Work. They will not let the Tea Party Republicans stop the progress of our country. They are going to demand justice. They are going to demand that the shutdown ends and that the spirit of the American People be recognized. What we need to do, mr. President , is to get the Government Back to work for the American People of the senate has to send the house a bill that will end the shutdown. The house should schedule a vote for this bill immediately t. Will pass. Immediately. It will pass. We should not be cutting the National Institutes of health that is working to fund the cure for cancer, for alzheimers, for parkinsons and other diseases that devastate families in our country. We should not be keeping our civilian defense workers off the job. We should be coming together to create jobs to build Better Futures for all americans. And we should make sure that america pays its bills and does not default on its debts. We need to raise the debt ceiling. Now is the time, mr. President. Let us get to work. I yield back the balance of my time. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from utah. Mr. Lee madam president , someone wisely declared, after all is saidand done, muc and doe is said than done. A lot has been said in the well of this chamber this week. Unfortunately not much has been done. On the other hand, Speaker Boehner and majority leader cancer and the members of the house of representatives, including members of both Political Parties, have done much to end the shutdown and to protect the American People. The house has passed bills that would fund Veterans Benefits and fund the National Institutes of health. The house has also approved measures to make sure our National Guard gets paid and to keep our National Parks open. The house funded w. I. C. , the program that provides health care and nutrition for lowincome women and their children. And the house has funded fema. All of these bills have, moreover, been passed with significant bipartisan support in the house of representatives. At the risk of overstating it, im still, frankly, stunned at what were hearing from some of my colleagues. Its difficult for notice understand their its difficult for me to understand their objections to passing these bills in the senate. First, none of these bills is controversial, not one of them. The bills provide funding for noncontroversial things like veterans disability payments, the g. I. Bill and Cancer Research. These bills keep our National Parks open and make sure our National Guard personnel get paid. There are many things on which republicans and democrats disagree but whether or not to take care of our veterans should not be one of them. And last i checked, its not one of them. Second, the president himself asked congress to do this. Republicans in the house took the president at his word and acted immediately to draft bills that would make sure his priorities and the nations priorities would receive fundi funding. In response, Senate Democrats said that this plan to fund veterans, National Parks and other priorities was unserious. They said republicans were playing games. And the biggest head scratcher of them all, the president issued a veto threat for bills that fund the very things that he said he wanted funded. Why wont the president and why wont Senate Democrats take yes for an answer . Why are they demanding that we have to Fund Everything . They tell us, you have to Fund Everything or we will allow you to fund nothing. Third, all of these wilz received significant bipartisan support in the house. Bills received significant bipartisan support in the house in. The middle of a Government Shutdown, surrounded by all of this divisive rhetoric, republicans and democrats came together in the house overwhelmingly to approve these bills. I think we owe it to the country to show that we can do the same thing in the senate . Same thing in the senate. Fourth, this proarchtion the approac this approach, theapd by the house of representatives, represents a path forward that was distinguished none other than that the distinguished majority leader himself. On monday afternoon, senator harry reid asked for unanimous consent to pass a bill that ensured that our activeduty military personnel would be paid in the event of a Government Shutdown. And in a matter of minutes, it was passed. I ask my friends across the aisle, was senator reid playing games . Was that unserious . Of course not. So why is it unserious when we try to Fund Cancer Research or the National Guard or National Parks . Why is it all a sudden playing games to keep our National Parks open . What exactly has changed since monday . Why can we only together to pass a bill funding military pay but not to fund veterans disability payments . And finally, none of these bills have any connection to the implementation of obamacare. I understand that my friends across the aisle support that law despite its numerous and harmful failings. I understand they want to protect it. But none of the bills that were considering relates in any way to the implementation of obamacare im concerned that my friends across the aisle cannot im concerned that my friends across the aisle cannot see this law for what it is and what its doing to families all across the country. And now government is shut down because democrats refuse to work with us to do anything to protect the American People from the harmful, potentially devastating effects of obamacare. They wont even consider passing