[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 51 (Friday, April 8, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2338-S2340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF MORNING BUSINESS
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period
for morning business for debate only be extended until 10:30 p.m., with
Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the
majority leader to be recognized at 10:30 p.m.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to add
Senators Leahy, Merkley, and Boxer as cosponsors to S. 724.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, this brings to 77, out of 100
Senators, who are now sponsoring this bill. Our bill, S. 724, is very
simple. It just says if there is a government shutdown, our military
will be paid their full pay on time.
This bill is the very least we can do to assure every military family
that they do not have to worry for one minute whether their mortgage is
going to be paid, whether their car payments will be paid, or whether
they will be able to get over this hump without thinking that there
might be a halving of their pay, or that it might be delayed.
I am especially concerned, of course, about those who are overseas,
but their families are at home, because if the mom or dad is overseas
and there is a glitch somewhere, they are not here to help. I think it
would be unthinkable that we would go to midnight and not have taken
care of these families and assured them that everything is going to be
fine.
I want to say that I hope there is an agreement, and I have heard the
rumor that there is an agreement. If there is one, I know that it will
include military pay. I believe that. If, for any reason, that
agreement does not happen in the next 3 hours, or if the agreement
doesn't include military pay--which I don't think will happen--I think
both Houses of Congress want to serve our soldiers and their families,
but I will be here until midnight, and I am going to make sure that
whatever happens, either S. 724, with 77 sponsors in the Senate, is
passed, or that we have an agreement that both Houses have before them
that will assure that the military pay is handled in that other
agreement.
So we are going to be here for 3 more hours and make sure that the
will of the Senate, which is very clear with 77 sponsors, is met.
I want to just mention again that there was a Web site put up early
this morning by just one woman who was very concerned about this issue
and heard about my bill in the news. Her name is Hope Guinn Bradley.
She is from Hawaii. I do not know her. She has started a social media
network like I have never witnessed in my life. We now have over 1
million support hits on her Web site, called Ensuring Pay for our
Military Act of 2011. In one day, she has accumulated 1 million support
sentences, or messages, for what she is doing.
If you would go to that Web site and do nothing else but read those
comments by people who are supporting our military and who are clearly
in the support of our military--you know, I would like for the military
people to see it just so they understand how much America appreciates
them and what they do because they are saying to the people here in
Washington, DC: You take care of our young men and women who are
fighting for us. You better do it or there will be consequences.
Are they right? Absolutely. I have spoken a couple of times today. I
want to make sure that we have the letters from the military
organizations that have been written in support of S. 724. There is one
from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America that wrote a
wonderful letter. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the
Record along with two other letters to which I will refer.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America,
Washington, DC, April 7, 2011.
Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
248 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Hutchison: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America (IAVA) strongly supports S. 724, the Ensuring Pay for
Our Military Act of 2011. This bill ensures that all members
of the Armed Forces will continue to receive the pay and
allowances they have earned despite any lack of interim or
full-year appropriations.
Our men and women in uniform protect our nation and
continue to do so despite budget disagreements in Washington.
The members of our Armed Forces are essential to the defense
of our nation and must be treated as such.
Many young service members and their families are dealing
with multiple deployments and often live paycheck to
paycheck. Military families should not be asked to bear
further financial stress in addition to fighting the war on
terrorism. This legislation protects the men and women who
protect us.
If we can be of any help in advancing S. 724 please contact
Tim Embree at (202) 544-7692 or [email protected]. We look forward
to working with you.
Sincerely,
Paul Rieckhoff,
Executive Director.
____
National Association
for Uniformed Services,
Springfield, VA, April 7, 2011.
Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Hutchison: On behalf of the more than 180,000
members and supporters of the National Association for
Uniformed Services (NAUS), I would like to offer our full
support for your legislation S. 724, the Ensuring Pay for Our
Military Act of 2011, a bill to assure that, in the event of
a federal government shutdown, our nation's men and women in
uniform would continue to receive their military pay and
allowances.
The Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act would make available
the necessary funds to prevent an interruption in pay for
members of the military if there is a funding gap resulting
from a government shutdown. The bill also includes a
provision to authorize the Secretary of Defense to allow
those who serve as DOD civilians or contractors in support of
our men and women in uniform to continue to be paid as well.
The National Association for Uniformed Services thanks you
for introducing legislation that demonstrates our nation's
appreciation for those who serve in our Armed Forces. We look
forward to working with you and your staff and deeply
appreciate your continued support of the American soldier and
their families.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Jones,
Legislative Director.
____
Military Officers Association
of America,
April 8, 2011.
Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Hutchison: On behalf of the 377,000 members of
the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), I am
writing to urge you to cosponsor S. 724, the ``Ensuring Pay
For Our Military Act of 2011,'' recently introduced by
Senators Bob Casey and Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Recent media stories stating servicemembers may not be paid
in the event
[[Page S2339]]
of a government shutdown are only adding to unfair pressures
on already over-stressed troops and families.
With loved ones involved in three separate combat
operations and humanitarian relief in Japan, military
families should not have to wonder if they will be able to
cover house and car payments and other bills.
