[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 17, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Continuing Resolution

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, as negotiations continue on a 
continuing resolution to keep the government open past next week, we 
should be laying the groundwork to process the 12 appropriations bills 
for fiscal year 2020.
  In an ideal world, the Republicans on the Appropriations Committee 
would be negotiating in good faith with the Democrats on the 
Appropriations Committee to determine the allocations and the content 
of those bills, but the Republicans, unfortunately, have not chosen to 
do this. They are acting in a totally partisan way. The Republicans 
have chosen to back the President's demand for an additional $12 
billion in funding for his border wall, taken from other sources, 
including medical research, opioid treatment, and funding intended for 
our military, their families, and their kids. Mexico, oddly, isn't 
chipping in a penny.
  This was all done totally on the Republican side with there having 
been no consultation of the Democrats and, certainly, no buy-in. So, of 
course, the Democrats oppose taking funds from Congress to use on the 
President's border wall that have been intended for our military. 
Everyone knows that. In fact, 12 Senate Republicans opposed the very 
same thing this year, but in typical Washington, blame-game fashion, 
Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been accusing the Democrats of 
threatening to block military funding because we don't want to pass a 
bill that steals money from the military. That is right. The Democrats 
are the ones threatening not to vote for this bill because we oppose a 
Republican bill that would shortchange the military.
  I have heard some howlers in my day, but that is pretty rich, what 
McConnell is saying.
  Leader McConnell constantly talks about stunts. He doesn't like 
stunts because they won't be signed or passed into law. This is a stunt 
if I have ever seen one, that of putting this bill--$12 billion more 
for the wall and with no buy-in by the Democrats--to a vote. It will 
lose. We know it will lose.
  What is the point, Leader McConnell? You say you don't like stunts. 
You say you don't want to bring bills to the floor that won't become 
law. Well, this one certainly won't.
  The fact is the Republican leader knows well that the Democrats 
oppose taking funding away from our troops to use on the President's 
wall. He knows that Members of his own caucus oppose taking money out 
of their States to spend on the President's border wall. Some have been 
quite vocal; yet Leader McConnell is moving forward with the bill all 
the same, knowing that it lacks votes.
  For him to say the Democrats are the ones threatening to block 
military funding when, in fact, we oppose a Republican bill that would 
shortchange the military is the height of double talk by the Republican 
leader.
  Again, the Republican leader is fond of reminding the press that he 
doesn't like to engage in stunts--that the Senate is for making laws 
and is not a forum for political theater. Yet putting this bill on the 
floor of the Senate that everyone knows lacks the votes is the 
definition of a stunt.
  Leader McConnell--and I mean this with all due respect--it is time to 
negotiate. Both sides must sit down and have a serious negotiation--no 
stunts, no blame game. The Democrats want to work with our Republican 
colleagues, but we need a willing partner, and time is quickly running 
out to get a bipartisan appropriations process back on track.