[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6889-S6893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026--Resumed
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of S. 2296, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2296) to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2026 for military activities of the Department of
Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other
purposes.
Pending:
Wicker-Reed amendment modified No. 3748, in the nature of a
substitute.
Wicker (for Ernst) amendment No. 3427 (to amendment No.
3748), to require the Comptroller General of the United
States to conduct a study on casualty assistance and long-
term care programs.
Thune amendment No. 3863 (to amendment No. 3427), relating
to the enactment date.
Thune amendment No. 3864 (to the language proposed to be
stricken by amendment No. 3748), relating to the enactment
date.
Thune amendment No. 3865 (to amendment No. 3864), relating
to the enactment date.
Motion to recommit the bill to the Committee on Armed
Services, with instructions, Thune amendment No. 3866,
relating to the enactment date.
Thune amendment No. 3867 (to (the instructions) amendment
No. 3866), relating to the enactment date.
Thune amendment No. 3868 (to amendment No. 3867), relating
to the enactment date.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The great Senator from Iowa.
Government Funding
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 2 days ago, I spoke about the potential
shutdown of government. I am going to repeat what I said then, but the
shutdown of government is now a fact. I said it costs money to shut the
government down; it costs money to open the government up.
The government is supposed to be a service to the American people,
protect the American people, and you can't do either if the government
is not functioning.
You heard the Chaplain speaking about prayer and the government
shutdown. Prayer is in order for almost anything, but if common sense
would prevail here in the U.S. Senate, 100 Senators would take care of
this issue with or without prayer. On the other hand, if people want to
pray for the opening of government and the serving of people, that is
perfectly appropriate, and, hopefully, it works.
But all 100 of us Senators ought to be ashamed that the government is
in shutdown. It affects the United States. Each of our staffs will not
be paid during this period of time, and I will bet each Senator will
expect their staffs to be on duty since the Senate is going to be in
session. We should think about the people we are hurting.
Particularly, Democrats who want to speak, seem to speak more for
Federal workers now on furlough, not being paid, ought to think about
their support for them that is voiced almost
[[Page S6890]]
every day and the harm that will come because this is the Democrat
shutting down the government.
Thirteen times during the Biden administration, they voted for a
clean continuing resolution, and this is exactly what we are asking
they vote for this time.
Agricultural Economy
Mr. President, I come to the floor, once again, to speak about the
agricultural economy and trade and tariffs in this particular instance
today.
You have heard me talk about the high input costs that farmers are
facing. I concluded my remarks 2 days ago by saying farmers need
immediate relief. This is especially true if it is the Federal
Government's action that has caused the economic hardships. I am going
to speak about some of that Federal Government action.
It happens that fertilizer is one of the largest expenses in growing
crops. Most fertilizers used in the United States are imported. The
tariffs on fertilizers have sent shock waves throughout the supply
chains. Most often, those waves come crashing down on the farmers who
bear the brunt of the increased cost of fertilizers.
Tariffs not only cause farmers to pay more for their inputs, but they
also have seen tariffs reduce markets for U.S. farm products.
Last week, when the Argentinians reduced export tariffs, they sold $7
billion worth of soybeans in just a few days to China. It happens that
China has not bought a single one of American soybeans this year, and
that is why farmers are losing $2 a bushel on soybeans.
Taking away tariffs on ag inputs and striking meaningful deals to
open markets would send immediate signals to the ag economy, helping
farmers' bottom lines.
Yesterday, former Senator David Perdue, now Ambassador to China,
visited the U.S. Senate, and I had the opportunity to express my views
about the situation with China not buying soybeans. He says he hears
it; that it is the No. 1 issue when it comes to talking about trade
negotiations with China.
He also mentioned something that I think I need to bring to our
attention because it is something that China promised to do in 2019. It
was something that Trump, in his first term, negotiated with China;
that they had to buy a certain amount of agricultural products from the
United States. During the period of time that Trump was President, they
filled about two-thirds of that agreement. But the Biden administration
came into power and didn't follow up on the enforcement of that 2019
Trump agreement with China to buy agricultural products.
