[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S303-S304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the House has sent us a bill that 
should be an easy ``yes'' vote for every Senator in this Chamber--an 
easy ``yes'' vote. This bill continues government funding, prevents a 
needless shutdown, and extends a key health insurance program for 
vulnerable children for 6 years. Its content is bipartisan. There are 
no provisions that any of my Democratic friends oppose. It is a simple 
step that will let us continue bipartisan talks without throwing the 
government into disarray for no reason.
  Americans are surprised this is even a debate. I don't blame them. I 
share their surprise that some Democratic Senators see the prospect of 
a government shutdown for more than 300 million Americans, see a 
possible lapse in health coverage for 9 million vulnerable American 
kids, and they have attempted to hold all of that hostage until we 
resolve a nonimminent problem related to illegal immigration.
  The surprise is compounded for anyone who listens to the public 
statements of my Democratic colleagues and takes them at their word. 
Less than a week ago, the senior Senator from Colorado was asked 
whether it was prudent to shut the government down over the issue of 
illegal immigration. He insisted it was not.
  Last month, my friend, the senior Senator from West Virginia, had 
this to say: ``I'm not going to make 300 million people suffer because 
I can't get the process working the way it should.''
  The junior Senator from Virginia put it even more clearly. This is 
what he had to say: ``I will exercise every bit of leverage I can . . . 
but if there is a vote that would lead to a shutdown, that is where I 
draw the line.''
  Not more than 2 days ago, the senior Senator from Missouri said she 
wasn't ``interested in drawing a line in the sand'' because ``that's 
how negotiations get blown up.''
  Well, I hope their votes this evening reflect those recent 
statements.
  Some of my colleagues say they are reluctant to support this measure 
not because of illegal immigration but simply because they are tired of 
continuing resolutions. They point out that this is a suboptimal way to 
fund our government, especially our warfighters.
  That is precisely why Republicans worked hard all last month and all 
this month--all last month and all this month--to try to negotiate a 
long-term spending caps agreement that would bring stability back to 
government funding, but the Democratic leadership made it clear they 
would not be serious about these spending talks until this unrelated 
immigration issue was solved.

[[Page S304]]

  So now, unfortunately, a continuing resolution is the only option our 
Armed Forces have this evening. Let's not pretend for a moment--not a 
moment--that our men and women in uniform and their families benefit 
from a government shutdown.
  This is how we got here. My Democratic colleagues' demand on illegal 
immigration, at the behest of their far-left base, have crowded out all 
other important business. They have crowded it all out over the issue 
of illegal immigration. Now they are threatening to crowd out the needs 
of veterans, military families, opioid treatment centers, and every 
other American who relies on the Federal Government, all over illegal 
immigration.
  There is no imminent deadline facing the DACA Program. Congress has 
at least until March to arrive at a bipartisan solution that is 
acceptable to Republicans, Democrats, and the person who needs to sign 
the bill--the President of the United States. Do veterans, opioid 
treatment centers, and the families of fallen soldiers need to suffer 
before a compromise is reached?
  Democratic Senators' fixation on illegal immigration has already 
blocked us from making progress on long-term spending talks. Now, that 
same fixation over illegal immigration has them threatening to 
filibuster funding for the whole government.
  Years ago, my friend, the Democratic leader, described how 
irresponsible it would be to shut down the government over the issue of 
immigration. He said it would result in ``governmental chaos.'' That is 
what my friend, the Democratic leader, said a while back, but earlier 
today on the floor, he insisted that we put every other American 
priority on hold--put it on hold--until we resolve immigration. Only 
then, he said, can we work on defense spending or domestic spending or 
CHIP or disaster relief--put all of that on hold over the issue of 
illegal immigration with no imminent deadline. It only needs to be 
addressed by March.
  Well, that is apparently how our Democratic colleagues rank their 
priorities. It is not how I would rank mine. I don't think it is how 
many of our colleagues on either side would rank theirs either, but we 
will have a chance to find out in the coming days.
  It is certainly not how the American people expect us to act. I think 
the American people clearly would not expect us to act this way.
  The bill before us is an opportunity to correct course. It is a 
chance for my colleagues to remember that we represent millions and 
millions of American citizens.
  The American people want the Federal Government open for veterans, 
military families, and the vulnerable. They want food and drug 
inspections to continue without interruption. They want death benefits 
to continue to go out to the families of servicemembers killed in 
action. They want children in low-income families to continue receiving 
health coverage through SCHIP. They want a sensible compromise on 
immigration. But they cannot for the life of them understand why--why--
some Senators would hold the entire country hostage until we arrive at 
a solution to a problem that doesn't fully materialize until March.
  Military families, veterans, and children benefiting from the SCHIP 
program don't need to be shoved aside--they don't need to be shoved 
aside--while we continue good-faith negotiations. So we ought to pass 
this resolution, and we ought to get back to work.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I will have much more to say after this 
vote on the motion to proceed, which Democrats will support because we 
want to move forward. We want to get something done. We don't want to 
keep kicking the can down the road. But I just had to answer the 
leader, briefly.
  The leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just won't work. We 
all know what the problem is; it is complete disarray on the Republican 
side.
  The bottom line is very simple. Our Republican leader has said that 
he will not negotiate until he knows where President Trump stands. That 
is why negotiations haven't gotten anywhere. Let me quote. Here is what 
the leader said just yesterday: ``I am looking for something that 
President Trump is going to support, and he has not yet indicated what 
measure he is willing to sign.'' Mitch McConnell said that he still has 
to ``figure out what the President is for.'' How can you negotiate when 
the President, who has to sign the legislation, is like a sphinx on 
this issue or says one thing one day and one thing the next?
  So here is what we can do to solve the problem. We could solve it 
right now. The four leaders could sit down--there has been a lot of 
discussion--and come to an agreement and do what the President said at 
one point: Send it to his desk and he will sign it. We could get that 
done before the deadline of tomorrow night expires, or we could give 
the President a few days to come to the table, now that he knows this 
plan won't work, and we could get this done in a few short days and not 
kick the can down the road.
  This is the fourth CR that we have done and accomplished nothing. 
There is no promise and no likelihood that another kicking of the can 
down the road will get something done. We have to sit down together and 
solve this, with the President or without. Until that happens, no 
amount of CRs will get this done.
  I would suggest we all vote for the motion to proceed but instead 
move a very short-term CR, and we will either negotiate it ourselves or 
the President will join us, and we can get the job done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, not to prolong the debate, but the 
Presidency under our constitutional system is not irrelevant. He is the 
person who signs things into law. And most of us in the House and 
Senate on the Republican side are interested in what his views are, and 
those have not been made fully apparent yet.
  What we have before us deals with a real emergency--tomorrow night at 
midnight. What our friends on the other side are pushing is not an 
emergency. It doesn't have anything to do with what is before us. It is 
completely irrelevant to the issue of avoiding a government shutdown 
and taking care of 300 million Americans, most of whom depend on the 
government in one way or another.

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