[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 190 (Wednesday, December 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S15160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          POLITICAL EXERCISES

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, what we are going to witness for the 
next 3 hours is the kind of thing that gives the public such a low 
impression of Congress. Looking at the new Gallup poll that just came 
out, the President has a 37-percent approval rating--certainly not 
anything to applaud if you are a Republican. But the Democratic 
Congress has a 22-percent approval rating, 15 percent below the 
President. Why is that? I think it is because the American public 
thought they sent us here to legislate. Obviously, in a body such as 
the Senate, in order to legislate you have to do things on a bipartisan 
basis. We are very different from the House of Representatives. We are 
actually beginning to make progress on the farm bill, although I must 
say we have only had one vote this entire week. It is Wednesday 
morning, and we have had one vote. The farm bill now is ready to move 
forward, and we are taking, at the insistence of the majority, 3 hours 
this morning to finger-point and make excuses and try to explain to the 
American people why we haven't been able to do enough on a bipartisan 
basis to achieve anything on their behalf.
  It is now December 12, nearly a quarter of the way through the fiscal 
year. To date, we have had only one spending bill signed into law. The 
troops in the field haven't been funded. The Energy bill is still 
pending. Updates to the laws governing our terrorist surveillance 
program so that we can track terrorists and prevent attacks haven't 
been addressed.
  As I indicated, we are spending 3 hours this morning engaged in what 
will essentially be a finger-pointing exercise instead of making 
further progress on the farm bill, which is poised to be completed if 
we will just stay on it. Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. You would 
think there would be a flurry of activity on the floor. You would think 
we would be doing everything possible so we could finish our work 
before New Year's Eve. But, as I indicated earlier, so far this week we 
have had one vote, and this is Wednesday.
  Surely the majority has scheduled votes all day today; right? Wrong. 
We will not even consider the pending business, the farm bill, until at 
least this afternoon. And why do we have to wait until this afternoon? 
Is it so we can spend the morning addressing tax relief or the cost of 
gasoline or our troops and veterans? None of the above. We are gathered 
here this morning so the majority can spend hours of valuable floor 
time trying to score political points instead of trying to make law.
  As I indicated earlier, they have set aside 3 hours to try to show 
that this session's very limited accomplishments haven't been their 
fault, that the endless investigations and midnight Iraq votes were not 
the cause. They have set aside this time as if magically in the next 3 
hours they will somehow pass the litany of things they have not been 
able to accomplish over the past 3 months.
  Let's not waste even more time relearning the lessons of the past. 
Partisanship and refusal to work with the minority may get you a 
headline, but it won't get bills signed into law. If you are serious 
about accomplishments, let's get back to work. Let's work together so 
that instead of pointing fingers, this Congress can actually point to 
some accomplishments. It is December 12. There is simply no time for 
political exercises on the Senate floor. We simply don't have the 
luxury of putting off our fundamental responsibilities any longer.
  If the majority is serious about finishing our work and not merely 
about making a political point, they will not object to the following 
unanimous consent request which I will now make.
  I ask unanimous consent that we return to the pending business of the 
farm bill in order to make further progress on this important measure.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. DURBIN. I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.

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