[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2486-S2488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 4364

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, yesterday at about this same time, I came to 
the

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floor, and I made three predictions. Even though not a single Member of 
this body had seen the full text of the thousand-page spending bill 
that we received just after 2:30 a.m. this morning, I predicted three 
things about that bill. I predicted that it would, No. 1, be full of 
corrupting earmarks--well, the bill has nearly 1,400 earmarks, and 138 
pages of the more than thousand pages in this bill are dedicated to 
earmarks alone; two, that it wouldn't force Biden to secure the 
border--well, it doesn't; and three, that it would perpetuate massive 
deficits--it does. I really hate to say, ``I told you so.''

  It is now Thursday, a little less than 48 hours before the funding 
deadline, and we received the 1,012-page bill at 2:30 in the morning. 
We are told that the only way we can avoid a shutdown is to vote for a 
thousand-page bill negotiated in secret and put forward at the last 
minute by the law firm of Schumer, McConnell, Johnson, and Jeffries.
  With a little less than 48 hours on the clock, we can be sure that 
there will be no time to read the text, to vet it with our staffs and 
our constituents, to debate the bill and offer amendments to improve 
the bill. Regardless of what State we come from or what party we are a 
part of, this is not what our constituents, our voters, sent us to 
Washington to do.
  These bills--massive legislative undertakings that bundle most of the 
Federal Government's funding into a single package--have become 
synonymous with legislative manipulation because that is precisely what 
they are.
  The firm's modus operandi involves crafting these omnibus bills 
behind closed doors, with only a select group of appropriators 
contributing to their formulation.
  Now, by design, the bills are unveiled to the public and to most of 
Congress with barely any time to spare before a potential government 
shutdown. This strategic timing, arranged by the firm and often 
arranged right before a long-scheduled recess or holiday, ensures the 
bill passes with minimal scrutiny and little or no meaningful 
opportunity for amendment or debate. It is a charade, occasionally 
softened by allowing a few votes here and there on a few token 
amendments. But make no mistake, the firm wields its enormous influence 
to ensure that no substantial changes are made that would threaten, as 
they perceive it, the sanctity of their original drafts.
  Members are cornered into a false dichotomy, arranged and contrived 
entirely by the firm: Pass the bill--unread, undebated, unamended--or 
face the chaos and public ire of a government shutdown. Thus, the 
individual voices of the people's elected lawmakers in Washington and, 
by extension, the will of the American people--those who elected us to 
come here--are diluted in a process dominated by the few at the expense 
of the many.
  This is exactly the type of dichotomy we tried to avoid when we 
passed a CR in November of last year. We extended the deadline into the 
new year. We established two separate funding deadlines into January 
and February specifically to avoid the dreaded Christmas omnibus, when 
the firm historically drops a bill just as we are planning to all leave 
and spend the holidays with our families.
  By avoiding the Christmas crunch for the first time in a very long 
time, that CR was intended to give us the time to properly debate, 
amend, and ensure that all of the people's elected lawmakers in 
Washington engaged in a fair and transparent process. But now, we are 
in the very scenario we tried so hard to avoid, with a massive bill 
just before a recess, just before the Easter holiday. So what happened? 
What happened? How are we in the exact same spot we found ourselves in 
just a few months ago that we worked so hard to avoid and we promised 
we would avoid?
  Today, with just over 48 hours before the government runs out of 
funding, this body once again throws American taxpayers and our voters 
under the bus, forsaking fiscal sanity. In so doing, they oppose 
measures that the vast majority of Americans support--measures that 
Republicans fought to include in this legislation, which were 
overwhelmingly rejected by just a handful of Members, so overwhelmingly 
supported by voters and overwhelmingly rejected by a narrow sliver of 
Members of this and the other body.
  Those measures would have, among other things, banned the use of 
funds to implement Green New Deal-related policies that have been 
overfunded over the last few years; blocked funds for racist DEI 
programs across the Department of Defense and the intelligence 
community Agencies; prohibited the use of funds for bureaucrats to 
label free speech that they happen to disagree with as 
``misinformation''; measures to ensure that only the American flag may 
be flown at all government buildings.
  It contains no new funding for a border wall or any of the other core 
border security elements in H.R. 2, which are so badly needed at this 
time. Our country is under invasion with the acquiescence of the 
President of the United States. It contains nothing to stop Biden's 
invited invasion from happening right now at our southern border.
  Instead of securing our border, we are spending millions of taxpayer 
dollars on radical pet projects that exist to weaken and divide our 
country culturally and economically--pet projects like $1.8 million for 
a hospital in Rhode Island that performs abortions, including late-term 
abortions; $475,000 for an activist organization that has designed 
curriculum and materials for children ages 2 through 5 to ``introduce 
the kids in our classroom to a wide variety of gender expressions''; 
$400,000 for the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in New Jersey--
their efforts include focusing on what they call transgender student 
rights, which include letting boys use girls locker rooms and play in 
girls athletics in high school; $676,000 for an organization that has 
been actively supportive of Black Lives Matter and painted a BLM mural 
in front of Cincinnati's city hall in 2020; $2.8 million for an 
institution that released what they call an ``Inclusion, Diversity, 
Equity and Accessibility'' charter in 2020, which stated that 
``diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility are critical 
components within the fabric of the institute to excel in basic and 
applied research, solve complex environmental issues, and advance DRI's 
mission''; $500,000 for a radical activist organization that hosts 
training workshops on implicit bias, social inclusion and equity, 
decolonization, and land acknowledgement; $450,000 for a childcare 
initiative that is being established to provide childcare for immigrant 
families.

