[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 135 (Thursday, October 3, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7161-S7165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, more and more interesting figures are 
coming in to my health committee from around the country with regard to 
what is happening around the Nation in terms of the health care 
marketplace, ObamaCare. The Republicans said it was going to be a 
failure and all that kind of stuff and how it was going to cost so much 
more money. I do not have it for every State. It is starting to come 
in. But I have it for some States and I want to give this body and 
people watching some of the initial figures that have come in on the 
savings to families. For example, in Alabama, $2,013 premiums for a 
family of four--median premium for month. This is just the average, 
take the median. In Alabama, for a family of four this year the premium 
was $557.58 a month. We now know the marketplace premium, family of 
four making $50,000 a year with the tax credits, their monthly premium 
will be $112 a month, a savings of $445.58 a month for a family of four 
making $50,000 year in the State of Alabama.
  In my State of Iowa, that median premium per month for a family of 
four this year was $549.58. The marketplace premium for that family of 
four at $50,000 with tax credits is now $103 a month, for a savings of 
$446.58 per month for that family of four.
  I was looking at Oklahoma. Their median premium this year was $684 a 
month. The marketplace premium for that family of four--again, $50,000 
a year--with their tax credits, believe it or not, is $63 per month. 
They will go from $684 to $63 a month. Those families will have a 
savings of $621 a month in the State of Oklahoma.
  The median premium per month for a family of four in Texas this year 
is $504.50. Their marketplace premium for a family of four making 
$50,000 a year, after the tax credits, $57 a month, for a savings of 
$447.50 a month. It is an amazing savings.
  Many of these people are getting insurance for the first time. Many 
of these people may have had a preexisting condition or perhaps they 
worked in a job that did not give them health care coverage or perhaps 
they simply couldn't afford $500 a month in Texas, but now they can 
afford $57 a month and get coverage for their family of four, and they 
will get a subsidy for buying that marketplace insurance.
  Is this what the Republicans want to stop? Is this what they want so 
desperately to stop that they are willing to shut down government? They 
ought to talk to some of these families in Texas, Iowa, Alabama, 
Oklahoma, and Michigan.
  The premium for a family of four in Michigan is $381 a month this 
year. In the marketplace it will be $80 a month.
  Georgia's premium for a family of four is $448 a month this year and 
will go down to $132 a month under the marketplace. That is what the 
Republicans want to stop? Well, I think we are seeing that what the 
Republicans really wanted to do was to keep the same old system we have 
where health insurance companies call the tune, you pay the price, and 
if you couldn't afford it, tough luck, go to the emergency room. Now we 
are going to cover all Americans.
  More and more information will come in, and as it comes in, I will 
take the floor to give more and more information about the call 
centers. Right now--in the last 2 days--over 7 million Americans have 
visited healthcare.gov

[[Page S7162]]

to get more information on what they can do to sign up. Again, the 
marketplace call center--these are calls, not the Web site--received 
over 295,000 calls since midnight on October 1. The wait time has been 
cut in half so now the wait time is only 2 minutes. The wait time is 
only 2 minutes if you call in to the call center.
  Again, I want to repeat what I said yesterday--and I know the 
majority leader said it this morning--about the dangers of continuing 
this government shutdown. I quoted a Congressman from Iowa who said in 
Politico:

       We passed the witching hour at midnight last night and the 
     sky didn't fall and the roof didn't cave in.

