[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5582-5583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been married for a long time--more 
than 50 years. My wife and I have one daughter and nine grandchildren. 
I love these women very, very much. One day, though, I may not be able 
to help them, and one of them may need a cancer screening. It is not a 
pleasant thought, but that is the reality of life--that I may not be 
around to help them when they need something.
  Over their lives, they will be in need of other things, such as a 
cholesterol check, maybe a blood pressure screening--tests that are 
less serious but just as important to a woman's health. They should be 
able to get the test that can save their life. So should every single 
woman in America. I believe that and, frankly, that is not so 
controversial. It is not so controversial a belief.
  Some women, of course, have doctors. Others, including many of the 
poorest among us, don't. So where do they go to get a blood pressure, 
cholesterol, or cancer screening? Where do they go? Thankfully, there 
is a little-known part of a little-known law that saves many lives. It 
is called title X, and it is part of a public health law. It means 
women and girls can go to their local health department or community 
clinic and get these tests. More than 5 million women use these centers 
for title X coverage every year--5 million--and one of them could be my 
granddaughter or my daughter.
  Mr. President, some watching us today--and we know the whole world is 
watching us today--may be asking why I am talking about women's health 
when the question before us is the budget of the biggest economy on the 
planet Earth. Some may ask why we are talking about the smallest corner 
of planet Earth. With a government shutdown looming not weeks away or 
days away but hours away, why are we talking about whether women can 
get something as simple and noncontroversial as a cancer screening? The 
answer is that Republicans want to shut down our Nation's government 
because they want to make it harder for women to get the health 
services they need.
  By the way, title X does not include abortion. It is illegal to use 
Federal funds for abortion services. So anyone who says this debate is 
over abortion isn't being truthful. It is about simple and important 
health services. Republicans want to shut down the government because 
they think there is nothing more important than keeping women from 
getting cancer screenings. This is indefensible, and everyone should be 
outraged--men and women should be outraged. The Republican House 
leadership has only a few hours left to look in the mirror, snap out of 
it, and realize how positively shameful that would be.
  For months, this conversation has been about billions and trillions 
of dollars. It has been about weighty issues and difficult decisions. 
This debate is

[[Page 5583]]

about saving money--or that is what we thought it was about. But no 
longer. We have an agreement on the cuts and savings. I was there at 
the White House last night. That agreement includes a historic level of 
cuts. We have always recognized we had to make cuts. That is why we 
agreed at the White House last night to make significant cuts--hard but 
important.
  But now the tea party--among others, although they are the biggest 
push--is trying to move its extreme social agenda on issues that have 
nothing to do with funding the government. They are willing, it 
appears, clearly, to throw women under the bus even if it means they 
will shut down the government because that is where we are. That is the 
one issue that was remaining last night. That agenda is an extreme 
agenda. I don't agree with their ideas on social policy, but in our 
democracy, those ideas, however radical or however you may disagree 
with them, deserve a debate if they want one. That is fair. But that 
debate doesn't belong in an urgent bill to keep the government running, 
and it especially doesn't belong here at this late hour.
  The consequences of letting our country's funding expire will be 
devastating. There are almost 1 million Federal employees. These are 
people who work for the Bureau of Land Management, which doesn't have a 
big presence in the Presiding Officer's State but has a huge presence 
in Nevada. The State of Nevada is 87 percent owned by the Federal 
Government. There are Forest Service employees, FBI employees, Internal 
Revenue Service employees, and the people who work in this great 
government complex--almost 1 million of them--who are waiting on pins 
and needles.
  Federal employees are like everybody else. They are working from 
paycheck to paycheck. They are wondering if they are going to be able 
to get that new car they have needed for 3 or 4 years. They are 
wondering, with summer coming, if they are going to be able to take 
that vacation they have wanted to take for a long time. Federal 
employees are like everybody else.
  The consequences of letting our country's funding expire would be 
devastating to people, individuals, and it would be devastating to our 
troops, to our small businesses, and to Americans' everyday lives--
people who just want to get a home loan or get their tax refund or, I 
repeat, get their paycheck. A government shutdown would damage our 
image and credibility around the world. But Republicans are asking me 
to sacrifice my wife's health, my daughter's health, and my nine 
granddaughters' health. They are asking me to sacrifice the health of 
women in Nevada and all across this country. But I am not going to be 
part of that. I won't do it. As a legislator, I am very frustrated. As 
an American, I am appalled. As a husband, a father, and a grandfather, 
I am personally offended.
  Would the Chair announce morning business now, please.

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