bills to fund Veterans Benefits, Cancer Research or National Parks unless obamacare is fully funded and fully implemented. We have an obligation to address the negative effects of this law but the democrats refuse to negotiate. The president has issued a veto threat on he himself asked congress to fund because the bills dont include obamacare funding, even though the programs funded in these bills have nothing to do with obamacare. I fear that the democrats are now simply the obamacare party. It is the only thing that matters to them, even though it is hurting people throughout the country already and threatens to do so far more in the coming months. A recent report included a story of a man named tom, tom from seattle, who signed up with the exchanges only to find out that his Health Care Costs were going to skyrocket under obamacare. Ill quote from the story. Tom of seattle, who was selfemployed, said my premiums would increase approximately 61 . I went from 891 a month to 1,437 a month. And also my deductibles all doubled. . The letter from his insurers said his current deductible for his family of five would double from 4,000 a year to 8,000. Even though thats for the bronze plan, the least expensive option under obamacare, he says his additional payment of 550 a month will give him a plan that is no better than what he already has. Whats more, it also carries a benefit for his family that his family doesnt need many ternt anmaternityand newborn ca. My wife is 58 years old and our youngest child is soon to be 18, says tom. Well be having no more children. That is a benefit that we would never purchase nor need or be able to use. These are the kinds of people were trying to protect from this law. This is just one story among many stories. So i ask my friends, join us in ending the shutdown. Join us in protecting the country from obamacare. And lets do the right thing for the American People. Leadership is not about what is said. Leadership is about what is done. And so i invite my colleagues to join house Speaker Boehner and majority leader cantor and the other house members who are leading, and theyre leading by doing. We can and must lead. We can an end the shutdown and simultaneously protect the American People from the harmful effects of obamacare. We can do this. We must do this. And if we stand together in support of the American People, we will do this. Thank you, madam chair. Mr. Whitehouse i ask if the senator would yield for a question . Mr. Lee yes. Mr. Whitehouse through the chair, let me inquire whether in evaluating the relative activity of the senate in the house in trying to bring this shutdown to a conclusion, the senator would not concede that the senate has repeatedly voted on housepassed measures. We have taken them up, stripped out extraneous language and sent them back. We have tabled them. We have over and over again done our constitutional duty and voted. Now, the senator might not like the way the vote came out, but does he concede, a, that we voted on housepassed measures, and; b, that the speaker of the house has never yet called to the floor a senatepassed measure and had a fair vote on the house side of the aisle . Mr. Lee in response to the question posed by my distinguished colleague, my friend from rhode island, yes, ill acknowledge that we have taken volt votes, some votes in response to many of the pieces of legislation enacted in the house of representatives. Mr. Whitehouse and that the house has never reciprocated by taken up a senatepaced bill . Senatepassed bill . Mr. Lee the house has not voted on everything passed in the senate. Mr. Whitehouse my question was some bunt all. The house has voted on nothing in this debate, that was my question. They have done nothing but tee up political votes to send over to us. Mr. Lee thats not accurate. The house of representatives has voted on things sent back sent them back in the form of messages with some of those messages carrying two amendments that we then considered. I see your point. I see the senators point. And its a valid one in that we have had action taken in both houses. We have had votes cast in both houses. It is important, however, to recognize republicans have offered significant elements of compromise in all of this. Republicans started from the standpoint that what they would like is repeal of the law, understanding that thats not possible under the current circumstances, sought first to defund obamacare i object indef. They sought that first. That was stripped out and that went back them to. They responded with a significant compromise offer, offering in the next round to defund it for a period of one year. That was sent back and that was rejected. There have been other elements since then that have been passed to fund parts of government, recognizing that there are a lot of areas in Government Spending as to which there is broad bipartisan, basically unanimous consent in both houses, in both Political Parties that we ought to be continuing to fund these things at current levels. Theyve acted in those areas and the senate has so far refused to go along with those. And so in the spirit of compromise, it would be helpful if we would act on these. In spirit of compromise, it would be helpful to have the senate enact legislation to fund the government on which there is broadbased bipartisan support. Thank you,madam chair. