[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now, on another matter, as we all know, 
Congress has until Friday to reach an agreement that ensures continued 
funding for the Federal Government. By now, it is clear we are not yet 
ready to move ahead with a major agreement on long-term funding for our 
Armed Forces, nor on our immigration policy. Serious, bipartisan talks 
are underway on these issues and other key priorities. Compromise 
solutions are not out of reach, but for now, Congress needs to keep the 
government running. There is no cause whatsoever for manufacturing a 
crisis and holding up funding for the vital services of the Federal 
Government.
  What is more, the near-term solution that Congress must pass this 
week will not only provide uninterrupted government funding, it will 
also contain a 6-year reauthorization of the State Children's Health 
Insurance Program. This is a Federal program that covers nearly 9 
million children in low-income families. It ensures that economic 
hardship will not stand between struggling American families and 
medical coverage for their children. S-CHIP enjoys widespread, 
bipartisan support, with dedicated champions on both sides of the 
aisle.
  The funding bill we will take up in the Senate will reauthorize the 
program for 6 years, even longer than the bipartisan compromise the 
Senate Finance Committee reached just last year. So Senators face a lot 
of hard decisions, but this is not one of them. A bill that prevents a 
government shutdown and funds S-CHIP for up to 6 years should be a 
simple choice for every Senator in this Chamber, and until very 
recently, our Democratic colleagues agreed. ``No-brainer'' was the 
exact phrase my colleague, the senior Senator from California, recently 
used on the Senate floor when discussing S-CHIP renewal.
  The newest Member of this body, the junior Senator from Alabama, 
campaigned on this very issue. As Senator-elect, he insisted that his 
future colleagues should ``stop playing political football with the 
health care of our children.'' He called it ``absolutely unacceptable 
for partisan fighting to delay renewing funding for CHIP.''
  I hope my friends, the Democratic leaders, are listening to their own 
Members because recently some have intimated that Democrats will 
filibuster any funding bill whatsoever over the issue of illegal 
immigration. I find it difficult to believe that my Democratic 
colleagues would want to shut down the government for American citizens 
and vote down a 6-year reauthorization of health insurance for American 
children all over illegal immigration.
  Bipartisan negotiations over the DACA issue and other issues in 
immigration policy are certainly important, and they are ongoing. Our 
responsibility is to continue those discussions, not to jeopardize them 
by ginning up a manufactured crisis over an artificial deadline. We 
have until March, at least, to complete our ongoing negotiations on 
immigration. We have until Friday to fund the government.
  I would urge my Democratic friends to honor their stated commitments 
to join in a bipartisan effort to keep the government funded and 
reauthorize S-CHIP for struggling families across our country.

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