[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Mr. President, on an urgent matter, Congress is 
fast approaching our Friday deadline to fund the government. The choice 
before us is quite simple: We can pass a noncontroversial, bipartisan 
bill to keep the government open, or Democrats in Congress can 
manufacture a crisis and force a government shutdown over the entirely 
unrelated issue of illegal immigration, which we have until March, at 
the very least, to resolve.
  Leaders in both parties have engaged in constructive talks on the 
best solution for those who fall under the Obama administration's 
illegally established DACA Program, along with other important 
immigration issues. The President has made it clear that any 
immigration bill must not only treat the symptoms of illegal 
immigration but also address the conditions that cause it. His four 
pillars for reform are increasing border security, reforming chain 
migration, resolving the DACA issue, and addressing the visa lottery. 
Those are the four pillars.
  My position is straightforward. When negotiators produce a compromise 
that the President supports, it will receive a vote here in the Senate. 
No such solution yet exists, so the negotiations continue. The DACA 
issue does not face urgent deadlines until March at the very earliest. 
Our deadline to fund the government is tomorrow. One is an emergency, 
and one is not.
  Later today, we anticipate the House will pass a bill that continues 
government funding and also attends to another urgent bipartisan 
concern. It will reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program for a full 6 years, giving needed security to the families of 
the 9 million American children who depend on the program for coverage.
  A continuing resolution plus a 6-year SCHIP extension is a 
commonsense package that every Member of this body should support.
  Just consider my Democratic colleagues' own words on this very 
subject of the Children's Health Insurance Program. Just last month, 
the senior Senator from Pennsylvania said: ``Any uncertainty about the 
Children's Health Insurance Program is . . . an insult to the 
country.'' That is the senior Senator from Pennsylvania. He represents 
342,000 children enrolled in SCHIP. Now he will have a chance to end 
that uncertainty.
  Our newest colleague, the junior Senator from Alabama, made SCHIP a 
central issue in his campaign. He presented himself as a champion of 
vulnerable kids. He said the Senate had to ``stop playing political 
football with the health care of our children.'' Now he represents 
150,000 of those children. Will he help us put a stop to the political 
games?
  The senior Senator from Ohio said: ``Healthcare for our kids 
shouldn't be controversial . . . it shouldn't be partisan. It should be 
easy.''
  The junior Senator from Maine called a potential lapse in SCHIP ``an 
abdication of our responsibility.''
  The junior Senator from Oregon said: ``Struggling families would like 
to have some stability, not have their children be a bargaining chip in 
some broader vision.''
  All of these Democratic Senators represent tens of thousands of 
children who depend on SCHIP. I am more than puzzled why they would 
threaten to turn their backs on those children--and shut down the 
government while they are at it--over the entirely unrelated issue of 
illegal immigration. Why would anyone suggest it is a good idea to not 
fund SCHIP for 6 years and to not fund the government because they are 
upset over illegal immigration, which is an issue we have until March 
to address?
  Last year, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously agreed on a 
proposal to extend SCHIP by 5 years. The continuing resolution we 
expect to take up will extend it for 6, with no partisan attachments. 
It shouldn't be a difficult vote.
  There is nothing--nothing--in such a continuing resolution that my 
Democratic friends actually oppose. Surely they do not oppose 
continuing to fund programs for opioid treatment and prevention, even 
as negotiations continue on additional funding. Surely they do not 
oppose continuing to fund our military and our national security, even 
as negotiations continue on additional funding. They couldn't possibly 
want to cut off existing funding for veterans, the VA system, and 
America's seniors simply because we are still negotiating additional 
funding.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle do not oppose a single 
thing in this bill--nothing. They know they can't possibly explain to 
our warfighters and veterans, to our seniors, to our opioid treatment 
centers, to the millions of vulnerable children and their families who 
depend on SCHIP for coverage--how do you explain this?--or to all 
Americans who rely on the Federal Government for critical services like 
food inspections and Social Security checks. Why would they filibuster 
government funding and shut down vital programs for Americans because 
we have not yet agreed on the best way to settle an unrelated issue 
that we have at least until March to resolve?
  So let's fund the government, extend SCHIP, and do right by the 
millions of Americans who elected us to serve them. That is how we can 
continue serious discussions on issues facing our Nation.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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