[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 173 (Thursday, October 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6352-S6353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              LEGISLATION

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the end of the fiscal year for the U.S. 
Government came and went without a new funding bill in place. It was a 
big disappointment because this summer I thought we had reached an 
agreement on a 2-year budget package designed to make the 
appropriations process much simpler and eliminate the uncertainty that 
comes from continuing resolutions and stop-start funding for government 
agencies.
  We agreed to topline funding for defense and nondefense spending. It 
was a big deal. There was also a promise not to derail the process with 
poison pill policy riders, and we got it done with plenty of time to 
spare.
  I remember at the time thinking, hey, maybe we can help restore some 
regular order and put the function back in Congress rather than the 
dysfunction. But, unfortunately, politics got in the way. When the time 
came last month to make good on the promises that were made during that 
2-year budget cap deal, Senate Democrats blocked a bill to fund our 
national defense. You heard me right. Senate Democrats blocked the 
appropriations for our national defense.
  If there is one thing we should make a priority here in Washington, 
DC, it is protecting our country, keeping our men and women in uniform 
adequately trained with the equipment and the resources they need in 
order to fight and win the Nation's wars, and, even better, to prevent 
a war from being fought in the first place.
  But our Democratic colleagues simply blocked it. It wasn't a 
disagreement over the amount. No, it was something they had already 
agreed to last summer. They blocked the bill because, frankly, they 
don't want President Trump to have any sort of wins here, even when it 
undermines our national security.
  It was a remarkable show of priorities. Their animosity toward the 
President exceeded their desire to see funding flow to the men and 
women in uniform and to defend the Nation. We could have provided our 
troops with the largest pay raise in a decade. We could have sent vital 
funding to our military as they battle looming threats around the 
world. We could have put the appropriations process back on track and 
restored the basic functioning of Congress. But, no, our Democratic 
colleagues chose to put politics ahead of any of that.
  With our only options being a government shutdown or a short-term 
funding bill, we chose the lesser of two evils. But it is still evil in 
the sense that it is much less than we should be doing to serve the 
Nation and serve our constituents. We pushed the deadline, and we 
kicked the can down the road to November 21. We hoped our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle would have a change of heart, but now they 
have proved us wrong.
  Democrats have blocked money for the military again and again. This 
is beginning to feel like ``Groundhog Day.'' They continue choosing to 
put their ongoing feud with the President before our most important 
responsibility as a Congress: to provide for the common defense.
  As if we needed to be reminded of the importance of our strong 
military, earlier this week, our highly skilled Special Forces troops 
took out the leader of ISIS, one of the most feared and dangerous 
terrorist leaders in the world. That terrorist is no longer a threat, 
thanks to the men and women of our military--Special Forces, in 
particular.
  It was a tremendous victory for the United States and for our allies 
and underscored the need for us to continue to support our troops by 
funding the Defense bill. For our forces to continue fighting and 
risking death and injury itself while defeating evil in every corner of 
the world, they need our support, and there is no more tangible way to 
demonstrate that support than for Congress to pass this funding bill.
  We also know, because of the need to plan, they need stability. They 
need a long-term funding bill and not just to stop-start, kick the can 
down the road a few weeks, and then come back and refight the same 
fights over and over and over again. That is really a pathetic response 
to our duty to help support our men and women in uniform. They need the 
unwavering support of every man and woman in this Chamber.
  But, right now, our Democratic colleagues seem content just to say 
no, to get in the way, and to block this funding. Will they pay any 
price for doing that? I don't know. They don't seem to really 
particularly care.
  I have no doubt that this obstruction is tied to the obsession that 
the House

