[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14824-14825]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I see my colleague from Tennessee just 
left the floor, and I was listening to his comments. I know he is 
having a hard time--as many of our Senate colleagues are--understanding 
or justifying the actions of the Republicans in the House.
  Make no mistake about it, this is a House Republican shutdown of the 
government. The majority leader was talking about the consequences. The 
House Republicans have tried to hold all of us hostage, but it is not 
going to work.
  When they talk about negotiating, the majority leader is absolutely 
right: We have tried on numerous occasions to get to a conference on 
the budget only to find objections from the Republicans to sit around 
the table to talk about the budget of the country. We are not going to 
yield to extreme measures. We should have the government open, and then 
we should be negotiating the issues that are important.
  I take this time to talk about our Federal workforce and to talk 
about the impact this shutdown will have on Federal workers and the 
people of Maryland and the people of our Nation. I am proud to 
represent Maryland in the Senate.
  Once again Federal workers are going to be asked to make sacrifices 
on behalf of their country, but this time

[[Page 14825]]

they don't understand it. This shutdown will have a negative impact on 
them and on our country. For 3 years Federal workers have been working 
without a pay increase or an adjustment of salary. I had my staff check 
some of the statistics on the number of Federal workers we have today 
compared to the historic numbers. We actually have fewer workers per 
capita today than we did in the 1950s. We are asking our Federal 
workforce to do more with less, and we are asking them to continue to 
work under sequestration when many have been furloughed.
  Now our Federal workforce has been furloughed in great numbers and 
are uncertain as to whether they will receive a paycheck. There are 
Federal workers who are working today and they don't know when they are 
going to get their paychecks. It is wrong, and it is going to hurt 
families. They are going to have to try to figure out how to pay their 
bills without getting a paycheck.
  This goes well beyond the Federal workers themselves. Look at the 
reductions we see in the Federal workforce here in the Washington area. 
What do you think is happening to the retail establishments, the small 
businesses, and our economy? We estimated in Maryland that we would 
lose $15 million a day for every day the Federal Government is closed.
  Mark Zandi said the impact of a Federal shutdown will increase 
unemployment by half a percent. In 1995 to 1996, the last time we had a 
shutdown, OMB estimated it cost the taxpayers $1.4 billion. This is 
wasting taxpayers' money, and it is putting people under incredible 
stress as to how they are going to pay their bills. For what? To move 
an extreme agenda, to try to see if hostage-taking works in the 
Congress? This will have a major negative impact on our economy.
  The private sector has recently created 7.5 million jobs over the 
last 42 months. There are more people on private nonfarm payrolls than 
at any time since September 2008. Jobless claims are close to a 5-year 
low. The second quarter of 2013 marked nine consecutive quarters of 
economic growth, the longest stretch since before 2008. And now because 
of the House Republican shutdown, we want to reverse that? Do we want 
to go back to a failing economy? That is what is at stake here. Do we 
want to cost our taxpayers money with the inconvenience we are causing 
the people of this country by a government shutdown? Talk about life-
threatening delays. The researchers at NIH are being compromised. The 
inability of NIH to take on new patients as a result of a shutdown 
absolutely affects the welfare of the people of our country. Small 
businesses are unable to get SBA loans. How do they run their 
businesses during this shutdown?
  In my State of Maryland--and I know this is true around the country--
the backlog on veterans getting their disability claims heard is 
tremendous. That will now grow as a result of this government shutdown.
  The FDA is responsible for food safety. I could talk about a lot of 
different agencies. Forty-five percent of the FDA's workforce, or 6,620 
employees, will be furloughed. The FDA will be unable to support the 
majority of its food safety nutrition and cosmetic activities. The FDA 
will also have to cease safety activities such as routine establishment 
inspections, some compliance and enforcement activities, monitoring 
imports, notification programs, et cetera. That is what this shutdown 
will cause. Do we want to make sure we have a safe food supply? Well, 
today it is not quite as clear as it was yesterday.
  We know about the national parks and the zoo being closed. That makes 
no sense at all. People will be inconvenienced, but people's health 
will be put in jeopardy because of this House Republican shutdown. It 
is totally illogical.
  We have tried to go to conference on the budget. There are three 
problems we have before we get a workable budget for this fiscal year. 
First, we have to keep government open; second, we have to make sure we 
pay our bills; and third, we have to get rid of sequestration. That is 
what we have to get done. And, yes, we have to sit down, Democrats and 
Republicans, to work out a budget for this fiscal year, but we can't do 
it while the government is closed.
  When we fail to pass a budget--and quite frankly, it is the 
Republicans who have been unwilling to sit at a table to come up with a 
budget. The regular order is to pass a continuing resolution that 
continues the budget so the government can operate until we have a 
budget. We have always done that at the current level.
  Well, the Democrats are willing to go even further. We are willing to 
take the Republicans' reduced budget number because of sequestration, 
and they can't even accept that because, quite frankly, there are too 
many on the other side of the aisle in the House who want a government 
shutdown. That is not the way we should be operating.
  I am proud to represent so many Federal workers. I am proud to 
represent the people of Maryland, and we are going to continue to fight 
on behalf of the right policies. We are going to fight to make sure 
Federal workers are made whole when this is over, and that they are 
able to get their paychecks with full pay. It is going to be a struggle 
because of the attitude--particularly from the Republicans--in the 
House, but we are going to continue to fight for what is right for our 
Federal workforce and for the American people.
  Let us pass a resolution to keep government open. Let us sit down and 
work out a budget for this coming year. Let's do what is right for the 
American people.
  With that, I yield the floor.

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