[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6174-6175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CONTINUING RESOLUTION

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, as we know, the Senate is considering a 
stopgap--continuing resolution--to keep the government of the American 
people open for business. The stopgap, of course, helps us forget the 
fact that in November we had all the appropriations bills ready to go, 
but the leadership asked us to hold it off.
  Now, I am going to support this 1-week continuing resolution, because 
I believe we are close to a bipartisan agreement that would avoid the 
devastating consequences of a government shutdown and save the Congress 
from once again facing the disruption and humiliation of failing to 
meet Congress's obligation to fund the basic functions of our 
government.
  But we shouldn't be in this situation. We shouldn't have allowed 
partisan politics to once again turn a looming deadline into a 
political standoff and what is really a manufactured crisis.
  As I have said, our work could have been and should have been 
completed in November. We were prepared to do that. We were 90 percent 
to the finish line--98 percent, actually, to the finish line. 
Republicans and Democrats had worked together. But at the request of 
then-President-Elect Trump, all work ground to a halt. For 5 months we 
have faced one partisan obstacle after another from the Trump 
administration, including a demand to fund a misguided wall on the 
southern border at the expense of billions of dollars that would have 
to be paid for--not by Mexico or anybody else. It would be paid for by 
the American taxpayers. The administration then threatened to hold 
hostage the basic health insurance of millions of Americans, crippling 
the Affordable Care Act. This is more than insulting. It is malicious, 
and it is wrong.
  Now the other side of the aisle is holding the budget of the American 
people hostage, insisting we include dozens of poison pill riders as 
the price for funding the people's government and to advance their 
partisan agenda on abortion, Dodd-Frank, Wall Street reforms, and the 
environment.
  The Republicans control both Houses of Congress and the White House. 
If they want to pass legislation on these divisive issues, then bring 
the bills to the floor and vote on them, instead of trying to hide them 
in an appropriations bill. If they really believe in all these poison 
pill amendments, then vote on them. Bring up legislation. They control 
the House and the Senate. They can bring it up anytime they want.

[[Page 6175]]

  Partisan politics should not be tied to must-pass spending bills, 
because it is never the right time to play politics with the lives of 
the American people and the government of the wealthiest and most 
powerful Nation on Earth.
  I think it is very obvious why they want to hide them in an 
appropriations bill. They don't want to vote on it and give great 
speeches on the wall, on our southern border. They know that they don't 
have enough Republican votes to pass it.
  One party now controls the White House and both Chambers of Congress. 
It is incumbent upon the Republicans to ensure that the government of 
the American people stays open and is fully funded. I am afraid that 
the partisan bluster threatens to derail months of bipartisan 
negotiations.
  As vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, I have 
been involved in those negotiations. Charles Kieffer and Chanda 
Betourney have worked almost around the clock for weeks representing us 
on the Appropriations Committee. If the bluster and the posturing would 
stop, we could wrap this up.
  I hope that with one more week, our bipartisan and our bicameral 
negotiations, consistent with the bipartisan budget agreement and 
without poison pills, can continue, because this is no way to govern.
  To date, negotiations have produced many positive outcomes for the 
American people. We have increased investments in the National 
Institutes of Health. We secured full year Pell grants. We made 
investments in transit.
  As to something that should be of concern to every single Senator 
from every single State, we made funding available to address the 
opioid crisis. That is not a Democratic or Republican issue. That is a 
human issue. Every single State in this country is facing an opioid 
crisis. I am pleased that Republicans and Democrats came together to 
address it.
  Let's not govern by partisan manufactured crises. Let's do what the 
American people expect us to do and come together to pay the bills of 
our country. Stop posturing. We are the greatest democracy on Earth, 
the most powerful and the wealthiest Nation on Earth. Let's start 
acting that way. Let's start governing as we should. Let's not hide 
these divisive issues in an appropriations bill. Let's have votes 
straight up or down. Let people vote and show their constituents, the 
American people, where they stand. Don't hide behind a must-pass 
appropriations bill. It is not the way we should govern. It is not the 
way I want to do it. I am perfectly willing to cast votes on major 
issues, even if they are controversial.
  We have 6-year terms here. We ought to be willing to be the 
conscience of the Nation. That is what the Senate is supposed to be. In 
my years here, I have seen times when we have been under both 
Republican and Democratic leadership. We are not acting as the 
conscience of the Nation now. We have to go back to that. I really hope 
we will.
  We have good men and women in this body on both sides of the aisle. 
Let's start showing the conscience of this great Nation. Let's start 
governing in reality, not by rhetoric. Governing is not a Twitter feed. 
Governing is debating the issues and coming to a conclusion for the 
American people.
  I see nobody else seeking recognition.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kennedy). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. 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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