  Is that what has to happen? Does the sky have to fall and the roof 
have to cave in before we do something? I pointed it out yesterday, and 
I will point it out again today: The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention is closed down. Why is that important? Well, we are now in 
the flu season. More than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized due to the 
flu each year. In a mild year 3,000 people will die from the flu, and 
in a severe year that number could rise to 50,000.
  The CDC monitors which strains are circulating around the country and 
which communities are being hit the hardest. They are the ones who look 
at how to contain it and keep it from spreading. They are not doing 
that now because they are shut down.
  Food safety: Twelve days ago, 162 people in 10 States became ill with 
hepatitis A because of eating frozen berries. Right away the CDC got on 
the job, sent their epidemiologists out there, tracked it down, 
isolated it, recalled it, and found out it was pomegranate berries from 
Turkey. Well, 162 people got Hepatitis A, but nobody else did. CDC is 
not out there doing this now because they are shut down. That was just 
12 days ago.
  What if we have another outbreak of food poisoning? How fast will it 
spread? How many people have to get sick? Is that what this Congressman 
from Iowa is saying, that we have to have more people get sick? Is that 
what he means when he says the sky hasn't fallen or the roof hasn't 
caved in?
  In August, cyclosporine infected 643 people from a salad mix. It 
started in my home State of Iowa. They immediately called the Centers 
for Disease Control. The CDC got on it right away and found that this 
salad mix was sent to 25 States. They recalled it all, traced it to 
salad that had come from Mexico, and they stopped it.
  How many people have to get sick? Do we have to have a West Nile 
virus, hepatitis, e. coli, or a vast outbreak of the flu virus before 
they say: Well, that is enough, I guess we can start the government up 
again. It is totally irresponsible to say: Well, we can shut down the 
government because the sky hasn't fallen and the roof hasn't caved in.
  Members of Congress are getting their paycheck. They are coming to 
work every day. We are here and we are getting our pay. How about all 
of those government workers who work on our staffs, on our committees, 
and run the Senate? They are good, hard-working public servants, and 
they are out of work and not getting a paycheck.
  I have staff people who don't make a lot of money. They have 
families, a mortgage, and maybe a car payment to make, but they don't 
have any money coming in. If they wanted to go to the credit union here 
to get a bridge loan to get them through the crisis, they can't because 
the credit union is shut down. Now where do they go? Do they get the 
money from their credit card? I say to the Congressman from Iowa that 
for these people the roof has caved in and the sky has fallen.
  There are thousands of Head Start kids who will be sent home from 
Head Start this month and working parents will have to find something 
else for them. What are they going to do? For them the sky has fallen 
and the roof has caved in. Don't we care about them?
  I mentioned Social Security too. Social Security will still take your 
claims and your application for a Social Security card, but that is it. 
You won't get it because the backlog is backing up. They will take it, 
but they won't process it.
  I mentioned that 445,000 people call their Social Security office 
every day in this country. They will not get an answer now. There are 
180,000 people who visit a Social Security office every day in this 
country, but they can't now because they are closed. They lost their 
Medicare card or Social Security card or they need a new Medicaid card.
  There are 22,000 Americans who file for retirement benefits every day 
and 12,000 apply for disability benefits. They can still apply, but 
they are not going to get any help. For them the sky has fallen and the 
roof has caved in.
  What is this Congressman saying, that the sky has to fall on him and 
the roof has to cave in on him before he will do something to help open 
the government? And to hear them talk about it--a representative said 
``this is about the happiest'' she has been. This is a Congresswoman 
from Minnesota. ``This is about the happiest I've seen members in a 
long time,'' she said.

       ``We are very excited,'' said Representative Michele 
     Bachmann. ``It's exactly what we wanted, and we got it.''

  Shutting down the government is exactly what they wanted and they got 
it.

       ``It's wonderful,'' said Representative John Abney 
     Culberson of Texas, clapping his hands to emphasize his 
     point. ``We are 100 percent united.''

  So this is where we are. The tea party group in the House is happy to 
shut down the government. It is the happiest they have been, they said. 
They want this discord, disunity, chaos, and confusion. The American 
people don't want that.
  The American people don't want to turn their back on ObamaCare either 
because they see that now they are able to get coverage. Even if they 
have a preexisting condition, they can get a good rate for themselves 
and their families which they could not get before.
  Now it is time to open the government again, put people back to work 
so we can meet our responsibilities to the American people.
  I call upon Speaker Boehner to take the continuing resolution that is 
sitting over in the House now--it is a continuing resolution that will 
open the government. He says we wouldn't negotiate. We already 
negotiated because before that we had one level of spending in the 
bill, they had a lower level of spending, and we agreed with them. We 
took the lower level. We took the Republicans' level.
  All he has to do is bring that to the House floor and it will pass in 
the next 10 to 30 minutes. It will pass, and then we can open the 
government so people can get back to work. The Centers for Disease 
Control can get their people back out in the field. The National 
Institutes of Health will open once again. Head Start kids will be able 
to stay in their Head Start Programs. The Women, Infants, and Children 
feeding program will be able to get the necessary nutritious food for 
poor kids and kids who are homeless.
  All Speaker Boehner has to do to end this is to bring that bill on 
the floor. He doesn't even have to vote for it. Congressman Boehner 
doesn't have to vote for it. Just throw it out, and I will bet that 
enough moderate Republicans and Democrats will vote to pass it. I 
challenge him to bring it out. Let's see what happens. That is the way 
to end this debacle right now.
  With that, I yield the floor, and note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I have been informed that I spoke 
incorrectly a few minutes ago when I said the credit union was closed. 
I guess one office is closed someplace, but another office is open and 
they will take calls. So I guess the office in the Hart Building is 
still open. I guess another office someplace else is closed. So I spoke 
incorrectly.
  But I will continue to make this point: Isn't it a shame that our 
staffs, who work hard, have to go to a credit union to borrow money to 
get them through this period of time, to meet a mortgage payment or a 
car payment or whatever it is? We don't have to do that; we continue to 
get paid while we are here.

