Jon Tester

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Yes. MR. BEGICH. The Senator had at the beginning some good numbers there. If I do the math right, when the Senator from Oregon was here and from what I saw, we hear over and over there are not negotiations or compromise going on. But if I hear my colleague's numbers right, there were negotiations, there was compromise. As a matter of fact, there was so much compromise we went to the House number--not our number, we went to their number. We actually reduced the budget on an annualized basis $70 billion. Isn't that what the Senator's numbers are? He is on the Appropriations Committee, I am on the Appropriations Committee. There is one thing we do know a lot about and that is numbers.

Mr. TESTER. I am. Every one of them said they ought to quit messing around, get to an agreement, have the debates on debt and deficit we need to have, because they are important, but don't hold up the debt limit and don't hold up the government funding in the process. I thank my friend from Alaska.

Mr. TESTER. My last point would be this. If we are going to get the debt and deficit under control, one of the things we have to do is grow the economy. By stopping government with this continuing resolution, by talking, simply talking about increasing the debt limit, it does not do good things for our economy. In fact, it takes it in the wrong direction. We see businesses contract when they see what is going on here in Washington. It is time to start using some common sense. There are folks who claim to be business representatives out there. I talked to a bunch of businesses this afternoon.

Mr. TESTER. We know those folks are important to my office. If they were not important to my office, they would not be working for me. They tell folks what is going on, help constituents when they have problems with some of the agencies around. But the bottom line is they are sitting at home. These are not rich folks. A lot of them are hand to mouth. They don't know how long this government shutdown is going to go on and they want to go back to work.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, we are in day number 7 of this government shutdown. As was pointed out by the Senator from Alaska and the Senator from Oregon, we started with a continuing resolution of $1.058 billion. That was compromised down, with the expectation that there would be a clean CR, to $986 billion--over a $70 billion reduction. That wasn't good enough because there were some who wanted to add different amendments to deal with the affordable health care act. The bottom line is that we are in the throes of a governmental shutdown. It is interesting that since the government was shut down--midnight tonight will be a solid week--we have seen bills come over from the House that would fund the VA and the National Park Service. The Senator from Alaska is on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We both work very hard for rural veterans in this country, but we both know the VA can't do their job unless the IRS has funding and CMS has funding. So it is great to put that political gesture out there, but the truth is that they can't do their job until we have more than just the VA funded. Then there was a story of childhood cancer, so the House came across and said: Maybe we ought to fund the National Institutes of Health. Then there was the terrible scene last week where Capitol police officers--who are actually working without pay--had to address a lady who drove up here by the Hart Building. Since those officers responded, maybe we should pay them. So they came across with a bill for them. They should be paid all the time, I might add. Then there is the issue of Hurricane Karen, so we need to fund FEMA. So they came across to fund FEMA. Then they thought, all these furloughed Federal employees, we should pay them. And I agree, we should. The fact is that they do a great job and they should be back here working, and every one of them wants to be back here working to get that backpay. Then they decided to fund things such as food inspectors because they understand our food security is at risk. These guys can't see past their political noses. The bottom line is, as the previous speakers talked about, if the Speaker of the House put the clean resolution up with $986 billion, it would pass the House. He said it wouldn't this weekend. OK. So if it doesn't, put it up anyway. Prove us wrong. The bottom line is that it would pass and this senseless shutdown would be over. There are plenty of things out there that continue to hamper this country's moving forward economically due to this economic shutdown. We have talked about Head Start. We have talked about the Forest Service suspending logging contracts. The Senator from Alaska talked about drilling permits. Montana is an outdoor State, and people live for this time of year. It is called hunting season. Access to a lot of the hunting, camping, and fishing sites has been severely restricted. This weekend the National Guard furloughed its drill for 3,500 guardsmen. Communities around our national parks are being severely impacted, losing literally millions of dollars, which is real money. So how do we get out of this? It is pretty simple: If the Speaker would put the bill on the floor, it would pass. He refuses to do that. I think he refuses to do it for another reason, and that reason is that I think a lot of his Members want to cater to the tea party movement but go back home and want to appear as if they are moderates. If they had that vote, it would certainly point out who stands for what in that body. That is why he needs to have the vote. As was said by the Senator from Oregon and the Senator from Alaska, we have had votes on everything they sent over here, just about. The fact is they need to do the same. We sent a clean CR to them. Unless they want this shutdown to go and on and on for some unknown reason, they would vote on that clean CR. Then we are rapidly approaching the debt ceiling, which puts the full faith and credit of this country at risk if we do not increase it. I might add this is not money that is yet to be spent, this is money that has been spent. It is not unlike the mortgage on your house or your credit card bill. If you do not pay them, interest rates will go up. If we do not increase the debt limit, interest rates and our national debt will go up. Those who are concerned about the debt and the deficit, as I am, and others on both sides of the aisle, we will see our national debt increase, not decrease, by doing something as silly as not increasing the debt ceiling. I know there are some in this body who would love to put issues on the debt ceiling, and they are playing with fire. We saw what happened in 2011 when our credit rating was downgraded because some were just talking about not increasing the debt ceiling. The truth is I will be the first to work with anybody in this body to try to reduce the debt and deficit by reducing spending, by removing tax loopholes in the code. We need to do that at the front end, not the back end. The debt limit is dealing with the issue at the back end. If we do not do it, if we do not increase the debt ceiling, we will see the economy spiral down out of control, potentially even putting us into a depression. I don't say that to scare people. I say that to make the point that we should not be fooling around with this issue. We are adults here. We need to get together and realize that the debt ceiling is too important to play politics with. I know since I have been here--and this government shutdown issue is a prime example--politics has trumped policy nearly every time. It is time to endorse the right policy and get a long-term comprehensive deal that is not a patch, that doesn't add to the uncertainty, yet gets us by the continuing resolution, gets us out on the debt ceiling so we do not have to deal with this every 45 or 90 days and do not have to deal with the debt ceiling just about every year. I think if we were to do that and cooler minds prevailed, we could see this country start to grow economically. We would see unemployment drop even more than we have seen previously. We would see this country go on to have an opportunity to pay down our debt and deficit in a way that makes sense for our kids and grandkids. I do not know where this is going to end. I can tell you the folks back home see it for what it is, and they are tired of foolishness and they want to see it stopped. I can tell you what makes it particularly frustrating for me is that as I see businesses start to expand, as I see entrepreneurs ready to take chances, they look at what goes on in Washington, DC, and: Whoa, this is not worth it. We don't know what the future is to bring because of the uncertainty of not only the continuing resolution, keeping the government open, but also the talk that has been revolving now around the debt ceiling talks. I hope this body will do the right thing, and that it would push the House to do the right thing; that is, put the clean resolution on the floor in the House. Let's get the debt ceiling behind us. Let's talk about debt and deficit reduction in a meaningful way.

