[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 190 (Wednesday, November 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5527-S5529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND OTHER EXTENSIONS ACT, 2024

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
proceed is agreed to.
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6363) making further continuing appropriations 
     for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.


                           Amendment No. 1366

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, to continue spending money at the current 
levels will inevitably lead to the bankruptcy of our great Nation. My 
amendment, in order to stave off such a terrible fiscal outcome, would 
cut approximately 1 percent of our budgetary spending and help to put 
us on the path toward fiscal responsibility.
  In June of this year, the national debt surpassed $32 trillion. Then, 
in September, the national debt surpassed $33 trillion. You heard that 
right. It took Congress 90 short days to add $1 trillion in debt. 
Unless we change course, the debt will consume us.
  America's future as a nation is not threatened from without but from 
within. Our mounting debt will ultimately force a day of reckoning. The 
Congressional Budget Office predicts that we will add an average of $2 
trillion in debt every year for the next decade. Using Congressional 
Budget Office projections, the U.S. Government will add over $5 billion 
to its debt pile every single day for the next 10 years.
  We borrow over $176 million every hour. We borrow $3 million every 
minute, and we borrow $50,000 every second. It is only a matter of time 
before the world wakes up and refuses to buy our debt.
  This reckless level of borrowing and spending is patently 
unsustainable. The ever-increasing heights of our debt mean a weak 
economy, high inflation, and confiscatory tax rates. In other words, 
today's spending threatens tomorrow's prosperity.
  According to William McBride of the Tax Foundation, ``outside of the 
pandemic years, this year's federal deficit is the highest in U.S. 
history.''
  McBride continues:

       Figures from the Congressional Budget Office for fiscal 
     year 2023 indicate that the federal deficit grew by about $2 
     trillion.

  McBride also states that ``while tax revenue has increased 28 percent 
since the prepandemic year of 2019, spending has increased about 46 
percent and the deficit has more than doubled. Annual deficits are 
headed toward [even] $3 trillion'' a year if we don't wake up and do 
something about it.
  McBride concludes:

       In sum, the federal budget continues on a perilous course. 
     . . . Now would be a good time for our political leaders to 
     present a coherent plan for dealing with the debt problem 
     before it becomes an urgent crisis.


[[Page S5528]]


  That is why I am here on the floor today. Americans are starved for a 
voice of fiscal sanity. Americans understand far better than the 
Nation's elites that time is running out. Americans will pay dearly for 
Congress's inability to say no to every cause, every line item, every 
pinstripe lobbyist. We will pay more to Uncle Sam in the form of taxes. 
We will pay more for groceries because of high levels of inflation that 
will destroy our purchasing power. And we will find a generation of 
kids who won't leave their parents' homes because businesses cannot 
afford to hire them.
  It doesn't have to be this way. America can once again be a rising 
nation, and we can take that first step toward a brighter future today. 
My amendment will make across-the-board reductions except for defense 
and veterans' benefits. Additionally, the amendment would cut $30 
billion from the Biden administration's attempt to sic the IRS on 
American taxpayers to squeeze even more money out of those who earned 
their hard-earned dollars.
  All told, my amendment would save taxpayers $60 billion, which is 
only about 1 percent of all budgetary spending. It is a small and 
modest reduction in spending, but it is a step in the right direction.
  This is not the first time I have offered an amendment to save the 
taxpayers money. Throughout my time in the Senate, I have, time and 
time again, offered balanced budgets and plans that would shave 
pennies--mere pennies--from every budgetary program to restore our 
fiscal health, and, every time, these proposals are rejected by the 
Senate. The result of failing to act then is that, today, we now vote 
in the shadow of a mountain of debt.
  It is time that we rise up. Rise up and tell your Members of Congress 
that enough is enough. It is time to take a stand while the restoration 
of American prosperity is still within our grasp. By the time this 
continuing resolution expires, the people who ask for your vote next 
year will have added another $1 trillion to the debt. It is time to 
take a stand.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on my amendment and call up amendment No. 1366 
and ask that it be reported by number.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Butler). The clerk will report the 
amendment by number.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Paul] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1366.

