[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5583-5585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, at this very critical time in our country's 
history--a time when we have over a $14 trillion debt and we are 
desperately trying to find ways to reduce government spending and there 
looms the possibility of a government shutdown--I think we would be 
best served trying to provide some information to our constituents and, 
as politicians, resisting the temptation to throw rotten apples at each 
other. I also think it would be wise for the media to not hype or 
overhype a situation regarding a government shutdown but to try to put 
things into perspective. So let me try to do that for a moment this 
morning.
  In the first place, obviously we are trying to reach agreement. I 
compliment the majority leader, Senator Reid, who just spoke, and the 
Speaker of the House, John Boehner, for their efforts to get together 
and bridge the differences between the two parties--the two bodies--and 
to reach an agreement. In the last 2 or 3 days, the President has also 
weighed in on the issue, and I think he too is trying very hard to help 
the parties reach an agreement. Notwithstanding that fact, under the 
law, tonight at midnight, the funding for much of the government stops, 
and the question is, What can be done about that?
  The House of Representatives has passed a bill. They passed it 
yesterday. The Senate could take up that bill and pass it. It would 
keep the government running for another week. It would provide full 
funding for the military, not just for another week but for the entire 
rest of the year. That is a reasonable measure to keep the government 
running. It also, by the way, reduces $12 billion in spending, and most 
of that spending, I am informed, has already been agreed to by the 
administration and would be included in any longer range continuing 
resolution.
  Well, what happened? The President said he would veto that bill. That 
is very puzzling because if we are all seeking to fund the government, 
at least until there can be an agreement on a long-term resolution, one 
would think we would try to keep it going for another week and adopt 
what the House did, especially since it provides funding for the 
military.
  The President, in his veto message, said that the bill was a 
distraction. I do have to take issue with that. It is not a 
distraction, it is what is necessary to keep the government running. 
Let me get back to that in a moment.
  What would happen if we were able to reach agreement by tonight? If 
we are able to reach agreement before midnight then at least 
theoretically both bodies, both House and Senate, could pass a very 
short term, 2 or 3 days, stop-gap measure in order to have the time to 
complete the work on the full measure and then adopt that sometime next 
week and that would avert a shutdown. It is possible also, because in 
the Senate it would require unanimous consent; somebody might disagree 
with that process and would object. In that case, it would take a few 
days for us to do, in effect, the paperwork to get this done. That 
would then result in a government shutdown during that time, at least 
over the course of the weekend. That should be avoided if at all 
possible. But while there would be some dislocations and 
inconveniences, I do think the media exaggerates a little bit the 
result of a shutdown over the weekend.
  The biggest problem from my perspective is that the military doesn't 
get paid during that period of time. They will get paid but it is a 
disruptive thing when you have young military families trying to make 
ends meet and sometimes living from paycheck to paycheck to have that 
disrupted. That is why I think it makes so much sense to adopt what the 
House passed yesterday so we have the time, the week to complete the 
work on the continuing resolution that would fund the government 
through the end of the fiscal year, that is to say through the end of 
September, and then not have to worry about a government shutdown and 
especially funding the military.
  There is a question that has been raised that is very logical. Why 
can't the parties get together? Why can't you split the difference? In 
ordinary times it might be possible to reach an agreement that way, but 
these are not ordinary times. We are talking about a country that is on 
the verge of not being able to pay its debts. The President himself has 
asked us to raise the debt ceiling--I believe sometime next month. In 
effect, we run out not only of

[[Page 5584]]

money but of the capacity to borrow. Our credit card in effect, the 
government's credit card, is full up and we cannot get any more credit 
unless we go to the credit card company and say: Would you extend the 
amount of money we can borrow? In that case, it is the Congress passing 
a bill.
  We are in a very difficult position in this country and everyone 
knows we are passing a lot of our debts on to future generations. We 
need to get a handle on that and I don't think anybody disagrees with 
the proposition that means we need to cut spending. That is what this 
exercise is all about. So it is not the usual thing of splitting the 
difference. We are talking about big spending cuts.
  I was disappointed in the comments of the majority leader just now. 
He said this debate is about saving money. Indeed it is. Yet it appears 
the one thing--this is what he said. I do not tend to believe this is 
correct, but in effect what he was saying is it all boils down to a 
$300-and-some million subsidy for Planned Parenthood. I do not believe 
that is what is keeping us from allowing the government to continue to 
operate. The majority leader has been in the negotiations. He is in a 
position to say that. If that is the case, then it seems to me we are 
in a very untenable position here, at least the majority leader is, 
because Planned Parenthood is not the only entity that can provide 
medical care in this country. It gets a subsidy of something like $300 
million-and-some a year. To shut down the government over that would be 
absolutely unthinkable.
  The majority leader never said Planned Parenthood, you know, he said 
title X. Title X does not receive the subsidy, Planned Parenthood 
receives the subsidy. Everybody goes to clinics and hospitals and 
doctors. Some people go to Planned Parenthood. But you don't have to go 
to Planned Parenthood to get your cholesterol or blood pressure 
checked. If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that 
is what Planned Parenthood does. So this is a red herring. To say that 
somehow the government is going to be shut down over the fact that 
Planned Parenthood will not get a $300 million gift from the taxpayers 
of America would be absolutely irresponsible. If that is what the 
majority leader is saying, it is irresponsible. I cannot believe that 
is the fact of what is holding up this agreement from being reached.
  As I said, we have the bill before us which would provide for a week-
long continuation of the government with a $12 billion reduction in 
spending and a funding of the military through the end of the year. It 
seems to me that is a very reasonable proposition. We don't have to 
worry about shutting the government if we adopt that.
  I said I would get back to the President's message. He said it would 
be a distraction when he said he would veto that bill to keep the 
government running, and to fully fund the military. He said it would be 
a distraction. His exact words, ``this bill is a distraction from the 
real work that would bring us close to a reasonable compromise.'' I 
don't see how it is a distraction if it provides another week for us to 
complete the work to be done. It is obvious we are going to need time 
to get the work done because neither the House nor the Senate can get 
everything that would have to be done completed by midnight tonight. 
The House has a requirement that they have any bill pending for 72 
hours before it is adopted. This continuing resolution clearly would 
have to be posted for 72 hours. Do we want to shut the government down 
during that period of time because the President thinks the bill to do 
so is a distraction? I find that incomprehensible, frankly.
  I also will make this final point. The discussion about reducing 
government spending is not just because we are having trouble borrowing 
from borrowers now. Over half, about 42 cents on every dollar we spend 
now, is borrowed from someone. About half of that is from foreign 
entities. It is also because, as the government spends more and more 
money, the private sector has less money to invest and spend. It is the 
private sector that creates jobs. What we need to do is spend less 
government money, not only to get ourselves out from under this huge 
debt burden but also to allow the private economy to have the resources 
to grow. Included in that, of course, is to hire more people.
  On April 4, the Wall Street Journal had an op-ed by Dr. John Taylor, 
a noted economist from Stanford, Gary Becker, a Nobel laureate in 
economics, George Shultz--three different Secretaries, serving in two 
different Cabinets--all experts in financial, fiscal matters. What they 
wrote in this, which they called ``Time for a Budget Game-Changer'' is 
the following two sentences:

