[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 200 (Thursday, December 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7923-S7925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to H.J. Res. 123, which was received from the House, and that
there be 30 minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form, in
relation to H.J. Res. 123; further, that following the use or yielding
back of that time, the joint resolution be considered read a third time
and the Senate vote on the joint resolution with no intervening action
or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 123) making further
continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2018, and for other
purposes.
Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Recognizing the UAA Women's Basketball Team and the Great Alaska
Shootout
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, every week I have been coming down to
the floor to talk a little bit about my great State, about the wonders
of its natural landscape--a land that everybody should see for
themselves--and we talk about special people. I know the Presiding
Officer looks at this as one of the favorite times in his long week. We
talk about the people who have made a difference in Alaska, our Alaskan
of the Week. It is one of the best things I get to do here as Alaska's
Senator because I get to talk about Alaska's beauty; the people who
make my State so special; the kind, generous people full of rugged
determination, full of patriotism, full of drive, full of life.
Living in the North in some of the most difficult terrain and extreme
conditions of the world breeds competition in the best ways possible.
It also sparks creativity all across the State. When creativity meets
competition, great things can happen.
You saw great things happen on the basketball court late last month
when University of Alaska Anchorage's women's basketball team, who are
our Alaskans of the Week, won the championship at the Great Alaska
Shootout in Anchorage, the seminal sports event of the year that for
four decades has corresponded with Thanksgiving weekend.
Let me talk for a few minutes about the Great Alaska Shootout. In the
late 1970s, a coach from the University of Alaska Anchorage's
basketball team had a vision to put the fledgeling UAA basketball
program on the map. How
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would he do that? He would create a preseason college basketball
tournament, and he would make sure that participation in any tournament
outside the contiguous lower 48 States didn't count against the limits
for how many games a team was allowed to play. And so was born the
Great Alaska Shootout.
For the past 40 years, tens of thousands of Alaskans from all over
the State--and I would say Americans from all over the country--many
who had never been to a professional game or even a college game,
traveled to Anchorage to watch some of the best basketball in the
country. In Anchorage, people opened their homes to the teams from the
lower 48 to enjoy a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner.
The teams and the players who came to Alaska over the last 40 years
are legion--Patrick Ewing, Glenn Robinson, Sam Perkins, Ray Allen,
Dwayne Wade, and Alaska's own Trajan Langdon, just to name a few. All
the great college basketball coaches at one time or another came to our
State--Coach K, Jim Valvano, Bobby Knight, Denny Crum, Roy Williams,
Tom Izzo, Pat Summitt, and so many others. As one reporter put it, ``It
was an annual Thanksgiving week staple for ESPN and it made Anchorage
the center of the college basketball world for one bright, shining
week.''
Time and again, the UAA Seawolves--both the men and women's teams--
Division 2 programs, who were up against some of the biggest Division 1
powerhouses in the country, showed the world what basketball in Alaska
looked like, and it looked strong.
The Great Alaska Shootout was a gift to the world, to America, and to
all of Alaska. Times have changed, and so have college basketball
tournaments. More choices are available. Other States have begun to
compete with Alaska. So this past Thanksgiving, sadly, was the
Shootout's last tournament. But, again, UAA's basketball teams made us
proud. All told, the men's teams won 39 games in 40 Shootouts. This
past Thanksgiving Day, the UAA women, which has become a Division 2
powerhouse under the leadership of Coach Ryan McCarthy, claimed the
women's championship in the final Shootout, beating the Division 1
University of Tulsa Golden Hurricanes 59 to 52 in a thriller. It was
their seventh title in tournament history.
Everyone involved--the businesses that sponsored the Shootout over
the years, the many avid fans who haven't missed a game, and all those
who played in the Great Alaska Shootout over four decades--is deserving
of recognition. But at this year's final Great Alaska Shootout, the UAA
women's team showed us all the true meaning of grit and determination.
So here is to the Seawolves, our Alaskans of the Week. Here is to the
history of the Great Alaska Shootout. It is a great day to be a
Seawolf. Thanks for all the great games, the great memories, and a
truly great Alaskan and American basketball tournament.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President pro tempore emeritus, the
Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, first, I applaud the Senator from Alaska.
He makes us all want to be there.
Mr. President, let me speak for a moment in my role as vice chairman
of the Senate Appropriations Committee about the continuing resolution
that the distinguished majority leader has just mentioned.
The current spending caps set in place by law will not responsibly
fund the government or alleviate the consequences of sequestration on
both our domestic priorities and our military readiness.
Since March 1, along with many others, I have constantly repeated
that we must reach a bipartisan budget deal that is based on parity,
free of poison pill riders, not waste taxpayer dollars on a useless
border wall, which we will never be reimbursed for by Mexico. But with
the current continuing resolution expiring tomorrow, we are running out
of time to reach an agreement.