Mr. TESTER. Why don't we have them come back? We know the value of work to their self-esteem.

Mr. TESTER. Absolutely. And we should debate them later. But the bottom line is it is important that we keep our government open. Why? Because we are wasting a ton of money the way it is being done now, and this piecemeal funding, trying to get a political advantage, is crazy. People see it for what it is: Political gamesmanship.

Mr. TESTER. It is. It is a much lower number. I will tell the good Senator from Alaska this: That is what happened in the negotiations. The upshot of all that is that we would get a clean CR coming back if we would negotiate it back down to that figure; there would not be a bunch of games being played.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, people all around this country--and Montana is no exception--are looking at the actions in Washington, DC, and they are shaking their heads in disbelief. They are shaking their heads in disbelief because the government has shut down, but yet a bill has passed the Senate. If the Speaker of the House would offer it on the House floor, it would pass the House and the government wouldn't have to be shut down. Then all the resolutions put forth on the other side, and some on this side, quite frankly, about opening different areas of the government, would all be settled because government would be open. A previous speaker this morning said: We shouldn't be dealing with overall government. We should be dealing with this in piecemeal fashion. Really? Who determines who gets help and who determines who doesn't? The fact is the government provides some pretty essential services to folks across the board. To stand on this floor and cherry-pick certain pieces of the government to fund and not to fund is totally unfair. Quite frankly, those groups know they are being used as political pawns in this process. We started out these negotiations with a CR that was at $1.58 trillion. We compromised that down to a point of $986 billion, somewhere around a $70 billion reduction. This is real money, a significant compromise. The House came back and said: No, that is really not good enough. We want that $986 billion figure, and then we also want to defund the Affordable Care Act. Why? Because, my goodness, it is the most terrible thing. There are all sorts of reasons given on the floor why the Affordable Care Act is so terrible. For example, I had a flat tire on my truck last week--it was the Affordable Care Act. I ran out of fuel in my fuel tank--that doggone Affordable Care Act. Let's get the Affordable Care Act implemented and all of these bogus excuses about why it is so bad will go away. People will get the advantage of affordable insurance once again, not government health care, but affordable insurance so they can afford to get sick. Aside from that, the repeal of it was turned back. Then they came back with a delay of 1 year and said: Oh, by the way, if you work for Congress or you are a Member of Congress, we are going to take away any sort of insurance benefits you get whatsoever. This was interesting. Because, quite frankly, if Members of Congress don't want that benefit, they will turn it back, and I anticipate some will after the Affordable Care Act is put into place. I doubt that very much. Instead, what happened was we turned that back, and now we are in a situation where we sent back a clean continuing resolution at $986 billion. In the House, if the Speaker would put that bill on the floor, it would pass and we could start doing the business of this country once again rather than sitting here in a government shutdown where things aren't working and we are not addressing the issues that need to be addressed. But when we take a look at whether we are going to fund certain programs, I want to talk about a few very briefly before I kick it over to the Senator from Colorado. We have intelligence folks who are not on the ground, but we have folks fighting in theater right now who need that intelligence. Whether they get it is up in the air. The folks who protect our clean water and air are off the job. Clean water is our most important resource, and they are not there to make sure it remains clean. Kids on Head Start, food inspectors, research into energy so we can have a 21st-century economy and affordable energy in that 21st century--they are all off the job. Domestic violence and folks who are impacted by domestic violence--there are shelters that are determining right now whether they will turn away those victims of domestic violence. The list goes on and on and on. Whether we are talking about the Centers for Disease Control or we are talking about logging and salvage sales or talking about allowing wells to be drilled in the Bakken--that has all stopped. Why? Because of a Speaker of the House--who, by the way, a previous speaker just said they were very proud of. But why has it stopped? It is because of a Speaker of the House who doesn't have the internal guts to put this on the floor and let it pass the House of Representatives. That would put this country back to work so we could start doing the things we need to do in the halls of the Senate and the halls of the House that are important for this country, whether it is the farm bill or housing reform or a defense authorization bill--the list goes on and on. Instead, we are dealing with a totally self- inflicted crisis supported by people who want to shut this government down. Regardless of what they say on this floor, they are very happy because this government is shut down. It is time, Members of the House of Representatives, that you demand that the Speaker put that bill up so you can vote on it and we can get back to doing the business of this country. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. I ask unanimous consent that the Carper amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and a motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 196, S. 1348.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. I object.