So besides hoping that Trump makes a quick deal with China, settles
our trade disputes so they will buy soybeans, I hope that maybe
President Trump today can follow up on the shortcomings of the Biden
administration not enforcing that 2019 agreement with China.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Democratic leader is recognized.
Government Funding
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today is October 1, the first full day of
Donald Trump's government shutdown. Donald Trump and Republicans have
barreled us into a shutdown because they refuse to protect Americans'
healthcare.
It is clear that the way out of this shutdown is to sit down and
negotiate with Democrats, to address the looming healthcare crisis that
faces tens of millions of American families. Democrats want to avert
this crisis, but Republicans tried to bully us, and it is clear they
can't. They don't have the votes. The way out of this is for
Republicans to finally roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Republicans need to get serious and start actually addressing the
looming crisis and reopen the government.
Now, why has all of this happened? Why are we here on October 1?
Because Republicans have tried to stick us with a partisan CR that
fails to protect Americans' healthcare and does nothing--nothing--to
fix the healthcare mess that they created. It has now failed twice to
get enough votes in this Chamber. So Republicans need to negotiate with
us, and Speaker Johnson has to get his people here. If anyone wanted
evidence as to who wanted this shutdown, just look at the fact that
Johnson does not even have the House in session.
When Democrats had the White House, the Senate, and the House, when
Democrats had the majority in this Chamber, when I was majority leader,
we never had one shutdown in 4 years--not one. Do you know why? Because
we worked with our Republican colleagues to find a way to keep the
government funded. We did this 13 times, as Leader Thune likes to
remind everyone. That is a lot of bipartisan negotiation--but not this
time, not so today. Republicans need to negotiate.
Today is October 1, and that means something else is happening today.
Americans throughout the country are opening their mailboxes and
finding letters in there telling them that their health insurance is
about to go way, way, way up. The other day, we thought it was about
$400 a month that the average American family would pay more in
insurance premiums, but it turns out it is even worse than that. The
Kaiser report--the nonpartisan, well-respected Kaiser report--from
yesterday, says it is an average of $1,000 a month and, God forbid,
even much more for so many Americans. Healthcare premiums, because of
what the Republicans have done, are going up 114 percent a year, on
average. The average premium is going to more than double.
What is the average American family supposed to do with that? What
happens on Friday night when the family sits around the kitchen table
and says, ``How are we going to pay the bills?'' when they see that
their insurance could be $1,000 more a month--health insurance, vital
to the parents and to the children of the family. What are they going
to do? The average American can't afford $1,000 a month or even $400 a
month without cutting back on their healthcare or cutting back on
something else that is vital.
You know, Americans are saying the No. 1 issue is cost. They now rate
Donald Trump worse on costs than they rated Joe Biden, and he didn't
have very good ratings. It is the tariffs. It is the change in
electricity costs because of what they have done with the cheapest and
cleanest source of energy putting electrons on the grid, which is
solar. They got rid of it, in their fanatical hatred of clean energy.
Now, they are putting money into coal. It is incredible--because of the
costs of groceries, of meat.
But the No. 1 increase in cost now, on October 1, is healthcare
costs. And the average American is going to say: What the heck happened
here? And we Democrats are going to be there every day, every hour--
Senate, House, groups that care about healthcare: hospital groups,
healthcare groups, research groups--letting them know this didn't have
to happen. It happened because our Republican colleagues wanted to give
tax breaks to billionaires and cut their healthcare. It is incredible.
It is incredible.
Three times we asked our Republican colleagues to extend the ACA tax
credit. Three times they voted no. Well, it is not too late. They could
change. When I met with the President, he seemed not to know the
magnitude of the crisis. He said: Ooh, this is going to hurt me.
Well, it sure will. But it is going to hurt every American.
What is motivating Democrats--what is motivating me--is simply to
take this burden off the shoulders of tens of millions of American
families who struggle each week to pay the bills, and they don't need
this huge increase in something as vital as health insurance.
And the Republicans sort of know this. So what do they do? They make
up lies, absolute lies. They say, oh, what they are fighting to do is
prevent--they say--illegal immigrants from getting Federal healthcare
dollars.
That is a damn lie. Not one dollar of Medicare, Medicaid, or ACA is
allowed to go to undocumented immigrants--not a dollar.