The continuing resolution before us today will allow us more time to
reach a bipartisan agreement and keep the government's lights on during
negotiations. I will join with the distinguished majority leader in
voting for this, but the key to successful negotiation during that time
is parity. Sequestration has had devastating consequences on our
country that are going to impact a generation, but we have to raise the
caps on both sides of the ledger--defense and nondefense.
Anywhere you go, the vast majority of Americans will agree that it is
not an academic exercise. The decisions we make here today have real
impacts on people's lives.
There is no question that sequestration has hurt our military
readiness, but it has also hurt our Nation's economy, and it has led to
a decline in critical government services on which millions of
Americans depend.
Our veterans have been shortchanged. An average of 558,000 veterans
fail to get a healthcare appointment during the 30-day standard. The
average wait time for the VA to process a benefit appeal is over 3
years.
Our infrastructure is crumbling. America, this great Nation, now gets
a D-plus rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This
means that the roads, the bridges, the dams, the drinking water, the
public parks, and the schools we all use and depend on have a near-
failing grade.
Education programs have suffered. The purchasing power of the maximum
Pell Grant now covers only 29 percent of the average price for college.
Our elderly citizens are getting shortchanged. More than 1 million
Social Security benefits appeals are backlogged an average of 605 days.
An estimated 10,000 people die each year before their appeals are
completed.
I could go on and on.
If we raise the caps for defense programs but do not also raise the
caps to properly fund our nondefense priorities, we will still
shortchange our men and women in uniform. If we don't invest in our
Nation's economy and educate our youth, the military will not have the
expertise, qualified soldiers, or advanced research that it needs to be
the best in the world. If we don't invest in diplomacy, our world will
become less safe and we will be less safe. As our Secretary of Defense
said: If you are not going to invest in diplomacy, you better buy me
more bullets. And we would fail to provide the level of care for our
veterans that they deserve.
I have talked with both Republicans and Democrats. I am confident we
can reach an agreement that addresses our country's needs and
responsibly funds our government.
As we in the Congress work on it, it is discouraging that the
President has cast doubt on these negotiations. He has even invited a
``good [government] shutdown.'' His party is in charge, so I don't know
why he would say that. Even more discouraging is a recent Washington
Post story that said the President has told his confidants that a
government shutdown would be good for him politically.
Well, there are 325 million Americans who are going to be affected by
a government shutdown. It is irresponsible. It is no way to govern. In
all my years in the Senate, with Republican and Democratic Presidents
alike, never have I heard such damaging rhetoric come from either a
Republican or Democratic President of the United States.
The last Republican shutdown in 2013 dealt a devastating blow to the
Nation's economic growth. It amounted to an estimated $1.5 billion lost
for each day of the 16 days of the shutdown. Federal workers were
furloughed through no fault of their own for a combined total of 6.6
million days, stalling important research and grinding our government
to a halt.
I know the Republicans are in charge of the House, the Senate, and
the White House. If there is a Republican shutdown this fiscal year, it
is because they want one. I have talked to a lot of Republicans and
Democrats, whom I respect and work with every day, who hope the 2-week
continuing resolution before us is an indication we will not go down
that path. I hope these Republicans will work with Democrats to produce
a responsible, bipartisan budget deal that meets the needs of our
Nation.
We have squandered enough time. I stand ready, as I have been since
March, when we negotiated a budget agreement that kept us from having a
shutdown last time. I will work with the Republican leadership, as I
did then, to secure the funding agreements we need to complete our
appropriations
[[Page S7925]]
work for this fiscal year. This 2-week continuing resolution will give
us that chance.
I urge my Democratic colleagues to join with the Republican leader
and vote aye.
Mr. President, how much time is remaining before the vote?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 8 minutes.
Mr. LEAHY. And how much time is there on the other side?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Nine minutes.
Mr. LEAHY. So we will not vote unless time is yielded back.
I believe there are no other speakers.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back
on both the Republican and Democratic sides.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
All time is yielded back.
The joint resolution was ordered to a third reading and was read the
third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The joint resolution having been read the
third time, the question is, Shall the joint resolution pass?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake),
the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the Senator from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Toomey).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Toomey) would have voted ``yea.''
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Franken)
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 81, nays 14, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 311 Leg.]
YEAS--81
Alexander
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Boozman
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Daines
Donnelly
Duckworth
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Manchin
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Risch
Roberts
Rubio
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Strange
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--14
Booker
Cruz
Ernst
Gillibrand
Harris
Hirono
Lee
Markey
McCain
Merkley
Rounds
Sanders
Sasse
Warren
NOT VOTING--5
Crapo
Flake
Franken
Paul
Toomey
The joint resolution (H.J. Res. 123) was passed.
____________________