[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1068-S1072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND OTHER MATTERS ACT, 2024
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 7463) making further continuing appropriations
for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am pleased that Democrats have just
reached an agreement with the Republicans to pass a temporary extension
of government funding tonight. We will have up to five votes: four on
amendments and then final passage. This agreement is an important step
because we not only avoid a shutdown on Friday, we also clear the way
for passing the first six appropriations bills next week.
We want to move quickly. So I ask Senators to stay in their seats or
near the floor until we finish our work. We are going to try, starting
on the second vote, to keep votes limited to 10 minutes. So please stay
in your seats.
Now, Mr. President, this year, the good Lord gave us an extra day in
February. So let's make sure we finish the job and don't drag this
debate into March.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mr. SCHUMER. Excuse me. Just one more thing.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all votes in
this series after the first vote be 10 minutes in duration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am really glad that we have cleared
consensus that no one wants to see a government shutdown and that
preventing one now will require a very short CR so we can continue
making good progress on our full-year funding bills.
I have been at the table for a long time now pushing to make progress
every single day, and we are genuinely close. And if bipartisan
cooperation prevails, I am very confident we can, at long last--at long
last--wrap up our fiscal year 2024 bills.
And, as my colleagues are aware, we plan to release the first six
bills in the coming days to give everyone time to review them before a
vote next week, while we continue to lock up the last six bills.
I am confident we can get all of our funding bills done in the next
few weeks, as long as partisan poison pills are taken off the table.
We are working in a divided government. That means, to get anything
done, we have to work together in good faith to reach reasonable
outcomes. That has been true from day one of these negotiations, and we
will only reach the last day of these negotiations if that happens.
Again, we are close. We are moving in the right direction. It is full
speed ahead. And we will keep working hard with our colleagues to get
this wrapped up and take a shutdown completely off the table by passing
the strongest bipartisan spending bills we can and, hopefully, soon.
I urge all of our colleagues to vote yes on this CR so we have the
time to get these done.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, several of the amendments that we will
vote on propose a full-year continuing resolution that would lock in
dangerously inadequate funding levels for our national defense and lead
to cuts in other vital programs serving our veterans, farmers, low-
income families, and older Americans.
In a briefing last month, the Commander of U.S. Central Command told
me that this is the most dangerous security situation in 50 years. The
idea that we would consider hamstringing our military under a yearlong
continuing resolution at such a time is unconscionable.
The Department of Defense has never operated under a yearlong CR. It
would reduce defense spending by $27 billion relative to the level
called for under the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Further, there would be
problems with the misalignment of funds that in many cases would
prevent critical funding from being executed. For example, 30 percent
of the Navy's shipbuilding request could not be spent because the
funding would be misaligned.
According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under a
yearlong CR, ``thousands of [defense] programs will be impacted with
the most devastating impacts to our national defense being to
personnel, nuclear triad modernization, shipbuilding and maintenance,
munitions production and replenishments, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
priorities.''
Let us also remember that we would be wasting taxpayer dollars as we
would forego billions of dollars in potential spending reductions and
rescissions carefully identified by the Appropriations Committee.
A yearlong CR would result in a military that is less able to respond
to serious security threats around the globe, and it would harm
important domestic investments in biomedical research, infrastructure,
and other priority areas. It would result in furloughs or hiring
freezes for food inspectors and air traffic controllers, as well as
slash housing assistance at a time when we already face a severe
affordable housing shortage.
I urge my colleagues to reject these motions and support the
responsible approach of passing the short-term measure to fund the
government. We will then move to the six completed conference reports
on appropriations bills and continue our important work on the
remainder of the full-year appropriations bills.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
Amendment No. 1614
Mr. Paul. Mr. President, I call up Senate amendment No. 1614 and ask
that it be reported by number.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Paul] proposes an amendment
numbered 1614.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To establish prohibitions relating to the purchase or sale of
State or municipal securities)
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. _____. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO THE PURCHASE OR SALE OF
STATE OR MUNICIPAL SECURITIES.
(a) Emergency Lending Programs and Facilities.--The Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may not establish
any emergency lending program or facility, including pursuant
to section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C.
343(3)), that purchases or sells any security issued by a
State or municipality, including a bond, note, draft, or bill
of exchange.