[[Page S6891]]
So why do they keep saying this? This seems to be their theme.
Because they are afraid to talk about the real issues. Typical
Republican response: Have a diversion; try to scare people emotionally.
But I will tell you, to the average American family, that $1,000-a-
month increase or that $400-a-month increase on their healthcare bills
means a lot more than political crap put in the air--lies--by our
Republican colleagues.
So I was very glad this morning that some of the commentators on TV
said that. When they say that undocumented immigrants are going to get
this money, it is a lie, plain and simple. It is a lie so lazy and so
outlandish that it is easy to rebut. But again, let me be clear:
Undocumented people cannot and will not receive premium tax credit by
law. The Federal Government does not fund Federal health insurance for
undocumented immigrants in Medicaid or Medicare--period, full stop.
So they don't care. Why? Because they know the American people are on
our side, and they know they are going to get angrier and angrier
starting today, when they see these healthcare bills.
Listen to this poll. The Kaiser Family Foundation poll found a
whopping 75 percent of Americans support extending the ACA premium tax
credit, including 63 percent of Republicans. When our Republican Senate
and House colleagues go around their communities--of course, the House
isn't even here this week, as I mentioned--they are going to hear it in
the barbershops and in the restaurants and at the diners and at the
Little Leagues and at the veterans halls, because it is so shocking,
and people are going to be talking about it. They will see.
And we Democrats are going to be there relentlessly, letting people
know why it happened: because our Republican colleagues did not want to
help us out of this crisis. Instead, they wanted to give the dollars to
billionaires.
President Trump calls what the Democrats want radical.
President Trump, it is not radical to say Americans deserve lower
healthcare premiums. It is not radical to say we want to prevent the
average American family from getting these huge increases--those on
ACA--$1,000 a month.
When Democrats say we want to work with Republicans to lower
premiums, to strengthen healthcare, all we are doing is reflecting what
the American people already want--nothing more, nothing less. They want
us to sit down and negotiate something real that takes this huge, huge
burden off their shoulders.
And Donald Trump, instead of acting like an adult--he is the most
immature President we have ever had--instead of doing something to stop
the healthcare crisis, is threatening to hurt countless hard-working
Americans.
Let me repeat the quote Donald Trump said yesterday:
We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible,
that are bad for them and irreversible. Like cutting vast
numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting
programs that they like.
Donald Trump says it loud and clear; that is one thing about him. He
is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country
as blackmail.
Well, that is not going to work. For the American people, it is so
easy to see through those tactics. They know this is the Trump
shutdown. They know Republicans control the Presidency, the Senate, and
the House and what is done during a shutdown will fall squarely on
Republicans' backs. Donald Trump even says it. He says he is going to
close down all these things people want.
It is going to fall right on his back. The American people will know
who is doing it, and he is going to have to recoil from it--just as
they have done so many cuts already, even before October 1. And they
had to back off on many of them, some because of the courts but some
because of public outcry, such as the huge cutbacks they made in the
VA.
Well, Democrats' position hasn't changed. We are willing, ready, and
able to negotiate. We are ready to reopen the government today. We have
made our position clear about how to move forward. Surely, we can come
together and agree we need to fix healthcare, and that needs to happen
now, as people are getting these incredible increases. Within a few
weeks, they are going to have to say what new healthcare--if they will
even keep their healthcare or have to cut it back or do something else
that hurts them because they don't have the money.
If Republicans work with us and fix America's healthcare crisis, the
shutdown could go away very quickly. That is what Democrats want--to
end this now, fix healthcare now. It is the right thing to do for the
American people.
We urge our Republican colleagues and we urge President Trump to take
``yes'' for an answer.
I yield the floor.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, here we are. Democrats have bowed to the
far-left, and they have shut down the Federal Government. As of this
morning, critical Federal employees, including members of the military,
Border Patrol agents, and air traffic controllers, are working without
pay, and a number of government services are unavailable or at risk.
Democrats are well aware of the damage of a government shutdown. We
have heard it from them time and time again. But apparently none of
that matters to Democrats today. All that seems to matter is that their
far-left base sees them ``fighting'' against President Trump, and the
American people just have to suffer the consequences.