[[Page S7163]]

  Again, in response to the remarks that, well, the sky hasn't fallen 
and the roof hasn't caved in, according to this Congressman from Iowa, 
for someone who now has to borrow money, even from a credit union--I 
belong to the credit union--for someone who has to borrow money from 
the credit union, it is just not right. This is simply not right and 
another reason why we have to call off this government shutdown, which, 
as I said, we could do in the next few minutes if Mr. Boehner would 
just put on the floor the continuing resolution he has over there and 
let his people vote on it.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, we are now 3 days into a completely 
unnecessary, completely avoidable Republican shutdown, and there is 
more talk than ever about the inability of our leaders to find common 
ground on central, economic, and fiscal issues of our time.
  This government shutdown is throwing a major wrench into a fragile 
economic recovery. Nearly 1 million Federal employees are sitting at 
home for no reason, and other public servants are working but not 
earning a paycheck. Cancer patients are being turned away from clinical 
trials at the NIH. Veterans' benefits are at risk. Basic nutrition 
services for pregnant women and new moms will be disrupted. Small 
businesses won't be able to get Federal loan guarantees. And all this 
is happening on top of the idiotic sequester--drastic, across-the-board 
spending cuts that have crippled Meals On Wheels, Head Start, and 
investments in medical research.
  We all know how we got here. For years now we have heard a small 
minority in this country rail against government. When I hear the 
latest tirades from some of the extremists in the House, I am struck by 
how vague these complaints are. From their rhetoric, one would think 
they believed that anytime we, the people, come together to improve our 
lives, the Nation is committing some terrible wrong. From their 
rhetoric, one would think they believe that the government that 
functions best is a government that doesn't function at all. So far, 
they haven't ended government, but they have achieved the next best 
thing--shutting the government down.
  But behind all the slogans of the tea party and all the thinly veiled 
calls for anarchy in Washington, behind all that there is a reality. 
The American people don't want the extremist Republicans' bizarre 
vision of a future without government. They don't support it. Why? 
Because the American people know that without government, we would no 
longer be a great nation with a bright future. The American people know 
that government matters.
  The anarchy gang is quick to malign government, but when was the last 
time anyone called for regulators to go easier on companies that put 
lead in children's toys or for food inspectors to stop checking whether 
the meat in our grocery stores is crawling with deadly bacteria or for 
the FDA to ignore whether morning sickness drugs will cause horrible 
deformities in little babies? We never hear that--not from political 
leaders in Washington and not from the American people. In fact, 
whenever the anarchy gang makes headway in their efforts to damage our 
government, the opposite happens. After the sequester kicked in, 
Republicans immediately turned around and called on the technical 
funding for our national defense and to keep the air traffic 
controllers on the job.
  Now that the House Republicans have shut down the government, holding 
the country hostage because of some imaginary health care bogeyman, 
Republicans almost immediately turned around and called on us to start 
reopening parts of our government. Why did they do this? Because the 
bogeyman ``government'' is like the bogeyman under the bed. It is not 
real. It doesn't exist.
  What is real and what does exist are all the important work we as 
Americans have chosen to do together through our government. In our 
democracy, government is not some make-believe thing that has an 
independent will of its own. In our democracy, government is just how 
we describe what we, the people, have already decided to do together. 
It is not complicated. Our government has three basic functions: 
provide for the national defense; put in place rules of the road, such 
as speed limits, and bank regulations that are fair and transparent; 
and build that which none of us can build alone--roads, power grids, 
schools--that which gives everyone a chance to succeed.

