[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 156 (Thursday, September 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5727-S5728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, the Permanent Subcommittee for 
Investigations just finished a major research project.
  I happen to sit on that committee led by Rob Portman. He has done a 
phenomenal job of trying to pull all the information together to study 
government shutdowns.
  Government shutdowns are not new to us. We hear about them a lot 
lately, but in the last 40 years, we have had 21 government shutdowns--
21.
  We have seen this issue over and over again; that when we get to a 
point of contention and argument, we end up shutting the government 
down to be able to resolve it.
  So the point of discussion is not just here in DC; it is all over the 
country. The question is, How does that really affect the country and 
how does that affect the U.S. Government?
  The basic study PSI did to go back and look at this was they found 
that the Federal workforce in the last shutdown lost 57,000 years of 
productivity, if you spread out all the Federal workers who were 
furloughed, the time they were furloughed, and the time that was lost.
  The total economy lost about $11 billion in productivity during that 
time period, and the Federal taxpayer lost right at $4 billion in lost 
money that is just gone. The cost of shutting the government down, the 
cost of reopening, the cost of pay during the furlough time periods 
when there weren't actually people there--$4 billion lost to the 
taxpayer.
  Yet we will probably have another one at some point and probably have 
another one, and it seems they just keep coming--21 of these in the 
last 40 years.
  There is a group of us who have continued to push this. Rob Portman 
has done it for years, several others of us have worked on other 
projects to try to figure out how do we resolve this issue of 
government shutdowns.
  Maggie Hassan, a Democratic colleague from New Hampshire, and I a 
year ago started talking through how we could get to a bipartisan 
solution to end government shutdowns.
  We have a very unique proposal to go with this. It is a proposal that 
is not trying to be novel; it is not trying to be cute. It is trying to 
solve the problem.
  Our issue is that we have very serious differences when we get to 
budget areas. It is $1 trillion in total spending that we are talking 
about when we do the 12 appropriations bills. It is no small argument. 
But we should be able to resolve these things in a way that actually 
works and is effective.
  So here is our basic idea. The process works, supposedly, where you 
do a budget that determines an overarching number that everyone agrees 
to. This is what is called the top-line number.
  Then you take that top-line number in the House and the Senate in 
their Appropriations Committees. It gets broken up into 12 smaller 
bills. Those are called the appropriations bills. Those 12 bills all 
have to be passed by the House, by the Senate, and then they have to 
conference them together and get that finished by the end of the fiscal 
year.
  It sounds like a good theory. That was the plan, at least, that was 
made in 1974, when this was designed. But the plan that I just laid out 
has worked only four times since 1974. So if you think every year that 
the budget process didn't work again, you are correct. It didn't work 
again. It has worked only four times since 1974.
  What Maggie Hassan and I would like to insert into this process is 
the ability to have serious, hard debate on difficult financial issues 
where we have disagreements but contain the fight to Washington, DC, to 
do two things: Make sure that we get to the appropriations process, 
that it is done well, and to hold the Federal workers and Federal 
families and the rest of the country harmless as we argue through this.
  Here is the simple idea: If we get to the end of the fiscal year, if 
we do not have any 1 of those 12 appropriations bills done--and we 
should have all 12 of them done. But if even one is undone when we get 
to the end of the fiscal year, there is a continuation of spending 
exactly as it was the year before. It just continues to run the same as 
it was the year before so that Federal agencies, Federal workers will 
continue to operate as they normally do. But because there is not an 
appropriations bill done for the next year, while Federal workers are 
being held harmless and agencies are being held harmless, Members of 
Congress and our staffs and the Office of Management and Budget of the 
White House would lose all travel ability. We would have no official 
travel ability at all. We couldn't go home and see our families, 
couldn't travel on codels, couldn't do other responsibilities. We would 
be here in Washington and be in session in the House and the Senate 
every day of the week, weekdays and weekends included.
  It is literally the equivalent of when my brother and I would get 
into an argument when we were kids, which clearly didn't happen often. 
But when it did happen, my mom would say to my brother and me: The two 
of you go into one of your rooms. Work this out. When you get it worked 
out, you can come out.
  That would basically put Washington, DC, inside the box. The rest of 
the country is not in it, but Washington, DC, would have to stay here, 
and we would have to work out our differences. When it is worked out, 
then we pass appropriations bills.
  The other feature that is added to it is that we can't move on to 
other things. We couldn't get distracted and say that we are just not 
going to do appropriations bills and then just stay here and do other 
things. We would have to do appropriations bills during that time 
period.
  This is a simple idea, though most people I have talked to have said: 
That is too simple. That would never work.
  As I have talked to my colleagues in the House and the Senate, just 
about all of them have cringed when I have said that we are going to be 
here weekdays and weekends and keep going on one topic until we finish 
that one topic.
  It is our constitutional responsibility to take care of the American 
people's tax dollars and to make sure it is done correctly. We can move 
on to other things when we fulfill our constitutional responsibility on 
that. Just about everyone I have talked to has said: That is an idea 
that I could vote for, that I can support.
  I bring it up to this body to tell people that we are still 
negotiating the final language of this bill. If there is an idea that 
people have to say ``I have one thing to ask about it,'' bring it. If 
you have one thing to suggest to change it, bring it. But in the next 
few

