[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7002-7003]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H. CON. RES. 25

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I am here today on the floor again to 
ask that Senate Republicans stop blocking the next step in regular 
order and allow us to move to a bipartisan budget conference with the 
House of Representatives. We have waited long enough. In fact, we have 
now waited 54 days, and it is time to get to work on a bipartisan 
budget agreement.
  The Senate Democrats see no reason for delay. We are very proud of 
our budget, which puts forward a strong, fair vision for getting 
Americans back to work, tackling our long-term debt and deficit 
challenges, and laying a strong foundation for the middle class in the 
future. It seems that some of our Republican colleagues in the Senate 
and House would rather wait now until the next crisis and see if they 
can extract political concessions with the clock ticking--or maybe they 
don't want to air the details of the unpopular House budget.
  Either way, there is no excuse for putting the American people 
through another round of partisan brinkmanship. We have already seen 
that that hurts our economy, and it causes Americans to question 
whether their government is working for them.
  Yesterday the House Republicans met to talk about what they are going 
to demand in exchange for not tanking our economy. Apparently they are 
considering a ``laundry list,'' including repealing ObamaCare--which 
the House will vote on, by the way, for the 37th time today--and 
restrictions on women's health choices.
  House Republicans' practice of leveraging crises for their own gain 
died with the Boehner rule, and no amount of wishing is going to bring 
it back. House Republicans may think brinkmanship helps them win 
political fights, but it does not help the American families and 
communities we are here to serve.
  I urge our Republican colleagues in the Senate to take a step toward 
a responsible bipartisan budget agreement and a step away from 
governing by crisis.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that the amendment which is at the 
desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the 
Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, 
be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon 
the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a 
conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, 
and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the 
Senate, all with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection to the request?
  The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Madam President, reserving the right to object, we want to 
proceed with this as well. We want a budget. It has been 4 years and it 
has been far too long. What we want to avoid is a deal negotiated 
behind closed doors, a backroom deal to raise the debt limit.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senator modify her request so that 
it

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not be in order for the Senate to consider a conference report that 
includes reconciliation instructions to raise the debt limit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Reserving the right to object, the Senator's request is 
asking to disregard what the Senate did on those days--54 days ago--to 
go through over 100 amendments and defeat those amendments time and 
time again; to go to conference--not behind closed doors, I would add. 
A conference committee is a committee that is out in the public.
  What is happening right now is closed-door agreements. What we are 
asking for is an open process where we are allowed to take the Senate-
passed budget and the House-passed budget, go to conference, and find 
out where we can agree so we can put this behind us.
  I object to the Senator's request and ask again for our unanimous 
consent request to move to budget conference, as we do in regular 
order, which is what the Republicans have been demanding for a very 
long time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Does the Senator from Utah object?
  Mr. LEE. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, we have gone 4 years without a budget, 
and the Democratic Senate did act this year and passed a budget. The 
House has also passed a budget, and it is a historic proposal. It 
balances in 10 years, it does not raise taxes, and it increases 
spending every year by as much as 3 percent. It is the right way to go 
for America, and it is the kind of budget we should be talking about.
  Chairman Murray has indicated we should go through regular order. But 
under regular order, what we should do is have the House budget at the 
desk right now. It is a responsible budget. Under regular order, the 
House budget should be brought to the floor under section 305(b) of the 
Congressional Budget Act. Then we can have full debate on that budget 
with 50 hours and the ability to offer amendments. I think this is what 
we should be doing.
  Instead, our Democratic colleagues and Senator Reid have offered 
consent requests that short-circuit the regular order. Their request 
would automatically bring the House budget off the calendar, replace it 
entirely with the Senate's own budget and assume it passes without a 
single minute of debate or without a single vote being taken. That is 
not the regular order.
  Madam President, first, I ask unanimous consent that after my remarks 
Senator Inhofe be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I object. I wish to respond to the 
Senator.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate now proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 
25, the House-passed budget resolution for fiscal year 2014.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, reserving the right to object, what the 
Senator is requesting us to do is to take up the House-passed budget. 
Remember, we have passed a Senate budget here. We had 50 hours of 
debate, over 100 amendments were offered. We voted on all of them way 
into the wee hours, 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning, as everyone here 
will rightly remember. He is asking us to disregard all that action in 
the Senate, take up the House bill and have 50 hours more of debate, 
unlimited amendments, sitting here for weeks at a time again to go 
through all the amendments.
  Madam President, that is a waste of taxpayer money and it is a waste 
of our time. We have done that work. It is time to go to conference.
  Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, it is my understanding that a colloquy 
is in order between Senator Blumenthal and Senator Lee, but I ask 
unanimous consent that at the conclusion of that I be recognized and 
that following my remarks the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cornyn, be 
recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Reserving the right to object, I believe I was listed in 
the queue a bit earlier than that, but I only have a 3- or 4-minute 
statement. I do not mind trading off, but I, similar to others, was 
told the time was right after the vote that I would be recognized.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to amend my 
unanimous consent request to include the 3-minute remarks of the 
Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator. But reserving the right to object, 
is that before or after the remarks of the Senator from Oklahoma?
  Mr. INHOFE. That would be before the Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Utah.

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