System completely offline. Mr. President , shutting down the government is a choice, and it is a choice that would lead to a crisis on our southern border getting even worse. I am encouraged that many of our colleagues who share my concerns are working to ensure that the shortterm funding measure will be passed this week. It gives the men and women in Border Patrol and ice greater resources while we continue our work to clean up washington democrats mess. Ending the month of september, starting a new fiscal year, we have a responsibility we accept as members of congress to do some things, answer roll calls, respond to our constituents, keep the lights on in the federal government. The third issue is one which we are contesting this week. The senate, i believe, is taking a responsible, thoughtful approach to this. There are 51 democrats, 49 republicans, effectively. Most majors of consequence require more than a majority vote. So the decision was made by both senator schumer and senator mcconnell to put together a continuing resolution, which is a stopgap spending major on a bipartisan basis so we would have bipartisanship as the starting point. And they achieved that. They achieved that in a way that surprised a lot of people because we had a procedural vote in the senate on the Senate Bipartisan continuing resolution , and 77 senators voted in favor. Of the 77 senators in the United States senate, it is more than just a simple majority. It is a pretty impressive number and does not happen often. On tuesday evening, the Senate AppropriationsCommittee Chair working with republican senators released a text of the bipartisan continued resolution. It spelled out what we think needs to be done to keep the government open and functioning for six or seven weeks, until november 17, giving us time to negotiate the budget for the remainder of the year. I would quickly add that the efforts of senator murray and senator collins in the Appropriations Committee leading up to this moment were historic in nature. It has been more than five years, i believe, since we have come to the floor and actually debated spending bills and actually amended spending bills on the floor. We are usually faced with shortterm spending bills or omnibus bills that combine the entire budget in one massive piece of legislation. But senators murray and collins had us moving in the right direction, a bipartisan direction, and their efforts for this continued resolution. This continued resolution does more to keep the lights on. It includes crucial Emergency Assistance and program extensions. It includes 6. 5 billion to maintain our commitment to ukraine, and 6 billion to help fema respond to federally declared disasters, including one in my state of illinois, where economies are working to recover from the impact of certain storms. It would prevent a lapse of funding for Critical Community health care centers. I am sure our officers visited many centers in their states. It was one of the Amazing Products coming out of the Affordable Care act. I can remember when senators met and demanded we fund these Community Health care clinics. It was a stroke of genius. It meant that people of limited means would have access to quality medical care. I have said it is not political puffery. I would gladly visit one of these clinics and see treatment because i think they do good. Also, special nutrition programs for women and infant children. It is one thing to give a speech about families and mothers, mothers surviving pregnancy, children getting off to a strong start in life. It is another thing to put bread on the table. The wic program puts bread on the table and under the resolution, we keep the lights on for that agency. We would also extend the authorization of the federal aviation december 31. How important is safety in Airline Travel . Critically important. Last time there was a threat of shutting down the government, it was the people responsible for regulating and keeping airplanes safe that convinced us we could no longer play that game. I hope we do not have to go through that experience again. 77 senators this week recognized that bipartisanship was the solution to avoid a shutdown. That includes the leaders of both parties, the chairs of the probations committee, and the ranking members noted. Unfortunately at the house, it is an exercise of chaos. Speaker mccarthy has declared that the Bipartisan Senate continuing resolution is dead at arrival. Our bipartisan bill worked out with both sides of the aisle, that won more than 77 votes, he has dismissed as unacceptable. For reasons beyond my understanding, he has chosen the far right rebellion of a few maga House Republicans over the continuing artery function of our government. He has chosen to put partisanship and politics above the American People. For however long it takes the speaker to gain control of this small faction of his party, the central social services will be slowed, federal employees and military Service Members will go without paychecks for their families. This group of extreme republicans is intent on slashing millions from programs, continuing their political agenda for a new order, before even beginning to discuss keeping the government open. The American People deserve better. Senator graham raised as a legitimate concern on what is happening at our border. We are being swamped with people seeking entry into the United States. This is not unusual. If you look around the world, that is happening in many places. There are so many people now who have been dislocated from their homes that the refugee experts tell us there is no record of number in the modern history of the world, and it is no surprise that the United States is the prize destination and feeling that pressure. So it would make no sense for Speaker Mccarthy to shut down the government and take the men and women who are keeping us safe at the border and cut their agency. We need the resources and the personnel to have an orderly process for the border. Shutting down the government fails to meet that responsibility. The group of extreme republicans are intent on slashing billions from social programs and said they want to discuss these issues before any major issues are considered. The American People deserve better. We are not a bargaining chip. A shutdown would halt Small Business loans, stall medical research at the National Institutes of health, and jeopardized the duration assistance for lowincome women, infants, and children. It would delay food Safety Inspection and deprive children access to more than 13,000 air Traffic Controllers and 50,000 tsa officers would be forced to work without pay. It would also further 1000 air Traffic Controllers who are now being trained for filling vacancies, critically important to the agency. Shutdowns are slowing down our economys progress and jeopardizing jobs and future economic growth. They also tell the world that in america, politics can rule and can get away with paying our bills, providing service to our people, and keeping our foundation afloat. The last three government shutdowns led to 56,940 years lost of productivity, and it cost to the government at least 238 million in additional costs. That is american taxpayer dollars being wasted because of the shutdown. The last full shutdown in 2013 reduced Gross Domestic Product growth by 20 billion. The partial shutdowns in 2018 reduced economic output by 11 billion. I urge my House Republican colleagues to resist making shutdowns a five tradition in their party. If we have the option to keep the government funded well, we will continue to negotiate the longerterm funding plan. Why let the nation live through this pain . Funding the government is one of the central parts of this job. It is time we meet our responsibility and do it in a way that does not disrupt americans livelihood and wellbeing. We need to finish the end of the year