  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To reduce continuing funding by 15 percent, except for the 
  Department of Defense, military construction, and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs and to rescind $30,000,000,000 from enforcement funds 
               provided to the Internal Revenue Service)

       At the appropriate place in division A, insert the 
     following:

     SEC. __. FIFTEEN PERCENT REDUCTION IN CONTINUING FUNDING 
                   EXCEPT FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, MILITARY 
                   CONSTRUCTION, AND DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
                   AFFAIRS AND RESCISSION OF IRS ENFORCEMENT 
                   FUNDS.

       Division A of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024 and 
     Other Extensions Act (Public Law 118-15), as amended by 
     section 101 of this division, is further amended by inserting 
     after section 146 the following:
       ``Sec. 147. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
     rate for operations provided by section 101 of this division 
     is hereby reduced by 15.0 percent.
       ``(b) The rate for operations shall not be reduced under 
     subsection (a) with respect to the appropriation Act 
     described in section 101(3) (relating to the Department of 
     Defense Appropriations Act, 2023) or the appropriation Act 
     described in section 101(10) (relating to the Military 
     Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2023).
       ``Sec. 148.  Of the unobligated balances of amounts 
     appropriated or otherwise made available for enforcement 
     activities of the Internal Revenue Service by section 
     10301(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117-169 (commonly known as the 
     ``Inflation Reduction Act of 2022'') as of the date of 
     enactment of this Act, $30,000,000,000 are hereby 
     rescinded.''.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, there is a lot we need to get done. As 
soon as we prevent a shutdown by passing this continuing resolution, we 
need to come together in a bipartisan way to keep working on things 
like the comprehensive supplemental funding package for Ukraine and 
Israel, for humanitarian assistance, and more. And, of course, we have 
to pass our full-year spending bills that live up to the agreement this 
Congress passed in a bipartisan way and meet the needs of our 
communities. These are real issues that we need to take seriously and 
move on quickly.
  And then there is this amendment, which--let's all be honest--is just 
not serious but would be absolutely devastating. This amendment would 
slash huge swaths of discretionary spending by a whopping and totally 
arbitrary 15 percent, not to mention the cut to the IRS of $30 billion. 
We are talking across the board cuts with no rhyme or reason that would 
devastate our families, our economy, our competitive edge, and our 
national security.
  That is not a solution. It is not serious. It is a gift to our 
adversaries, who want us to fall behind. And it is a slap in the face 
to families across the country who are counting on the critical 
investments Congress makes in their communities.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting against it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.


                       Vote on Amendment No. 1366

  Mr. PAUL. Madam President, I yield back my time, and I call for the 
yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment?
  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. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the 
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).
  The result was announced--yeas 32, nays 65, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 311 Leg.]

                                YEAS--32

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Braun
     Britt
     Budd
     Cassidy
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     Mullin
     Paul
     Ricketts
     Rubio
     Schmitt
     Scott (FL)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tuberville

                                NAYS--65

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Butler
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Fetterman
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hyde-Smith
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lujan
     Manchin
     Markey
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Tillis
     Van Hollen
     Vance
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Welch
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Cornyn
     Risch
     Scott (SC)
  The amendment (No. 1366) was rejected.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be up to 30 minutes of debate, 
equally divided.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have good news for the American 
people: This Friday night, there will be no government shutdown. 
Because of bipartisan cooperation, we are keeping the government open 
without any poison pills or harmful cuts to vital programs--a great 
outcome for the American people.
  I am pleased that Speaker Johnson realized he needed Democratic votes 
to avoid a shutdown. If the Speaker is willing to work with Democrats 
and resist the siren's song of the hard right in the House, then we can 
avoid shutdowns in the future and finish the work of funding the 
government.
  Today's CR is a good first step and a very good omen for the future. 
I hope we see more bipartisanship down the line.
  Every time I have gotten on the phone with the Speaker, I have 
stressed we need bipartisanship if we want to finish the appropriations 
process. I hope the new Speaker continues to choose the bipartisan 
approach as he commendably has in his first foray.

