[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6831-S6832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Appropriations

  Mr. President, on another matter where we could use some 
bipartisanship, in 16 days, funding for the government will expire. We 
have several important pieces in place to avoid a shutdown, including 
the recent agreement on allocations known as 302(b)s. Several sticking 
points remain, but overall, this is good news because I believe, left 
to our own devices, Congress could work through the final issues and 
make sure the government stays open.
  However, a report came out yesterday suggesting President Trump may 
refuse to sign any funding agreement without securing funding for his 
border wall first. If all of this seems a little familiar, it is 
because it is. Nearly a

[[Page S6832]]

year ago exactly, the President torpedoed bipartisan negotiations by 
demanding the very same thing--funding for his border wall--and the 
result was the longest government shutdown in history.
  Funding for a border wall was a nonstarter for Democrats then, and it 
remains a nonstarter for Democrats now. The votes did not exist even 
within the President's own party then, and they have not materialized 
now.
  We had hoped the President had learned his lesson, but it appears 
that exactly a year after losing this same battle, the President is 
considering a repeat of history and another Trump shutdown.
  I hope cooler heads will prevail--I believe they will--but I would 
warn President Trump and my Republican colleagues, the last Trump 
shutdown was terrible for the American people and terrible for 
Republicans. It is in all of our interests to keep the President away 
from the appropriations process and avoid another Trump shutdown before 
Christmas.