We can end this today. There is a clean, nonpartisan continuing
resolution at the desk that has no partisan policy riders, no new
Republican policies. It just keeps the government running until
November 21. The House passed it. The President is ready to sign it
into law. The only thing standing in the way is Senate Democrats, who
are demanding $1.5 trillion in partisan spending to keep the government
open for 7 weeks. That is right. They are demanding more than the
defense budget in their resolution to keep the government open for 4
weeks. That is not how this works.
We were in the situation 13 times when Democrats had the majority
under President Biden, and 13 times, Republicans provided more than
enough votes to keep the government open, and that is what needs to
happen here.
We are one--just one--Senate rollcall vote away from ending this
shutdown. We need a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to reopen
the government. Once we do that, then we can talk about the issues that
Democrats are raising. We are not going to engage in bipartisan
discussions while Democrats are holding the Federal Government hostage
to their partisan demands.
This Democrat shutdown is actually delaying progress on the issues
that Democrats claim to be interested in. It is also delaying important
work on appropriations bills.
Now, I have said throughout this year that my goal is to do
appropriations through regular order--regular order--which allows
Members of both parties to give voice to their priorities and to help
shape appropriations bills.
We have made good progress already this year. Thanks to the work of
Chair Collins and the Appropriations Committee, we passed three
bipartisan bills before the August recess for the first time since
2018, and there are a number of additional bills ready for floor
consideration. But that work is now delayed because we have to deal
with the Democrats' shutdown mess.
How long this shutdown lasts depends entirely on Democrats.
Republicans are united around a clean, nonpartisan funding extension. A
few Democrats joined us last night and voted to keep the government
open. They will have another opportunity to vote today, and I hope more
of our Democrat colleagues will agree to end this shutdown.
Real people are suffering right now because of Democrats' temper
tantrum, and it needs to stop.
Mr. President, I want to close with this: In 2019, in the midst of
another shutdown, the Democrat leader urged reopening the government
before negotiating on the one point of disagreement. He said then:
Why must we hold millions of Americans who depend on the
services of these Agencies that are closed--hundreds of
thousands of workers who get paid by these Agencies--why must
we hold them hostage? Why must
[[Page S6892]]
a temper tantrum determine how we vote and what happens in
this government? Everyone can shut down the government on
anything--any leader, any President. It is not the way to do
things.
I hope that the Democrat leader will heed his own words. Democrats
need to reopen the government, and we need to get back to work for the
American people.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The majority whip.
Government Funding
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, Senate Democrats have now dragged us
into the Schumer shutdown. When I say ``us,'' I mean all of us as
Americans. It didn't have to happen, and it certainly doesn't need to
continue. Americans are overwhelmingly against the shutdown of our
government.
New polling from the New York Times and Siena just came out, and the
polling proves it. Here is the key finding: Two out of three Americans
believe that Democrats should not shut down the government, even if
they don't get their trillion-dollar ransom fee paid, which of course
they won't. Only 47 percent of Democrats support the shutdown. That is
not even a majority of Democrats.
Senate Democrats are on the wrong side of Republicans, they are on
the wrong side of Independents, and they are on the wrong side of their
own party.
There is only one good option to reopen the government, and that
option is a bipartisan, clean continuing resolution that we will vote
on this morning.
The House already passed it with bipartisan support. President Trump
is ready to sign it. Senate Republicans voted yesterday in an attempt
to pass it. It failed yesterday, and we are going to offer it again
today.
All it takes to reopen the government is cooperation from just five
more Senate Democrats. We picked up three Democrats last night, so
there are clearly cracks on their side of the aisle and movement toward
our side. That will continue.
We are ready to vote for it again and again and again to make sure we
can reopen the government for the American people. And there is
bipartisan--broad bipartisan support to open the government. That is
what the New York Times revealed, and that is what the vote revealed
last evening. If five more Democrats join us today, the shutdown is
over because, remember, it takes 60 votes in the Senate to get
something like this passed and accomplished.
