[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S4168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the American people deserve a government 
that is fully funded.
  Last week, the minority leader claimed on this floor that he wants to 
fund the government and avoid a shutdown. It is time for him to prove 
it. His record shows just the opposite.
  The appropriations bills have historically passed with bipartisan 
votes. Yet when Senator Schumer was majority leader during the Biden 
years, he blocked every single appropriations bill from coming to this 
floor. Eleven bipartisan appropriations bills that passed out of the 
committees died in that wastebasket there under the desk of Senator 
Schumer. When Democrats were in the majority, they literally shut down 
the entire appropriations process.
  After the Democrats lost the elections in 2024, they revolted, and 
they shut down the government twice. The two Schumer shutdowns broke 
records. First, in October 2025, Democrats shut down the entire Federal 
Government. It lasted 43 days--the longest shutdown in the history of 
our Nation.
  During the shutdown, Senator Schumer infamously said:

       Every day gets better for us.

  Every day didn't get better for the American people all across the 
country. Federal workers missed paychecks, and there was a huge 
shutdown of TSA. People missed flights. There were long lines waiting 
to get to the airports and to get to the flights. Screening lines 
lasted hours and hours.
  Then, in February of this year, Democrats did it again. They shut 
down the Department of Homeland Security, and that shutdown lasted 75 
days.
  The shutdown of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol 
lasted even longer. Democrats voted to defund Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, and they voted to defund our Border Patrol. They want 
wide-open borders.
  Democrats vote to protect illegal immigrant criminals but don't seem 
to care about protecting law-abiding American citizens. Democrats have 
proven their own willingness to disrupt travel, to delay paychecks, and 
to endanger our national security, and they will do it when they think 
it is to their political advantage, not to the advantage of the people 
of our country.
  Senator Schumer may have said on the floor that he wants to avoid a 
shutdown, but his actions signal that Democrats are getting ready to do 
it again.
  Just last month, Senator Schumer said shutdowns are, in his words, 
``strategic decisions''--``strategic decisions.'' Democrats have 
already shut down the government twice. A third shutdown would be just 
as painful for the American people and maybe worse. Democrat shutdowns 
make life less affordable, and they make our communities less safe. The 
American people deserve better.
  Senator Susan Collins, who is the chair of the Senate Appropriations 
Committee, is working very hard to fix what Senator Schumer has broken. 
She is working to put bipartisan bills on this floor and is working to 
keep the government open. This is how the appropriations process was 
designed to work.
  House Republicans are soon going to vote on a bill that funds the 
government until after the elections in November.
  Here in the Senate, Senator Collins continues to lead with integrity 
and with intelligence and by working in bipartisanship. She has a long 
and respected record of working on both sides of the aisle. She has 
presented good-faith offers to Democrats. Democrats continue to reject 
them. They demand more spending on things like these fraud-ridden 
programs that we have read about. They are threatening to stonewall 
every single appropriations bill again this year.
  Democrats are trying to avoid a shutdown--so they say. But they are 
not trying to avoid a shutdown; they are preparing for another one.
  Here is what another Democrat shutdown would mean to the American 
people: A Democrat shutdown means longer lines at the airport. A 
Democrat shutdown means our troops miss paychecks. A Democrat shutdown 
mean TSA agents miss paychecks. A Democrat shutdown undermines national 
security. A Democrat shutdown hurts our veterans, and it hurts our 
seniors.
  Senator Schumer says he wants to avoid one. Well, time is going to 
tell.
  Republicans are focused on funding the government in a serious, 
timely, and bipartisan way. That is what we are intending to do. We 
will see if the Democrats are willing to meet us along the way.
  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. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.