[[Page S1069]]
(b) Open Market Operations.--No Federal reserve bank may
purchase or sell any security described in subsection (a),
including pursuant to section 14 of the Federal Reserve Act
(12 U.S.C. 353 et seq.).
Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, here we go again. Senators of both parties
will once again kick the can down the road.
Our national debt is over $34 trillion and growing at an alarming
rate.
The majority of the Senate meets today to vote once again for more
deficit spending. We now know that the Federal Reserve is not only
buying the Federal debt; they are buying the debt of profligate, large-
spending States like California, New York, and Illinois.
My amendment would make it explicitly illegal for the Federal Reserve
to buy the debt of these big-spending, profligate individual States. It
was never intended that Congress give the Fed the power, and we should
make sure that it is explicit that the Federal Reserve cannot buy the
debt of individual States.
I urge a ``yes'' vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the Paul amendment.
As part of the effort to support our economy following the onset of
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve established a liquidity
facility to help State and local governments better manage their cash
flow and those pressures that existed and that they faced as a result
of the increase in State and local government expenditures related to
the pandemic and the delay and decrease of some tax revenues and other
revenues. And all of the funds borrowed by municipalities under this
program have been repaid.
So tying the Feds' hands to prevent it from helping States and
municipalities, as this provision would do, would be dangerous.
Congress has given the Fed the flexibility to transact in State and
local bonds because we knew that it could be an important and helpful
tool in times of an emergency--protecting millions of public workers,
including police officers, healthcare workers, and other first
responders.
So, as we have seen during the pandemic and natural disasters,
uncertainty can hurt both big and small States, and the Fed's simple
ability to assist States and local governments in this way can provide
stability and allow policymakers to address emerging crises. Preventing
emergency programs outright would be dangerous and unnecessary.
And, finally, adopting this amendment would require the continuing
resolution go back to the House and be voted on again.
So I urge my colleagues to vote no on the Paul amendment.
Vote on Amendment No. 1614
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on agreeing to the
amendment.
Mr. PAUL. Mr. 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. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Montana (Mr.
Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Idaho
(Mr. Risch), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney), the Senator from South
Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).
The result was announced--yeas 37, nays 53, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 63 Leg.]
YEAS--37
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Budd
Capito
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
Mullin
Paul
Ricketts
Rubio
Sanders
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Wicker
Young
NAYS--53
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gillibrand
Hagerty
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Rounds
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING--10
Barrasso
Britt
Cassidy
Daines
Manchin
Moran
Risch
Romney
Scott (SC)
Vance
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 37, the nays are
53.
Under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this
amendment, the amendment is not agreed to.
The amendment (No. 1614) was rejected.
Motion to Commit
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Kansas [Mr. Marshall] moves to commit the
bill H.R. 7463 to the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate with instructions to report the same back to the
Senate in 1 day, not counting any day in which the Senate is
not in session, with changes that--
(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and
(2) provide--
(A) continuing appropriations for the entire Federal
Government through the end of fiscal year 2024; and
(B) $14,300,000,000 in aid to Israel, which is full offset
by reductions in appropriations for the Internal Revenue
Service.
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I ask 4 minutes equally divided prior to
the vote on the motion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, as we assess an embarrassing fiscal
fiasco, I believe a full-year continuing resolution funding the
remainder of this year at last year's levels is the least of the evils
we face tonight.
Our amendment will effectively freeze spending and save American
taxpayers at least $70 billion.
Look, here we are already 5 months late, and I see no path to
gathering in the reins of an out-of-control budget process. American
taxpayers full well understand we have a broken budget process, and
every Senator here knows we have not done any serious work on the
Senate floor with appropriations bills since October, already 4 months
into the fiscal year.
And while the Appropriations Committee should be commended for
accomplishing its job in a timely fashion last July, American taxpayers
also realize these individual appropriations bills could have easily
been brought to the floor one at a time, exposed to sunlight and
cameras, amended, and then passed in a timely fashion months ago.
But today we realize the symptoms of a bigger problem. Today, we feel
the pain of a disease of failed congressional budget process, which
gives too much power to too few people. But just like American
families, the American Government needs to learn to live within its
means, and that is why I hope soon we can turn to legislation that will
secure a more stable, competent budget process.