And all we are asking is to reopen the government for the next 7
weeks. Democrats supported these same funding levels before; now they
claim the levels aren't good enough. Democrats are now demanding $1.5
trillion in new spending--new spending--for just reopening the
government for 4 short weeks. That is $48 billion of new spending each
and every day of the 4 weeks in the Democrats' proposal.
This is a direct attack on hard-working American taxpayers who voted
against wasteful Washington spending in the elections in November.
Think back to previous continuing resolutions just like this one. I
can think back to 13 of them during the time Joe Biden was in office at
the White House. Thirteen of these passed. The minimum number of votes
was 65. We voted to keep the government open, bipartisan. When Joe
Biden and Barack Obama were President, Democrats said shutdowns were
dangerous, destructive, and desperate. Those are the words of the
Democrats: ``dangerous,'' ``destructive,'' ``desperate.''
Listen to those words. Listen to what Chuck Schumer said. He said:
Passing a clean CR . . . [would] avert a harmful and
unnecessary government shutdown.
He also said:
If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans
who suffer [the] most.
But yesterday he stood here in the well and then voted to shut down
the government. Senator Patty Murray of Washington is the top Democrat
on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She has said that ``a shutdown
solves nothing.'' She went on to say, and it ``hurts everyone.''
Yesterday, she voted to shut down the government.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has said that a shutdown
``is the last resort for those who can't otherwise win their fights
through elections [and] can't win their fights in Congress.'' Well,
yesterday, she voted to shut down the government.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said:
There is a time and place to debate health care . . . but
not when the funding of the federal government, and all the
lives that are impacted by it, hang in the balance.
Well, yesterday he voted to shut down the government.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is a Member of the Senate Democrat
leadership. She said:
Shutdowns are not good for the economy.
Yesterday, she voted to shut down the government.
Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said:
I've seen the same thing over and over again.
He said:
Shutdowns don't work. . . . No one wins, but Americans have
a lot to lose.
Yesterday, he voted to shut down the government.
Those were Senate Democrats' words when there was a Democrat in the
White House. Yet last night, when it mattered, Democrats ignored their
own warnings. Either their memories are short or their principles are
situational. The costs they described are now a reality.
Border Patrol agents are showing up to work; they are not getting
paid. The Border Patrol union warns that shutdowns threaten their
``capacity to maintain the most secure border in our Nation's
history.''
Veterans' healthcare is going to be impacted. Low-income families
will lose vital benefits to help buy groceries.
Republicans are committed to reopening the government with a clean
continuing resolution. That will allow us to finish the appropriations
process the right way.
When he was majority leader, Senator Schumer broke that process, the
appropriations process. Last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee
passed--the committee, not Chuck Schumer, but that committee passed 11
of 12 appropriations bills, many of them unanimous, always bipartisan,
and what happened? Senator Schumer let each and every one of them rot
and die in his Senate desk drawer. He shut down the appropriations
process, and now he wants to shut down the government.
Republicans have restored the appropriations process. For the first
time in 4 years, the Senate passed appropriations bills in August,
passed three of them. Senator Susan Collins of Maine deserves special
praise and thanks for this achievement.
Passing a clean CR will allow the Senate to finish our bipartisan
work. The American people want their government open. They want it
reopened. They want it to remain open. They want it working. So today
Democrats are facing a clear choice; they can govern in the best
interest of the American people or they can continue to grandstand for
their retweets and their likes from their liberal base.
Republicans are united in our commitment to reopen the government.
How long it takes, how costly it is, that is entirely up to the Senate
Democrats.
A bipartisan offer, a bipartisan bill that already passed the House
is right here in the Senate for a vote today. The President is ready to
sign it to reopen the government. It is time to pass the bill today and
end this Schumer shutdown.
Waiving Quorum Call
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to consent to waive the
mandatory quorum calls with respect to Calendar No. 167, S. 2882,
Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BARRASSO. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Government Funding
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, well, it is not even 1 day after
Republicans
[[Page S6893]]
chose to shut down the government instead of making any sort of
progress on stopping healthcare premiums from skyrocketing, and it is
already painfully clear that Republican leadership is not taking any of
this seriously.
Republican leadership doesn't care if millions of Americans lose
their health insurance. Republican leadership does not care if your
healthcare costs go through the roof. And despite a lot of showboating
yesterday, Republican leadership obviously doesn't care how long this
shutdown goes on.
