Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 195. I ask unanimous consent that there now be up to 10 minutes of debate, equally divided, on the motion to concur and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the motion to concur with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk on the motion to concur.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 195, with a further amendment.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to concur with amendment.

Mr. McCONNELL. I object.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this is not terribly complicated. We have been in discussions for a couple of months on all of the issues that are urgent--the funding of the government, the Children's Health Insurance Program--and other matters that we all know need to be dealt with. My good friend, the Democratic leader, is saying we have had too many continuing resolutions but suggests we pass yet another one, and the bill that is before us that we just voted to proceed to, I believe, enjoys the support--every element of it enjoys the support of almost everybody on both sides of the aisle. So it is appropriate to ask the question, Why are we where we are? There is only one reason: the continuous interjection of an issue, about which there is no urgency, into a discussion about how to deal with a potpourri of issues that do need to be urgently met, and that is the issue of illegal immigration. So what our friends on the other side are saying is, they are prepared to shut down the government over the issue of illegal immigration. On that issue, there is a bipartisan interest in solving the DACA problem, but the President has given us until March. The last time I looked this was January. My colleagues, where is the urgency here? There isn't any. So the reason these talks have gone on so long is because they have insisted, continuously, on throwing the illegal immigration issue into the pool of these other issues and are now saying to the American people: We are going to shut the government down if we can't have our way on this issue right now, even though it only becomes a problem in March. So I hope the American people understand why we are where we are. No amount of trying to obfuscate this and confuse it with all of these other issues makes any sense at all. There is pretty broad bipartisan agreement that we need to address every single one of these issues, but the reason we are here right now is, our friends on the other side say: Solve this illegal immigration problem right now or we are going to shut the government down. That is a fact. That is not spin. That is a fact. That is the only reason why we are where we are tonight. So I hope the American people will not be confused about this. We want to fund the government. We want to solve the S-CHIP problem and a variety of other issues that almost all others agree on, and we wanted to do it before tomorrow night, but my assumption is at some point between now and tomorrow night, 41 Members of the opposition party are going to prevent us from passing a measure, the details of which they all support, because they can't get their way on this illegal immigration issue which really only becomes urgent in March. I yield the floor.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I renew my unanimous consent request that I propounded earlier.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Democratic leader has mentioned a variety of issues, all of which were being discussed over the last 2 months in the hopes that we could reach an agreement to address them all. So now, I gather, he is saying he opposes the bill because it doesn't have everything we have been talking about in it, even though the things that are in the bill he does like. So the complaint now is, it doesn't have the other issues in it. The reason it doesn't have the other issues in it is because we haven't been able to reach a global agreement on how much we are going to spend. These talks have been going on endlessly. Many of you have not been involved in them. We are exhausted. On and on and on we have been talking about all this--everything the Democratic leader has mentioned. Why will they never let us reach an agreement? Illegal immigration. That is what they shoehorned into all this--shoehorned that issue right into this and said: We will not solve any of this other stuff until we deal with this. Now I gather the Democratic leader is questioning the good faith of some of us about whether we want to deal with the DACA issue. I do. I see Senator Cotton back here, Senator Tillis--I think we all would like to deal with the DACA issue, but there are some serious problems with legal immigration, and this is a big enough issue to warrant being discussed all by itself without being shoehorned into a bill full of real emergencies because there is no real emergency in the immigration area. We have until March to deal with it. So make no mistake about it, we are where we are for one reason and one reason only, within a day of a government shutdown, and that is the insistence of our friends on the other side that we deal with this nonemergency right now because they were unwilling to close out all of these other issues we have been discussing ad nauseam, literally for months.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 11 a.m., Friday, January 19; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 195.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the House has sent us a bill that should be an easy ``yes'' vote for every Senator in this Chamber--an easy ``yes'' vote. This bill continues government funding, prevents a needless shutdown, and extends a key health insurance program for vulnerable children for 6 years. Its content is bipartisan. There are no provisions that any of my Democratic friends oppose. It is a simple step that will let us continue bipartisan talks without throwing the government into disarray for no reason. Americans are surprised this is even a debate. I don't blame them. I share their surprise that some Democratic Senators see the prospect of a government shutdown for more than 300 million Americans, see a possible lapse in health coverage for 9 million vulnerable American kids, and they have attempted to hold all of that hostage until we resolve a nonimminent problem related to illegal immigration. The surprise is compounded for anyone who listens to the public statements of my Democratic colleagues and takes them at their word. Less than a week ago, the senior Senator from Colorado was asked whether it was prudent to