[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S445-S446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             A FRESH START

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we might call today the ``first day of 
the rest of the 115th Congress.'' Yesterday, an overwhelming bipartisan 
majority of Senators voted to end a filibuster of government funding 
and conclude a short-lived shutdown of the Federal Government. This 
regrettable episode reminded all of us that, in the Senate, 
brinksmanship and hostage-taking simply do not work. The only path to 
meaningful progress is the hard work of crafting legislation and 
persuading colleagues on both sides to support it.
  Yesterday evening our agreement to reopen the government, secure 
funding for our men and women in uniform, extend health insurance for 
vulnerable children, and further delay three ObamaCare taxes was signed 
into law. Now serious negotiations can resume on key issues such as 
immigration and border security, disaster relief, healthcare, and 
providing adequate levels of defense spending to support the new 
national defense strategy--just to name a few. Because common sense and 
bipartisanship won out yesterday, we have a fresh start today. I 
challenge every one of us to make the most of it. The American people 
are watching.
  Once again, I want to thank the bipartisan group of Senators--
spearheaded by Senator Graham, Senator Collins, Senator Flake, and 
several of our Democratic colleagues--who helped bring an end to this 
regrettable incident. I particularly wish to thank Senate Finance 
Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch for his powerful advocacy for the 9 
million children and low-income families who rely on the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program.
  Senator Hatch co-created SCHIP with Senator Ted Kennedy on a 
bipartisan basis more than 20 years ago. I know he counts this program 
among his proudest legislative accomplishments, and with a career like 
Senator Hatch's, that is really saying something.
  I understand the 6-year SCHIP extension the Senate passed yesterday 
will

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be the longest extension in the program's history. Its passage offers 
just one more testament, as if we needed one, to Senator Hatch's moral 
conviction, political skill, and care for the most vulnerable in our 
society. It reminds us how much we will miss his work when he retires 
at the end of this Congress.

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