[[Page S5728]]

weeks, before we get to the November 21 deadline, which is the new 
deadline now for spending--before we get to that spot, I want this 
issue resolved. I want government shutdowns off the table. I never want 
to see on any of the news channels ever again the countdown clock to 
when the government shuts down. That hurts the American people; it 
hurts American companies; and it certainly hurts the Federal families 
who go on furlough during that time period.
  Let's stay in the ring, boxing it out, and let's hold everyone else 
harmless as we go through the process.
  I encourage my colleagues to bring their ideas, and let's get this 
resolved in the next few weeks.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Ohio.


                     25th Anniversary of Americorps

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, this fall we celebrate the 25th anniversary 
of AmeriCorps. Since President Kennedy challenged Americans to serve 
our Nation abroad in the Peace Corps in his famous University of 
Michigan speech, generations of Americans have recognized that our 
greatest strength as a nation is our compassion. But it wasn't until 
AmeriCorps was founded about 30 years later, 1994, that we truly 
addressed the need for service here at home.
  When I think about the work AmeriCorps members do, I think about the 
words of a speaker at a Martin Luther King breakfast in my home city of 
Cleveland on a cold January morning, and the speaker said: Your life 
expectancy is connected to your ZIP Code.
  Think about that. Your life expectancy is connected to your ZIP Code. 
Whether you grow up in Appalachia or Ohio, Indiana, whether you grow up 
in a city, an inner-ring city suburb, a small city like I did in 
Mansfield, or a small town, your ZIP Code often determines whether you 
have access to quality healthcare or good education and the social 
support necessary to succeed. Whether it is through City Year or Senior 
Corps or VISTA--all parts of AmeriCorps--America works to fight that 
and ensure that so many Americans, regardless of their ZIP Code, have 
the opportunity not only to succeed but to thrive.
  I have seen firsthand what a difference AmeriCorps makes in people's 
lives. My two daughters had amazing, life-changing experiences, 
teaching for a year through City Year. We all benefit when we invest in 
organizations that serve communities that are too often left behind and 
when these organizations are staffed by young Americans who care about 
those they serve.
  In Ohio, we have a City Year in Cleveland and Columbus. I have met 
many of these City Year volunteers and see the work they do.
  AmeriCorps in my State played a major difference in the Summer 
Feeding Program. Literally tens and tens of thousands of children are 
able to eat well in the summer because of the work that AmeriCorps 
does.
  Since 1994, more than a million Americans have served in communities 
across the country, serving tens of millions of Americans. All of their 
work will have a lasting impact on children and families, and I can't 
wait to see what these good AmeriCorps members will do over the next 
quarter century.