Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to pay one final tribute to Gary Petersen, a close friend and devoted public servant who recently passed away. Gary's devotion to the Tri-Cities was unparalleled, with his work covering everything from our national security, to environmental cleanup, to the growing and evolving missions of the Hanford Site and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory--PNNL--in my home State of Washington. This certainly isn't the first time I have spoken in honor of Gary. He was a Washingtonian through and through, raised in Okanogan County before serving in the military and eventually attending my alma mater, Washington State University. He went on to work for more than five decades in the Tri-Cities before retiring in 2017, and over the years, I had the great pleasure of working with Gary time and time again. In 1965, Gary landed his first job out of college at Battelle, and he couldn't have had better timing--Battelle had just won a contract to operate a major research and development laboratory at the Hanford Site, which is now known as PNNL. Gary was truly in on the ground floor, working in communications and handling other tasks including leading tours of the Hanford Site, which eventually became his specialty. Whether he was showing around new employees, elected officials, or foreign dignitaries, Gary gave a tour of the sprawling 580-square-mile site that is still unsurpassed. Afterward, Gary briefly worked in Nevada for the Department of Energy's--DOE--predecessor--the Atomic Energy Commission--before returning to Washington to work for Westinghouse on the new Fast Flux Test Facility project. Gary further honed his nuclear expertise later working for the Washington Public Power Supply System, which is now Energy Northwest. He went on to rejoin Battelle to work at PNNL, eventually working on key international nuclear safety programs established following the Chernobyl disaster. Eventually, Gary was recruited to volunteer on a part-time basis at the Tri-City Development Council. In true Gary fashion, this quickly became a full-time commitment and he spent the rest of his career advocating on behalf of the Tri-Cities--in Washington, DC, Olympia, and everywhere in between until his retirement in 2017. One project that Gary spearheaded before his retirement resulted in DOE returning 1,614 acres of unused Hanford land just north of Richland to the Tri-Cities for economic development. His advocacy--whether it was for small local businesses, historical preservation efforts, or Washington State interests in the Columbia River Treaty--was unmatched. And the impact of his work has only become more evident in the last few years: The progress on Hanford cleanup, the preservation of Hanford's B reactor, the expansion of workforce safety programs at the Hanford Site, and the Tri-Cities' growing role in the clean energy future are all tied to Gary's decades of effort. Gary was always quick with a story and a smile. He loved to share the account of how Hanford came to be, from the beginning with Colonel Franklin Matthias selecting a location north of Richland for the Manhattan Project's plutonium plant, to the site's growth to meet our country's needs during the Cold War, to the Hanford cleanup mission today. He would explain how Hanford's growth transformed Richland and the Tri-Cities, shaping everything from the region's architecture to the day-to-day life of its residents. He loved getting into the nitty- gritty of the Federal budgeting and the appropriations process and thrilled at telling anyone who would listen about the six research alligators that were at one point kept at the Hanford Site and escaped in the middle of a storm--five of them safely returned and one proudly displayed at a sports shop in downtown Richland for years. Through it all, Gary was as committed and passionate as they come. It is no wonder that Washington State University's Hanford History Project asked him to contribute to its oral history collection; I am glad he did so that generations to come can enjoy and learn from Gary's firsthand accounts. Washington State has benefited tremendously from Gary's vision and his drive to improve the Tri-Cities and the Hanford Site. He was an important partner to me and one of the first to recognize all that the region had to offer. Gary was a force of nature, whose vision and work will be felt for generations. Whether he was walking the halls of Congress or leading a tour of the B reactor, he was a fountain of knowledge and energy. Gary leaves behind a tremendous legacy, and I am among the countless individuals who are grateful for his mentorship and friendship. His memory will be cherished, and he will be dearly missed.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back, and that the scheduled vote begin immediately.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, as you well know, because we have talked about it, our childcare system is simply broken. It is not working for families across our country, and we face a crisis now that continues to grow worse. I have said that many times--many times--and I will say it again and again and again until we fix this broken system for good. And I am not the only one here in Congress who feels that way. Earlier this month, 48 of my Senate colleagues sent a letter to me and Vice Chair Collins, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell urging us to include childcare funding in any emergency supplemental. Today, many of them are joining me here on the Senate floor to lift up the concerns that we are hearing from parents and making the case for providing robust childcare funding without delay. We cannot pretend that childcare is any less urgent than the other challenges that we face. For every parent, childcare is a do-it-now problem, not a do-it-later problem. We need to treat it the same way here: urgent and essential. Parents can't wait. They have to go to work tomorrow. They need accessible options now. Childcare workers cannot wait. They have to pay rent this month. They have to put food on their table tonight. They need a salary that lets them take care of their own families and that lets them keep doing what they love, instead of taking higher pay in retail or food services to keep their families