[[Page S6353]]

of Representatives has to remove President Trump from office. We have 
heard over and over again from our Democratic colleagues that 
impeachment will not interfere with their ability to legislate and to 
get work done, but their actions speak louder than words.
  While I think the decision to block defense funding is the most 
egregious example so far, it is far from the only one. The extent to 
which they will go to try to defeat and slow down and impede the 
President and anything he might be able to point to as a victory--here 
is another example.
  It has been more than a year since the landmark trade agreement 
between Mexico and Canada was announced, but we are still waiting for 
Speaker Pelosi to show the green light and pass the USMCA and send it 
to the Senate, where I am sure it will pass overwhelmingly. This 
agreement will provide billions of dollars in economic growth, new jobs 
here at home, and greater stability for our economy, but we haven't 
been able to reap those benefits because the agreement is being stalled 
in the House.
  Well, why is that? Well, it could be because they are obsessed with 
and preoccupied with impeachment, and they can't seem to get anything 
else done. The Speaker claims progress is being made, but it has been 
the same song and dance for months with nothing to show for it.
  In the Senate, unfortunately, things aren't a lot different. A bill I 
introduced with our Democratic colleague, Senator Blumenthal from 
Connecticut, to reduce drug prices, has gotten caught in the crosshairs 
of this partisan fighting too. This bill has broad bipartisan support. 
It would lower Federal spending by more than one-half billion dollars 
in over 10 years. It would also save consumers out-of-pocket costs for 
prescription drugs.
  According to Politico, the Democratic leader is blocking the bill, 
despite the fact that folks in both parties in Congress, as well as the 
President, have said that they are eager to pass legislation to reduce 
drug prices. The Democratic leader will not let it come to the floor.
  To me, this is the greatest example of our dysfunction here: When the 
President is for something, when Democrats are for something, when 
Republicans are for something, when the House is for something, when 
the Senate is for something, we still can't seem to get it done. That 
is a hard one to explain. Sadly, the list doesn't stop there.
  Here is another example. Earlier this year, the Senate unanimously--
unanimously--passed a bill I introduced to reauthorize the Debbie Smith 
Act. This program supplies funding to State and local crime labs to 
test DNA, or forensic evidence, and to reduce the rape kit backlog. It 
is about as nonpartisan an issue as they come. Unfortunately, that 
didn't make it immune from the gamesmanship in the House. After months 
of refusing to act on this bill, we sent it over--I think it was in 
May. They did nothing for a long time, and they allowed the Debbie 
Smith Act to expire.
  When something as noncontroversial as reducing the rape kit backlog 
gets politicized, you know you are in trouble. Well, I was finally glad 
to see last week that the House changed its tune, thanks to a lot of 
pressure both from within and without, because their refusal to 
reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act and this critical rape kit backlog 
funding was indefensible. So I am hopeful we can get that bill to the 
President's desk now after this long and unnecessary delay.

  We all knew that the Democratic obsession with removing the President 
from office began before he was inaugurated, but no one expected it to 
get this far out of hand or for the dysfunction to be so pervasive. 
Their impeach-at-any-cost attitude has now brought the work of Congress 
to a screeching halt. Legislation is collecting cobwebs in the corner 
while our Democratic colleagues are conducting secret hearings behind 
closed doors in an effort to reverse the 2016 election.
  While they are continuing this charade here in Washington, their 
constituents are likely wondering what it is their elected 
representatives are doing to make their lives better at home. Are they 
passing bills to bring down drug prices, like the bill I have with 
Senator Blumenthal? Are they trying to strengthen the economy by 
improving trading relationships among Mexico, Canada and the United 
States? Are they passing legislation to support our men and women in 
the military?
  I am sad to say that for our Democratic colleagues, the answer to 
each of those questions is no--no time for tackling the big problems 
but plenty of time for the politics of trying to remove the President 
from office, 1 year before the next general election.
  Speaker Pelosi knows this is going to divide the country, and it is 
going to occupy everyone's attention here in Washington, DC, until it 
is concluded, and she also knows that the likelihood of getting 66 
votes in the Senate to convict the President and to remove him is 
incredibly unlikely. It has never happened in our Nation's history, 
even though President Nixon did resign. No previous President who has 
been impeached has actually been convicted and removed from office.
  The inability to separate their obsession with the President from 
their duties here in Congress should be embarrassing.
  Impeachment may consume the news cycle, but it shouldn't stop all of 
us from working together in the best interests of our constituents and 
the American people. I hope our Democratic colleagues will reconsider.
  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. CARPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I am here on a sad note and then on a 
happier note as well. I am going to try to tie the two together.

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