[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7898-S7899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today we will pass a third continuing 
resolution, CR, to keep the government operating through February 8. I 
support this CR because a government shutdown is never good for our 
country--in fact, it is a terrible idea--but this whole process has 
been a missed opportunity.
  For six of the seven appropriations bills covered under today's CR, 
we have a clear path forward. These bills--Agriculture, Commerce-
Justice-Science, Interior, Financial Services, Transportation-Housing 
and Urban Development, and the State-Foreign Operations bill--could be 
done by close of business today if there was the will. They are largely 
finished, are the product of bipartisan compromise, and provide the 
funds necessary to address critical needs of the American people and to 
protect U.S. national security. Unfortunately, the President held them 
hostage for $5 billion to try to wall off our southern border, a wall 
he promised American taxpayers that Mexico would pay for.
  What will be lost because of the President's intransigence?
  These six bills provide much-needed funding to help combat our 
Nation's opioid epidemic and critical investments in infrastructure to 
help rebuild our Nation's crumbling roads, bridges, and highways. They 
provide resources to protect the environment and help ensure that the 
water we drink and the air we breathe is safe and clean for this 
generation and the next.
  They provide important assistance for our Nation's farmers and rural 
communities who have been particularly hurt this year by the 
President's trade policies, and they support key allies and national 
security programs that are what enable the United States to be a global 
leader, a role that is being increasingly challenged by China and 
Russia.
  Unfortunately, this much-needed assistance is put on hold because the 
President held out for $5 billion for his wall, at the exorbitant cost 
of $31 million per mile, straight from the American taxpayer's pocket.
  We also should be passing a disaster package to help families and 
communities devastated by Hurricanes Maria, Florence, and Michael, the 
Hawaii volcanoes, California wildfires, and Alaska earthquakes. We 
should remember that no one in this Chamber is immune from disaster. 
Seven years ago, Tropical Storm Irene devastated my home State of 
Vermont. Marcelle and I observed the wreckage from that storm in 
Vermont--large parts of communities washed away, homes and farms 
demolished, local landmarks and bridges destroyed. Republicans and 
Democrats in the Senate, from across the country, stood by Vermont's 
side then to help us rebuild because that is who we are as Americans.
  This year, the images of flattened homes, buckled pavement, and 
raging flames have been matched in horror only by the devastated lives 
they have left in their wake. Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Alabama, Georgia, California, Hawaii, and Alaska, they all need our 
help, and it is indefensible that, because of the President's obsession 
with one issue, his wall, we are punting this disaster funding until 
the new year. These communities need to know their government stands 
behind them in times of crisis.
  Why didn't we get this done? Why can't we pass the six bills that are 
finished and a disaster package to help those communities in need 
before we adjourn? There is one clear answer to that question: 
President Donald J. Trump. He has held all of our good work, by 
Democrats and Republicans, hostage over $5 billion for his misguided 
wall along the southern border. It is a travesty.
  My opposition to his border wall, a wall he over and over pledged to 
the American people that Mexico would pay for, has been clear from the 
start. The United States is a country founded by immigrants, and 
walling ourselves off from our neighbors to the south is not only 
impossible and an expensive waste of American taxpayer dollars, it is 
immoral, ineffective, and an affront to everything this country stands 
for. Everyone agrees that we need to keep our border safe and secure, 
but there are better and smarter ways to accomplish that than building 
a 30-foot high concrete barrier between us and Mexico.
  Let's not be fooled by recent White House rhetoric that President 
Trump was backing down from his demands on the wall. The price demanded 
by the

[[Page S7899]]