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from maine. Mr. King madam president , my intention coming here was to help solve problems, to find common ground, to Work Together with colleagues from both sides of the aisle. Thats my history, and, in fact, that was my primary motivation for running, for stepping into the shoes of my illustrious predecessor, Olympia Snowe of maine. And, in fact, thats what we did this sowrm studenthis sowrm stua small group of senators, bipartisan, worked on a compromise to get it through both bodies and then get the signature of the president. We got 81 votes in the senate; 392 in the house. Thats what i want to try to do. That was a a validation of what im here for. And this situation that we are in now cries out for resolution. It cries out for finding common ground, for compromising, getting everybody back to work, getting the Government Shutdown over. So why arent we doing it . Why arent we out cutting a deal . Why arent we out compromising . Well, ive talked to my colleagues here in the senate on both sides of the aisle, talked to house members, both republicans and democrats, and there are lots of options. And, in fact, the house has sent us a series of options. The first one was essentially defund, effectively repeal the Affordable Care act. Then it was to delay the Affordable Care act. Then was to delay a part of the Affordable Care act. But the important thing about these options and this discussion is, its all taking place in the context of a Government Shutdown. Thats not where negotiations should be made. Thats not where negotiation ned discussion should be had when essentially the government has been shut down and one side is saying, we wont allow the government to operate unless you give us what we want on a substantive piece of legislation. This is the problem, madam president. This whyes think in this one case negotiation really isnt the right course. Its a process problem. Its a practical problem, and i believe it is a constitutional problem. Its perfectly appropriate to negotiate budgets. As a goafn, di governor, did i. Four times for biennial budgets. And it is perfectly appropriate to negotiate up to the deadline, lots of late nights. Thats when this work, for some reason, seems to get done. But in those contexts of budgets, of negotiating the most fundamental government document, you negotiate about numbers, about details, about allocations. You dont negotiate about entirely separate substantive pieces of law. And, in fact, that happened a month ago right here when our when speaker when leader reid and Speaker Boehner negotiated a continuing resolution on what the number should be, and it was hot and heavy negotiation. And the leader the leader compromised. He said, lets go forward, because we can do this cleanly with a continuing resolution at at lower level than the Senate Democrats felt was appropriate, that was in that budget that was passed earlier this year. But thats not whats going on here. Were not negotiating about what are the dollar amounts of the budget or what are the details or what are the allocations, how much to defense and how much to head start. This is an attempt to rewrite a major piece of substantive law through holding the government hostage, which is a result that cannot be achieved through the normal democratic and constitutional processes. Thats the core of this current situation. Thats whats bothering me about it. I dont mind gorktin negotiating budgets. I do think we shouldnt use the threat of a Government Shutdown or, now the reality of a Government Shutdown, to obtain legislative and policy benefits that we cant otherwise attain through the normal constitutional process. In a very reel real serntion mam president , this is a in a very real sense, madam president , this is a frontal assault on the constitution itself. Ironically, it is being led by many of those who wrap themselves daily in the constitution. I dont have one of those books, but we all know those books, how a bill becomes a law. I guarantee i can read those books until the spots come off, as my father used to say, but theres going to be nothing in there that says, hold the government hostage until you make a Law Enforcement thats not what it says. My wife got me a book called congress for dummies. It doesnt say you can change larks rewrite laws in the context of holding the country hostage. It is aen attempt to create an alternative process, a new shortcut way of achieving political ends without having to doldeal with those pesky electi. Here is the history of this bill. In 2010 it was passed i early summer. The senate didnt turn over by the way, thats the way the framers planned it. Thats why there are sixyear terms here, so public passions in one electoral cycle dont entirely change the government. And then there was another election in 2012. In that election, in which the Affordable Care act was a major factor, democrats gained seats in the house, gained seats in the senate, and the president , whose name is attached to this bill, won by 5 million votes. In my election in maine, in every debate and goodness knows there were probably over 20 of them my republican opponent started the debate by saying, i want to repeal the Affordable Care act. That was the whole mission. And i defended it, not in every detail, because i think it needs to be fixed. But i defended it, and i won that election. And here i am. Mr. Romney said, i will repeal obamacare on day one. But he lost. But here we are, madam president , in effect trying to effect wait that agenda, that effectuate that