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[Page S326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ORDER FOR RECESS
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if there is no further business to
come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand in
recess, under the previous order, following the remarks of the
Democratic leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Government Funding
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank the Republican leader.
The Republican leader has just announced an agreement we have
reached about the schedule for the two votes on Thursday, both of which
will be amendments to the House-passed continuing resolution. First,
the Senate will vote on the President's proposal, and then we will vote
on an amendment that is identical to the underlying bill.
The President said his proposal was a reasonable compromise. In
fact, it is neither reasonable nor a compromise. There was no serious
negotiation with any Democrat about what went into the proposal. That
is because the proposal was never intended to pass. It is only a thinly
veiled attempt by the President to save face. Anyone who looks at the
legislation can tell it was designed to fail. In exchange for the wall,
the President offers only limited temporary protections for DACA and
TPS--protections he single-handedly removed. So it is sort of like
bargaining for stolen goods. On top of that, he has proposed new,
radical changes to our asylum system without consulting any Democrats--
changes that controvert our Nation's most fundamental and precious
values. I hope that it will be roundly defeated on Thursday.
The good news is that after that vote, we will have a second
amendment that could break us out of this morass we are in. The Senate
will proceed to an amendment to the House bill that is identical to the
underlying legislation. In other words, for the first time, we will
have a vote on whether to open up the government without any decision,
one way or the other, on border security. The proposal also adds
necessary disaster aid to several States that were recently ravaged by
natural disasters.
People are asking: Isn't there a way out of this mess? Isn't there a
way to relieve the burden on the 800,000 Federal workers who are not
getting paid? Isn't there a way to get government services open first
and then to debate what we should do for border security?
There is a way, and that will be the second vote that will occur on
Thursday. It would reopen all of the portions of the government until
February 8--open them briefly, but open them it will--and it would
allow workers to get paid and get their backpay. It would allow us to
then debate--without hostage-taking, without temper tantrums, without
anything--how we can best do border security. We would get that done,
hopefully, by February 8 and keep the government open.
If you are looking for a way to open up the government, this is the
way. I hope my Republican colleagues--many of whom were circulating a
letter that does, basically, the same thing as does this proposal but
without the disaster aid--will sign, will vote yes. The American people
are looking for a solution. I am glad that we will have a vote that
will bring us nearer to that solution, much closer to that solution.
That will be the second vote here, which will open up the government
and then will allow us to debate border security.
Again, I urge enough of my Republican colleagues to join us
Democrats in voting for the proposal, which has already passed the
House, that could open up the government.
I yield the floor.
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