shut the government down over the issue of illegal immigration. He insisted it was not. Last month, my friend, the senior Senator from West Virginia, had this to say: ``I'm not going to make 300 million people suffer because I can't get the process working the way it should.'' The junior Senator from Virginia put it even more clearly. This is what he had to say: ``I will exercise every bit of leverage I can . . . but if there is a vote that would lead to a shutdown, that is where I draw the line.'' Not more than 2 days ago, the senior Senator from Missouri said she wasn't ``interested in drawing a line in the sand'' because ``that's how negotiations get blown up.'' Well, I hope their votes this evening reflect those recent statements. Some of my colleagues say they are reluctant to support this measure not because of illegal immigration but simply because they are tired of continuing resolutions. They point out that this is a suboptimal way to fund our government, especially our warfighters. That is precisely why Republicans worked hard all last month and all this month--all last month and all this month--to try to negotiate a long-term spending caps agreement that would bring stability back to government funding, but the Democratic leadership made it clear they would not be serious about these spending talks until this unrelated immigration issue was solved. So now, unfortunately, a continuing resolution is the only option our Armed Forces have this evening. Let's not pretend for a moment--not a moment--that our men and women in uniform and their families benefit from a government shutdown. This is how we got here. My Democratic colleagues' demand on illegal immigration, at the behest of their far-left base, have crowded out all other important business. They have crowded it all out over the issue of illegal immigration. Now they are threatening to crowd out the needs of veterans, military families, opioid treatment centers, and every other American who relies on the Federal Government, all over illegal immigration. There is no imminent deadline facing the DACA Program. Congress has at least until March to arrive at a bipartisan solution that is acceptable to Republicans, Democrats, and the person who needs to sign the bill--the President of the United States. Do veterans, opioid treatment centers, and the families of fallen soldiers need to suffer before a compromise is reached? Democratic Senators' fixation on illegal immigration has already blocked us from making progress on long-term spending talks. Now, that same fixation over illegal immigration has them threatening to filibuster funding for the whole government. Years ago, my friend, the Democratic leader, described how irresponsible it would be to shut down the government over the issue of immigration. He said it would result in ``governmental chaos.'' That is what my friend, the Democratic leader, said a while back, but earlier today on the floor, he insisted that we put every other American priority on hold--put it on hold--until we resolve immigration. Only then, he said, can we work on defense spending or domestic spending or CHIP or disaster relief--put all of that on hold over the issue of illegal immigration with no imminent deadline. It only needs to be addressed by March. Well, that is apparently how our Democratic colleagues rank their priorities. It is not how I would rank mine. I don't think it is how many of our colleagues on either side would rank theirs either, but we will have a chance to find out in the coming days. It is certainly not how the American people expect us to act. I think the American people clearly would not expect us to act this way. The bill before us is an opportunity to correct course. It is a chance for my colleagues to remember that we represent millions and millions of American citizens. The American people want the Federal Government open for veterans, military families, and the vulnerable. They want food and drug inspections to continue without interruption. They want death benefits to continue to go out to the families of servicemembers killed in action. They want children in low-income families to continue receiving health coverage through SCHIP. They want a sensible compromise on immigration. But they cannot for the life of them understand why--why-- some Senators would hold the entire country hostage until we arrive at a solution to a problem that doesn't fully materialize until March. Military families, veterans, and children benefiting from the SCHIP program don't need to be shoved aside--they don't need to be shoved aside--while we continue good-faith negotiations. So we ought to pass this resolution, and we ought to get back to work.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, not to prolong the debate, but the Presidency under our constitutional system is not irrelevant. He is the person who signs things into law. And most of us in the House and Senate on the Republican side are interested in what his views are, and those have not been made fully apparent yet. What we have before us deals with a real emergency--tomorrow night at midnight. What our friends on the other side are pushing is not an emergency. It doesn't have anything to do with what is before us. It is completely irrelevant to the issue of avoiding a government shutdown and taking care of 300 million Americans, most of whom depend on the government in one way or another.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I understand the Senate has received a message from the House to accompany H.R. 195.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I move that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany H.R. 195 and ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now, on another matter, as we all know, Congress has until Friday to reach an agreement that ensures continued funding for the Federal Government. By now, it is clear we are not yet ready to move ahead with a major agreement on long-term funding for our Armed Forces, nor on our immigration policy. Serious, bipartisan talks are underway on these issues and other key priorities. Compromise solutions are not out of reach, but for now, Congress needs to keep the government running. There is no cause whatsoever for manufacturing a crisis and holding up funding for the vital services of the Federal Government. What is more, the near-term solution that Congress must pass this week will not only provide uninterrupted government funding, it will also contain a 6-year reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. This is a Federal program