We need to get this year's appropriations process behind us, pass a
yearlong CR, and then address legislation which brings teeth to an old
budget law that forces the President and Congress to do our job in a
competent, timely fashion.
And, finally, our amendment also funds Israel at the White House's
request, thus showing the world once again America stands besides
Israel.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, the House just voted overwhelmingly to
send us this clean and very short CR to keep our government open while
we work on passing final funding bills, which is exactly what we should
all be focused on now.
But this particular motion wouldn't just prevent the Senate from
averting a shutdown tomorrow; it would swap the clean, short-term CR
for a full-year CR that means devastating across-the-board cuts and tie
it to military aid for Israel to a yearlong CR.
[[Page S1070]]
We are not going to throw in the towel on our funding bills, and we
are not going to do half of our job by sending aid to some of our
allies while leaving others like Ukraine in the dust.
We have already on this floor passed a comprehensive national
security package in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. Now the House just
needs to pass that--and I am confident they will--as soon as the
Speaker brings it up for a vote.
So, tonight, let's pass this CR, get our funding bills done, and keep
working to get the comprehensive supplemental signed into law. I urge
my colleagues to vote ``no.''
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Has time expired for both sides?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington has 50 seconds.
Mrs. MURRAY. I yield it back.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Time is expired.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we are going to enforce the 10-minute
rule. We announced it earlier. So please stay in your seats. Let's get
the next amendments done with expedition.
Vote on Motion to Commit
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
Mr. MARSHALL. 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. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Montana (Mr.
Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Idaho
(Mr. Risch), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney), the Senator from South
Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).
The result was announced--yeas 14, nays 76, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 64 Leg.]
YEAS--14
Blackburn
Budd
Cruz
Hagerty
Hawley
Johnson
Kennedy
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Paul
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Tuberville
NAYS--76
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Braun
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Rosen
Rounds
Sanders
Schatz
Schmitt
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NOT VOTING--10
Barrasso
Britt
Cassidy
Daines
Manchin
Moran
Risch
Romney
Scott (SC)
Vance
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this motion, the yeas are 14, the nays are
76, and the motion is not agreed to.
The motion was rejected.
Motion to Commit
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I have a motion at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Utah [Mr. Lee] moves to commit the bill
H.R. 7463 to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 1
day, not counting any day in which the Senate is not in
session, with changes that--
(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and
(2) provide continuing appropriations for the entire
Federal Government through the end of fiscal year 2024.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be up to 2 minutes of debate
equally divided.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, this motion calls for a full-year CR. Let me
tell you what a full-year CR taking us to September 30--if we were to
go to a full-year CR, one taking us to September 30, we would save $130
billion.
Now, there have been comments made on the floor even this evening
that are not correct, suggesting that this would take
disproportionately from defense. It is just not true. Under a full-year
CR, regular defense would be $1.4 billion higher relative to fiscal
year 2023, while regular nondefense would be $40 billion less than
fiscal year 2023.
In a day and age in which we are living with a $2 trillion deficit
and crippling inflation coming as a result of that, we should take this
as an opportunity to achieve a win for the American people.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, right now, our job is to avoid a
government shutdown. The House has just sent us a very short,
bipartisan CR to make sure that our Agencies and programs continue
operating as we work together to pass the first six of our final
funding bills next week. The House did its job. We need to do ours, and
we need to keep pushing to complete our 2024 budget.
This motion would not prevent us from averting a shutdown. It would
direct the Appropriations Committee to abandon weeks and weeks of very
hard work and negotiations that reflect the input and interests of the
Members of this body.
I urge a ``no'' vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, that one took 14 minutes. Let's beat it
on this one. Please stay in your seats.
Vote on Motion to Commit
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
Mr. LEE. 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Montana (Mr.
Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Kentucky
(Mr. Paul), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Utah
(Mr. Romney), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the
Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).
Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance)
would have voted ``yea.''
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 12, nays 77, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 65 Leg.]
YEAS--12
Blackburn
Budd
Cruz
Hawley
Johnson
Kennedy
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Tuberville
NAYS--77
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Braun
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Rosen
Rounds
Sanders
Schatz
Schmitt
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NOT VOTING--11
Barrasso
Britt
Cassidy
Daines
Manchin
Moran
Paul
Risch
Romney
Scott (SC)
Vance
[[Page S1071]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). On this vote, the yeas are 12,
the nays are 77.
