Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, as I have indicated for the entire week, each day that goes by, each hour that goes by, each minute that goes by, we are that much closer to a government shutdown. I have been told that the House needs more time to work on this. They are saying that maybe what we need is an extension of the CR. The stock market, the financial community, the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--all of America--80 percent of the American people, including 75 percent of Republicans, think what is going on, not taking care of the finances of this country, is absolutely wrong. There is no reason to stall this. So I ask unanimous consent that at 6:30 p.m. today there be 1 hour of debate, with the first 40 minutes equally divided between proponents and opponents of the motion to invoke cloture and the last 20 minutes reserved for the two leaders, with my having the final 10 minutes, and Senator McConnell would speak before me, if he so chooses; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.J. Res. 59; that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back; the pending Reid amendment No. 1975 be withdrawn; that no other amendments be in order; that the majority leader be recognized to make a motion to waive applicable budget points of order; that if a motion to waive is agreed to, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Reid amendment No. 1974; that upon disposition of the Reid amendment, the joint resolution be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution, as amended, if amended; finally, that all after the first vote in this sequence of votes be 10-minute votes and there be 2 minutes equally divided between the votes. I will alert everyone, if we get this agreement, it means we would have up to four votes starting around 7:30 this evening. The House would get the bill probably tonight or in the morning, as soon as it can be processed. There would be a vote on cloture on H.J. Res. 59, a motion to waive budget points of order, the Mikulski-Reid amendment No. 1974, and passage of H.J. Res. 59, as amended, if amended. That is my request.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I appreciate my friend's request to modify my unanimous consent request. But my response to that--reserving the right to see if I would accept that--is this: Everyone in America-- everyone--knows what the issues are before this body. The Mikulski-Reid amendment we are going to be required to vote on is pretty simple. It says there will be nothing dealing with ObamaCare. We have changed the date to November 15 from December 15, and we have gotten rid of the ``pay China first.'' That is it. These so-called anomalies--I have met with the Republican leader. Staffs have gone over that--no problems with that. So this is an effort to stall, and I do not know why--an effort to stall. It is absolutely unfortunate because, I repeat, every minute that goes by is 1 minute closer to a government shutdown. Because when we finish this, we then have to have the American people focus on whether we are going to have a debt ceiling, whether we are going to again crash the economy, as we did the last time that threat came. Maybe someone thinks they can come with their great speaking ability tomorrow and change people's minds. Everybody in this body knows how the votes are going to go. This is going back to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has said--they have said publicly and they have said privately--they are going to send something back to us. I want to make sure, if they do that, we have time to process it. Stalling until tomorrow means they are not going to get it until Sunday. We would try our utmost to get it to them tonight, Friday, rather than sometime late Saturday or even maybe--well, we could get it to them sometime Saturday. They need time. Is this some kind of a subterfuge to close the government, because that is what is going to happen. We are not the House of Representatives. We have rules here that take a while for us to get places. I understand my friend from Utah says that we have two 30 hours and now we are moving this more quickly than the rules require. Madam President, what the American people see in the Senate--this new Senate--is everything is a big stall: Never do your work now. Wait until tomorrow. Maybe I will give this great speech that will turn the world around. This is senseless. How many times do we get the American people--80 percent of them--agreeing on anything? They think what is going on in this big stall is bad for the country--and it is. So I do not accept the modification. If there is an objection to this, if there is an objection to my request, I will work it out with the Republican leader as to what time we are going to do this.

Mr. REID. Madam President, I am not going to dwell on this because I want to yield to the Senator from Tennessee, but I do wish to say this. It is as obvious to me--and it is as obvious to me as it is to a kindergarten student--they did not want a vote yesterday. The big speeches we heard about how if you voted for cloture, you would vote to extend ObamaCare--they turned around and voted for it. This is a big charade that is not getting them where they need to go. They want to stop ObamaCare. They want to do everything again. They did not even want a vote on cloture yesterday. Of course, they wanted to skip that and just go a couple days so they could talk longer. People are tired of talking. They want us to get something done. The government is near the time that it will close. As I said this morning, a woman who works for the U.S. Park Service came to an event I had. She lives in Boulder City, NV. She and everybody who works there are afraid they are going to lose their jobs. They know what happened last time. They were laid off for 29 days and did not get paid for it. So I yield to my friend from Tennessee.

Mr. REID. We need a reasonable time. I would be happy to, but this is not going to be another long performance.