       Credible actions that reduce the rapid rate of growth of 
     Federal spending and debt will raise economic growth and 
     lower the unemployment rate. Higher private investment, not 
     more government purchases, is the surest way to increase 
     prosperity.

  What we are talking about here is not drastic cuts for austerity's 
sake, but rather sensible reductions to create prosperity in this 
country. That is what we are talking about doing here. That is why I 
support what Speaker Boehner has been trying to do. I urge my 
colleagues, instead of, as I said, throwing rotten apples at each other 
here and trying to preach a doom-and-gloom game, let's focus on what 
this country can do in a positive and constructive way to get our 
economy going again and get our people back to work.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in shock and 
anger that, after weeks of negotiations, after pledges from Republicans 
to come to the table in good faith, after repeated assurances that they 
want to talk about principles and budget numbers and not politics, 
after all the hot rhetoric we have heard about concern for our troops 
and our workers and that the veterans will be hurt, Republicans have 
decided to hold the Federal budget hostage to their extreme social 
agenda. It is now clear that this is not a debate in the last hours 
before this government shuts down about how much to cut. It is about 
whether women in this country will have access to basic health care 
services.
  As a woman, as a mother, as a grandmother, I find that appalling. 
They can say whatever they want to on the other side, but if they want 
to say this is about numbers, then I challenge them to say title X is 
off the table. For millions of women in this country, and men, their 
only access to preventive health care services, pregnancy diagnosis, 
counseling, preventive health services, cervical and breast cancer 
screening, sexually transmitted disease and HIV transmission prevention 
and education, a broad range of access to contraceptive methods--that 
is what Republicans now, in the 11th hour, are holding hostage to a 
government shutdown. I don't think anyone in America thought this 
election was about that.
  We heard the promises about the economy, about cutting budgets, about 
fiscal concerns, but we never heard from anyone that they would be 
willing to shut down this government and put this country at risk over 
an ideological debate about women's health care.
  I have three words for them: Women aren't pawns. We will not be pawns 
in this debate and we will not give in. The access to these critical 
services is so important to so many young women in this country. I told 
the story and I will tell it again. A few days ago I heard from a young 
woman in my State who, at 18-years-old, had to leave an extremely 
abusive family situation, out on the street on her own. She had 
cervical cancer that runs in her family. The only way she was able to 
get the medication and care she needed was through title X Federal 
funding through clinics in her State.
  She and 5 million others in this country depend on that, and we are 
going to take this away at the 11th hour, in order to get an agreement? 
Not on my watch. Not on the watch of millions of American families in 
this country who know that access to women's health care is basic to 
them and their families and their communities. What kind of country are 
we, that at the 11th hour on a debate like this, the issue remaining is 
about women's health care? I find that stunning.

[[Page 5585]]

  Families across my State are hurting. They have lost their jobs, they 
are worried about getting a pink slip, their home prices have dropped, 
they are worried about making their mortgage, and this debate now has 
come to this? An issue of access to title X funding for preventive 
health care for women? We need to focus on the economy. Yes, there are 
going to be some budget cuts in this that are going to be extremely 
hard for me and others who care about investing in education and jobs, 
but we know we have to come to an agreement. But we will not let women 
be used as pawns in this debate at this 11th hour. We are not going to 
allow this debate to end by cutting off funding for health clinics 
across America that are often the only place for low-income women.
  In my State of Washington over 100,000 patients depend on these 
clinics to provide prevention. Over 3 million Americans do nationwide. 
We are not going to let the threat of a shutdown make us fade away. 
Women are going to stand tall, and men with them, across the country, 
to say: Not on our watch. Women are not pawns.
  I yield the floor.

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