[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Government Funding
Madam President, on a different subject, that of the minibus and the
vote that just occurred, the outcome of this vote on the minibus is
wholly disappointing and undermines months of hard work appropriators
have done to move appropriations bills through regular order. Senators
Murray and Collins have done herculean work as have the members of
their committee.
Democrats have worked cooperatively with Republicans on every step of
this process. We pursued regular order. We are willing to allow votes
on amendments, and we are partnering with colleagues on the other side
of the aisle to bring this minibus to the floor.
Senate Republicans have asked us to work with them, and we have
worked with them. Until now, we were making progress, but now a few
select Republicans who seem to think they are Members of the House
Freedom Caucus have thrown a wrench into the process and for no other
reason than the pursuit of gridlock itself.
So the outcome here is disappointing, but it is not the end of the
process. I filed a motion to reconsider this vote. Democrats want to
reach an agreement with our Republican colleagues that will pass the
minibus and make up the time lost because of Senator Johnson's
obstruction. My Democratic colleagues and I will do our very best to
get the minibus done. We have come very far, and there is no good
reason for us to turn back now.
With that, I yield the floor to the great President pro tempore,
chair of the Appropriations Committee, my friend and colleague, the
senior Senator from the great State of Washington, Mrs. Patty Murray.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the majority leader.
Let's be clear. The three bills in that package are not partisan
bills. This was not some secretive process. We drafted these bills
through an open, bipartisan process. We held hearings. We held markups
for the first time in years. We kept our doors open to any Member with
thoughts or concerns. So it is very frustrating to see that this
bipartisan effort got derailed today despite all of that work and
despite the overwhelming consensus last week that we wanted to all get
started on this package.
All of our colleagues and their staffs who spent long hours working
on these bills in good faith deserve better. More importantly, all of
our constituents who sent us here to advocate for them, to work
together, and to solve problems deserve better.
I will keep fighting to make sure we do right by our constituents and
keep our regular appropriations process moving here in the Senate. As
my colleagues know, I don't give up easily, and I am not going to give
up here either. I am going to keep pushing with everything I have got
to pass the spending bills that so many of us have spent so much time
working on to get our communities the resources they need.
Yet I do have to say today that I am deeply disappointed. I am not
new to politics. I am not new to tough votes or setbacks. I know that
this work is never easy, but it is really unfortunate that this
overwhelming bipartisan process and this package of bills that passed
unanimously has been stymied by the objections of just a few Senators.
That is upsetting, and it is pretty hard to square with a lot of the
talk that we hear all the time about wanting to work together, wanting
to break the pattern of partisanship, wanting to help people, wanting
to solve problems, to say nothing of how some of our loudest
complainers who have been talking big about their commitment for us to
return to regular order and who have been railing against these omnibus
bills at the end of the year have led the effort to halt our best shot
in years of actually getting closer to regular order and, instead,
possibly setting us on a collision course for another massive omnibus.
While this full package may not be moving forward right now through
this process, I will not stop working to return this process back to
regular order and keep things moving. I will keep talking to colleagues
about how we get all 12 of our bipartisan spending bills across the
finish line here in the Senate. I will keep working to see if we can
get that consent agreement that will allow us to move forward on this
package.
As we get closer to September 30, I am working hard to make sure we
chart a bipartisan course for a CR and supplemental funding package so
that we can avoid a damaging and completely unnecessary shutdown and
reject the devastating cuts from the House Republicans that would gut
everything from heating assistance to FAA funding, to the Social
Security Administration, and so much more, and that will provide
critical resources for things like disaster relief and wildland
firefighters and our allies in Ukraine.
I came to Congress to help people and solve problems. That is what
gets me up every day in the morning. It is what I am focused on at
every meeting I have, in every bill I write, and in every vote I take.
And while this vote a few minutes ago sent a disheartening message
about the state of things, it will not be the last word, because I
won't let it be, and I know many of my colleagues will not either.
One thing I have seen over and over again in my time here is, if you
want progress, you don't leave the table, and you keep working. So I am
going to stay at the table. I will keep working. Right now, we have to
get a bipartisan CR and a supplemental package done. That is a
priority.
But I hope and I believe, through the work that we do, that we will
show the American people there are still Senators on both sides of this
aisle determined to get our work done.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fetterman). Without objection, it is so
ordered.