[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2430-2431]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WORKING TOGETHER FOR AMERICA

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, at a press conference the day after the 
elections in November, President Obama said: ``I am eager to work with 
the new Congress to make the next 2 years as productive as possible.''
  Well, Republicans couldn't have been happier to hear that. After 
years of dysfunction in the Democrat-led Senate, Republicans were eager 
to get Washington working again for Americans and working with the 
President to get things done for the American people. We are still 
eager to work with the President, but, unfortunately, despite his 
words, the President hasn't shown much of an inclination to work with 
Congress.
  Between January 7 and February 10 of this year, President Obama 
issued a total of 13 veto threats. That is more than two veto threats 
per week during that period. He has announced his intention to veto 
everything from a bipartisan jobs bill to national security legislation 
to bills to protect the unborn. And, of course, he has threatened to 
veto the Keystone XL Pipeline bill--a threat he is likely to make good 
on this week.
  One would think that if President Obama were at all serious about 
wanting to work with Congress, Keystone would be the first bill he 
would sign. The American people support Keystone by a wide margin. 
Unions support Keystone because they are eager for the jobs that it 
would create. Substantial numbers of Democrats support Keystone.
  Here is what one Democrat had to say about the pipeline: ``We have 
everything to gain by building this pipeline, especially since it would 
help create thousands of jobs right here at home and limit our 
dependence on foreign oil.'' That is from a Democrat here in the 
Senate.
  Approving Keystone is a no-brainer. It would support 42,000 jobs 
during construction, would contribute billions to our economy, and 
would bring in substantial revenue to State and local governments which 
would mean more money for local priorities such as schools and 
teachers, roads and bridges. It would do all of this without spending a 
dime--not a single dime of taxpayer money.
  The President's refusal to approve this legislation is a signal of 
just how unserious he is about wanting to work with Congress to get 
things done. Unfortunately, after a promising start Democrats in the 
Senate are starting to imitate President Obama's obstruction. Yesterday 
Democrats again voted to filibuster the Department of Homeland Security 
appropriations bill for the fourth time this month. What is their 
reason? They are desperate to protect the President's Executive action 
on immigration.
  Before President Obama decided to implement his Executive amnesty, he 
said 22 times he did not have the authority to take this action. In 
fact, in March of 2011 he told an audience:

       With respect to the notion that I can just suspend 
     deportation through executive order, that is just not the 
     case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has 
     passed. . . . we've got three branches of government. 
     Congress passes the law. The executive branch's job is to 
     enforce and implement those laws.

  That is from the President of the United States in March of 2011. At 
least eight Democrats have expressed similar concerns. This is from a 
Democrat here in the Senate: ``I have to be honest, how this is coming 
about makes me uncomfortable.''
  An independent Senator from Maine stated: ``I also frankly am 
concerned about the constitutional separation of powers.''
  This is an example of the reservations that have been expressed by 
Democrats right here in the Senate about the President's Executive 
amnesty.
  Last week a Federal judge agreed with the legal concerns the 
President had raised and ordered the administration to halt amnesty 
proceedings. Despite this, Democrats continue to try to protect funding 
for the President's unconstitutional action by preventing consideration 
of the Homeland Security appropriations bill.
  If Democrats object to parts of the bill, they need to vote to get on 
the bill so they can offer proposals to amend it. That is the way this 
place works. Republicans have made it very clear that we are ready and 
willing to vote on Democratic amendments. The leader on our side has 
said that when we get on the bill we will alternate amendments. It will 
be a free-flowing process, just as we committed to when we took the 
majority in the Senate.
  The Democrats object to the bill's lack of funding for the 
President's amnesty. Then they should offer amendments to restore the 
funding. That is simply how it works in the Senate. All we have to do 
is get on the bill. That just takes six Democrats to get us onto that 
legislation to give us an opportunity to actually debate this.
  When the Republicans took over the Senate in January, we made it our 
goal to get Washington working again. That is exactly what we have 
done. Our Democrat-controlled Senate was run on a strictly partisan 
line basis. The minority party was shut out of the debate and the 
amendment process, and the Senate spent much of its time on narrow, 
partisan legislation.
  Under Republican control the Senate floor has become once again an 
open forum for debate and amendments by Members of both parties. 
Republicans have allowed almost three times as many amendments in 
January alone as Democrats allowed in the entire calendar year of 2014.

[[Page 2431]]

  The Keystone XL Pipeline bill was passed with bipartisan support with 
amendments from Members of both parties. Republicans are eager to 
continue this bipartisan process going forward. That is why the 
obstruction of the President and the Democrats in this particular 
circumstance is so disappointing.
  Nobody around here expects Democrats and Republicans to always agree. 
They certainly don't expect the President to never issue a veto threat. 
But the President's apparent determination to obstruct everything is 
pretty discouraging.
  If the President continues to make veto threats at the same rate he 
has so far, we will be looking at almost 90 veto threats by the end of 
2015. The American people deserve and expect better. Americans sent a 
clear message in the last election. They were tired of business as 
usual in Washington. They want Members of Congress and the President to 
work together to address the challenges facing our Nation. Clearly, the 
President still hasn't managed to process that message.

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