agenda, that policy position through an alternative process that skills around those annoying elections. The passionate opponents of this act are acting like those elections just didnt happen. Lets be clear about what this is. This is one faction of one party in one house of one branch trying to run the entire United States government. Thats not the way our constitution is supposed to work. And im confident of that statement because from talking to my friends in the house, i believe its highly likely that if a clean continuing resolution that means one without any strings, without any political baggage, without any repeal of the Affordable Care act, went before the house today or tomorrow or monday, it would pass. Most of the democrats and enough treenrepublicans to achieve a majority. And all of this would be over. Speaker boehner yesterday said two things that i think were important. One i agree with, one i dont. The one i agree with is, he said, this isnt a game. And it isnt a game. Its deadly serious. Its deadly serious because of the impact this shutdown is having on our country, throughout the country. In maine lets talk nationally. 70 of the civilians of the department of defense have been furloughed. 0e70 of our intelligence personnel are on im so, half of the department of defense, 70wehave people not being traind and our Defense Industrial base is already suffering. In maine weve got 1,500 people at furlough at the Portsmouth Navy shipyard, more coming at Bath Iron Works and almost half of our National Guard are on furlough. This isnt a game. But all of this is being done in the name of effectively repealing or crippling the Affordable Care act. Even if you dont think its a good law, this is not the way to go about dismantling it. Its not the way our constitution is designed. Why wont we negotiate, though . Why arent the democrats gorktinnegotiating on this and e nick the Affordable Care act . It reminds meze of a story about a farmer who sees some land. How about the 60 down on the river. Id like it buy that. Its not for sale. How about just the quarter acre right where that you are house is on the road. It is not for saxe the city guys guys says, why wont you negotiate . Because it is not for sale. This isnt the place or the time to negotiate. Listen, i think there are problems with the Affordable Care act. I would love to sit down in good fanal and try to fix them starting with make the web sites work better. But i think the way to do that is not in the context of the government being held hostage. We dont and heres the real problem. If we do it now, this will become the remain inial way that we the this will become the normal way that we legislate around here. Next time it will be, okay, well take another nick. Police the presiding officer the senators time halls expired. Mr. King i ask unanimous consent i have four more minutes. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection, please proceed. Mr. King i am aflaid this will be the normal way we do things around here. Police and intelligence people and military officers telling tu that you dont negotiate with hostage takers. The reason you dont is because you empower, you enable, and you ensure that it will happen again. Thats what worries me. Our constitutional system has two principles intention one is governing and the other is checks and balances. Governorring is to ensure domestic training quit, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare. And checks and balances is the rest of the constitution, so that we dont abuse we arndt bused by our government. But if you talk away the governing parkts which is what a budget is, nothing is left but checks and balances. The framers thought of this. Madison in the 58th federalist addressed it directly. He said, it might be a good thing to have minorities have additional power above a quorum, but he says, these are outweighed by the opposite scale ands. In all cases where justice of the general good requires new laws to be passed or active members to be pursued, the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed by minority rule. It would no longer be the majority that would riewsm the. The power would be transferred to the minority. Lincoln said, if the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the government must cease. Theres no other alternative for continuing the government is acquiescence on one side or the other. Thats what at stake here governing. I understand the opposition, although i fully dont understand not wanting people to have health insurance. I understand the passion, the attempt. I think the speaker is a good man and wants too do the right thing. I understand the need to get something, to win something in this weird atmosphere where everyone has to win or lose. But they gave it their best shot. It didnt work. Lets move on. Lets have a clean vote in the house so the American People and the world know that we still know how to govern. I want to talk i want to negotiate, i want to solve problems, but not at the expense of this institution. Not at the expense of the constitution. And not at the expense of the American People. Thank you, madam president. Mr. Thune madam president . The presiding officer the senator from south dakota. Mr. Thune madam president , yesterday, the white house said it is winning winning the shutdown debate. Understand that it is not concerned how long the shutdown lasts. Well, the democrats may be content with playing political