[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 1 (Thursday, January 3, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S11]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, the first order of business for the 
116th Congress is to finish the business of the 115th Congress, just 
concluded. As we all know, one of the most important responsibilities 
of Congress is to fund the vital services provided by our government 
and in so doing provide paychecks to the hard-working public servants 
who keep the cogs of government turning.
  While, as the distinguished Senator from Vermont recognized, we were 
successful in a bipartisan way to pass 75 percent of those funding 
bills, we know the remaining 25 percent is being held hostage over the 
issue of border security. That equates to hundreds of thousands of 
Federal workers and their families who don't know how or if they can 
make their rent this month or buy groceries or keep the lights on. They 
simply don't know when that next paycheck will be deposited in their 
bank account or how long the standoff will last. That is unfair, and it 
is unacceptable collateral damage.
  It is our collective responsibility to fund the remaining seven 
Departments and Agencies and to do so soon. Unfortunately, over the 
holidays, not much progress seems to have been made. Really, what it 
amounts to is a debate over semantics: Is it a fence? Is it a wall? Is 
it border security? What is it? The semantic debate has led us to a 
partial government shutdown, now 13 days in and without a clear end in 
sight. We know Washington, DC, where the blame game is a world-class 
sport, where everybody is on the battlefield pointing fingers of blame 
any way they can.
  Later, the House Democrats will consider a wholly unserious proposal 
that funds the remaining portions of government without a significant 
investment in border security. I believe that is a nonstarter. They 
know it, and we know it. The President won't sign it, and so the 
majority leader has said it will not be considered here in the Senate.
  My constituents, as well as the Presiding Officer's constituents in 
Maine and Americans living in Tennessee, are not interested in show 
votes; they want real border security--something our Democratic 
colleagues used to support and have voted for time and again. But the 
debate has somehow shifted from ``How do we solve this problem?'' to 
``Who is going to win?'' No longer is it a search for solutions; it is 
about embarrassing your political opponent and scoring points.
  Yesterday on CNN, Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of incoming Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi, made a comment about her mother's leadership style. She 
said: ``She'll cut your head off and you don't even know that you are 
bleeding.'' Kind of shocking comments coming from a daughter. It is not 
something I necessarily would consider a compliment, but the left 
appears to believe that it is a commendable trait, and they are eager 
to hand her the Speaker's gavel.
  It seems the desire to cultivate a reputation for ruthlessness--win 
at all costs--has replaced an appetite to actually get things done. 
Rather than working with those with whom we occasionally disagree, 
Members are resorting to guerilla warfare--almost literally the law of 
the jungle. This practice is not only unproductive, it prevents us from 
securing the border and getting those workers impacted by this partial 
shutdown back to work.
  Of course we know what it is going to take. It is going to take a 
negotiated agreement between the parties--between the Houses of 
Congress and the President. It is a challenging task, but it is not 
impossible. In fact, we have done it often.
  My friends, contrary to what you have seen in the news or may read on 
social media, bipartisanship is not an antiquated or quaint idea, and 
you don't have to look very far back to see how we have been able to 
make bipartisanship work for the benefit of the American people. The 
115th Congress was marked by major bipartisan accomplishments.
  Just 2 weeks ago, the President signed legislation to overhaul our 
criminal justice system. This bill was a result of a lot of hard work 
and tough negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on both ends 
of the Capitol, as well as the leadership at the White House. 
Bipartisan work has allowed us to pass bills to tackle the substance 
abuse epidemic in this country, which claimed more than 70,000 lives 
last year alone. It has allowed us to fight human trafficking together 
and to reduce gun violence and other violent crime. Together, we have 
supported America's military and delivered reforms to veterans' 
benefits and provided a pay raise to our troops. We reauthorized the 
Federal Aviation Administration, modernizing airport security for the 
air-traveling public. We eliminated the gag clause to ensure drug price 
transparency. Those are just a few of the things we have done together 
in a bipartisan way.
  Working with those you disagree with isn't something to be ashamed 
of--it is actually how we turn good ideas into good laws and in so 
doing, govern.
  I am glad to see him on the floor because I was going to mention the 
great example from our friend from Tennessee, Senator Alexander, who 
wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post today about the importance of 
finding common ground. He gave an object lesson of how working together 
on very potentially polarizing legislation can be accomplished in a way 
that produces a result from which the American people benefit. Of 
course, that was a lesson he said he learned from negotiating with 
President Obama while working on the Every Student Succeeds Act.
  He wrote:

       Why, as a Republican, did I agree to a Democratic 
     president's request with which I did not concur? Because I 
     have read the Constitution, and I understand that if the 
     President doesn't sign legislation, it does not become law.

  Well, regardless of which party controls the Senate or the House or 
occupies the White House, that remains a constant. It is the distilled 
essence of our constitutional system. Democrats in the House should 
take our colleague's wise words to heart and return to the negotiating 
table with the President.
  I believe there are a lot more productive ways to spend our time in 
Congress than ruthlessly attempting to annihilate our political 
opponents--people we disagree with. We can, we have, and we should 
strive to do better. So it is time to wash off the war paint. We know 
how to solve problems when we want to, and as we begin a new Congress, 
I urge all of our colleagues, both Republican and Democratic, to stop 
trying to score political points and start being productive and in so 
doing, govern.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.

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