Mr. TESTER. I object.

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I object.

Mr. TESTER

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

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, as we inch closer and closer to potentially shutting down this government, I rise to remind my colleagues what a shutdown would mean for our constituents. I also want to remind my colleagues it doesn't have to be this way. Budget battles and debt ceiling debates are the norm in Congress right now, but there was a time--there was a time--when both parties worked together and the American people benefited. It hasn't always been rosy. The budget battles of the mid-1990s shut our government down for nearly 1 month. Personal insults here in the world's greatest deliberative body used to be common. And back in the 1850s, a Senator was beaten on the Senate floor. But through it all, Americans trusted their government to meet its constitutional responsibility and keep the lights on. After all, if we couldn't agree on anything else, at least we could agree on keeping the lights on. Today, constant political brinkmanship and grandstanding replace commonsense compromise and actual governing. This is taking a toll on all Americans, and Montanans are no exception. With a government shutdown once again a real possibility, America's frustration is reaching new heights. For some folks a shutdown is another opportunity to shake their heads and bemoan the state of affairs right here in Washington, DC. They are the lucky ones. For others, a shutdown will hurt their health, their wallets, and their bottom lines. I am talking about a veteran--a veteran who could be anywhere in this country--whose disability case appeal could and probably will be delayed if we have a government shutdown; a senior citizen waiting for a Social Security check; a small business owner waiting to get a potential contract that could fix a decaying road infrastructure. Hotels and other businesses around our national parks, which would be closed if we have a government shutdown, are also holding their breath to see what we are doing here these days. If the parks close because of a government shutdown, the money coming in and out of the wallets of those businesses and those folks who not only drove to the park in anticipation of being able to utilize it but the businesses around the park would be impacted very negatively. Everybody knows about the Bakken oil plate that is driving the economic growth in North Dakota and eastern Montana. But if the government shuts down, the Bureau of Land Management's permitting office would be shut down too. That means wells would be delayed and the jobs that come with it. Since the House Republicans have been unwilling to begin negotiations on a new farm bill, farmers and ranchers are going to have a lot of questions come October 1. On that day, not only will the government shut down but the farm bill will expire as well. So not only could some folks lose critical nutrition assistance, but farmers and ranchers would have no place to go to get their questions answered about the fact there is no more farm bill for a commodity type; no more ability to get questions answered about conservation, which needs to be planned far ahead of time. Why? Because their local farm service agency office will be closed. Like the other government offices, nobody is going to be there to answer the phone. In Montana, Washington now is shorthand for uncertainty, Congress is shorthand for dysfunction, and faith in government is being eroded because some folks around here are more concerned about raising money on C-SPAN than the people of this great country and the American economy. It needs to stop. The American people expect Members of Congress to make smart, responsible decisions based on the best information we have. That means advocating for issues that matter but compromising to get something done. That means giving a little and getting a whole lot in return. It is called governing. That is a lesson some folks around here need to learn. I would have thought flirting with a government shutdown and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in 2011 would have been sufficient enough a lesson or maybe coming within a few hours of falling off the so- called fiscal cliff in 2012 would have been a sufficient lesson. I would have thought that causing an unprecedented credit downgrade 2 years ago by threatening not to raise the debt ceiling would have knocked some sense into some folks. And I would think the American people's overwhelming desire not to shut the government down come October 1 would cause my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to use common sense. But here we are, playing politics once again as regular Americans twist in the wind. There is a way forward, and it doesn't have to start with political games at the eleventh hour. It starts with working through the regular budgets and appropriations process and not proposing amendments just to slow the process down. But funding the government is the easy part. In less than 1 month, we will once again be reaching a debt ceiling--a much more serious issue. If we don't raise it before then, we will not be able to pay our bills and the economy will be devastated. Crashing into the debt ceiling will cause our credit rating to drop, increase the interest rates not only on our government debt