  We are a nation of innovators and entrepreneurs, growing small 
businesses and thriving big businesses. But our people succeed, our 
country succeeds because we have all come together to put public 
institutions and infrastructure together. We all decided to pass laws 
and put cops on the beat so that no one steals a purse on Main Street 
or a pension on Wall Street. We all decided to invest in public 
education so that businesses have skilled workers and a kid with an 
idea can create the next breakthrough company. We all decided to invest 
in basic science so there is a great pipeline of ideas to create our 
future. These achievements aren't magic. They didn't simply occur on 
their own or through dumb luck. In each instance we made a choice as a 
people to come together.
  The Food and Drug Administration makes sure the white pills we take 
are antibiotics and not baking soda. The National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration oversees crash tests to make sure all new cars 
have effective brakes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission makes 
sure babies' car seats don't collapse in a crash and toasters don't 
explode. We don't know who they are, but there is no question that 
there are Americans alive today, Americans who are healthier, Americans 
who are stronger, because of these and countless other government 
efforts--alive, healthier, stronger because of what we did together.
  The anarchy gang in the House can dump on their make-believe version 
of government all they want, but when the real government fails to live 
up to the high expectations we have all set for it, politicians in both 
parties rush to outrage. Why? Because the American people know 
government can work and believe government should work.
  Today--that is right, today--marks the fifth anniversary of President 
Bush signing the bank bailout into law. That financial crisis cost us 
upwards of $14 trillion--that is trillion with a ``t.'' That is 
$120,000 for every American household--more than 2 years' worth of 
income for the average family. Billions of dollars in retirement 
savings have disappeared, millions of workers lost their jobs, and 
millions more families lost their homes.
  In April 2011, after a 2-year bipartisan inquiry, the Senate 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a 635-page report 
that made it plain: Regulators could have and should have used their 
existing tools to prevent the crisis. Republicans and Democrats, a 
bipartisan group, found strong agreement that--we better believe it--
government matters.
  The attacks on government are abstract, but the consequences of this 
shutdown are real: less accountability for cheaters and rule-breakers, 
less opportunity for our children, cracks in the foundations that 
businesses need to succeed, and a tilted playing field that limits 
opportunities for all of our people.
  We know that government doesn't always work. We know no institution 
is infallible. People make mistakes, ideas fail, and sometimes we get 
it wrong. But our response isn't to give up. Our response isn't to sit 
back and say: I told you so. We are not a nation of quitters. Our 
response, the American response, is to fix it, to make government work 
better.
  Our democracy is an experiment, and it is always evolving. We 
constantly redesign and reimagine and improve on what we do together. 
But time and time again throughout our history we have reaffirmed the 
simple truth that government matters. Right now, right at this moment, 
if we look closely, we will see that we are reaffirming it once again. 
It is not an accident that the desire to shut down government is 
confined to one extremist faction of one political party of one Chamber 
of Congress of one branch of government. It is not an accident that 
this extremist faction must resort to absurd hostage tactics--threats 
to turn off the government, threats to default on our debt, threats to 
tank the economy--to force their views on everyone else. It is not an 
accident that this faction is doing everything in its power to make 
government appear dysfunctional.

[[Page S7164]]

  In a democracy, these hostage tactics are the last resort for those 
who can't win their fights through elections, can't win their fights 
through Congress, can't win their fights for the Presidency, and can't 
win their fights in courts. But these threats are not working and they 
will never work because this is a democracy, and for more than 200 
years our democracy has defeated extremists and rejected the idea that 
government does not matter.