S. 724 would continue pay and allowances for active and
reserve component forces in the event of a failure to enact
interim or full-year appropriations for the Armed Forces.
Absent any assurance that pay will continue, MOAA believes
this legislation is essential to provide fair treatment for
military members and families.
We respectfully request that you cosponsor and support
immediate passage of S. 724 to ensure this situation never
arises again in the future.
Sincerely,
VADM Norbert Ryan, Jr.,
President, MOAA.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
understand better than anybody what it is like to serve there and to
not have any other stresses that would add to what they are already
doing for our country. They say pass S. 724.
The National Association for Uniformed Services, with more than
180,000 members, sent a letter in support.
The Military Officers Association of America has also added its
support with 377,000 members.
We have the grassroots support. Everyone understands this. I will
read a couple of the messages that have been on this wonderful Web
site, but, first, here is one that came to my Web site:
Dear Senator Hutchison: My husband serves as a Captain in
the United States Army. As the wife of a currently deployed
soldier and mother to our two-year-old son, I find it
outrageous that our government is debating whether or not to
continue to pay our troops.
While my husband and I are very fiscally responsible, many
of his junior soldiers simply cannot handle the implication
of what it would mean to not receive their paychecks. We
worry for these soldiers' families. How will they afford
groceries? How will they afford diapers for their babies?
Will they be able to pay their rent or mortgages? These are
not questions that we should have to ask. Money should not be
a worry on these soldiers' minds. My husband and the soldiers
in his unit do incredibly dangerous missions and quite
frankly it frightens me that this could split their focus in
a very negative way.
My husband and his fellow soldiers risk their lives on a
daily basis. They miss holidays and their children's
birthdays. They deserve to know that the same government that
sent them over to fight is looking out for them. They deserve
to know that our government would not send them over to a war
zone and then deny them their pay. My husband does not have
the luxury to ``walk off the job.'' He stays there until the
mission is complete, and the Senate has a mission as well: to
pass the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011, S. 724.
Here is another hit that was found on the Ensuring Pay for Our
Military Act of 2011 Web site:
As a military wife who is expecting our first child in
June, my husband and I recently PCS'd overseas and are
already on a tight budget to pay our new bills in Euros and
our bills stateside in dollars. Now we have to worry that we
will not have enough money to pay our bills and our credit
might be harmed, there is no safety net to help catch us when
we fall behind, no interest on the back pay that we will be
missing, or the late fees waived when we can't pay all of our
bills. We would have to tell our German landlords that we
cannot afford to give them money, how are they supposed to
understand? They are not in this situation, we as Americans
are. I am not complaining of being a military spouse; I chose
this life. I knew of the hardships of deployments (my husband
has served in both Afghanistan and Iraq), and I love what my
family does. I hope and pray that this issue will be resolved
soon.
Mr. President, really--I mean really, we have 3 hours until midnight.
Can we tell these people that they might get half their paycheck on
April 15? We can't.
Here is another letter. I am obviously not reading the names,
although they are on here. I don't want to in any way harm them:
As a veteran of OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom), I stand
behind you 100 percent and so do many others. This will tear
morale from the troops and their families, which can be a
dangerous thing. The mental and financial balance soldiers
and their families are on, as it is, is a delicate one. They
live month to month. Most are enlisted and make scratch as it
is. Cutting more pay will put these families on the chopping
block, and when a soldier's family is put in that position,
that soldier is no longer fighting for his country but is now
fighting for his family against his country. This would
destroy the basic foundation of all our forces from the
core.
There are 1 million hits on this Web site. So many of them are
touching, many are pleading, some are angry. I just want to say I do
have faith that in the next 3 hours, we will ensure that these people
are taken care of. I do have that faith. But we only have 3 more hours.
I want to ensure that we are going to be here. If it starts getting to
11 o'clock and we have 1 more hour to ensure that not 1 more hour
passes after midnight that this cannot be taken care of, I am going to
be here, and we are going to do it. And I am so proud that so far we
have 77 cosponsors of this bill. I think we will have unanimous support
for it. I do. But 77 people have made sure they called to be a
cosponsor of this bill. I am proud we have something very bipartisan in
a very partisan atmosphere. That is maybe a ray of hope that this is
going to be done in the right way.
I want the people of this country to know and I want it to be in the
Congressional Record the overwhelming support that has now come because
of the debate, what people are seeing and their support for the
military.
The Presiding Officer is a cosponsor of the bill. The Senator who is
taking his place right now is also a supporter of this bill--Senator
Merkley, Senator Udall, Senator Durbin, Senator Kerry. We have very
strong bipartisan support. It is my faith that we are going to do what
is right for our military because we can do no less.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas and her
cosponsor, the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Casey. They expressed the
deep-felt sentiments of all of us. I am happy to be a cosponsor of this
legislation.
I can assure the Senator from Texas that we have discussed this at
length in our caucus, and there will be ample opportunity for all
Members to join in an effort to make certain our men and women in
uniform, who are risking their lives, will not be in any way
disadvantaged by what is going on on Capitol Hill.