but for anybody who has debt. If you don't believe a farmer from Big Sandy, MT, maybe you will believe a guy by the name of Mark Zandi, an economist who has advised Presidents, Presidential candidates, and Fortune 500 companies. He said that failing to raise the debt ceiling will hurt consumer and business confidence, force businesses to stop hiring, and raise borrowing costs for average Americans. He is far from alone. Former Republican Senator Judd Gregg says failing to pay our bills would ``lead to job losses and more debt.'' He calls failing to raise the debt ceiling a ``terrible policy that would produce difficult times for people on Main Street.'' Senator Gregg, whom I had the opportunity to serve with, spent 18 years here in the Senate. He knows as long as Congress fails to provide the American people with political and economic certainty by funding the government and raising the debt limit, we will not be able to tackle other important issues, such as replacing the sequester the Senator from Alaska talked about, and replacing it with smart budget cuts or striking a long-term budget agreement that will put this Nation on solid economic footing. A government shutdown would be irresponsible and it would be unnecessary. Congress needs to do its job by finding a way to responsibly keep the government running. We cannot keep holding businesses, seniors, working families, veterans, students, and our military men and women hostage to the political whims and aspirations of a select few. When I was a member of the Montana Senate, my colleagues and I knew what we had to get done every session. Passing a budget was at the top of the list. Even if we didn't agree where to cut or where to spend, we worked together to figure it out. And just like my former colleagues in Montana did this spring, we passed a budget and kept the State government running. Here in Washington there are a lot of pressures we don't face at the State level. There are news channels that give any Senator a chance to get on TV, and every issue has an advocacy group fighting for its share of the pie. But real leaders make tough decisions. Real leaders work together to find common ground and move our Nation forward. Real leaders put their constituents first. It is not too late. It is not too late for us to regain the trust of the American people. But it is going to take some work. We won't be able to do it right away, but we ought to start this week, and we can start by responsibly funding the government, providing our economy and our Nation with the confidence they need. That is what we did in Montana, and that is what we need to do here in Washington. The American people are calling for an end to the brinkmanship and an end to the gridlock, and it is time we start to listen to them. I also want to thank Senator Mikulski, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, for agreeing to end a special-interest provision that was included by the House of Representatives in last year's government funding bill a few months ago and the one that was sent over here recently. A few years ago the committee voluntarily agreed to match the House's earmark moratorium, and I think it is interesting our friends in the House make very serious statements about the need to get rid of earmarks, then stuffed a few items in the spending bill last year that directly benefited a couple of the biggest multinational businesses in this country. I spoke to Chairwoman Mikulski about this issue this spring and she was very gracious and listened to my concerns. I am pleased to see she and Senator Reid have eliminated one of those corporate earmarks, and I want to thank them for that. It will make this bill a lot cleaner. In closing, I know there are people in this body who want to work together to make this country all it can be. I also know there are people in this body who would love to see a government shutdown because they might be able to pad their own PACs or political coffers. And maybe it would take a government shutdown to make them understand how bad this would be for the American people, its businesses and its working families. But I certainly hope that doesn't happen. The American people don't deserve it. This country doesn't deserve it, as it comes out of one of the worst economic times since the 1930s. Quite frankly, being a businessman myself, I look at what goes on in Washington, DC, and all the challenges businesses have in this country, and the biggest challenge we have right now is Washington, DC. Let's start moving the country forward by working together. Let's fund the government. Let's not shut it down. And let's do what is right when the debt limit debate comes around. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. TESTER

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

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 261, submitted earlier today.

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

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 262, submitted earlier today by Senators Donnelly and Isakson.

Mr. TESTER. 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. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. There will be up to four rollcall votes at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 27, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of H.J. Res. 59, the continuing resolution, under the previous order.