[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5497-S5498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, well, here we are again. I am looking at 
a floor where there is nobody on it. In fact, we haven't even taken a 
vote today. It has been 7 weeks since our last government shutdown 
face-off, and nobody is here.
  Folks, we have very serious problems facing our country. We have an 
open border. It is a humanitarian and security crisis. We have $34 
trillion in debt. Let me put that in perspective. That is about 
$256,000 for everybody in this country. And that is roughly the cost of 
a second mortgage for people in Nebraska. So it is like you own your 
own home, and now you have another home on top of that--only it is not 
a home; it is your Federal debt. And, of course, we are facing another 
government shutdown because we have not passed a budget.
  When I was Governor of Nebraska, one of the things I told my team is 
that passing a budget is our most important thing we do: We fund the 
government. We would get involved 6 months before. We would give our 
budget to the legislature to start working on that budget.
  Now, let me tell you how it is supposed to work here in the U.S. 
Senate. We are supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills. For the first 
time in 5 years, the Senate Appropriations Committee indeed passed 12 
appropriations bills before the August recess--first time in 5 years 
before the August recess. Two came out June 22. The other 10 came out 
in July.
  And yet, for months, our leader sat on those appropriations bills. We 
did not vote on them. We did nothing. We should have been amending, 
debating, and voting on those bills, and we did nothing. And here we 
are again, facing a government shutdown.
  Now, it is a little different this time around because we have 
actually voted on 3 of those 12 appropriations bills. They were crammed 
together in what is called a minibus. And since that minibus has been 
voted on and passed, we have done nothing again, which means we have 
done 25 percent of our work--25 percent.
  Now, to most people, 25 percent is a failing grade. Leading up to the 
September 30 deadline to pass the budget,

[[Page S5498]]

our majority leader had kept us in recess 5 of 7 weeks. We, typically, 
come in on Tuesday and leave on Thursday--or come in on Monday and 
leave on Thursday.
  Do you know what most people in my State do? They work Monday through 
Friday. And when they have to get the job done, guess what they will 
also do? They will work weekends.
  The House, in October, canceled their State home period. We didn't. 
The House has passed 7 of those 12 appropriations bills. Now, that is 
only 58 percent, but that is still more than twice as many as we have 
passed.
  Why aren't we working? Why aren't we working on the people's business 
here?
  We should be in session every day to get our work done. So far this 
year, we have voted 307 times--307. That is less than one a day. Only 
35 percent of those votes have been on legislation. The other 65 
percent have been on judicial candidates and nominations and so forth.
  We can work harder. Our constituents work hard every day. Nebraskans 
work hard every day. We need to be here working on the people's 
business. I am ready to work each and every day until we pass these 
appropriations bills. We should get all 12 of them passed. We should 
work with the House to pass theirs, send them to the President, and it 
all should be done before September 30. And yet here we are, 
approaching November 17, and yet another deadline, another threatened 
government shutdown, another continuing resolution. I am ready to work. 
I know my colleagues are ready to work.
  Mr. Leader, let us work. Call us together. Let us vote. Let's get the 
people's business done. Let's pass a budget. We should have an open 
government and a closed border. We need to control our spending and our 
debt. These are serious issues. Please, let us work.
  I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

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