[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14597]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         GETTING OUR WORK DONE

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, while the President-elect is considering 
additional nominees to fill his Cabinet, we in the Senate--working 
together with our House colleagues--have our own responsibilities to 
fulfill before the end of this year.
  Most pressing is legislation to fund the government, something that 
unfortunately has been hindered by our Democratic colleagues slow-
walking the appropriations process. Actually, calling it slow-walking 
is a little too generous. What they did is block the normal 
appropriations process, where the 12 separate appropriations bills 
would be voted out of committee--which they were, on a bipartisan 
basis--but then they would come across the floor of the Senate where 
amendments would be offered, and we would actually vote on them before 
sending them to the President to be signed into law.
  Instead of this normal process--which is transparent, it is 
bipartisan, in the best traditions of the Senate--we were denied the 
opportunity to do that, resulting now in our need to pass a year-end 
continuing resolution, kicking the funding of the government over to 
perhaps sometime in the spring. This was strictly as a result of the 
gamesmanship of our colleagues, many of them blocking the same 
appropriations bills they voted for, on a bipartisan basis, before the 
Appropriations Committee itself.
  Despite those obstructions, we have actually tried to do some good 
work. We passed our first bicameral budget since 2009. As I said, the 
Appropriations Committee voted out all 12 appropriations bills.
  Despite the obstructionism we have seen and despite where we find 
ourselves, I ask all of us to take stock of where we are, given what we 
saw happen in the historic election of November 8. I think the American 
people have made very clear they want the government to function and 
they don't have a lot of tolerance for gamesmanship or partisanship or 
obstruction, but we cannot move forward with other substantial 
legislative goals until we address funding for the remainder of this 
fiscal year. While I am disappointed we find ourselves where we are 
today--having to pass another short-term continuing resolution until 
next March or so--this waiting until the last minute is not a good way 
to do business. I hope next year, with the new administration and with 
the leadership of Senator McConnell, Speaker Ryan in the House, and 
with more cooperation from our Democratic colleagues, we can have a 
regular and open appropriations process, one that will serve the 
American people much better. It will certainly serve the interests of 
the Defense Department and other people who need to be able to plan 
beyond 2 months or 3 months in terms of what they can do with the money 
Congress is going to appropriate.
  Until then, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to set 
aside the disputes we have had over the last year and the election 
itself--which I know some are finding it easier to see the results of 
the election in the rearview mirror than others, as evidenced by the 
comments I heard from the Senator from Massachusetts when I came to the 
floor--but we need to pass a bill that will fund the government and 
allow us to move forward. I hope we can do that. Then, once we have 
completed the work for this year, we can come back in the new year with 
a new administration, a new Congress, and recommit ourselves to doing 
the people's work and doing it in a consensus-building, bipartisan way 
that listens to what our constituents are telling us they want, not the 
siren call of the people who think they know better than they do what 
is good for them but to listen to the American people and then get 
about the work of passing legislation which promotes their interests. 
This is first to assure for the common defense but, secondly, to make 
sure our economy starts to grow again so people who want to find work 
or want better paying jobs can find work available so they can provide 
for their families and pursue their American dream.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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