John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 168, H.R. 5371.

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 104. Vote on Motion

Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. THUNE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are now in day 6 of the Democrats' government shutdown--day 6--and I am wondering just what exactly Democrats think they are gaining from all of this. I guess they are getting points from the far-left interest groups that they have been coordinating their shutdown strategy with, but I highly doubt they are earning a lot of points with everyday, hard-working Americans, like the voters they lost in the last election. A Reuters headline from Thursday noted ``US government shutdown threatens food-aid program for low-income Americans.'' Let me just read that again: ``US government shutdown threatens food- aid program for low-income Americans.'' The article noted that while the Trump Agriculture Department is doing its best to continue administering the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children--more commonly known as WIC--the program is ``critically low on funds.'' And it won't get new funds until Democrats agree to reopen the government. Democrats own this. They own any lapse in funding for critical food aid programs, just as they own every other negative effect of the shutdown because--let's remember--the only reason the government is shut down is because Democrats refuse to accept a clean, nonpartisan funding extension--a clean, nonpartisan funding extension. We didn't ask Democrats to swallow any new Republican policies. We didn't ask them to swallow any partisan riders. We simply asked them to agree to a clean, nonpartisan bill. The same kind of bill, I might add, that they voted for 13 times--13 times--during the Biden administration. But Democrats said: No. And I should note that you don't have to take my word for it on the facts of the bill. Republicans aren't the only ones pointing out that this is a clean CR. Here is what the president of the Teamsters Union had to say the other day: A shutdown will hurt working people. Period. . . . Senators should . . . pass the House-passed clean, short-term funding bill. ``Senators should pass the House-passed clean short-term funding bill.'' Again, that was the president of the Teamsters Union. Or, you know, you could take the word of a mainstream journalist who recently noted: In a vacuum, this CR would get almost every Democratic vote. It just would. This is a clean CR that has no partisan riders, extends a bunch of programs that are Democratic priorities . . . it's clean. ``It's clean.'' So to summarize, Democrats have shut down the government because they refuse to accept a clean, nonpartisan bill. And why are they refusing to accept it? After all, as I mentioned, they supported similar bills 13 times during the Biden administration. The reason that they refuse to accept it is that Democrats still cannot get over the fact that the American people elected President Trump. And when their far-left base demanded a showdown with the President, the Democrats fell in line. And now it is the American people who are suffering the consequences. I quote again. ``U.S. government shutdown threatens food-aid program for low-income Americans.'' ``[T]hreatens food aid program for low-income Americans.'' Three Democrats have rejected their party's shutdown politics and voted with Republicans to reopen the government. All Democrats will get another chance to vote to reopen the government later today, and for the sake of the American people, I hope at least a few more Democrats will join us to pass this clean, nonpartisan CR and let the Senate get back to work.

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 459.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 406.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 422.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, 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.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions, which are at the desk: S. Res. 432, S. Res. 433, S. Res. 434, S. Res. 435, S. Res. 436, and S. Res. 437.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc. The resolutions were agreed to. The preambles were agreed to. (The resolutions, with their preambles, are printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the en bloc nominations provided for under the provisions of S. Res. 412, postcloture; further, that all time during recess, adjournment, leader remarks, and morning business count postcloture on the nominations; finally, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings.

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it has been 2 weeks since our first vote on a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. This shutdown could have been avoided well before it began. But because Democrats have not budged from their partisan demands, the shutdown is now entering its third day. There is a lot that we could be doing right now. We could be considering bipartisan appropriations bills through regular order, going to conference on the three appropriations bills we passed in August, or passing the bipartisan annual Defense bill. But instead, we are stuck in a shutdown mess of Democrats' making, and the American people are suffering as a result. Republicans remain united around a clean, nonpartisan funding extension. It has passed the House of Representatives, and it is currently sitting right here in the Senate, ready to be voted on. It has no new Republican policies, no partisan policy riders. It is straightforward, simple, and clean. All it does is reopen the government through November 21 to give us more time to pass appropriations bills here on the floor. We have a number of bipartisan bills waiting for floor consideration right now. The only thing standing in the way of reopening the government and getting back to doing the important work is Democrats' $1.5 trillion in partisan spending demands. That is right, $1.5 trillion. Their partisan proposal demands more money--think about this--more money than our entire defense budget just to keep the government open for 4 weeks. That is not a credible proposal. It is a far-left wish list, and it is not how we are going to do things around here. We can end this shutdown in just a few hours. We need to take one rollcall vote--just one rollcall vote--on the House-passed clean continuing resolution. The President of the United States says that he is ready to sign it. We just need a handful of Democrats to agree. Now, once we get the government back open, then we can talk about the issues that Democrats are raising, but we can't do that while they are holding the Federal Government hostage to their partisan demands. Whatever Democrats are saying publicly, I think, privately, they are all well aware of the problems with their current position. The senior Senator from Massachusetts has said: Hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can't otherwise win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the Presidency, and can't win their fights in the Courts. The Democrat leader called shutdowns ``a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.'' Mr. President, this shutdown needs to end sooner rather than later, and there is only one way out of it: Democrats need to vote for the clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution sitting right there. All it takes is one rollcall vote--the government is back open. We need to get this government back open, which we can do very, very quickly, and then we can talk about whatever we need to talk about. Just a few years ago, the Democrat leader had this to say: We're allowed to come here and disagree over policy. In fact, our system of government was designed to allow for progress despite our large and sometimes raucous differences. But when one side . . . throws a temper tantrum and uses the basic functioning of our government as leverage in a policy argument, our system of government breaks down. Let's hope the Democrat leader decides to heed his own words and that Democrats' temper tantrum ends sooner rather than later. Later today, in a couple of hours, Democrats will have another opportunity to vote for the clean continuing resolution, and we will see if they are still committed to their shutdown politics. Republicans remain ready to reopen the government and to get back to doing the American people's business. How much longer this shutdown lasts depends entirely on Democrats. The choice is theirs. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I move to proceed to the motion to reconsider the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 5371.

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I move to reconsider the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 5371.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.