  So to those who have forced us to the brink, to those who rail 
against a make-believe government, to those who seem to rejoice in 
anarchy, to those who have salivated at the chance to shut down our 
government because their extremist views have left them disconnected 
from the experiences of the American people, it is time to hear a 
simple message:
  You can do your best to make government look like it does not work 
when you stop it from working, you can do your best to make government 
look paralyzed when you paralyze it, you can do your best to make 
government look incompetent through your incompetence and through your 
ineffectiveness, but sooner or later the government will reopen because 
this is a democracy and this democracy has already rejected your views.
  We have already chosen to work together because we all know we are 
stronger when we come together. And when this government reopens, when 
our markets are safe again, when our scientists can return to their 
research, when our small businesses can borrow, when our veterans can 
be respected for their service, when our flu shots resume and our Head 
Start programs get back to teaching our kids, we will have rejected 
your views once again.
  We are not a country of anarchists. We are not a country of 
pessimists and ideologues whose motto is ``I got mine. The rest of you 
are on your own.'' We are not a country that tolerates dangerous drugs, 
unsafe meat, dirty air, or toxic mortgages. We are not that nation, we 
have never been that nation, and we will never be that nation.
  Today, a political minority in the House that condemns government and 
begged for this shutdown has had its day. But like all the reckless and 
extremist factions that have come before it, their day will pass and 
our democracy will return to the important work we have already chosen 
to do together.
  I thank the Chair.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Heitkamp). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I did not really expect to come down 
here and speak. I was just checking on a judge vote, which I understand 
has been postponed. But I do say this: It appears to me that the CR 
discussion and the debt ceiling discussion are going to be combined 
maybe into one effort, and I just want to say that I think that is a 
great opportunity for all of us. I was down here yesterday talking 
about the same.
  Typically, when we have dealt with issues such as this, what we have 
tried to do together is figure out a way to strengthen our country 
through making those kinds of reforms that lessen the amount of 
deficits we are going to have in the future. That is typically what 
debates such as this have been about.
  So I think the realization that people have right now--that we could 
well try to deal with the CR and the debt ceiling at the same time--
could move us back into the kind of constructive conversation we have 
had for so long around mandatory spending reforms, figuring out a way 
to keep spending reductions where they are but build upon them, but do 
it in a way that is more sensible than what we have done in the past.
  So, again, I was beginning to get worried. And I will stop in a 
minute. It looks as if the senior Senator----
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, will my friend from Tennessee yield for 
a question?
  Mr. CORKER. I would be tremendously honored to take a question from 
the distinguished Senator.
  Mr. McCAIN. Has the Senator seen the polls of American public opinion 
about what we are doing here? Has the Senator had a chance to see that?
  Mr. CORKER. I do not pay as much attention to polls possibly as I 
should. My understanding, in listening to the senior Senator from 
Arizona, is they are not particularly favorable.
  Mr. McCAIN. To all of us. To all of us.
  Mr. CORKER. Yes. I did not mean to individuals.
  Mr. McCAIN. To both sides of the aisle. And they do not understand, 
isn't it true, why we have not been able to come to some conclusion?
  As the Senator from Tennessee just said, we now are going to have 
this merged into the debt limit.
  Mr. CORKER. Right.
  Mr. McCAIN. The Senator from Tennessee has an extensive background in 
finance. Isn't it true that the world markets would react in a very, 
very severe fashion if we allowed the debt limit to expire?
  Mr. CORKER. I think everyone understands that is very problematic for 
markets. Actually, we are beginning to see some volatility now that we 
have not seen in the past.
  I would like to respond, if I could, a little more fully to say that 
I think we have an opportunity--look, we have been in a place that I 
think people have known. We have known exactly where the discussions in 
the past were going to lead; that is, to this box canyon.
  I think the fact that we have ended up in a place now where these two 
things may merge--and I know the senior Senator from Arizona has been 
involved in multiple conversations about this--I think we have an 
opportunity now to begin talking again about those things that 
strengthen our Nation and looking at some reforms, not to do so in a 
chicken way, in a way where you have two cars heading at each other, 
but to use this like previous debt ceilings have been used where adults 
sit down, they look at the problems our Nation is facing, and we do 
some things that, candidly, in a bipartisan way, people have been 
trying to do for a long time.
  I would like to mention one more time--I know I did this yesterday, 
and I know the senior Senator from Arizona and myself have spent a lot 
of time together on this issue--the President, in his budget in April, 
put forth some mandatory reforms. Many of those are pretty good. I 
would like to make them better, but they are a pretty good start. We 
have a few days--a week, 2 weeks--here where we could actually sit down 
maybe and cobble something together that would mean that while all this 
acrimony has existed for some time, we might get back on target and 
back to focusing on making our country stronger.