Just consider, if Republican leadership and President Trump actually
cared about reopening the government, Trump would not be tweeting AI
deepfakes and mariachi music or bragging about how he can't wait to use
a shutdown as an excuse to inflict more pain on the American people.
If they actually cared about reopening the government, Russ Vought
wouldn't be saying he will fire everyone he can no matter if firing
them is necessary or not and no matter how harmful it is or not.
If they actually cared about reopening the government, Republican
leaders would not be pressing ahead with the same failed bill as
yesterday and refusing to finally work with Democrats to finalize a
solution.
If Republican leadership actually cared about reopening the
government, House Republicans would actually be here. Let me say that
again: House Republicans are not even here. Are we supposed to believe
they are taking this seriously? I guess not.
And if Republican leadership actually cared about reopening the
government, they would be talking with us about how the actual issues
we want to address, how to stop skyrocketing health prices, hospital
closures, and millions of patients from losing their health insurance.
Instead, they are screaming ``illegal immigration'' and telling bold-
faced lies about Democrats' proposal to try and talk about anything but
healthcare. That really gives away the game Republican leaders are
playing with the American people, doesn't it?
Democrats want Republicans to sit down at the table for a serious
negotiation about really serious issues. But Republican leadership is
off playing make-believe in la-la land. How are we supposed to
negotiate with President Trump when he is busy frying his mind in an AI
fantasy world of mariachi bands and science fiction medbeds and who
knows what next? And how are we supposed to negotiate with Republican
leaders when they are refusing to work on a bipartisan path out and
just making lies up about our Democratic proposals?
For everyone who has only heard the Republican nonsense, let me make
our agenda clear. Here is what Democrats actually want to do: We want
to stop your healthcare premiums from doubling next year. We want to
stop millions of people from getting priced out of their insurance and
getting sick or going without care.
We want to stop hospitals from closing. I wonder why Republicans have
such a hard time being honest about that? Well, maybe because they
caused this healthcare crisis in the first place. And let's be crystal
clear, it is not honest for Republicans to try and just say: Oh, well,
we can just talk about healthcare later. We pinkie promise.
Rate hikes are being finalized right now. Notices for massive price
increases will land in our families' mailboxes this month. Open
enrollment starts in a matter of a few weeks. That means families are
going to start seeing their premiums double. People are going to get
priced out of coverage; that is, unless we act now.
There is no waiting; we have been waiting. There is no later; that is
too late. Are Republicans saying they will not talk about solutions
until the damage is done? Are they saying they want to lock in the high
healthcare rates first?
You know, the best time to put out a fire is before it burns down the
house. Surely, Republicans don't need me to tell them that. But if
Republicans insist on asking why we can't address healthcare later, I
have got a few questions for them.
First off, why the heck couldn't we talk about healthcare sooner,
huh? Where in the world have you been? You moved Heaven and Earth to
pass new tax breaks for billionaires by cutting over $1 trillion from
Americans' healthcare. Why won't you move a muscle to save healthcare
for our working families?
I mean, my goodness, why is it not until there is a shutdown that
Republican leaders will even say we can at least talk about healthcare?
Oh, but not yet.
If a shutdown is the first time Republican leaders will even
acknowledge in the slightest whisper the looming healthcare crisis, why
should we trust for one second you will keep your word later?
Republicans have been choosing to ignore this healthcare crisis for
months, and now they face another choice: How much longer are they
going to insist on this partisan path? How much longer are they going
to stick their heads in the sand? Because I will warn them: The
American people cannot wait.
One family in my State of Washington is about to see their premiums
jump from $283 a month to as high as $1,800 a month if Republicans
insist on inaction, and I know they are not the only ones.
To my Republican colleagues who don't think this is a crisis, to
anyone who thinks healthcare can wait: Go out and talk to people, talk
to insurance companies in your State or doctors or hospitals or
patients, and then come to the table and talk with us. We are here. We
are ready to work on real solutions to address this healthcare crisis
and reopen the government. I have been at the table the whole time. I
am here. I am ready. I am willing to work out a real solution to get
this done.
I yield the floor.
____________________