[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 135 (Thursday, October 3, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7146-S7147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.J. RES. 73

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I recognize my colleagues from Missouri 
and South Dakota, who I know also have unanimous consents, and I yield 
to them for those.
  Mr. BLUNT. I thank my friend from Texas for yielding.
  On Monday morning, I was scheduled to be at Washington University in 
St.

[[Page S7147]]

Louis, MO, to look at some of their research. A lot of the research NIH 
does has been done in our State; one-third of the research for the 
human genome project was done in our State.
  Then, on Tuesday evening, for the fifth year in a row, I was at the 
fundraising event for the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of 
Health, where families and children can stay while they are there for 
treatment. This is a private sector event. In spite of everything else 
that was going on, it was a great event where lots of money was raised 
for those kids.
  I said at that event that somebody told me years ago that if 
everybody in your family is well, you have lots of problems. If 
somebody in your family is sick, you have one problem. The Children's 
Inn is one of the places where people help families deal with the one 
problem they have.
  But as virtually every Member of this Senate at one time or another 
has said, the work of the NIH is important. It is important that it 
continue. The House yesterday passed a House joint resolution that 
would continue that work.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of H.J. Res. 73, making continuing appropriations for the 
National Institutes of Health for the fiscal year 2014; that the 
measure be read three times and passed; and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I am going 
to make a counteroffer to the Senator from Missouri which is even 
better. It is going to open the National Institutes of Health, the 
Centers for Disease Control, and all of the medical research at the 
Department of Defense. We are going to make sure all of the medical 
research and medical services of the Federal Government in every agency 
at every level are open for business immediately, and the Senator from 
Missouri, by agreeing to this modification, will go way beyond the 
National Institutes of Health. He is going to be opening all of these 
medical services.
  Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the request be modified as 
follows: that an amendment which is at the desk be agreed to; that the 
joint resolution, as amended, then be read a third time and passed; and 
the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table 
with no intervening action or debate.
  This amendment is the text that passed the Senate, is a clean 
continuing resolution for the entire government, including the National 
Institutes of Health, and is something that is already over in the 
House and reportedly has the support of a majority of the Members of 
the House of Representatives. This is an opportunity for the Senator 
from Missouri to finally break down this government shutdown and put 
all the medical services of the Federal Government back in business 
immediately.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the modified 
request?
  Mr. BLUNT. Reserving the right to object, I would remind my good 
friend from Illinois that there was a time when in the Senate we dealt 
with all of these issues individually--as we should have last year and 
didn't. There were no appropriations bills on the floor.
  A continuing resolution is not the best way to do the business of the 
country, and I would object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  Is there objection to the original request?
  Mr. DURBIN. I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.

                          ____________________