[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 158 (Monday, September 14, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S5568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Madam President, as if that isn't enough--and with the challenges we 
face with having close to 200,000 of our fellow citizens dead from 
coronavirus and there still being no national plan on PPE or testing 
or, my fear, that we could see a repeat of the mistakes that were made 
on testing and PPE happen on vaccinations if we are not careful--what I 
actually came to talk about and to remind my colleagues about is 
something that the Senator from Oregon will also be very, very involved 
in. I express my grave concern that we are only 16 days away from a 
potential lapse in government funding.
  It is encouraging that Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Pelosi seem to 
have reached at least an agreement in principle on this must-pass 
stopgap funding, but I have been around here long enough to know that 
when negotiations between and within two Chambers on supposedly must-
pass coronavirus relief legislation breaks down and stalls--and when 
that breakdown lasts for months--that we cannot let the funding of our 
government get mired in the same complacency and lack of urgency.
  I hope and pray that the devastating impact of the 2018-2019 
government shutdown is still in the front minds of all of my colleagues 
here in the Senate. I acknowledge it has been a long year, so here is a 
little recap for those who need it.
  The government shutdown over the holiday of 2018 and into the 
beginning of the new year of 2019 was the longest shutdown of the 
Federal Government in history--not of this Congress's and not under 
this administration but in our country's history.
  For 35 days, the Federal Government did not hold up its end of the 
bargain with taxpayers or the public servants who have dedicated their 
lives to delivering services to them. The economic impact and human 
toll were devastating. More than 380,000 Federal workers were 
furloughed, and another 450,000 were forced to work without pay. While 
Federal employees eventually received backpay, furloughed workers who 
happened to be contractors still have not been made whole. To put that 
in context, contractors, including those who had served the Federal 
Government as custodians, cafeteria workers, and security guards, had 
to figure out how to pay rent and buy medicine and put food on the 
table after two entire paychecks just evaporated.
  The economic effects were not just personal either. The Congressional 
Budget Office estimates that the 2018-2019 government shutdown cost 
taxpayers--cost all of us--about $3 billion. It actually registered as 
a decrease in 2019's gross domestic product of about two-tenths of a 
percent. Those will be losses that we will never recover.
  As bad as that all sounds, that was only a partial government 
shutdown. There were 9 out of 15 Departments and several Agencies that 
were closed.
  What we are facing in a couple of weeks would affect the entire 
Federal Government. To state the obvious, that was when we were not in 
a global pandemic and an economic recession. Virginians and people 
across the country continue relying on services from the Federal 
Government to help keep their families and businesses afloat.
  I am sure the administration will take steps to ensure people 
continue to receive their most essential things, like SNAP benefits to 
keep their families fed and PPP loans to keep their businesses afloat. 
Shutting down the entire Federal Government will inevitably lead to 
disruptions and bare-bone contingency matters.
  The American people need and, frankly, deserve better. With food 
insecurity, housing instability, and job loss all on the rise, now is 
the time for the Federal Government to do more to help everyday 
people--not by turning the lights out. Shutting down the government 
just as we are expecting a surge in COVID-19 cases post-Labor Day and 
as the flu season is starting and as we are needing to work double time 
to secure the November election and as the Postal Service needs relief 
and, as Senator Wyden just indicated, as the entire west coast is 
burning--boy oh boy. Calling it a self-inflicted injury doesn't even 
cut it. If we were to shut down, it would be more like kicking 
ourselves. Failing to reach an agreement on funding the government 
would be absolutely disastrous.
  I can only hope that there will be bipartisan agreement on this point 
and that we will be able to put aside any of the unrelated policy 
differences to fulfill one of our most basic obligations as lawmakers--
that of funding the government and keeping our commitments to both our 
constituents and the Federal workforce that works so tirelessly to 
serve them.
  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.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.