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

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am sorry that we are going to have to vote tomorrow and not today. The House is waiting for us to do something, to finish this, but we have two Senators who will not allow us to do that. We established that an hour or two ago. That is unfortunate. I ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on Friday, September 27, the time until 12:10 p.m. be equally divided between the proponents and opponents of the motion to invoke cloture on H.J. Res. 59; that the time from 12:10 p.m. until 12:30 p.m. be reserved for the two leaders, with the final 10 minutes under the control of the majority leader; that at 12:30 p.m. the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke closure on H.J. Res. 59; that if cloture is invoked, all time postcloture be yielded back; that the pending Reid amendment, No. 1975, be withdrawn; that no other amendments be in order; that the majority leader be recognized to make a motion to waive applicable budget points of order; that if a motion to waive is agreed to, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Reid amendment, No. 1974; that upon disposition of the Reid amendment, the joint resolution be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the joint resolution, as amended, if amended; finally, that all after the first vote in this sequence be 10-minute votes and there be 2 minutes equal divided between the votes.

Mr. REID. This agreement means we will have four votes tomorrow beginning about 12:30: cloture on H.J. Res 59; motion to waive budget points of order; amendment No. 1974; and passage of H.J. Res. 59, as amended, if amended. I think we will come in tomorrow about 9:30, and the time will be allocated from that time until 12:10. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the Southern Nevada Employment Education Outreach, EMPLEO, program for their decade of commitment to fair and just working conditions for all workers. In 2003, EMPLEO piloted a toll-free hotline for immigrant workers to report alleged discrimination, and other wage, and workplace abuses in Nevada. The hotline number was created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, OSHA, EEOC, the Mexican Consulate of Las Vegas, and other private and public agencies. Today, EMPLEO partners with more than 17 different government agencies that share the same common goal of providing access and awareness to employers and employees. EMPLEO staff and volunteers are diligent in their outreach to help educate workers about their labor rights. Through its work, EMPLEO has grown the number of workers it services, and in some instances, has helped workers acquire back wages. As a trusted source in the community, EMPLEO is bridging the relationship between employees and employers. I commend EMPLEO and its many community partners for their commitment to workers' rights and safety. I also extend my gratitude to Southern Nevada District Director, Mr. Gaspar Montanez, for his leadership and commitment to the mission of EMPLEO along with the Department of Labor, and staff at the Office of the Mexican and Salvadorian Consulate. I look forward to the continuation of EMPLEO's services and education to workers and those who employ them.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 195, which is the continuing resolution.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, there will be a period of morning business until 11:15 this morning. The Republicans will control the first half and the majority the second half. At 11:15 a.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Todd Hughes to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Federal Circuit. At 11:45 a.m. there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of that nomination. Following that vote, the Senate will recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. At 2:15 p.m. we will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution. Senator Mikulski will make opening remarks at that time, and Senator Cruz will be recognized after her. Mr. President, on the morning news I hear there will be a filibuster today. I want to disabuse everyone. There will be no filibuster today. Filibusters are to stop people from voting, and we are going to vote tomorrow. Under the rules, no one can stop that. We can advance the time and do it more quickly. We could do that at any time, and I would be happy to make sure we accomplish that, if both sides agree that, in fact, is something we should do. But we are going to vote tomorrow regardless of what anyone says or does today, unless it is a consent agreement to collapse the time, and that vote will occur sometime around noon tomorrow. So I want to make sure everyone understands there will be no filibuster today. Economic Recovery Mr. President, for millions of American families, the road to economic recovery has been long, long, and very, very hard. Now, just as the economy begins to gain steam, some Republicans in Congress seem determined to derail 4 years of progress. They are obsessed with defunding health care. They are pushing us closer and closer to a government shutdown that would tank the economy, and that is an understatement. The business community is gravely concerned about the impacts of a shutdown on the economy, and middle-class Americans are really upset and concerned about this threat. Yesterday Republican and Democratic leaders in