[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 160 (Saturday, September 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4887-S4888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024 AND OTHER EXTENSIONS ACT
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 5860) making continuing appropriations for
fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent there be up
to 5 minutes for debate, equally divided, between the two leaders or
their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate
vote on passage of H.R. 5860 with 60 affirmative votes required for
passage and with no amendments or motions in order to the bill prior to
the vote on passage.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have very good news for the country.
Democrats and Republicans have come
[[Page S4888]]
to an agreement, and the government will remain open. We will have
avoided a shutdown.
Bipartisanship, which has been the trademark of the Senate, has
prevailed, and the American people can breathe a sigh of relief. But
this is a bridge CR. Leader McConnell and I have agreed to continue
fighting for more economic and security aid for Ukraine. We support
Ukraine's efforts to defend its sovereignty against Putin's aggression.
So thank you, thank you to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
for their excellent work. The bipartisanship here in the Senate set the
tone for today's result, and I hope it sets the tone for the future.
I yield the floor.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is recognized.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, with just a few hours to spare, the
Senate is now in a position to prevent a harmful and unnecessary
government shutdown.
As I have said for weeks, the clearest path forward has been to pass
a straightforward, short-term funding extension that gives us time to
continue a number of important discussions about outstanding
priorities, from securing supplemental relief for victims of natural
disasters to restoring security and sanity at the southern border that
the Biden administration has dragged into chaos, to putting stronger
restraints on the President's reckless spending to supplying Ukraine
with even more of the lethal assistance it needs to repel Russia's
invasion.
On that particular point, most Senate Republicans remain committed to
helping our friends on the frontlines, to investing more heavily in
American strength that reinforces our allies, and deterring our top
strategic adversary, China.
I am confident the Senate will pass further urgent assistance to
Ukraine later this year. But let's be clear. The alternative to our
action today, an entirely avoidable government shutdown, would not just
pause our progress on these important priorities, it would actually set
them back. And in the process, it would saddle the people we represent
with unnecessary hardships.
So I am glad our colleagues in the House have taken action on a
continuing resolution that keeps critical government functions going at
their current rates of operation.
Passing this measure and keeping the lights on will allow us to
return our attention to making headway on full-year appropriations our
colleagues have been working on, literally, for months. And it will
give us the flexibility to meet urgent supplemental priorities both at
home and abroad.
Therefore, I would urge our colleagues to join me in supporting this
important step in the right direction.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the title of the bill
for the third time.
The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
Vote on H.R. 5860
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill having been read the third time,
the question is, Shall the bill pass?
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow)
is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).
The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 9, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 247 Leg.]
YEAS--88
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Britt
Brown
Budd
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Daines
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Kaine
Kelly
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Lummis
Manchin
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Risch
Romney
Rosen
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--9
Blackburn
Braun
Cruz
Hagerty
Lee
Marshall
Paul
Schmitt
Vance
NOT VOTING--2
Scott (SC)
Stabenow
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order requiring 60
votes for the passage of this bill, the bill is passed.
The bill (H.R. 5860) was passed.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, it has been a day full of twists and
turns, but the American people can breathe a sigh of relief. There will
be no government shutdown. Democrats have said from the start that the
only solution for avoiding a shutdown is bipartisanship, and we are
glad that Speaker McCarthy has finally heeded our message.
In the end, more Democrats supported this bill in the House than
Republicans, proving bipartisanship was the best answer all along.
I want to thank my colleagues here in the Senate, especially our
appropriators, the Presiding Officer and Susan Collins and Leader
McConnell.
Our bipartisan work in the Senate set the tone for the bill we are
about to pass. Our bipartisanship made this possible and showed the
House that they had to act.
We will keep the government open for 45 days with a clean CR at
current funding levels, and we avoided all of the extreme, nasty, and
harmful cuts MAGA Republicans wanted. No 30 percent cuts across the
board; no 30 percent cuts to things like healthcare, to the Social
Security Administration, to the nutrition programs for kids; full
reauthorization of the FAA until December 31; and the poison pill
amendments, of which there were scores--MAGA-inspired riders--were all
removed from the bill. After trying to take our government hostage,
MAGA Republicans won nothing.
So one more time, it is good Speaker McCarthy finally--finally--
heeded our message that bipartisanship was and is and remains the only
way. He could have made this decision weeks ago.
Now, I have said from day one, this is a bridge CR, a temporary
solution, not the final destination. We will not stop fighting for more
economic and security assistance for Ukraine. Majorities in both
parties support Ukraine aid, and doing more is vital for America's
security and for democracy around the world. But this CR is still very
good news for the American people.
Today, MAGA extremists have failed, bipartisanship has prevailed, and
both parties have come together to avert a shutdown.
Once again, thank you to Leader McConnell, Appropriations Chair Patty
Murray, Vice Chair Susan Collins, and Members on both sides of the
aisle who came together.
Today's CR would not have been possible without the Senate's good
work. The Senate showed that bipartisanship was the only way, and the
same will be true again in 45 days.
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