[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13061]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE REPUBLICAN-LED SENATE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Republican-led Senate recently returned 
from the longest summer recess in more than a half a century. It is 
depicted here in the chart I wish to share with my colleagues. The 
black lines are when we are not working. Where there are not black 
lines is when we work, keeping in mind that many of our work days are 
not the work days of the people we represent. Some work days are 3 or 4 
hours at the most.
  The Republican Senate just simply doesn't work. The chart represents 
the fewest working days since 1956. Our country has grown since then. 
But here it is. A picture is worth a thousand words. I won't say a 
thousand words this morning, but I will say a few more things.
  We are here today when the Republican-led Senate is on track to work 
fewer days in 2016 than in any year since 1956, when I was in high 
school. Republicans owe the taxpayers who fund their paychecks an 
apology--and they really do--for showing up to work fewer days this 
year than any Senate in all those many decades.
  One would think the Republicans would be embarrassed by their 
indolence--but apparently not. Instead of apologizing for their 
absenteeism, Republicans are demanding even more time off.
  Today I read in the newspaper--there are news accounts all over the 
country--that Republicans are whining about being asked to show up to 
do their jobs. They are asking for more weeks of recess. They are 
saying that Democrats are holding up what we are doing in Congress--how 
about that.
  We are so far down the road here that not much can be done because we 
are in what we call postcloture procedure in almost everything we do 
around here. We are going to vote in just a few hours, and it will be 
another time when we can't do anything because we are postcloture. But 
that is the calendar the Republican leader set. We didn't. That is the 
calendar we should stick to, I guess, is what we are being told. Let's 
black off a few more days. It is scary, but that is what they want. If 
we take more time off, the Senate will not have just worked fewer days 
in any year since 1956, but we may have to go back further in history 
to find a Senate that worked as few days as this one--a long time back.
  So I have a short answer for the Republicans who complain about being 
asked to earn their paychecks. Cry us all a river. Stop complaining 
about not having enough time off.
  People out there who are watching this work different kinds of jobs. 
Some are retired, but they worked. They know what it is like to work. 
They never gave themselves extra weeks of vacation whenever they felt 
like it and neither should Senate Republicans.

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