both Houses of Congress received a letter from the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers who employ more than 16 million people. It is respected by Democrats and Republicans. The CEOs cautioned us about the economic dangers of a government shutdown. They warned of the catastrophic effects of a first-ever default on the Nation's debt--the next looming crisis Republicans hope to exploit to their own short-term political benefit. I should say some Republicans. This is what the Business Roundtable wrote yesterday: Failure to fund the basic business of government and adjust the debt limit in a fiscally responsible manner would risk both the immediate and long-term health of the U.S. economy. . . . Even a brief government shutdown would have serious economic consequences and default, however temporary, would be calamitous. Five years removed from the worst of the great recession, job creation, economic growth, and other key economic indicators are not where they should be, but they are headed in the right direction. The private sector has created 7.5 million jobs in the last 42 months, jobless claims are at a 5-year low, and consumers feel more optimistic about the economy than they have at any point in the last 5 years. A government shutdown would reverse these trends and stunt future economic growth, it would panic consumers and financial institutions, and it would cost the economy more than $30 billion for every week the government remained shuttered--each week, $30 billion. We know this from experience. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the shutdowns of the mid-1990s--which lasted 27 days, all told--reduced GDP by half a percent. That is a huge amount of damage to our economy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined the Business Roundtable in calling on Congress to keep the government open. Here is what they said: It is not in the best interest of the U.S. business community or the American people to risk even a brief government shutdown that might trigger disruptive consequences or raise new policy uncertainties washing over the U.S. economy. But the dire effects of a shutdown would not just impact the economy; a shutdown would send half the Defense Department's civilian workforce home without pay and delay paychecks for many military families who already live paycheck to paycheck. Although checks would go out to seniors already on Social Security, no new applications for benefits would be processed, putting seniors and disabled Americans at risk. Likewise, veterans applying for education, disability, and pension benefits would be forced to wait. The Centers for Disease Control would stop monitoring disease outbreaks. Passport applications would languish, costing airlines and travel-related businesses millions of dollars. By a 3-to-1 margin, Americans already oppose this senseless Republican plan--some feel more strongly than others--to hold the government hostage to defund ObamaCare. As I said here yesterday morning, CNN, CNBC, in separate polling, show 59 percent--the same number in both polls--59 percent of the American people support ObamaCare, and even a larger number of people think the government shutdown is the worst idea that ever came along-- as one Republican Senator said, the dumbest idea he ever heard. So imagine, Mr. President, their reaction--the American public--once they see the dark economic outcome of a shutdown. I have told you how they feel. But they can see in their mind's eye that they are losing their jobs, their families are losing jobs, and an unquestioned economic downturn. Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher, offered a warning--now a long, long time ago--when he said: ``When anger rises, think of the consequences.'' I realize generally the Republicans are still upset and mad, angry that they lost the election in 2008. I understand that. They are still angry that they failed to stop a landmark expansion of health care to millions of Americans. I understand that. They are angry that they have failed to regain control of the Senate. They are angry that President Obama was overwhelmingly reelected last year. But it is time to set that anger aside. It is time to stop obsessing over old battles and think of the consequences of a government shutdown. So, Mr. President, what we need to do--the Acting President pro tempore, a longtime Member of Congress, approaching four decades of being in Congress, recognizes how we have worked together over those decades, accomplishing good things for this country--is go back to those days, days of working together. We could start in many places. We could start by funding the government without a big hassle. We could work together to do postal reform, which affects 6 million working Americans. We could work together to do agricultural reform, which under the bill we passed out of this body will save $23 billion. We cut the deficit by $23 billion. We could work together to pass immigration reform. My Republican colleagues are concerned about the debt. That reduces it by $1 trillion. Mr. President, the American people at least deserve that we work together and get things done. I would hope that with this crisis facing us we can put all our obsessions about health care and President Obama getting reelected and our still controlling the Senate behind us and move on to do good things for our country again. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, is there a consent?