The motion is rejected.
The Senator from Texas.
Motion to Commit
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I have a motion at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Texas [Mr. Cruz] moves to commit the bill
H.R. 7463 to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate
with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 1
day, not counting any day in which the Senate is not in
session, with changes that--
(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee;
(2) provide continuing appropriations for the entire
Federal Government through the end of fiscal year 2024; and
(3) include the text of the H.R. 2 (the Secure the Border
Act of 2023), as passed by the House of Representatives on
May 11, 2023.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today with a motion to commit to
instruct that H.R. 2 be added to this continuing resolution.
H.R. 2 contains a comprehensive plan to secure the border, to stop
catch-and-release, to build the wall, to stop visa overstays, and to
reform abuse of immigration, parole, and asylum laws.
In the past couple of weeks, we have seen tragedy across this
country, including of a 22-year-old woman murdered in the State of
Georgia, including a 2-year-old child murdered in the State of
Virginia, including a 14-year-old child raped in Boston, MA, including
a child under 14 raped in Louisiana--all by illegal aliens released by
the Biden administration.
It is time for this to end. This bill has passed the House, and if
the Senate wants to secure our open borders, we can do so right now--
today.
I urge an affirmative vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, the clock is ticking. We face a partial
shutdown of the government tomorrow night. We cannot let the threat of
that government shutdown be used as leverage to set aside the
bipartisan agreement on the CR before us in order to jam through deeply
partisan immigration policy. We are not going to throw in the towel on
our very carefully negotiated funding bills we have worked on in favor
of a full-year CR that would impose devastating across-the-board cuts
to defense and nondefense programs.
Vote no.
Vote on Motion to Commit
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Mr. CRUZ. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Hearing none, the question is on agreeing to
the motion.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, that one was 11 minutes. Let us get to
10.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Montana (Mr.
Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Kentucky
(Mr. Paul), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Utah
(Mr. Romney), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 32, nays 58, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 66 Leg.]
YEAS--32
Blackburn
Boozman
Budd
Capito
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Mullin
Ricketts
Rubio
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Vance
NAYS--58
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Braun
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hyde-Smith
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Rounds
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NOT VOTING--10
Barrasso
Britt
Cassidy
Daines
Manchin
Moran
Paul
Risch
Romney
Scott (SC)
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas are 32, the nays are 58.
The motion was rejected.
The majority leader.
Government Funding
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am happy to inform the American people
there will be no government shutdown on Friday. When we pass this bill,
we will have, thank God, avoided a shutdown, with all its harmful
effects on the American people.
I thank my colleagues for working together. It is good we are not
shutting down. Now let us finish the job of funding the government so
we don't have to do this again.
As I have said repeatedly to the Speaker, the only way to get things
done in divided government is bipartisanship. I am glad the Speaker
heard our plea and worked with us to avoid a shutdown.
Next week, we hope to bring the first six funding bills to the floor
and send them to the President's desk before March 8. The vote tonight
is a strong indication that we can work in a bipartisan way to get
those bills passed.
We hope to finish funding all of the government by March 22. That is
the commitment the Speaker made to us yesterday, and we are counting on
him to follow through.
What we have done today has overcome the opposition of the MAGA hard
right and gives us a formula for completing the appropriations process
in a way that does not shut down the government and capitulate to
extremists.
I thank Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Chair
Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and all the appropriators who helped reach
this agreement.
Vote on H.R. 7463
The PRESIDING OFFICER. 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.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. 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 PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Manchin) is necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the
Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from Montana (Mr.
Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Kentucky
(Mr. Paul), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Utah
(Mr. Romney), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).
The result was announced--yeas 77, nays 13, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 67 Leg.]
YEAS--77
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Kaine
Kelly
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lujan
Lummis
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Rosen
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
[[Page S1072]]
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--13
Blackburn
Braun
Budd
Crapo
Cruz
Hawley
Johnson
Lee
Marshall
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Tuberville
Vance
NOT VOTING--10
Barrasso
Britt
Cassidy
Daines
Manchin
Moran
Paul
Risch
Romney
Scott (SC)
(Mr. WELCH assumed the Chair.)
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). On this vote, the yeas are 77, the
nays are 13.
The 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed.
The bill (H.R. 7463) was passed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
____________________