[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 178 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Madam President, you see, bipartisan efforts are necessary to get 
meaningful things done in Washington. We accept that in the Senate. And 
right now, the most pressing item requiring a bipartisan effort is 
passing appropriations bills that finally fund the government for the 
next fiscal year. Government shutdowns should not be commonplace in 
Washington, and yet, under the other party's leadership, they have 
been.
  Almost exactly a month ago, Congress narrowly avoided a government 
shutdown by passing a stopgap bill that funded the government at 
current levels for 45 days, until the middle of November. Forty-five 
days could have been enough for the two parties in the two Chambers to 
negotiate a plan, a compromise, but a few extreme Republicans got in 
the way.
  Without a Speaker in the House of Representatives for more than 3 
weeks, the House was unable to take action. The House was rendered 
useless in helping to create a plan to fund the government. And now, 
with only 18 days until the government's lights are turned off, time is 
running out. While the House was paralyzed and unable to govern, here 
in the Senate, we were diligently working across party lines to 
negotiate a funding package. For the past week, the Senate has been 
considering amendments on a package of three funding bills known as the 
minibus. The minibus provides funding for military construction as well 
as for the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, 
Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.
  And I worked with the Presiding Officer to ensure that the package 
includes important funding for the people, families, and communities of 
our State of Illinois. For example, it includes more than $5 million 
for agriculture-related spending in our State, funding that will 
continue cutting-edge agricultural research in our State and send rural 
development dollars to small towns to make healthcare and emergency 
services more comprehensive in underserved areas. The package also 
earmarks more than $16 million for military construction projects in 
Illinois, funding that will facilitate training and readiness for our 
men and women in uniform. It includes more than $35 million in earmarks 
for community development and infrastructure projects to improve roads, 
transit, airports, and community centers.

  This minibus will strengthen communities in Illinois and is being 
worked on, on a bipartisan basis. I am glad to support its passage, and 
I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.