afloat. Providers can't wait. Their margins are already razor thin. If they don't get the support they need to cover operating costs until after they have raised prices and cut off families, after workers have already left, or after they are forced to close their doors, well, it is too late. The writing on the wall is right now in big, bold letters. The childcare crisis is only going to get worse unless we take action and soon. Childcare providers across the country are hanging on by a thread, especially now that our stabilization funding has expired, cutting off the lifeline that helped 220,000 providers stay open and helped provide childcare to nearly 10 million kids, while raising wages for childcare workers and lowering prices for working families. If childcare centers don't get the support they need to make ends meet, the options for children and families is not pretty. We are talking about a very real possibility that childcare centers have to reduce the pay for their staff, lay off staff, serve fewer kids and families, raise their prices, or, in many cases, just simply shut their door. This is a huge problem for working parents who can scarcely find childcare as it is. And even if they can find openings, that doesn't mean they can afford them. In fact, the already high cost of childcare is only getting worse. The latest data shows that in September, childcare prices jumped by the largest percent in a year. That means parents--especially moms--are feeling the crunch, and far too many are going to be forced to leave their job or unable to return to the workforce because it just doesn't square with their family finances. Back in my home State, I have heard so many stories of families who are struggling with this. I just read a story about two parents, Lara and Rob. Rob had to leave his company to get a more flexible schedule because childcare was too expensive. So he and Lara have to trade off shifts and work fewer hours to make sure someone is watching the kids. And they are far from the only ones struggling with this. The KUOW article featuring their story this week also mentioned a woman named Monica--she is a therapist and former childcare worker who trades off working and watching the kids with her husband who is a police officer--and Skye, who is also trading off shifts with her husband since their childcare provider closed. As she put it, ``I definitely can't pay for soccer and my mortgage and some child care. I have to pick. So we've chosen soccer and mortgage and putting together this bizarre schedule where my husband is exhausted all the time and we barely see each other.'' That is what parents are going through across Washington State and across our entire country. It is hurting everyone. You can draw a straight line from the expiration of the childcare stabilization funds at the end of September to the painful closure of childcare providers, to the subsequent scramble now by parents to find new and likely more expensive childcare for their kids, that is squeezing parents out of hours on the job, if not out of the workforce entirely, right to the employers who are left without the workers they need because you better believe it is going to have an impact on their bottom line. Failing to shore up our childcare industry that holds up nearly every sector of our economy in the midst of a workforce shortage that is hitting small businesses and big firms alike will cost us a lot more than the investment in childcare we are asking for. We are going to lose jobs; we are going to lose workers; and our economy is going to continue to lose billions more in lost wages and revenue and growth. We are talking a serious meltdown that costs our economy big if we fail to value our families and invest in the people parents need to watch over their kids. There is no reason for this, not if we take action and take it soon. As the Presiding Officer well knows, we cannot ignore childcare. This is hugely important for our national economy. It is one of the biggest line items on family budgets in many States, including my home State of Washington. Childcare now costs more than college tuition. We have to continue to stabilize the childcare system instead of standing by and letting things get worse and worse and worse. Families get this, all of my colleagues on the floor with me today get this, and thankfully President Biden does as well. The President sent Congress a request for supplemental funding for urgent domestic priorities, and childcare was at the top of that list. Now I am calling on all of our colleagues on both sides of this aisle to work with us to pass a package that funds critical needs at home, especially childcare. I think everyone understands there is a lot happening in the world today. That is why we absolutely need to pass supplemental funding to meet our urgent national security challenges and soon, but as we continue to work to do that, we also have to tackle the problems families face here at home, and that means addressing the growing childcare crisis. We are the United States of America. We can stand with our allies around the world and tackle the challenges we face with our families here at home. If we are serious about the strength of this Nation, our communities, and our families, we have got to respond to the domestic challenges with the same resolve as we do with the national security challenges. I am going to continue to work hard with everyone to do that, and I appreciate everybody's support and all of my colleagues who are here today to speak out on this. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and congratulate Mary Ellen Stone on her retirement, after 44 years of service leading the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, KCSARC. Over that time, she has laid essential foundations, establishing and strengthening the organization into what has become a respected, comprehensive nonprofit provider of supportive services for survivors of sexual assault and their families. Her passion, tenacity, and leadership have shaped KCSARC into the strong, vibrant nonprofit it is today. Mary Ellen began at KCSARC in 1979, serving about 100 clients with a staff of 3 and a budget of $50,000. As she retires in 2023, the nonprofit serves 5,000 survivors and their families with a staff of more than 70 and an annual budget of $8.2 million. Over four decades, Mary Ellen has been a bold, visionary advocate for sexual assault survivors throughout King County and the State of Washington. Mary Ellen was influential in establishing the State's first accreditation process for sexual assault providers, professionalizing service delivery and ensuring core services are available to survivors in every county of the State. Under Mary Ellen's leadership, KCSARC published one of the first educational pieces in the Nation for parents to talk with their children about sexual assault called ``He Told Me Not to Tell.'' It was a milestone for community awareness about child sexual abuse. Today, this publication remains a foundational educational tool, and its importance and relevance remain to this day as half of KCSARC's clients are children and teens under 18 years old. Mary Ellen's vision and tenacity allowed KCSARC to respond to specific unmet needs in the community, including to sexual assault survivors who are experiencing homelessness, children and youth survivors, and Latino survivors. Mary Ellen has shared her time and expertise in so many ways to better inform systems and communities about the needs of victims, including serving on the Seattle Archdiocese Review Board, Mental Illness Drug Dependence Oversight Board, Seattle Chief of Police Search committees, Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, Sex Offender Management Committee, Women's Funding Alliance, and Municipal League Seattle-King County. It has been a great privilege to work with Mary Ellen--a true trailblazer--over the last four decades. And it is my honor to thank her for her lifetime of dedicated service to people in King County, the State of Washington, and the entire country. I wish her the very best during her well-earned retirement.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, there is a lot we need to get done. As soon as we prevent a shutdown by passing this continuing resolution, we need to come together in a bipartisan way to keep working on things like the comprehensive supplemental funding package for Ukraine and Israel, for humanitarian assistance, and more. And, of course, we have to pass our full-year spending bills that live up to the agreement this Congress passed in a bipartisan way and meet the needs of our communities. These are real issues that we need to take seriously and move on quickly. And then there is this amendment, which--let's all be honest--is just not serious but would be absolutely devastating. This amendment would slash huge swaths of discretionary spending by a whopping and totally arbitrary 15 percent, not to mention the cut to the IRS of $30 billion. We are talking across the board cuts with no rhyme or reason that would devastate our families, our economy, our competitive edge, and our national security. That is not a solution. It is not serious. It is a gift to our adversaries, who want us to fall behind. And it is a slap in the face to families across the country who are counting on the critical investments Congress makes in their communities. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting against it. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I will vote for this bill to avoid a senseless shutdown although I do not care for this idea of two funding deadlines and double the shutdown risk. But the big picture I am focused on right now is what happens next, because avoiding a shutdown is so very far from mission accomplished. We have a lot of work to do after the dust settles and before the next shutdown deadline comes up. Now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. It is time to roll up our sleeves and pass supplemental funding to address urgent global challenges and critical priorities here at home. Our leadership is on the line and with it, the security of our allies and our Nation. We cannot do half of our job here. We need a supplemental that fully addresses the challenges to Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian aid, and the Indo-Pacific. And we are not pitting American families against America's global leadership. We have got to tackle the childcare crisis and other urgent domestic priorities just as we address our urgent national security priorities. We are the United States of America. We can and must do both. And, on that note, let me just say this: Failing to fully fund WIC for the first time ever is not an acceptable outcome to me under any circumstances. Now, turning to the year ahead, if we don't want to be right back here in a few weeks facing a one-two-punch shutdown threat, we need all of us to get serious about 1-year postspending bills. So I have an important message for Speaker Johnson and the House Republicans. We can only get these spending bills done if we are all on the same page when it comes to the topline numbers. The good news is, that is already a settled matter, because we actually passed bipartisan toplines in the debt limit deal that House Republicans and the President negotiated--a deal that Speaker Johnson voted for, along with so many other Members on both sides of the aisle in both Chambers. So let's be clear: The negotiating has already happened. House Republicans just need to stick to their word and what they helped pass into law. I am glad to see the Speaker abandon tying cuts or extreme policies to this CR. He will also need to do that to our annual bills if we are going to be able to conference any of them, because if we can't get back to those toplines that this Congress has already agreed to, we are not going to get anywhere. It is that simple. We have to work together; we have to keep our word; and we have to compromise. That means listening to the other side, making some tough decisions, leaving out partisan nonstarters, and writing a bill that can actually pass into law. That is going to make a difference for the people we represent at home. That is exactly how Vice Chair Collins and I have been able to work with Members across the political spectrum to craft 12 bipartisan spending bills. So let's get to work. Let's end this threat of a government shutdown. Then let's get that full-year funding our Nation needs signed into law. I yield back all time.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.

Mrs. MURRAY. I object.