games, republicans remain focused on find a solution to reopen the federal government. When the white house says it is winning, madam president , maybe winning the political debate, winning the political game, if you will, it is the American People who are losing. The Obama Administration said dwhread it would support a measure providing retroactive compensation to furloughed federal workers, yet it continues to oppose funding for the National Guard and reserve. Veterans services, nutrition assistance for lowincome americans, fema, lifesaving medicines and cures at the n. I. H. , National Parks and museums. Mr. President , what i would simply say is that there are bills that have been sent here by the house of representatives that are available to be picked up by the senate at any time. We could fund all those various things right now. The bills are from the house. All we have do here in the United States senate is pick them up, pass themification, and there wouldnt be any pass them, and there wouldnt be any objection on this side. Aisle. We could fund the National Guard and rerks we could fund veterans services, we could Fund Assistance for lowincome americans, we could fund fema, we could fund lifesaving cures by funding the n. I. H. , we could fund the National Parks. It is that simple. Our colleagues on the other side get up and talk about this particular program thats not being funded or this particular feds issue that hfederal issue n addressed. It can all be solved the that easily. All they have do, mr. President , is pick up the bills that have come over us to from the house of representatives and pass them right now without objection on the republican side. And all these things could be funded. It is that sainldz easy. I would hope that in the end there would be some of our colleagues on the other side that would agree with us that thats the simplest way to deal with the immediate crisis. We obviously have other issues at work, at play here that are going to be discussed, and i want to talk about one of those in a minute. Niement in thin the meantime, ie concerned about some of these programs not being funded, we can do that right now. The National Guard and rerks people who want to see our National Monuments and parks. Weve heard stories about those not being available to people. Its very simple, mr. President. Pick up the bills and pass them. Right now. Id like to talk about in addition to getting the Government Back up and running, mr. President , doing something to address our nations debt. We find ourselves now in the fifth day of a partial Government Shutdown that from my perspective was completely avoidable. But, mr. President , we know that the Government Shutdown is only one of the challenges that were currently facing. The treasury tells us that were going to be reaching our debt limit in the coming days, which astonishlastonishingly stands at 17 trillion. So as we look at the near future, we need to address the debt limit and we need to end this partial Government Shutdown. And i think its unavoidable now, mr. President , that those two issues have come together. One time we were going to be talking about addressing one and subsequently dealing with the debt limit. Now it looks like those are going to be all one big debate and discussion. But what im perplexed about is our friends on the other side of the aisle and the president continue to insist that theyre not going to negotiate on those issues. Mr. President , when the people of south dakota sent me here, they did so with the expectation that i will continue to stand up for their values. When this comes to governing, there will be differences of opinion. Oftentimes that means were going to have to sit down with people on the other side of the tile find common ground. To say its my way or the highway is not the way to approach these things. Mr. Whitehouse will the snare yield for a question . Mr. Thune i just cant say were not going 0 negotiate much that is not a viable or a reasonable position in the eyes of the American People. Mr. President , i want to put a fine point on that. Earlier this week the majority leader was quoted as saying, and i quote, this is the majority leader of the United States senate the president said hes not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. Hes not going to negotiate. We arent either. This never happened in the history of the country. End quote. At the end of last week while the president was out giving speeches instead of engaging with congress to solve these issues, the president made this statement and i quote and thats why i said this before. Im going to repeat it. There will be no negotiations over this. End quote. Thats the president of the United States. There will be no negotiations over this, reiterated by our friends here on the other side of the aisle of the United States senate. Mr. Whitehouse would the senator yield for a question . Mr. Thune ill be happy to yield, mr. President , when ive concluded my remarks on the senator from Rhode Islands time. Mr. Whitehouse thank you. Mr. Thune i think the reason republicans in the senate find this stance so perplexing is that characterization that we never negotiated around a debt ceiling is absolutely not true. Deficit reduction measures over the last several decades have been paired with increases in the debt ceiling. Almost 30 years ago we had the balanced budget and emergency deficit control act of 1985, otherwise known as grammrudmanhollings. I was a