report that found:

Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his staff are

closely coordinating their government shutdown strategy with

outside liberal groups. . . . Backing down and helping fund

the government, like Schumer did in March, is unacceptable,

the groups have told his team.

Backing down and helping fund the government, like Schumer

did in March, is unacceptable, the groups have told his team.

And so the liberal groups say ``jump,'' and Democrat leaders say, ``How high?''

Forget the robust majority of Independents that want the Democrats to end this shutdown.

You know, back in the day--and by ``back in the day'' I mean as recently as 6 months ago--the Democrat leader was a pretty robust opponent of government shutdowns. Yes, he was an opponent--so much so that even though he didn't like the continuing resolution we passed in the spring, he voted for it anyway because, in his words, ``a government shutdown would be far worse.''

But then progressive groups got big-time mad, and now the Democrat leader is leading the charge to keep the government shut down-- indefinitely, apparently--and all those Federal workers and hard- working Americans he was so worried about before seem to have slipped his mind.

In fact, Democrats have barely reacted to the fact that Federal workers are going to start missing pay.

When we realized we were going to need a continuing resolution to allow us more time to complete the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, Republicans wanted to do everything we could to ensure that there was no government shutdown, which is why we put forward a clean continuing resolution with no Republican policies or partisan policy riders.

We knew a shutdown would be costly and disruptive for hard-working Americans, and we were determined to ensure the Democrats had no reason--no reason--to oppose our CR. But Democrats weren't deterred by the fact that there was nothing for them to object to in our bill, and they decided to oppose it anyway.

Now, Democrats will get another chance this week to vote to keep the government open. And I hope the Democrat leader and Democrat Senators can summon up some of that concern they used to have about shutdowns and vote to reopen the government.

At the very least, if the Democrat leader is too worried about his polling to vote to reopen himself, he could allow Democrat Senators who do care about the functioning of our government to join Republicans to reopen.

Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

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

Mr. President, in just a few minutes, Senator Collins will cast her 9,750th consecutive vote--her 9,750th consecutive vote.

Mr. President, 9,750 votes is a substantial milestone all on its own, but 9,750 consecutive votes--that is something else.

What it is, is a tribute to Senator Collins' incredible work ethic and her absolute dedication to the people of Maine. Susan shows up for Mainers. She represents them in committee; she represents them on the floor; and she represents them in every single vote--the big votes, the little votes, and the in-between ones. But thanks to Susan Collins, the people of Maine always have a voice.

Susan, congratulations on yet another incredible milestone.

(Applause.)

Thank you for your service, and thank you for your example.

Mr. President, I yield back all time on H.J. Res. 105.

Vote on H.J. Res. 105

Mr. President, before I begin, I want to note that today marks 2 years since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. By day's end on that October 7, hundreds of innocent Israelis were dead, and more than 200 hostages had been taken. Some of those hostages are still in captivity.

My prayers today are with the remaining hostages, the survivors of that day, and all those still grieving the loss of their loved ones-- and for a just and lasting peace in the region.

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.

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

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 104.

Vote on Motion

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. President, we are now in day 6 of the Democrats' government shutdown--day 6--and I am wondering just what exactly Democrats think they are gaining from all of this. I guess they are getting points from the far-left interest groups that they have been coordinating their shutdown strategy with, but I highly doubt they are earning a lot of points with everyday, hard-working Americans, like the voters they lost in the last election.

A Reuters headline from Thursday noted ``US government shutdown threatens food-aid program for low-income Americans.''

Let me just read that again: ``US government shutdown threatens food- aid program for low-income Americans.''

The article noted that while the Trump Agriculture Department is doing its best to continue administering the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children--more commonly known as WIC--the program is ``critically low on funds.'' And it won't get new funds until Democrats agree to reopen the government.

Democrats own this. They own any lapse in funding for critical food aid programs, just as they own every other negative effect of the shutdown because--let's remember--the only reason the government is shut down is because Democrats refuse to accept a clean, nonpartisan funding extension--a clean, nonpartisan funding extension.

We didn't ask Democrats to swallow any new Republican policies. We didn't ask them to swallow any partisan riders. We simply asked them to agree to a clean, nonpartisan bill.

The same kind of bill, I might add, that they voted for 13 times--13 times--during the Biden administration. But Democrats said: No. And I should note that you don't have to take my word for it on the facts of the bill. Republicans aren't the only ones pointing out that this is a clean CR.

Here is what the president of the Teamsters Union had to say the other day:

A shutdown will hurt working people. Period. . . . Senators

should . . . pass the House-passed clean, short-term funding

bill.

``Senators should pass the House-passed clean short-term funding bill.''

Again, that was the president of the Teamsters Union.

Or, you know, you could take the word of a mainstream journalist who recently noted:

In a vacuum, this CR would get almost every Democratic

vote. It just would. This is a clean CR that has no partisan

riders, extends a bunch of programs that are Democratic

priorities . . . it's clean.

``It's clean.''

So to summarize, Democrats have shut down the government because they refuse to accept a clean, nonpartisan bill. And why are they refusing to accept it? After all, as I mentioned, they supported similar bills 13 times during the Biden administration.

The reason that they refuse to accept it is that Democrats still cannot get over the fact that the American people elected President Trump. And when their far-left base demanded a showdown with the President, the Democrats fell in line. And now it is the American people who are suffering the consequences.

I quote again. ``U.S. government shutdown threatens food-aid program for low-income Americans.''

``[T]hreatens food aid program for low-income Americans.''

Three Democrats have rejected their party's shutdown politics and voted with Republicans to reopen the government. All Democrats will get another chance to vote to reopen the government later today, and for the sake of the American people, I hope at least a few more Democrats will join us to pass this clean, nonpartisan CR and let the Senate get back to work.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 459.

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

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

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

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