[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 145 (Monday, September 26, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6072-S6073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CONTINUING RESOLUTION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the 10-week clean CR the Senate will 
vote on tomorrow is pretty simple. It keeps the government funded at 
the same agreed-upon, bipartisan spending levels as today. It contains 
zero controversial riders, it funds the fight

[[Page S6073]]

against Zika, and it ensures that veterans and the victims of severe 
flooding and the heroin and prescription opioid crisis are not left 
behind. It is clean. It is fair. We should pass it.
  Now, it is true that some in the Democratic leadership would like to 
turn this simple 10-week funding bill into some unnecessary partisan 
food fight. They think it is good election-year politics, but they have 
struggled to explain how they might even justify a vote against it. 
They can't do it on spending levels; they already agreed to those. They 
can't do it on controversial riders; there are none. They can't do it 
on Zika; we have a bipartisan compromise there. Both Democrats and 
Republicans agree on the need to help vets, flood victims, and those 
suffering from the heroin and prescription opioid crisis.
  So if both parties support what is actually in the clean CR-Zika 
package, then just what in this bill are Democratic leaders opposed to? 
It turns out they are trying to take our country to the brink, not 
based on something that is in this bill but something that isn't, and 
it is something the Senate already addressed in the appropriate vehicle 
to do so.
  On September 15, the Senate voted to pass the Water Resources 
Development Act, which includes assistance for the families affected by 
lead poisoning in Flint. As Chairman Inhofe has pointed out, WRDA is 
not only the proper vehicle to address the situation facing Flint now, 
it is also the proper vehicle to help prevent water infrastructure 
crises in the future. The House is now prepared this week to pass WRDA 
as well, and Chairman Inhofe has pledged he will continue to pursue 
resources for Flint once the bill goes to conference.
  We know it is important to help the victims of recent severe 
flooding. Democrats are now suggesting, however, that we not provide 
that relief unless they get an unrelated rider in this clean CR-Zika 
package. Is their solution then to remove help for flood victims? If 
their solution is to remove help for flood victims, they should say so.
  So let's be clear. It would be cruel for any Senator who just voted 
to help Flint to now turn around and filibuster the victims of floods, 
the heroin and prescription opioid crisis, and Zika as part of some 
partisan game.
  Senators in both parties know this. I know our Democratic friends 
understand this, especially when we consider their calls to do more to 
address the heroin and prescription opioid crisis, and especially when 
we consider the letter they just wrote on Zika this month.
  Let me read some of what they had to say: ``Zika is now well 
established in the United States with cases of local transmission by 
mosquitoes being reported in multiple areas of Florida, as well as the 
U.S. territories,'' Democratic Senators wrote. It is causing ``babies 
[to] die, pregnant women and communities [to] suffer, [and] adults [to] 
worry about future long-term neurological risks from Zika. . . . `'
  These Senate Democrats called for immediate passage of a bipartisan 
Zika package because ``[t]he longer we delay, the greater the . . . 
irreparable human harm from Zika.''
  This is what they said: ``The time for partisan games is over.''
  Now, that is a letter Senate Democrats wrote just this month. The 
bill before us contains a compromise Zika package that both parties 
support.
  Senator Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, understands the urgency of 
addressing Zika, and that is why he supports this bill which, as he 
noted, represents a ``clean $1.1 billion to help stop the spread of the 
Zika virus with no political riders.''
  Senator Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, also voiced his support for 
the Zika compromise in this bill. Just last week, he said it is good 
for his State and urged that we ``move forward with providing the CDC 
with the resources it needs.''
  Senator Nelson and Senator Schatz are just 2 Democratic Senators out 
of nearly 30 who penned the letter earlier this month calling for quick 
congressional action on Zika. I ask all of them to join us and act now.
  Just as we joined together to help Flint earlier this month in the 
appropriate vehicle, now it is time for Democrats to join with 
Republicans to ensure veterans and those impacted by Zika, flooding, 
and the heroin and prescription opioid crisis do not fall victim to a 
partisan filibuster.

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