Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 535.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 542.

Mr. SCHUMER

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 625, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I understand there are three joint resolutions at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, at about 12:01 a.m. tonight, about 70 percent of the Federal Government will run out of funding if Congress does not act. Democrats and Republicans have about 13 hours to work together to make sure the government stays open. That is not going to be easy. We will have to work together and avoid unnecessary delays. This morning, the House will move first on the funding package. And as soon as they send us a bill, the Senate will spring into action. To my colleagues on both sides, let's finish the job today. Let's avoid even a weekend shutdown. Let's finish the job of funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. There is no reason to delay. There is no reason to drag out this process. If the Senators cooperate on a time agreement, if we prioritize working together--just as we did 2 weeks ago--I am optimistic we can succeed. But if individual Senators resort to partisanship and stonewalling and dithering, those individuals will almost guarantee that we shut down, and the process could drag into Saturday, Sunday, and possibly beyond. Now, this appropriations process hasn't been easy, but I am glad that after months of hard work, we have arrived at a funding package that both sides can be pleased with. The funding package will go a long way to supporting American families, strengthen our economy, safeguarding our national security. It increases funding for childcare services, boosts disease research and prevention, and funds school mental health programs and suicide prevention--something we so desperately need. We are strengthening border security. We are protecting our elections, and, most importantly, we will have avoided most of the draconian cuts and poison pills that the hard right has pushed for months. And once we fully fund the government, we will also avoid the terrible scythe of budget sequestration that has been hanging over Congress since last year. We are not done yet, but I would like to once again thank my colleagues--Chairwoman Murray and Vice Chair Collins--for their outstanding work here in the Senate. I want to thank all the appropriators for their work. I want to thank all their staffs, especially my own staff, too, because I greatly appreciate the remarkable work they do every single day. Getting things done in divided government is hard; getting things done in this divided government is even harder. But both sides have come up with a strong funding package that ignores extremism and puts the needs of the country first. That is a credit to leadership on both sides, and I thank them for their work.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to refer the House message to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment numbered 1792.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move that the Senate concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment. Cloture Motion Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to concur in the House amendment with an amendment No. 1790, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with.

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have an amendment to amendment No. 1790, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask that further reading be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have an amendment to the instructions, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that further reading be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have an amendment to amendment No. 1793, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that, at 6:15 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Schydlower nomination and vote on the confirmation of the nomination without further intervening action or debate and with all the previous provisions remaining in effect.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the only motions and amendments in order to the House message to accompany H.R. 2882 be the following: Paul motion to refer, which is at the desk; motion to concur with Cruz No. 1804; motion to concur with Tuberville No. 1781; motion to concur with Lee No. 1722; motion to concur with Schmitt No. 1795; motion to concur with Johnson No. 1706; motion to concur with Lankford No. 1713; motion to concur with Lankford No. 1718; Blackburn motion to refer, which is at the desk; further, that the Senate vote in relation to the above motions and amendments in the order listed; that upon the disposition of the Blackburn motion to refer, Senator Budd be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to refer with amendment No. 1794, and if that motion is not agreed to, Senator Hagerty be recognized to make a motion to table amendment No. 1793, and that if that motion is not agreed to, Senator Budd be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to refer with amendment No. 1792; further, that if the tabling motions are not agreed to, the cloture motion with respect to the House message be withdrawn, the pending amendments and motions be withdrawn, and the Senate vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the motion to concur, without further intervening action or debate, and with 2 minutes for debate, equally divided, prior to each vote; further, that S. 4072, introduced earlier today, be placed on the calendar and, notwithstanding rule XXII, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader but no later than Friday, April 19, 2024, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 4072, Crapo tailpipe emissions; that there be up to 2 hours for debate, equally divided, and upon the use or yielding back of time, the bill be considered read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the bill with 60 affirmative votes required for passage, without intervening action or debate, and if passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I am going to be brief because we want to move quickly on to votes. It has been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government. It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn't easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it. I want to thank the great leadership of Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins for making this agreement possible. Again, it is good for the American people that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to complete the job of funding the government tonight. I am going to put us into a short quorum call as we wait for the first person of the first amendment to arrive. He is on his way. I will ask everyone to stay in their seats so we can get this done very quickly. Some people have very important places to go, and we want to get her there. Unanimous Consent Agreement Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all of the votes after the first vote be 10 minutes.