[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.

                          ____________________