White House for letting the rest of these bills advance without $5 
billion for the wall was a $1 billion slush fund to fuel the 
President's extreme, anti-immigrant agenda. Why should we give a blank 
check to a President who has shown, time and time again, that he is 
more interested in vilifying immigrants than he is in solving our 
immigration problems? His immigration policies have already caused 
immeasurable human suffering along our southern border and tarnished 
our reputation around the world. Providing his administration with an 
additional $1 billion slush fund to enact this agenda is a nonstarter.
  The fact is the President's wall does not have the votes to get 
through the House or Senate, and he is in no position to practice 
horse-trading of one untenable, unpopular, wasteful policy for another, 
nor will Congress stand by and watch the President take funds from our 
men and women in the military or their families in order to pay for the 
wall. This fight will continue into the next Congress, but I do not 
anticipate those basic facts will change. It is long past time for 
President Trump to recognize that we live in a democracy. We have three 
coequal branches of government. Governing effectively is not about 
making threats and false promises. Campaign slogans are no substitute 
for practical, affordable solutions.
  I want to thank Chairman Shelby for his steadfast partnership this 
year as we tried to get the appropriations process back on track. I 
know that he shares my disappointment that we were not able to complete 
our work, but I am proud of what we have accomplished this year. By 
working together across party lines, we moved all 12 bills out of the 
committee on strong bipartisan votes. We advanced 9 of the 12 bills 
through the Senate, also with strong bipartisan votes, and we were able 
to enact 5 of the 12 appropriations bills on time for the first time in 
decades.
  I also thank Chairman Shelby's staff and my staff for their hard 
work, expertise, and their commitment to accomplishing our goals this 
year.
  I ask unanimous consent to print a list of the bipartisan committee 
staff in the Record. I look forward to working with him and his staff, 
and our colleagues in the House, in the next Congress to finish our 
work.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                Senate Committee on Appropriations Staff

       Charles Kieffer, Chanda Betourney, Jessica Berry, Jay 
     Tilton, Jean Kwon, Shannon Hines, Jonathan Graffeo, David 
     Adkins, Dianne Nellor, Adrienne Wojciechowski, Teri Curtin, 
     Bob Ross, Jean Toal Eisen, Jennifer Eskra, Blaise Sheridan, 
     Jordan Stone, Erik Raven, David Gillies, Brigid Kolish, John 
     Lucio, Andy Vanlandingham, Doug Clapp, Chris Hanson, Samantha 
     Nelson, Ellen Murray, Diana Hamilton, Reeves Hart, Scott 
     Nance, Chip Walgren, Drenan Dudley, Rachael Taylor, Ryan 
     Hunt, Melissa Zimmerman, Alex Keenan, Mark Laisch, Lisa 
     Bernhardt, Kelly Brown, Catie Finley, Chad Schulken, Jason 
     McMahon, Tim Rieser, Alex Carnes, Kali Farahmand, Dabney 
     Hegg, Christina Monroe, Nathan Robinson, Robert Putnam, 
     Christy Greene, Blair Taylor, Jenny Winkler, Hong Nguyen, 
     Clint Trocchio, George Castro, Mary Collins Atkinson, Lucas 
     Agnew, Valerie Hutton, Elmer Barnes, Penny Miles, Karin 
     Thames, Carlisle Clarke, Patrick Carroll, Elizabeth Dent, 
     Carlos Elias, Dayne Cutrell, Amber Beck, Allen Cutler, Matt 
     Womble, Rachel Littleton, Brian Potts, Mike Clementi, Colleen 
     Gaydos, Katy Hagan, Chris Hall, Hanz Heinrichs, Kate Kaufer, 
     Jacqui Russell, Will Todd, Tyler Owens, Jen Armstrong, Meyer 
     Seligman, Molly Marsh, Andrew Newton, Lauren Comeau, Brian 
     Daner, Courtney Bradford, Adam Telle, Peter Babb, Chris Cook, 
     LaShawnda Smith, Marisa Rhode, Christian Lee, Leif 
     Fonnesbeck, Emy Lesofski, Nona McCoy, Laura Friedel, Michael 
     Gentile, Ashley Palmer, Jeff Reczek, Sarah Boliek, Patrick 
     Magnuson, Jennifer Bastin, Joanne Hoff, Paul Grove, Jason 
     Wheelock, Adam Yezerski, Clare Doherty, Gus Maples, Rajat 
     Mathur, Jacob Press, and Jason Woolwine.

  Mr. CORNYN. I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll, and the following 
Senators entered the Chamber and answered to their names:

                             [Quorum No. 2]

     Cantwell
     Carper
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Gardner
     Graham
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     King
     Lankford
     Manchin
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Rounds
     Schatz
     Scott
     Smith
     Tester
     Warner
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott). A quorum is not now present.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to instruct the Sergeant at Arms 
to request the presence of all absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas 
and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 
Corker), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Nevada 
(Mr. Heller), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from 
Georgia (Mr. Isakson), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Tillis).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. McCaskill 
) is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 71, nays 21, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 273 Leg.]

                                YEAS--71

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Kyl
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Wyden

                                NAYS--21

     Alexander
     Collins
     Cotton
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Moran
     Paul
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Toomey
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Burr
     Corker
     Crapo
     Heller
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     McCaskill
     Tillis
  The motion was agreed to.

                          ____________________