[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6648-S6649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. I appreciate my colleague from Texas being willing to 
turn over the floor so that I can give my remarks.
  Mr. President, I am here today to discuss my concerns about the 
ongoing partisan obstruction in the Senate. First, as everyone here 
knows, September 30 is the end of the current fiscal year, and without 
action by the Senate on a continuing resolution--the mechanism to 
continue to fund the government--our government is going to shut down 
at midnight on the 1st.
  So what happens if we don't pass that continuing resolution and the 
government shuts down? Well, critical operations will shutter. We have 
seen this picture before. Our national parks will close. We can tell 
our government researchers, including Nobel Prize-winning scientists, 
to leave their labs, and we would be doing this in the middle of the 
greatest health crisis of our lifetime.
  A government shutdown also means that we ask essential Federal 
workers to work without pay. FBI agents, Border Patrol agents, TSA 
workers, weather forecasters, and others would be forced to continue 
their essential work, and they would be doing it for IOUs. We would 
promise them we would pay them, but there is no guarantee.
  Now, it is puzzling to me because other countries don't do this to 
themselves. Government shutdowns put America behind. Look at the 
government shutdown that we had that went from December 2018 to January 
2019, the longest government shutdown in our history. While our space 
scientists were at home, China landed the first rover on the dark side 
of the Moon--something that we had not done.
  The continuing resolution before us also includes resources that will 
help Americans whose homes were flooded, homes were destroyed by raging 
wildfires or by hurricanes, including Hurricane Irma. They deserve our 
help, not more political infighting or partisan bickering.
  We also owe it to our Afghan allies, who put their lives on the line 
to assist U.S. soldiers, to pass this bill. It contains critical 
assistance to help them resettle after facing imminent danger from the 
Taliban.
  So from emergency housing assistance to resources for health 
screenings, job training, and other essential services, we can't let 
our allies down. We have already let some of them down because we 
weren't able to get everyone out of Afghanistan, and we are still 
working on that. But to then say ``You are on your own'' despite years 
of helping the United States? That is just patently unfair.
  Secondly, as we are discussing the continuing resolution and keeping 
the government open, one of the things that our colleagues, our 
Republican colleagues, have said is that they are not going to increase 
the debt limit. I think we in Congress have a solemn obligation to 
protect the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
  Treasury Secretary Yellen has told Congress that the Treasury will 
exhaust extraordinary measures that they have been using to pay our 
Nation's bills sometime next month. And let's be clear. The prospect of 
the first-ever default on our Nation's debt obligations would be 
disastrous for our economy at a time when we can least afford it.
  Raising the debt ceiling is not about whether or not we should spend 
more money or incur more debt; raising the debt ceiling is about paying 
the bills we already owe, the bills that come due from the previous 
administration.
  Minority Leader McConnell himself has voted to increase or suspend 
the debt limit 32 times. And when President Trump was in office, 
Democrats in this Chamber--and I was one of them--supported raising the 
debt ceiling three times because we understand that it is grossly 
irresponsible for us to renege on obligations that our government has 
already incurred.
  As a former Governor, one of the worst fears I had as New Hampshire 
went through challenging times during a recession, during a court-
ordered change in how we funded our schools, was that the State would 
have its bond rating lowered. That would mean we would have to pay more 
on money owed. It would have an impact on everyone in New Hampshire. 
This is sort of the equivalent of having the bond rating lowered for 
New Hampshire, only 100 times, 1,000 times over. No; this is that on 
steroids.
  Now, because we have a Democratic President, Republicans are saying 
they won't lift a finger to prevent this catastrophic outcome for our 
economy, for our currency, for the full faith and credit of the United 
States of America. This is not a game. The stability of our economy and 
the financial security of working Americans are at stake, and we have 
an obligation to pass legislation that has been sent to us by the House 
to keep our government open and to raise the debt limit. This isn't 
just about the United States; this has implications for our entire 
global financial system.
  Sadly, Mr. President, the partisan brinkmanship and obstruction 
doesn't end with domestic and economic matters. I am also very 
concerned about the dangerously slow confirmation process of our State 
Department nominees and Ambassadors. What we have seen is a few Members 
of this body who are threatening our national security by slowing the 
process to schedule nomination hearings for qualified nominees, 
preventing votes on those State Department nominees who have

[[Page S6649]]

been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
  Today, only two Ambassadors have been confirmed by the Senate. This 
administration has had to wait over 200 days for its first Ambassador 
to be confirmed, compared to only 62 days for the previous 
administration. For the first 300 days of the previous administration, 
55 State Department nominees were confirmed by the Senate, and now, as 
we approach the first 300 days of the Biden Presidency, this Senate has 
only confirmed 14 appointees.
  Now, I agree with my colleague from Texas about the Nord Stream 2 
Pipeline. I think we need to sanction it. But I am not willing to shut 
down the government, to allow the actions of this government to grind 
to a halt because I am concerned about that issue.
  If Senators are concerned about our national security, they would 
match deeds with words and confirm career State Department nominees who 
have been waiting for months. When we look at the increasing global 
threats to the United States, operating with a depleted diplomatic 
corps jeopardizes our national security, U.S. interests, and the safety 
of Americans at home and abroad.
  These political games are really risking serious consequences. It 
must stop. I know we can work together in a rational, bipartisan way to 
address the country's needs. I have seen it. I believe my colleagues 
who are holding things up love this country, but I am concerned that 
their actions don't show that they love the country.
  There is no excuse for delaying or hindering the basic functions this 
legislative body is constituted to perform, and I urge all of our 
colleagues to join us, to get to work. Let's get this done. Maybe, if 
we do that, we can address some of the other concerns that we have that 
we ought to be able to work together and compromise to get done. That 
is what I am going to continue to try to do, Mr. President.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.