Mr. REID. I am without a question.

Mr. REID. I ask my friend from Texas to yield to me, without losing his right to the floor, for a colloquy.

Mr. REID. Madam President, first, this is not a filibuster. This is an agreement that he and I made that he could talk. Let me say this: We are going to have a vote about 1 o'clock today. After that is over, we will follow the rules of the Senate. My goal is to get this to the House of Representatives as quickly as possible. I think a lot of this time has been--without talking about what has transpired at this point--I would hope that we could collapse the time dramatically and move forward so the House of Representatives can get what we are going to send back to them. There is a possibility they may not accept what we send them. They may want to send us something back. If we use all this time under the rules as they now exist----

Mr. REID. If I could ask for a unanimous consent agreement with my friend.

Mr. REID. I have a question I wish to ask my friend from Texas.

Mr. REID. Between 12 and 1 o'clock, would my friend yield to Senator McCain for 15 minutes of that time?

Mr. REID. Madam President, he has the right to speak from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock. What I am asking the consent for is would he allow, during that period of time, Senator McCain to speak for 15 minutes.

Mr. REID. Parliamentary inquiry, Madam President.

Mr. REID. May I direct a question to my friend from Texas?

Mr. REID. The question is the Senator seems to not understand that he has time, after the prayer is given at 12 o'clock, time until 1 o'clock. During that period of time my question was, because the Senator still has the floor, would the Senator yield 15 minutes to John McCain.

Mr. REID. I understand.

Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, my friend has had an opportunity to speak. I will speak for a longer time period in a few minutes about statements he has made in the last several hours. But he has spoken. At 1 p.m. the Senate will speak, and we will follow the rules of the Senate. I have said very clearly on a number of occasions that we should be moving quickly to get this to the House as soon as we can. I object.

Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, we are going to have a cloture vote at 1 o'clock and any consent agreements after that I will be happy to listen to them. At this stage, I object.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, we all admire the Senator from Texas for his wanting to talk. With all due respect, I am not sure we learned anything new. He had talked about it before on a number of occasions-- in fact, endlessly. It has been interesting to watch, but, for lack of a better way of describing this, it has been a big waste of time. The government is set to shut down in a matter of hours. In just a few days the government will close. And it is a shame. We are standing here having wasted perhaps 2 days--most of yesterday and a good part of today--when we could pass what we need to pass very quickly and send it back to the House of Representatives. They are waiting for us to act. It seems that in recent years, rather than trying to get things done, we have a mindset in some people's minds to delay and stall and try not to get anything done. I have talked about this before. I do believe that what we have here with the so-called tea party is a new effort to strike government however they can, to hurt government. Any day that government is hurt is a good day for them. It is, as I said before, the new anarchy. We should get this matter back to the House of Representatives as soon as we can. They may want to change something in this, and we believe that if they have to do that--I don't think they should, but if they feel they have to, get it back to us. Each hour we waste is one less hour we will have an opportunity to look at this. Our rules are different from the rules in the House. So this has been untoward, and I would hope we don't have to waste more time prior to sending it to the House. Under the Senate rules, there are lots of opportunities to waste time, and that is what we do around here now--we waste time. The Presiding Officer has been here longer than any other Senator, and he has seen how Senators have worked together over the years to get things done, not to stop things from happening. I haven't been here as long as the distinguished Presiding Officer, but I have been here quite a while. I came to the Congress in 1982. I have seen the work of Democrats and Republicans. I look back with such pleasure that Senator Hatfield and Senator Danforth, an Episcopalian from Missouri--both Republicans--worked to get things done. The late John Heinz was taken from us far too quickly in an unfortunate plane accident, but he was a Republican Senator who worked to accomplish things for this country. John Chafee. If he did now what he did for me in my reelection in 1992, he would be booted out of the Republican Party. Do you know what he did then? He was chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. I sat on his committee. He came to me and said: Harry, I want you to get reelected, and I am going to help you get reelected. We will do some hearings in Nevada, and you are going to wind up conducting those hearings. That is how we used to work together to get things done. He liked the work I did on the committee. He was a Republican, but he worked to get things done. He was a patriot. He was a hero on the coldest war, the Korean war. Brady's book written about the Korean war was mostly about John Chafee. It is unfortunate that so much time is now spent wasted, not accomplishing anything. That is what this has been about--wasting time. The American people know. They have been called upon by the junior Senator from Texas time and time again: the American people, the American people. I will tell you something. The American people know that every hour that he has spoken or speaks pushes us another hour closer to a Republican government shutdown. I have witnessed a government shutdown. The gross national product was hammered by tens of billions of dollars quickly. We had a meeting this morning, and Bob Rubin, former Secretary of Treasury, talked. He said: I was here, I know all about that shutdown. He said: But the world had more confidence in the United States then than they do now. With the government being hammered every angle by the anarchists, he doesn't know how badly we would be hurt with another government shutdown. He thinks it would be worse than the first one. If anyone has any doubt that there are Republicans rooting for a shutdown, they should just turn on the television. It is not all Republicans, and we know that, but they can look at TV and see that there are some working to almost singlehandedly force us into a shutdown because, remember, a bad day for government is a good day for the tea party. We could finish this bill within a matter of hours, but instead we find ourselves being pushed closer and closer to another shutdown. I know the majority of my Republican colleagues recognize this strategy for the foolishness it is, and I am glad to see them speak up. Two dozen have spoken saying, among other things, that it is the dumbest idea he had ever heard. Another said they were being forced into a box canyon and he could see no way out. One Senator said it was political suicide. So I am glad to see them speak up for common sense. Actions speak louder than words. In just 50 minutes, it will be time for common sense to prevail. I still have hope that we can avoid a government shutdown, but every hour we waste on this floor diminishes the hope of that.