[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. President, finally, let me say a word about how we are conducting 
business here in the U.S. Senate. When our colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle took the majority 3 years ago, the majority leader, the 
Senator from New York promised a new way of legislating.
  In his maiden speech as majority leader, he stood here on the Senate 
floor and he said, ``As the majority in the Senate changes hands, the 
Senate will do business differently.''
  Well, he was absolutely right about that, but I don't think it is 
exactly what any of us envisioned. Under Democratic control, the Senate 
has turned into an unproductive body that follows a schedule that most 
American workers would envy.
  Look at the calendar this month as an example. Under the leadership 
of Senator Schumer, the Senate will be in session 2\1/2\ days a week, 
not 40 hours, not a 40-hour workweek but 2\1/2\ days a week: 2\1/2\ 
days next week and 2\1/2\ days the week after that and that is it. Then 
we wrap up the Senate's work for the month of June.
  July is just as bad when it comes to the Senate's lack of work ethic. 
When the Senate returns after the Fourth of July, we will be in session 
1 week. We will then take a break for a week--I guess we will be 
exhausted from that 1 full week back--and then we will come back for a 
2-week work period. Then, yes, you guessed it, the Senate will gavel 
out until after Labor Day.
  We will be exhausted by those 2\1/2\-day workweeks and then the 
sprint to the August recess. Including this week, which is almost 
finished, the Senate is only scheduled to be in session for 9 weeks 
before the election. That is 5 months off. We will be in session 9 
weeks. Election day is exactly 5 months away, and the Senate is not 
breaking any records for our productivity or our willingness to take on 
hard problems that seem to surround us everywhere.

  Given the fact that we are only working a maximum of 4 weeks--that is 
on the rare occasion where we actually are not working 4 days a week, 
on the rare occasion we are not working 2\1/2\ days--we now--my staff 
calls these ``miracle Mondays'' where we don't actually come back and 
start voting until Tuesday evening, and then we are out of here 
Thursday afternoon. But on the rare occasion we are working 4 days a 
week, that doesn't leave much time to get the American people's work 
done. And trust me, we have a lot of work to do.
  One of the things that I think is an insult to the American people 
is, given the lack of productivity or the lack of willingness to deal 
with the challenges that face us, Senator Schumer schedules a vote on 
contraception this afternoon, as if this were somehow controversial. 
Contraception is legal, to my knowledge. It is not in any jeopardy. And 
yet Senator Schumer wants to schedule a show vote that suggests that 
somehow it is, maybe striking fear or anxiety in the minds of some 
people that that is in jeopardy? It is just absurd; and it is a waste 
of time; and it is a distraction from doing the other things that we 
should be doing that are so important.
  We need to pass all 12 government funding bills before the end of 
September. We need to pass the defense authorization bills--something 
we have done more than 60 years in a row--and then the farm bill. That 
is 14 separate bills that need to pass in the next 9 weeks. So will we 
do it? No.
  So with this lengthy to-do list, why is the Senate wasting its time, 
the time we are actually in session? Well, like most weeks, we spent 
the majority of this time voting on more of President Biden's nominees.
  Before the Senate gavels out this evening, we will take another 
partisan show vote, as I said, that was teed up by the majority leader. 
This is just the latest example of a show vote. Last month, the 
majority leader teed up a vote on a border bill that was already 
rejected by the Senate. When it came up for a second vote, it received 
even fewer votes. Democrats who voted for the bill, now voted against 
it. What was that all about? The majority leader knew the bill would 
fail a second time but wasted the Senate's valuable and limited time 
voting on it anyway.
  So here we go again, having another useless, nonproductive show vote, 
this time on contraception, which is not in doubt. As the American 
people know, the right to contraception is not in jeopardy. I don't 
think that is breaking news. Apparently, it is to the majority leader. 
Contraception is available in every State in America, and there is no 
legitimate effort to change that. Democrats are using their power as 
the majority party to engage in fearmongering--that is a mouthful--
fearmongering to further their own political agenda.
  The bill before the Senate goes far beyond protecting access to 
contraception, and this is where there will be some bona fide 
differences of opinion. It would force healthcare providers to provide 
abortion drugs, regardless of any religious objections.
  The Supreme Court has made very clear that as a matter of conscience 
or religious beliefs, people who do not believe they should participate 
in this, they cannot be required to do so.
  Well, this bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It is actually a pro-
abortion bill designed as a pro-women's health bill, and it is designed 
to keep the issue of reproductive rights top of mind so you forget 
about the crisis at the border, so you forget about the threats to our 
national security around the world.
  Given the Senate's long to-do list, I think there is a better way to 
spend the Chamber's time. Two and-a-half day work weeks, truncated work 
periods, the time we have wasted here on nominees and political show 
votes--this is no way to run the Senate, and it is certainly not the 
way Republicans will do things if we regain control of the Chamber next 
year.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.