I share her frustration and anxiety. I have been listening and
watching these negotiations now for weeks. I cannot believe we have
reached this point--less than 3 hours from a government shutdown--when
the differences are so minor, when there are so few things in
disagreement. It is time, literally, for the Speaker of the House to
come forward and accept the dollar amount he agreed to last night in
the White House Oval Office, to accept that amount which dramatically
cuts spending to help reduce our deficit.
I do not know why we have literally wasted this entire day in
negotiations back and forth. Part of it was wasted, I am afraid, on
this whole question of funding the access of women and families across
America to health care. I understand that has been worked out now
during the course of the day. The Speaker has considered a different
approach to it, thank goodness.
Now is the time to close the deal. Now is the time to get our job
done. Now is the time to not only stand up for the men and women in
uniform--and they should be our first obligation--but stand up for so
many others deserving of our help too. They are not covered by this
bill. Right now, there are FBI agents in America risking their lives
tracking drug dealers and terrorists who are about to learn at midnight
that their jobs are in jeopardy, if not closed down, until Congress
relents. The same thing is true about those in our intelligence
community around the world. They may not wear a uniform, but they are
literally risking their lives as well for the security of the United
States in countries far and wide across this globe. The list just goes
on and on.
We first think of our military, as we should, but they are not the
only ones who are making great sacrifice for the safety of this
country. When I think of their valor and courage, I wonder whether our
leaders can summon
the courage, particularly at this point I hope the Speaker can summon
the courage to bring his caucus together and to vote, to avert this
embarrassing--embarrassing--shutdown which will occur in less than 3
hours unless something happens.
I still believe it will. I still believe we have that chance, and I
hope Senator
[[Page S2340]]
Hutchison, who has been a leader on this issue, does not have to come
to the floor again. I can assure her, before anything happens to
disadvantage our troops, we will stand together in a bipartisan way,
maybe on her bill, maybe on another bill, but we will stand in a
bipartisan way to protect these troops. I thank her again for her
leadership. There is evidence between her and Senator Casey that there
is a strong bipartisan feeling that we need to get this job done before
the Senate shuts down.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I appreciate very much what the leader
has said. I know this has been arduous, and I know the negotiations
have been arduous. That is why I believe that in the next 3 hours, we
will do the right thing on this issue. I hope we do the right thing for
all of our country.
We have not talked about the other Federal employees who are
essential and those who are going to be furloughed. There are so many
people in this country who are going to be affected in so many ways if
there is a government shutdown. I am focusing on the ones who cannot
help themselves right now because they are overseas protecting our
freedom, but there are many people who are going to have hardships that
are unnecessary.
I do appreciate what Senator Durbin has said.
There is one other person I want to mention; that is, Congressman
Louie Gohmert. He started on the House side with the same bill I have
introduced on the Senate side. He has gained large support on the House
side for this legislation. I commend Congressman Gohmert for assuring,
as we were watching this week the very spirited debate that has gone on
about the possibility of having a government shutdown--Louie Gohmert
stepped up first. I give him credit for saying there is one group we
cannot leave behind no matter what happens. Our bills are virtually the
same. Whichever House can pass it first is fine with me because
whatever we do, we have to do it together and we have to do it before
midnight.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I just wandered onto the floor hoping we
were coming close to some type of an agreement. I very much regret that
we have to careen from week to week, from period to period funding our
government on a temporary basis. I think all of us were hoping we could
get this resolved. I still hold out some hope. There is 2 hours and 50
minutes or so of negotiations still to go.
I commend the Senator from Texas, Mrs. Hutchison, for her efforts.
She has been relentless in reminding us for several days, if not more,
that we cannot leave our troops in the field and those who are wearing
the uniform serving our country in a situation where they are not paid.
This, of course, affects drug enforcement agents and many others across
the Federal spectrum. But these troops overseas are bearing hardship
enough to not be caught up in a debate here which is necessary, a
debate that needs to be resolved.
As I said earlier when I spoke this morning or early afternoon, this
is just a small little brushfire, as dramatic as the press has made it,
and it does have consequences--serious consequences. But compared to
the size of the problem our Nation faces from a fiscal standpoint
relative to what we need to do and what we need to be debating, this is
a small part, just talking about funding for the next 6 months to fill
a gap that was left when no budget was passed and no action was taken
on it in the last Congress, the last fiscal year, to put us in a
position where we can move into and debate the real issue that is
before us; that is, how do we make decisions that will affect the long-
term spending of this country, affect our budget and our deficit, and
bring us back to a fiscally responsible place?
I hope as negotiations continue to go forward that we can resolve
this today so that we can begin that important debate. But if we
cannot, at the very least, I believe it is important that we extend
this for a small amount of time--I regret we have to do it--so we can
bring it to its final conclusion. But the most important point is that
before midnight, we have to make sure we pass legislation which will
ensure that our people in uniform are paid their rightful due for the
service they are providing. Again, I commend the Senator from Texas for
reminding us of that and being vigilant in making sure we absolutely
address that issue before this time runs out.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to add Senator
Landrieu as a cosponsor of Senate bill 724.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, that makes 78 Members of the Senate
who are now sponsoring this bill for our military.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coons). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
____________________