[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15525-15526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. DURBIN. Each morning, the Senate opens with the customary prayer 
by our Chaplain and the Pledge of Allegiance. This is an opportunity 
for Members of the Senate to reflect on two important things: first, 
our mission on Earth not only as elected officials but as human beings 
and, second, our devotion and loyalty to this great country.
  I have listened to most of the prayers that have been offered over 
the past 9 days of the government shutdown by Dr. Barry Black. He is a 
retired admiral from the U.S. Navy and came again before us this 
morning to offer a prayer. This prayer had a very important message. It 
was short and direct. He talked about this government shutdown. He 
reflected on the fact that we literally have families who in the last 
few days had that awful knock on the door where they were told their 
son or daughter had died in service to his country in the U.S. 
military. There were 5 over the weekend and I understand 17 over the 
course of this government shutdown.
  Sadly, the support we always give to these families is not there. It 
is not there. Customarily, within 24 to 36 hours they are given a sum 
of money in advance on the benefits that soldier earned so they can 
take care of funeral expenses and the obvious needs of their family. We 
can't do that because the government is shut down. That awful knock on 
the door was not followed by the consolation of this government helping 
these families. We offered to many of these families an opportunity to 
come and to be there to welcome, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, 
the return of their fallen hero. We can't offer them that benefit 
because the government is shut down.
  Dr. Black said to all of us this morning, all of those who believe a 
government shutdown is just another political gambit--what he said, we 
should remember, and his words were direct and simple: Enough is 
enough. Enough is enough.
  It isn't only a matter of these families losing that loving son, 
daughter, husband, wife, brother, or sister; it is a matter that our 
government that asked them to risk their lives for this great Nation 
will not stand by them in this moment of grief.
  Yesterday, the junior Senator from Texas came in and said: Oh, I 
think we have already voted to take care of that. It is not true. What 
is happening now is the House of Representatives--the House of 
Representatives, which refuses to reopen the government--is scurrying 
to pass a little bill that will take care of these families. Let's get 
that bill in, they said. We don't want to face the embarrassment of 
another headline like this.
  That isn't enough. It isn't nearly enough because the embarrassment 
of this government shutdown goes beyond this grievous situation with 
these bereaving families. It goes to so many different levels.
  Think about this for a moment: In the United States of America, when 
it comes to infant formula for babies, 60 percent of the infant formula 
is sold through one government program called WIC--Women, Infants, and 
Children Program. It is a program that brings in pregnant mothers and 
moms with new babies and does its level best to make sure those babies 
are healthy and off to a good start in life.
  In my State of Illinois, in the largest county, Cook County, 50,000 
mothers depend on WIC--the WIC Program that provides the basics for 
healthy moms and healthy babies. The WIC Program runs out of money this 
month. When it does, the support for these families, for these moms, 
and for these babies is in danger.
  Why are we doing this? Is this part of the Republican strategy--sick 
babies, mothers unprepared to deliver? Is that part of their strategy? 
Is that their leverage for what they want to achieve? If it is, I have 
three words for them: Enough is enough.
  I just left my office where I had a group of people from my State 
visiting for whom I have a special affection. They are with what is 
known as the Primary Health Care Association, and I will bet the Chair 
has a similar association of some type in her State of North Dakota. 
These are the folks who open the clinics in the neighborhoods and small 
towns so that people who

[[Page 15526]]

