[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14881-14882]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNING BY CRISIS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, a path to avert yet another Republican-
manufactured shutdown is before us now. This evening the Senate will 
vote to invoke cloture on a clean continuing resolution that keeps the 
Federal Government open and funded. We believe debate should continue 
on this issue, and that is why we are voting the way we are going to 
vote. Following that vote, the Senate will then proceed to final 
passage of a clean funding measure--sometime tomorrow or Wednesday. 
That will take a simple majority. I am pleased that we are on the verge 
of avoiding another Republican-sponsored shutdown of the Federal 
Government. We are fortunate cooler heads are prevailing.
  But I would be remiss if I didn't remind everyone--especially my 
Republican colleagues--that this last-minute scramble to do our most 
basic job is as unnecessary as it is reckless. We are 2 days from a 
shutdown--only 2 days. And why? Because Republicans made it their No. 1 
priority to undermine women's health. Keeping the government open, 
funded, and serving the American people was a secondary concern for 
these extremists in the Republican Party. My friend the Republican 
leader, in talking about this choice a few days ago, the choice 
between--he said Planned Parenthood; I say the health of women--
understand, the Republicans couldn't even get a majority

[[Page 14882]]

vote on this. They couldn't get a majority vote; they were down in the 
forties. So even the Republicans think what is going on now is foolish. 
Keeping government open and funded and serving the American people was 
a secondary concern for those extremists. That is too bad.
  So while I am pleased that we now have a path forward to avoid a 
shutdown, I am nonetheless concerned about the Republican modus 
operandi of always governing by crisis. Remember, this is the fifth 
time in 2 years the Republicans have manufactured an unnecessary 
shutdown crisis. Two years ago they actually shut down the government. 
For 17 days, Republicans shut down the government, and we were only 
able to get ourselves out of that morass because--for example, in the 
House of Representatives, two-thirds of the Republicans in the House 
voted to keep the government closed. That is unbelievable, but that is 
the way it was. Here it is now 2 years later, and we are on the verge 
of another shutdown.
  Remember this: This is the fifth time in 2 years that Republicans 
have manufactured an unnecessary showdown crisis--and it is a showdown. 
Too bad it is leading to a shutdown.
  Exactly 2 years ago, as I indicated, of course, they shut down the 
Federal Government because of health care. Seven months ago, 
Republicans almost shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Why? 
Over an immigration issue. The Department of Homeland Security--they 
were going to shut it down. It was saved in the last minute. These are 
the agencies within this Department that protect us. They protect us 
from terrorists, and they protect us from those many things that happen 
in our country that we need protection from.
  This past spring, it shut down key national security programs that 
were part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Why? They were 
fighting among themselves. The Republican leader wanted a bill for a 
certain length of time. People within his caucus wanted one for another 
length of time. There was a fight among them, not among us, but they 
came close to wreaking havoc. They did wreak some havoc because the 
program was shut down for a while.
  More recently, Republicans shut down the Export-Import Bank, 
endangering the hundreds of thousands of jobs this program supports. It 
is still closed.
  Now we are just days from another shutdown--another kind of shutdown 
but a big one. And although it appears we will sidestep a Republican-
manufactured crisis this week, the disaster is looming. We still have a 
long, difficult road ahead.
  The continuing resolution will pass this week, but it is for a short 
term, and it funds our government through December 11. The measure is 
very shortsighted--December 11. That means within the coming weeks, we 
will again be negotiating with Republicans to avoid another shutdown.
  We will also have to find a way to pay our bills to avoid a 
catastrophic default on our debt. Republicans tried that once. We came 
within minutes of doing that. The Federal Government--this great 
country of ours--wouldn't be able to pay its bills.
  But we see the press. We see all these stories about the Speaker, who 
is going to step down in 5 weeks, and we hear the Republicans over 
there. They are joyous. One Republican running for President announced 
this, and there was cheering. And the person running for President--who 
serves in the Senate--was part of the cheer. Another Republican 
Presidential candidate came to the same meeting, and the same thing 
happened. It is hard to comprehend that people are cheering for this 
government to be closed. That is what they are doing. We shouldn't pay 
our debt?
  The Republican House is in a sad state. Last week the far right 
showed that it can depose a Speaker and has emerged more powerful than 
ever, more outspoken than ever. Members of the House will hold their 
leadership elections in the coming days, and I hope they elect some 
sensible leaders. I am deeply concerned.
  I came to the floor on Friday and spoke as honestly as I could of my 
respect for John Boehner. I think it is unfair that people are piling 
on. Did I always agree with him? No. But he never misled me and always 
told me the way it was.
  I am deeply concerned that even those Republican leaders previously 
inclined toward compromise have already lost the courage to stand up to 
the far right when it matters the most, and they have said so in the 
press. That is too bad.
  Come November 1, we have no way of knowing what House Republicans 
will do--this is after their elections to replace Congressman Boehner. 
We have no idea what they are going to do, whether they will try to 
again steer our government off a cliff, as numerous House Members have 
said in the last few days. Do they want to go off that cliff or do they 
want to recklessly hammer the global economy? Maybe both.
  We need to get to work immediately to avoid being right back here on 
December 11 facing another Republican shutdown because if one thing is 
clear, it is that Republicans see impending catastrophe as a political 
tool that they need to exploit.
  The American people don't want another 15 months of Republican 
brinkmanship. Our constituents don't want every simple legislative task 
to turn into a doomsday clock. So I invite my Republican colleagues to 
quit governing by crisis. Let's put the threat of government shutdown 
to bed now, and then let's turn our attention to something that both 
sides agree on--getting rid of the dangerous sequester cuts.
  I have heard speeches given by the senior Senator from Arizona--
someone who knows a little bit about the military--and he says 
sequester cuts are terrible. I agree with him.
  These devastating cuts were never supposed to happen. They were meant 
to drive bipartisan budget negotiations. Getting rid of sequestration 
has wide bipartisan support in both Chambers, I hope. We should start 
working right now on a bipartisan budget fix that helps the military, 
helps the middle class, and puts our country on a more sound economic 
footing. And let's do it without the threat of a government shutdown. 
We can do it, but only if Republicans don't divert us to yet another 
catastrophe.

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