staffer here at the time. That was done in the context of the debt ceiling. Weve had several measures in the 1990s that reduced our deficits that were done in association with an increase in the debt ceiling. Most recently we all remember this the budget control act of 2011 which resulted in restraint largely on the discretionary side of the budget, which many of us would like to change, but its also resulted for the First Time Since the 1950s in two consecutive years where the federal government spent less than it spent the previous year, First Time Since the korean war. The common denominator is that these deals were paired with an increase in the debt ceiling. So, mr. President , the point im trying to make here is that for those of my friends who are arguing that negotiating around our debt ceiling is unprecedented, perhaps they ought to take a closer look at history. This week kevin hasset and andy mcclofsky wrote an oped in the wall street journal entitled obama rewrites debt limit history which i think rewrites the history of the debt limit in a more accurate way. They write and i quote according to the Congressional Research Service Congress voted 58 times 53 times in 35 years of recent history. They go on to write that and i quote again Congressional Republicans who want legislative conditions in exchange of a debt limit increase are following a strategy that has been pursued by both parties the majority of the time. Of the 53 increases in the debt limit, 26 were clean. That is standalone, no Strings Attached statutes. The remaining debt limit increases were part of an omnibus package of other legislative bills or a continuing resolution. Other times the limit was paired with reforms, only some of which were related to the budget. End quote. To reiterated, mr. President , out of 53 increases in the debt limit, less than half were what we call clean or standalone measures. The others had other legislation associated with them, in many cases an omnibus package of legislative bills or continuing resolutions or deficitreduction measures. And to make that happen again, mr. President , what we need is leadership. We need leaders on the other side of the aisle, including the president , to come to the table in good faith and to make the tough decisions. I have to say i find it concerning that instead of coming to the table this week, that the president has embarked on a media blitz suggesting that republicans in congress wanted to default on the debt. In an interview this week with thisnbc the president said he told representatives from the Public Services sector that they should quote be concerned, be concerned over a faction of congress willing potentially to default. My view, mr. President , these statements are both unproductive and misguided. Nobody wants a default. Nobody wants a Government Shutdown. And i can assure the president and my friends on the other side of the aisle that republicans here in the United States senate couldnt agree more that those are things that we need to avoid. What i would suggest is instead of simply kicking the can down the road, instead of pushing the difficult decisions off until tomorrow, weve got to get serious about the longterm Fiscal Health of our country so that we can grow our economy and help strengthen our middle class. Rather than stoking fears that rankle financial markets, now is the time to move beyond politics and to work with Congressional Republicans to make a significant down payment to address americas longterm debt problems. Republicans are seeking responsible and reasonable solutions. South dakotans and i think the American People understand choosing to do nothing while piling on the debt on the backs of future generations is not the way to responsibly govern our country. I propose to our democrat colleagues that republicans stand ready to come to the negotiating table and act in good faith to get the government up and running again and to make responsible spending reforms that address the true drivers of our debt. And i hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will take a lesson from history and not suggest that we are not going to negotiate. That is not a viable position in the eyes of the American People. It is not a viable position if you want to work in a way thats going to lead to an accomplishment and a result here in washington, d. C. On these issues and matters that are of great importance not only to today, but to the future of this country. And so, mr. President , what i would simply say again, as i start said when i began, that having a position that were not going to negotiate on Government Shutdown, were not going to negotiate on debt limit increase is not only inconsistent with what the American People have said they want to see done here, because by the layest poll i saw, by latest poll i saw by a two to one margin they think we ought to be around the debt limit increase, figure out what were going to do about the debt. Thats what the American People think. Its unrealistic to think were going to solve our problems and it is inconsistent with what history has shown us in the past we have been able to accomplish when were willing to sit down together in the context of raising the debt limit, which by the way, will be over 17 trillion when this is all said and done. And i think what the American People believe that youre going to ask for another debt limit increase, to raise that by perhaps another 1 trillion, borrowing limit, they would