[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Madam President, on a different subject, that of the minibus and the 
vote that just occurred, the outcome of this vote on the minibus is 
wholly disappointing and undermines months of hard work appropriators 
have done to move appropriations bills through regular order. Senators 
Murray and Collins have done herculean work as have the members of 
their committee.
  Democrats have worked cooperatively with Republicans on every step of 
this process. We pursued regular order. We are willing to allow votes 
on amendments, and we are partnering with colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle to bring this minibus to the floor.
  Senate Republicans have asked us to work with them, and we have 
worked with them. Until now, we were making progress, but now a few 
select Republicans who seem to think they are Members of the House 
Freedom Caucus have thrown a wrench into the process and for no other 
reason than the pursuit of gridlock itself.
  So the outcome here is disappointing, but it is not the end of the 
process. I filed a motion to reconsider this vote. Democrats want to 
reach an agreement with our Republican colleagues that will pass the 
minibus and make up the time lost because of Senator Johnson's 
obstruction. My Democratic colleagues and I will do our very best to 
get the minibus done. We have come very far, and there is no good 
reason for us to turn back now.
  With that, I yield the floor to the great President pro tempore, 
chair of the Appropriations Committee, my friend and colleague, the 
senior Senator from the great State of Washington, Mrs. Patty Murray.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the majority leader.
  Let's be clear. The three bills in that package are not partisan 
bills. This was not some secretive process. We drafted these bills 
through an open, bipartisan process. We held hearings. We held markups 
for the first time in years. We kept our doors open to any Member with 
thoughts or concerns. So it is very frustrating to see that this 
bipartisan effort got derailed today despite all of that work and 
despite the overwhelming consensus last week that we wanted to all get 
started on this package.
  All of our colleagues and their staffs who spent long hours working 
on these bills in good faith deserve better. More importantly, all of 
our constituents who sent us here to advocate for them, to work 
together, and to solve problems deserve better.
  I will keep fighting to make sure we do right by our constituents and 
keep our regular appropriations process moving here in the Senate. As 
my colleagues know, I don't give up easily, and I am not going to give 
up here either. I am going to keep pushing with everything I have got 
to pass the spending bills that so many of us have spent so much time 
working on to get our communities the resources they need.
  Yet I do have to say today that I am deeply disappointed. I am not 
new to politics. I am not new to tough votes or setbacks. I know that 
this work is never easy, but it is really unfortunate that this 
overwhelming bipartisan process and this package of bills that passed 
unanimously has been stymied by the objections of just a few Senators. 
That is upsetting, and it is pretty hard to square with a lot of the 
talk that we hear all the time about wanting to work together, wanting 
to break the pattern of partisanship, wanting to help people, wanting 
to solve problems, to say nothing of how some of our loudest 
complainers who have been talking big about their commitment for us to 
return to regular order and who have been railing against these omnibus 
bills at the end of the year have led the effort to halt our best shot 
in years of actually getting closer to regular order and, instead, 
possibly setting us on a collision course for another massive omnibus.
  While this full package may not be moving forward right now through 
this process, I will not stop working to return this process back to 
regular order and keep things moving. I will keep talking to colleagues 
about how we get all 12 of our bipartisan spending bills across the 
finish line here in the Senate. I will keep working to see if we can 
get that consent agreement that will allow us to move forward on this 
package.
  As we get closer to September 30, I am working hard to make sure we 
chart a bipartisan course for a CR and supplemental funding package so 
that we can avoid a damaging and completely unnecessary shutdown and 
reject the devastating cuts from the House Republicans that would gut 
everything from heating assistance to FAA funding, to the Social 
Security Administration, and so much more, and that will provide 
critical resources for things like disaster relief and wildland 
firefighters and our allies in Ukraine.
  I came to Congress to help people and solve problems. That is what 
gets me up every day in the morning. It is what I am focused on at 
every meeting I have, in every bill I write, and in every vote I take. 
And while this vote a few minutes ago sent a disheartening message 
about the state of things, it will not be the last word, because I 
won't let it be, and I know many of my colleagues will not either.
  One thing I have seen over and over again in my time here is, if you 
want progress, you don't leave the table, and you keep working. So I am 
going to stay at the table. I will keep working. Right now, we have to 
get a bipartisan CR and a supplemental package done. That is a 
priority.
  But I hope and I believe, through the work that we do, that we will 
show the American people there are still Senators on both sides of this 
aisle determined to get our work done.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fetterman). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.