[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 66 (Monday, May 13, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3355-S3356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as indicated in this chart, 51 days ago the 
Senate passed its budget. It has now been 51 days. So why are 
Republicans standing in the way? A picture is worth a thousand words, 
and that is the picture.
  Common sense and more than two centuries of history dictate the next 
step would be to go to conference and try to find common ground between 
our budget and the budget passed by the House of Representatives. The 
conference committee is one of the oldest traditions of the entire 
American Government. In fact, during the first session of Congress--No. 
1--on April 7, 1789, the day after a quorum had been secured and the 
first meeting of Congress was held, the Senate charged a committee with 
setting out the rules for such conferences. During that first Congress, 
the two Houses convened many times on conference committees to consider 
many different issues they disagreed on, including differences of 
opinion over amendments to the Constitution, differences of opinion 
over

[[Page S3356]]

legislating as to what the courts should do, and looking at bills that 
created a post office and the Treasury Department. All those were 
bills, one passed by the House and one passed by the Senate, and they 
got together to work out the differences.
  In this esteemed tradition, Democrats now wish to resolve our 
differences over the budget in a conference committee subject to the 
disinfectant of public scrutiny, instead of behind closed doors, as we 
have done for more than two centuries. A number of Republican Senators 
have joined Democrats in calling for such a conference. It has now been 
51 days since the Senate passed its budget. Even Republicans are asking 
why can't we go to conference?
  This is what the senior Senator from Arizona, a Republican, said last 
week:

       I'm very much in favor of it, and I think we ought to do it 
     right away. . . . After 4 years of complaining about Harry 
     Reid's failure to bring up a budget and then we do one and 
     block conference . . . is incomprehensible.

  That was a quote from John McCain.
  After 3 years of Republican yearning for such regular order, 
Democrats assumed every Republican Senator would be enthusiastic to go 
to conference. But although a few Republicans, such as Senator McCain, 
have called for a conference committee, Republican leaders have refused 
for weeks to name conferees, flouting more than 200 years of tradition.
  Republican leaders have also refused to explain why they won't go to 
conference. But the longer the Republicans delay, the more transparent 
this partisan political tactic is becoming. It is transparent they 
oppose transparency. They do not want openness in government.
  Republicans continue to put off a fiscal compromise until our backs 
are up against yet another manufactured crisis--a catastrophic default 
on the financial obligations we have as a country. Republicans hope to 
use the threat of default as a bargaining chip to extract concessions 
for tax breaks for the wealthy, extract concessions for drastic cuts to 
Medicare, extract concessions for more Draconian cuts to programs that 
keep the elderly, the sick, the disabled, and the most vulnerable 
Americans from slipping further into poverty.
  Even though Republicans caused themselves and the country immense 
political harm by pursuing this wrongheaded strategy last summer, they 
are at it again, and this time Republicans aren't even hiding their 
desire to cause a first-of-its-kind default on our Nation's financial 
obligations.
  Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill called the 
``Full Faith and Credit Act.'' If there were ever an Orwellian name, 
this is it. In their lexicon, up is down, down is up; east is west, 
north is south. A bill called the Full Faith and Credit Act? Come on.
  This legislation ranks the Nation's debts in order of priority--their 
priority, a Republican-dominated, tea party-driven House of 
Representatives. Listen to this. Here is what the legislation says:
  In the event of a Republican-forced default, the Nation would stop 
payments to Medicare, veterans, active-duty military servicemembers, 
national security personnel, and you name it--everything except paying 
the debt to China.
  In addition to threatening the full faith and credit of the United 
States, this legislation would cost American jobs, hurt businesses, and 
tank the economy. And it wouldn't prevent default. If an American 
family has a mortgage payment, a car payment, and credit card payment, 
but pays only three of those bills, the family is still in default. The 
Federal Government lives by the same rules. If we pay China but default 
on obligations to our veterans, we are still in default. If we pay 
China but not our Border Patrol, not our FBI, not our law enforcement 
officers, including drug enforcement, we are in default. If we pay 
China but not our troops overseas, we are in default.
  The Republican approach to default is totally irresponsible. The 
Republicans know this risky measure is a nonstarter in the Senate. Even 
if it could pass the Senate--which it won't--President Obama would veto 
it.
  Americans are tired of these protracted fights over the budget caused 
by the tea party-driven Republicans in Congress. It is through 
compromise, not through hostage taking or political blackmail, that we 
can set the Nation on the road to fiscal responsibility. That 
compromise begins by going to conference on the budget. Americans agree 
the path to economic prosperity runs through the regular order of this 
legislative body--a process that honors more than two centuries of 
work.
  Finally, I had hoped we would have an opportunity for the Republican 
leader to explain why he objects to going to conference on the budget. 
We informed the Republican side we would ask this consent today, 
tomorrow, the next day, and every day. Let us hope we don't get to day 
62, 63, 64, 65, 75, but the way they are going, I guess they are never 
going to go to conference.
  We informed the Republican side we would ask consent today and every 
day we are in session. While the Republican cloakroom informed us there 
was an objection, no Republican was available to explain that objection 
in person. I did this last week, and again they had no one here. I did 
the same thing I am going to do here. I am asking for consent, but I 
will withdraw my request out of respect for the long tradition of 
comity. This is not comedy but comity.
  It is outrageous, first of all, that they block this and then don't 
have the courage for somebody to stand and object. It speaks volumes 
that no Republican Senator was available or willing to explain the 
bizarre objection to a perfectly reasonable request to go to conference 
and work out the differences. The only explanation we have had so far 
came from the junior Senator from Texas where he said: We will go to 
conference, but you have to agree to what we want before we go to 
conference. How is that for a deal?
  The junior Senator from Texas was not available today, and no other 
Republican Senator appears willing to stand and explain why Senate 
Republicans are now standing in the way of a budget. So I will ask this 
and then I will withdraw it.


               Unanimous Consent Request--H. Con. Res. 25

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that 
the amendment which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the 
budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; 
that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, be agreed to; the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the Senate 
insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the 
disagreeing votes of the two Houses and the Chair be authorized to 
appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, all with no intervening 
action or debate.
  I would elaborate. This is a process that started being developed in 
the first Congress that was ever held in this country--1789. My 
Republican colleagues for years complained about not following regular 
order. They said we didn't have a budget. We didn't need one, but they 
said we didn't have one. We didn't do one by resolution, we did one by 
passing a law. But regardless of that, they came and talked about that.
  This is out of line. It is ridiculous. It is unfair to the American 
people, but it is very obvious what is going on.
  I withdraw my request, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Murphy). The request is withdrawn.

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