like to see us do something meaningful to address that incredible, burgeoning, exploding federal debt that were putting on the backs of our children and grandchildren. Mr. President , with that, i assume the senator from rhode island is up next. If he would like on his time to ask a question, i would through the chair entertain that. The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse i thank the distinguished senator from south dakota. And i notice that he was on the floor during the remarks that the presiding officer now, the senator from maine, made just a moment ago. Having heard those remarks, i would ask the senator from south dakota if he would concede that there is a difference between negotiating and negotiating with hostages, whether the hostage is shutting down the government or whether the hostage is defaulting on United States obligations, there is a difference between negotiating and negotiating while holding hostages. Mr. Thune i would say through the chair, mr. President , to my colleague from rhode island that i think what makes a negotiation successful is when both sides are sufficiently motivated. And it strikes me at least that if youre going to have a successful outcome, that both sides have to have incentives to be at the table. I think republicans have indicated very clearly that we believe that one of the ways in which we get legislation policy put in place thats good for the future of this country is to do it around a debt limit increase. Historically thats been the case. Thats been a precedent. Its very clear, as i mentioned throughout the course of modern history that many of the big budget agreements that weve reached have been done in the context of a debt limit increase. And so i would suggest to my colleague from rhode island that whatever the motivation is for getting people to the table, we just need to get to the table. And weve had a lot of, on both sides of the aisle, i would say in fairness, people questioning each others motives. But were in a pretty tough spot right now. Weve got a government that shut down. We need to get reopened. We have a debt limit that were going to hit here in the next couple of weeks. And i would hope that we could sit down in good faith and figure out where we can find a common path forward that would allow us to govern in a responsible and a reasonable way but to address what i think are the big, really the big issues facing the future of this country. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President , i would note that the president and leader reid have both indicated a willingness to negotiate on virtually everything. But in late of the difference that the presiding officer pointed out on the floor a moment ago between good faith negotiating under our established constitutional procedures and negotiating while holding hostage, either the continuing operation of the federal government or a United States default on its obligations for the first time in history, that that difference does indeed bear on this discussion. And i yield the floor. Ms. Klobuchar mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar mr. President , today marks the fifth day of the shutdown. And i come to the senate floor once again to call on the house of representatives to take up the senate bill. It is a simple bill. It has no bells and whistles. It simply says lets open the government again. Lets open all those monuments. Lets open up the research thats going on thats so important to save lives at the National Institutes of health. Lets put our intelligence employees that every day, putting themselves at risk trying to gather that data, lets put them back to work. And then lets take those six weeks to do what the senator from south dakota was talking about, to negotiate a bigger deal, a budget deal. One of the things that ive been concerned about is that the senate has in fact passed a budget. The house has in fact passed a budget. But our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not let those two budgets go to Conference Committee like theyre supposed to do so we can work out the difference and have a longterm solution. But the solution is not to shut the government down. Now, what has happened . The senator from maine, the presiding officer, did a good job of reviewing what has gone on in the past few weeks. First, we passed a sensible bill to keep the government open at low spending levels. Sequestration levels as we call them here with spending cuts included because we knew that was a compromise, we knew that was a way we could get our friends on the other side of the aisle to agree to have a further negotiation period. Instead we got back a bill that would have delayed the Affordable Care act, something that they knew very well that the president would veto, that the senate wouldnt agree to. Is now weve gotten a series of things where theyve agreed to keep certain agencies open, sort of government by whack a mole. One problem comes up, well hit that one. Maybe there is a big merger that comes up and could cost consumers money. Maybe well put antitrust lawyers on. I guess there is an imminent threat going on. Lets add a few intelligence officers. Lets handle that one. Maybe there is a foodborne illness problem thats developed in part of the country. Maybe we have to put some of those center for Disease Control employees back on. That is no way to govern a business. That is no way to govern the greatest nation on earth. We are a democracy that