aren't wealthy have access to a doctor and a nurse. I love them, I just 
love them to pieces because they have invested their whole lives in 
helping folks who are often ignored. They told me that despite the 
sadness they feel, and even the anger over this government shutdown, 
there is a feeling of elation now that the insurance exchanges are open 
under the Affordable Care Act. They say people are coming in and 
saying: You won't believe it, but I qualify for health insurance for 
the first time in my life. These are the clients, these are the people 
they help every day, and now these people have the peace of mind of 
health insurance.
  That drives some on the other side crazy--to think ObamaCare will go 
forward and provide this kind of help. In my State, over 250,000 people 
have already visited the Web sites. They are signing up now for health 
insurance, many of them for the first time. Ours isn't the most 
successful State. It appears that per capita the State of Kentucky is 
one of the most successful, with some 10,000 people already signing up 
for health insurance--health insurance they otherwise can't afford or 
don't have.
  This is part of the debate in Washington. The Republicans, many of 
them, are arguing we have to shut down the government, we have to shut 
down ObamaCare, we have to stop these people from signing up for health 
insurance. It is not going to work. They cannot reverse history. This 
is a law that has been on the books almost 4 years, enacted by 
Congress, signed by the President, judged constitutional by the U.S. 
Supreme Court--a law on which we have had a referendum in a 
Presidential election. When President Obama stood up and said: I am 
going to fight for affordable health care and health care reform, and 
the Republican candidate said: I will abolish it, President Obama won 
that reelection by 5 million votes. That is the verdict of history. 
That is the judgment of the American people. That is how we guide a 
democracy.
  There are some very wealthy, very extreme who will never accept the 
results of an election. They think with enough money they can overcome 
the voice of democracy. They are wrong, and that is why what we are 
setting about to do here is to reopen this government, pay our debts, 
and then work out whatever remains in terms of issues.
  I ask my staff each morning to give me a list of what is happening 
because of this government shutdown. I can't keep up with it--I mean, 
page after page, issue after issue. Here is one. There is a major 
salmonella outbreak affecting hundreds of people in many States right 
now. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection 
Service has announced an estimated 278 people across 18 States, mostly 
in California, have been reported ill. They are working with the 
Centers for Disease Control, along with State and local officials, to 
track that. But that said, we have to understand that with a government 
shutdown these agencies are not fully staffed.
  Families and children across America are vulnerable because of this 
Republican shutdown strategy. For some, it will mean an illness they 
will get over in a few days. For others, it could be more serious. The 
words of the chaplain ring in my ears: Enough is enough.
  We keep hearing about this piecemeal approach of the House of 
Representatives, where when they see these ghastly headlines of 
bereaving families who are denied the basic benefits that we offer 
families of those who have fallen in service to America--when they face 
that embarrassment--they quickly manufacture a little spending bill to 
cover it, saying: Oh, we will take care of that one. Chuck E. Cheese's 
calls it Whac-A-Mole. And that is what they are doing. Each time a 
story pops up, they try to knock it back down.
  The Center for American Progress has done a review of the 14 bills 
passed by the House. They find approximately $83 billion in funding--
just about $6 billion a bill. The total amount of nondefense funding in 
the original House-passed continuing resolution was $469 billion. 
Therefore, the House bills that already have passed and are currently 
under consideration make up less than 18 percent of the total. So for 
all the efforts of the House of Representatives, sending over these 
bills to react to embarrassments from their government shutdown, they 
can't keep up with it.
  The simple honest answer is to open the government. We have passed 
the bill and sent it to Speaker Boehner. He is living in political fear 
of calling that bill because he knows it will pass. The Democrats 
overwhelmingly will support it, and enough moderate Republicans will 
step up to reopen this government, and Speaker Boehner cannot accept 
that reality. He is afraid to call a vote.
  How many more embarrassing moments will we have, reporting on 
situations such as these poor families who have given their all, who 
have lost their loved ones, and now they are asked to suffer because of 
the Republican shutdown? It has to come to an end.
  Yesterday on the floor I appealed to moderate Republicans in the 
Senate to step up--step up and join us. We are going to have a bill 
before us in a short time--I hope sooner rather than later--that is 
going to avoid a default on America's debt. If we default on October 
17, it will be the first time in the history of the United States that 
will have occurred. It will have a devastating impact on businesses, on 
jobs, and on the savings of Americans.
  If you have a savings account, if you have a retirement account, have 
you been watching it over the last several days? Have you seen what the 
Republican shutdown has done for your plans, for your future and your 
family? This is unacceptable, and it will get dramatically worse unless 
we pass, in a bipartisan fashion, this extension of the debt limit for 
the United States of America. This will be a chance for moderate 
Republicans in the Senate to speak up and stand up.
  Before I close, I want to say a special word about my colleague, my 
Republican Senate colleague Mark Kirk, who announced this week he would 
vote for a clean debt ceiling. I have said it back home, and I will say 
it here on the floor. It is the right thing to do for my colleague. It 
is the right thing to do for America. But I want to express my 
appreciation for his leadership. I hope his example of stepping up and 
saying he is going to put the country first before his party is one 
that will be followed by other Members on his side of the aisle.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming.

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