that covers nearly 9 million children in low-income families. It ensures that economic hardship will not stand between struggling American families and medical coverage for their children. S-CHIP enjoys widespread, bipartisan support, with dedicated champions on both sides of the aisle. The funding bill we will take up in the Senate will reauthorize the program for 6 years, even longer than the bipartisan compromise the Senate Finance Committee reached just last year. So Senators face a lot of hard decisions, but this is not one of them. A bill that prevents a government shutdown and funds S-CHIP for up to 6 years should be a simple choice for every Senator in this Chamber, and until very recently, our Democratic colleagues agreed. ``No-brainer'' was the exact phrase my colleague, the senior Senator from California, recently used on the Senate floor when discussing S-CHIP renewal. The newest Member of this body, the junior Senator from Alabama, campaigned on this very issue. As Senator-elect, he insisted that his future colleagues should ``stop playing political football with the health care of our children.'' He called it ``absolutely unacceptable for partisan fighting to delay renewing funding for CHIP.'' I hope my friends, the Democratic leaders, are listening to their own Members because recently some have intimated that Democrats will filibuster any funding bill whatsoever over the issue of illegal immigration. I find it difficult to believe that my Democratic colleagues would want to shut down the government for American citizens and vote down a 6-year reauthorization of health insurance for American children all over illegal immigration. Bipartisan negotiations over the DACA issue and other issues in immigration policy are certainly important, and they are ongoing. Our responsibility is to continue those discussions, not to jeopardize them by ginning up a manufactured crisis over an artificial deadline. We have until March, at least, to complete our ongoing negotiations on immigration. We have until Friday to fund the government. I would urge my Democratic friends to honor their stated commitments to join in a bipartisan effort to keep the government funded and reauthorize S-CHIP for struggling families across our country.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, another wave of economic optimism is breaking across America after last month's historic tax reform legislation. Already, for weeks, we have seen special bonuses, pay increases, and other tax reform benefits delivered to workers across the Nation. These immediate benefits are just the first fruits. Tax reform is also planting the seeds of long-term wage growth and job creation by making America a more attractive place for entrepreneurship and for investment. We learned last week that the automaker Fiat Chrysler is renewing production lines in America where prohibitive business taxes once stood in the way. Now, 2,500 new jobs are coming to Detroit, thanks to tax reform. Just yesterday, I was pleased to announce that Humana, which employs more than 12,000 Kentuckians, is accelerating pay incentives and increasing its minimum hourly wage because of tax reform. The good news keeps coming. Toyota and Mazda are doubling down on existing investments in the United States, announcing plans to create 4,000 new jobs in Huntsville, AL. The world is noticing that America is open for business, and in large part it is because we have shaken off an outdated, burdensome Tax Code. Reforming the Tax Code was not easy. It was made even more challenging when none of our Democratic colleagues in the House or the Senate--not one--stood with taxpayers and job creators to vote for this once-in-a- generation tax relief, but thanks to Republican majorities in Congress and a Republican White House, the benefits for working Americans are just beginning.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now, on another matter, the Senate will soon vote to reauthorize important provisions of the FISA Amendments Act. This includes section 702, one of the most important tools used by our national security community to combat terrorism and to keep Americans safe. It gives our law enforcement and intelligence communities the ability to collect communications from foreign terrorists on foreign soil who wish harm to America and our allies. This capability is absolutely vital to the success of defense and intelligence operations. To be absolutely clear, section 702 does not allow the targeting of American citizens, nor does it permit the targeting of anyone of any nationality who is known to be located here in the United States. Five years ago, Congress reauthorized the title with overwhelming bipartisan support. Today, it is time to do so one more time. It is no secret that the world remains dangerous. Terrorist groups remain as intent today as they did on September 11, 2001, on harming Americans and those working with us overseas. As the tragedies of that day become a more distant memory, we cannot grow lax and deny our defense and intelligence communities the tools and resources they require to prevent future attacks. I look forward to renewing the bipartisan consensus on this issue and voting to reauthorize this important provision very soon.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now, finally, on an entirely different matter, I would like to say a few words about Reb Brownell, a key member of my team who is departing the Senate today. Reb has served with distinction in my office for nearly 13 years. He began as an aide on foreign affairs, defense, and veterans issues. Since then, he has risen through the ranks, now serving as my personal office deputy chief of staff. Reb is a tireless worker and a loyal public servant. He has been my point person on more important issues than I can name, including my support for democracy in Burma and research on prominent Kentucky leaders throughout history. I know he is especially proud of our work to help Dr. Noelle Hunter bring her daughter back to America. I will miss more than Reb's fine work. I will miss him challenging my title as the biggest history buff in the office, and all his colleagues will miss Reb's genuine warmth, his quick wit and good humor, and his readiness to mentor young staffers. Of course, nobody is perfect. Reb is a diehard Michigan State fan. Fortunately, he never let it get in the way of serving the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I am sorry to see Reb go. I thank him for his service, and I wish him and his wife Sandy every success in their future endeavors.