[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 51 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2555-S2556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, at about 12:01 a.m. tonight, about 70 
percent of the Federal Government will run out of funding if Congress 
does not act. Democrats and Republicans have about 13 hours to work 
together to make sure the government stays open. That is not going to 
be easy. We will have to work together and avoid unnecessary delays.
  This morning, the House will move first on the funding package. And 
as soon as they send us a bill, the Senate will spring into action. To 
my colleagues on both sides, let's finish the job today. Let's avoid 
even a weekend shutdown. Let's finish the job of funding the government 
for the remainder of the fiscal year.
  There is no reason to delay. There is no reason to drag out this 
process. If the Senators cooperate on a time agreement, if we 
prioritize working together--just as we did 2 weeks ago--I am 
optimistic we can succeed. But if individual Senators resort to 
partisanship and stonewalling and dithering, those individuals will 
almost guarantee that we shut down, and the process could drag into 
Saturday, Sunday, and possibly beyond.
  Now, this appropriations process hasn't been easy, but I am glad that 
after months of hard work, we have arrived at a funding package that 
both sides can be pleased with. The funding package will go a long way 
to supporting American families, strengthen our economy, safeguarding 
our national security. It increases funding for childcare services, 
boosts disease research and prevention, and funds school mental health 
programs and suicide prevention--something we so desperately need. We 
are strengthening border security. We are protecting our elections, 
and, most importantly, we will have avoided most of the draconian cuts 
and poison pills that the hard right has pushed for months.
  And once we fully fund the government, we will also avoid the 
terrible scythe of budget sequestration that has been hanging over 
Congress since last year.
  We are not done yet, but I would like to once again thank my 
colleagues--Chairwoman Murray and Vice Chair

[[Page S2556]]

Collins--for their outstanding work here in the Senate. I want to thank 
all the appropriators for their work. I want to thank all their staffs, 
especially my own staff, too, because I greatly appreciate the 
remarkable work they do every single day.
  Getting things done in divided government is hard; getting things 
done in this divided government is even harder.
  But both sides have come up with a strong funding package that 
ignores extremism and puts the needs of the country first. That is a 
credit to leadership on both sides, and I thank them for their work.