[[Page S5529]]

  Now, keeping the government open is a good outcome, but we have a lot 
more to do after Thanksgiving. We must finish passing President Biden's 
emergency supplemental with aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian 
assistance for innocent civilians in Gaza, and funds for the Indo-
Pacific. We will keep working with Leader McConnell on a way forward.
  I know that both sides genuinely care about providing aid to Israel 
and Ukraine and helping innocent civilians in Gaza, so I hope we can 
come to an agreement, even if neither side gets everything they insist 
on.
  We will also complete our work on the National Defense Authorization 
Act before the end of the year. For now, I thank my colleagues for 
voting to keep the government open. I thank Leader McConnell, Chair 
Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and all of the appropriators. Again, no 
government shutdown, no cuts to vital programs, no poison pills. This 
is a great outcome for the American people.
  Now, my colleagues, after this vote on the CR, we have one more vote, 
to vote a conference on the NDAA. I urge everyone to stay here so we 
can finish the next vote quickly, and then do the third vote without 
further delay.
  I yield the floor to the wonderful chair of the Appropriations 
Committee who did so much to get us here.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I will vote for this bill to avoid a 
senseless shutdown although I do not care for this idea of two funding 
deadlines and double the shutdown risk. But the big picture I am 
focused on right now is what happens next, because avoiding a shutdown 
is so very far from mission accomplished. We have a lot of work to do 
after the dust settles and before the next shutdown deadline comes up. 
Now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. It is time to roll up 
our sleeves and pass supplemental funding to address urgent global 
challenges and critical priorities here at home.
  Our leadership is on the line and with it, the security of our allies 
and our Nation. We cannot do half of our job here. We need a 
supplemental that fully addresses the challenges to Ukraine, Israel, 
humanitarian aid, and the Indo-Pacific.
  And we are not pitting American families against America's global 
leadership. We have got to tackle the childcare crisis and other urgent 
domestic priorities just as we address our urgent national security 
priorities. We are the United States of America. We can and must do 
both.
  And, on that note, let me just say this: Failing to fully fund WIC 
for the first time ever is not an acceptable outcome to me under any 
circumstances.
  Now, turning to the year ahead, if we don't want to be right back 
here in a few weeks facing a one-two-punch shutdown threat, we need all 
of us to get serious about 1-year postspending bills.
  So I have an important message for Speaker Johnson and the House 
Republicans. We can only get these spending bills done if we are all on 
the same page when it comes to the topline numbers. The good news is, 
that is already a settled matter, because we actually passed bipartisan 
toplines in the debt limit deal that House Republicans and the 
President negotiated--a deal that Speaker Johnson voted for, along with 
so many other Members on both sides of the aisle in both Chambers.
  So let's be clear: The negotiating has already happened. House 
Republicans just need to stick to their word and what they helped pass 
into law.
  I am glad to see the Speaker abandon tying cuts or extreme policies 
to this CR. He will also need to do that to our annual bills if we are 
going to be able to conference any of them, because if we can't get 
back to those toplines that this Congress has already agreed to, we are 
not going to get anywhere. It is that simple.
  We have to work together; we have to keep our word; and we have to 
compromise. That means listening to the other side, making some tough 
decisions, leaving out partisan nonstarters, and writing a bill that 
can actually pass into law. That is going to make a difference for the 
people we represent at home. That is exactly how Vice Chair Collins and 
I have been able to work with Members across the political spectrum to 
craft 12 bipartisan spending bills.

  So let's get to work. Let's end this threat of a government shutdown. 
Then let's get that full-year funding our Nation needs signed into law.
  I yield back all time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, all time is yielded back.
  Under the previous order, the bill is considered read a third time.
  The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.


                           Vote on H.R. 6363

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  Mr. TILLIS. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Texas (Mr. Cornyn) and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
Scott).
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 87, nays 11, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 312 Leg.]

                                YEAS--87

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boozman
     Britt
     Brown
     Budd
     Butler
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Ernst
     Fetterman
     Fischer
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kelly
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Markey
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Mullin
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Ricketts
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Welch
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--11

     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Braun
     Crapo
     Lee
     Paul
     Risch
     Schmitt
     Scott (FL)
     Tuberville
     Vance

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Cornyn
     Scott (SC)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). On this vote, the yeas are 87, 
the nays are 11.
  The 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed.
  The bill (H.R. 6363) was agreed to.

                          ____________________