  I know today we were in this incredible hearing on Iran, and I 
certainly appreciated the comments of the senior Senator from Arizona 
about our concerns there. One of the biggest issues we have around the 
world right now is just people look at us--as the Senator was alluding 
to a minute ago--as unable to deal with our fiscal issues.
  So I look at what has happened. I know it can be viewed in whichever 
way you want to view it. I look at it as being a glass half full. We 
have an opportunity over the next short period of time to do some good 
policy, put some good policy in place, to pass a CR, to pass the debt 
ceiling, and again move our country ahead toward being stronger.
  I am sorry to respond with such a long answer.
  Mr. McCAIN. May I ask just one more question of my friend from 
Tennessee.
  We know that sooner or later the government will begin to function 
again--sooner or later.
  Mr. CORKER. It will function again.
  Mr. McCAIN. Sooner or later we will address the debt ceiling because 
the United States is not going to renege on its debts.
  Mr. CORKER. That is right.
  Mr. McCAIN. It is going to meet its obligations. So we know those are 
facts. We know that at some point there is going to have to be a 
resolution. It is not going to go on forever. Nothing does. So if it 
argues for a solution, shouldn't we ask all parties to sit down and 
start discussions that the Senator and I and others have had kind of on 
an ad hoc basis, sort of, with people here and there and then 
conversations here and there, to start laying the groundwork?

[[Page S7165]]

  I also want to point out that I think it is important that the 
President of the United States, rather than saying ``I will not 
negotiate with anybody under any circumstances,'' say ``I am willing to 
sit down and negotiate. I am willing to join with all parties in trying 
to find a way through this.''
  We will sooner or later. The question is not whether we will solve 
these issues. The question really is--and I ask my friend from 
Tennessee--how much damage will be done before we solve it. Right now, 
there are people beginning to hurt all over America, and maybe it is 
not so bad right now, but it is going to get worse every single day 
that goes by. Frankly, I think we owe the American people more than 
that. Now, if somebody wants to blame me, fine. I will take the blame. 
If they want to blame the Senator from Tennessee, put the blame on 
him--on the President, on anybody. But shouldn't we remember what our 
duties are here?
  Mr. CORKER. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I am just looking down 
to see what the date is, but it seems to me that we have 2 weeks here, 
and to get to the Senator's comments, hopefully a week. In other words, 
the quicker we resolve these issues, the better it is for our Nation, 
the better it is for the world, because at the end of the day, let's 
face it, what we care about most is the well-being of our citizens back 
home. We know that uncertainty creates uncertainty in the economy. It 
affects people's jobs. I would agree.
  Look, we are at that moment in time where we have all realized the CR 
and the debt ceiling are probably going to be linked together. They are 
linked together in essence, and, as the senior Senator from Arizona 
just mentioned, there is no question we are going to resolve those. So 
what we ought to do is sit down right now, the President of the United 
States, the appropriate leadership here in the House and Senate--and 
whether it is they or their proxies--but to sit down, and let's figure 
out if there are some reforms we can put in place to make our country 
stronger and to again get back on the right topic, which is our 
financial strength. I think we could do that.
  The fact is that there are no new issues. Every single issue has been 
litigated. There is legislative language. They are scored. There is not 
a new issue for us to talk about relative to putting some good policy 
in place to move ahead.
  The Senator from Arizona has been so involved in these issues. I just 
could not agree more. I know the junior Senator from Arizona is sitting 
in the back, and I know he has been incredibly responsible fiscally.
  I think we have an opportunity. I think this body should take 
advantage of it. I think the President should come to the table, take 
advantage of it, the leadership of the House. Let's do something good 
for our country. Let's do it in an appropriate amount of time. Let's 
put this behind us and move on--move on as a nation.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank my friend.
  Does the Senator yield the floor?
  Mr. CORKER. I do.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I want to thank my friend from 
Tennessee, whose commitment to achieving solutions and resolution of 
this bitter environment in which we find ourselves is admirable. I am 
grateful for his participation and his leadership. I also thank my 
young, handsome colleague from Arizona, who also has had a many 
yearlong commitment to fiscal sanity and balance. I thank my 
colleagues.

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