  So instead of securing our border, it appears we are using taxpayer 
money to create welfare programs for illegal immigrants who have 
invaded our country. That is because this whole system of government 
funding is designed to not benefit the vast majority of Americans. It 
benefits the very architects of these bills--the appropriators, the 
earmarks, the lobbyists, and the special interests. These entities 
thrive in the shadows in this process, influencing legislation in ways 
that serve the architects themselves, often--indeed, always--at the 
expense of the general public.
  Americans are bearing the cost of decisions made without their 
knowledge or their consent, manifesting in skyrocketing costs of living 
and a staggering national debt now exceeding $34 trillion. Not only do 
they not have a say in this process, those they elected to have a say 
in this very same process are excluded, and that is wrong.
  We must dismantle this corrupt process and restore once again 
transparency and accountability to the way we fund our government. The 
process behind what we expect from this insulting spending bill is a 
disgrace, and let history show that a few of us stood up and said no.
  This is not the way. What we need is a short-term CR--a continuing 
resolution--through April 12 to give lawmakers time to review, debate, 
and amend the bill. Even if by some twist of fate, even if by some gift 
by God, you are able to discern every single word in this bill and you 
digested it over the last few hours and you still love the bill, you 
should acknowledge that most Members--I would say all--lack that 
capacity and therefore deserve the opportunity, whether you love the 
bill or hate the bill at the end of the day, to fully review it, vet it 
with constituents, debate it, and, yes, offer amendments at a 
meaningful window of opportunity.
  Voting for this bill is voting in favor of massive, bloated deficits 
that are crippling America and making life

[[Page S2488]]

unaffordable, corrupting earmarks, and funding Biden's border invasion. 
So I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in 
fighting for fiscal responsibility and the best interests of the 
American families we are supposed to represent in Washington--after 
all, they elected us--because we are certainly not doing that now.
  To that end, I offered up a solution. Again, whether you love this 
bill or hate it after reviewing it, which will take some time, you 
should still want it to be adequately vetted first.
  And to that end, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 235, 
H.R. 4364; I further ask that the Lee amendment at the desk be 
considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a 
third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Reserving the right to object, as I mentioned yesterday, 
we really have to get a move on and close the book on fiscal year 2024. 
We are 6 months into this fiscal year already. It is time to take the 
government off autopilot.
  We have a carefully negotiated package. It is bipartisan. It is 
bicameral. It reflects the input of nearly every Senator and the 
priorities of every State in America and it is ready to go. We need to 
focus on the deadline in front of us and get this passed in a swift, 
bipartisan way so we can avoid a shutdown.
  I would remind all of my colleagues so we can turn to fiscal year 
2025. My focus remains on working with all of my colleagues to get that 
package over the finish line in a timely way. Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. I will sit down in a moment to let my friend and colleague 
Joe Manchin speak.
  I want to point out for a moment a couple of things. My friend and 
colleague from the State of Washington is objecting to this measure 
that would allow all Members adequate time to review the bill and to 
vet it with constituents and debate it and discuss it and amend it on 
the floor. She said that we have to get a move on; the government has 
been on autopilot, meaning under a continuing resolution for too long. 
True. Absolutely true.
  But I find it stunning the suggestion that she is saying now that 
time is of the essence. Now, we didn't have the bill yesterday or the 
day before or the day before or the day before that when we were 
promised the bill. We didn't have it. We have it now.
  She identified the precise moment in history--the precise moment in 
2024--when we can no longer move forward for another day. We have to 
get a move on right, right now. They are the only ones who know this.
  She also says it is bipartisan, bicameral; that it is a carefully 
negotiated agreement. That is great. That small handful of people who 
actually saw this bill and were involved in its final formulation, I am 
sure, will find that very comforting. For the rest of us who didn't see 
it until 2:30 a.m. this morning and the 330 million Americans out there 
who will have to pay for this stuff, that is not adequate notice. That 
is not a carefully negotiated agreement. That is collusion among the 
few affecting the many adversely.
  I find this very, very disturbing that we couldn't get the American 
people and their elected representatives a few more days so that they 
can understand what is in there. It begs the question, What are they 
hiding?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.