has been a model for the rest of the world, so this is not the answer. Whats the next thing that weve got . Today we found out that they have voted to pay furloughed workers. That is something i support. That is something most of the senators here support. Okay. But does this really make sense that they would decide to do that today and not also vote to put them back to work . So they are essentially deciding that theyre going to pay them, which i support, that theyre going to pay them, but theyre going to pay them to stay at home. This doesnt make sense in waynesboro, minnesota. This doesnt make sense in detroit lakes, minnesota. They believe that the federal workers have been hired to do a job, and its time to put them back to work. And thats what this debate is about. These are the things, mr. President , that ive been hearing from my constituents, just some random letters that came in on our email system over the last few days. Heres a letter from jason of st. Paul. Im a minnesota resident on active duty in the u. S. Navy on deployment in the middle east for my second tour. As a military member, if i did not do my job, id be putting the lives of my friends and fellow military members at risk. At home, hes a navy and stpeufrbt on act be be reservist on active duty. At home im a fulltime fighter. If i chose to fulfill my duties in that job when a fire call came in, people would die. Similarly, the shutdown in the u. S. Government, and he says i know it happened in the house and the cincinnati passed a bill and the Senate Passed a bill, he says the shutdown of the u. S. Government is unacceptable. I work in a Coalition Office with several officers from other navies and im embarrassed with what i see from the congress. I urge, i urge you with all of my being to work to resolve this. Im confident that you can get the job done. Next lisa from oakdale, minnesota. Senator klobuchar, im 39 years old and ive never contacted a representative until now. I felt compelled to do so today because as a federal civilian employee, i want to express my extreme disappointment. I have dedicated my career to federal service, which i am now considering changing given this unfairness. Please tworbg resolve the budget as quickly as possible so my husband and return to work. Thats what lisa said. Thats what lisa said. You know what . Now the house of representatives said rightfully so they would pay her while shes at home. But they didnt send her back to home. They didnt do what she asked for in this letter. They didnt send her back to work. She simply wants to do her job. Here is from pamela, young america, minnesota. Farmer, please do whatever you can to stop the Government Shutdown. We have 14 acres of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, and our rental payment is to be made to us this first week of october. As long as the Government Shutdown is in place, our Conservation Reserve Program payments are delayed. We depend on this money and is not a small amount for our family. There are many farmers and landowners in the same situation. Please stop the shutdown. Well, i hope the house of representatives is listening to pamela of young america, minnesota, today. Kathy tomlinson from minnesota. I am an employee of the Social Security administration, office of disability and review. I have seen you intervene, senator, on matters for claimants who have disability hearings pending. I am furloughed as part of the Government Shutdown. If you want your constituents hearings addressed, i need to be at work in my office. Is she talking about pay in this letter . Of course she wants her pay and she is going to get her pay and she should. But thats not what she is talking about. She is talking about doing her job and getting back to work. Yesterday today the house of representatives voted to pay workers to stay home. Okay, we want to pay them, but not to put them back at work when that is all she is asking to do. Alicia from hastings, minnesota. Debate senator klobuchar, i am writing to express my extreme concern over the fg shutdown. I am a over the federal Government Shutdown. I am a teacher, a mother of three boys and the wife of a furloughed veteran who works for the Minnesota Air National Guard. I have never before written to my representative but feel so helpless and frustrated at this time, i needed to voice my concern. My concern at this time is that those in congress have forgotten about people like me, like those in my family and those in my community. I feel like an inconsequential number, a nameless and faceless casualty in a game that has no winners. I am concerned that my femas familys experience is lost in the rhetoric in the exchange between party members. I am concerned that we are the forgotten and nameless. Collateral damage in a philosophical debate. At this point in time, my husband, who is a veteran working full time for the Minnesota Air National Guard, is out of work because he is a federal employee not deemed essential. Im afraid that not only are the other 800,000 laid off federal employees deemed not essential, but the rest of the american citizens are nonessential as well. Our struggles are reallife struggles. Not a game, not philosophical, not in theory, not distant and not imaginary. My hope is that those struggles and hardships matter to you and in a real way. Im hoping you will understand the urgency of this situation for my family and for the thousands of others whom you directly impact on a daily basis. I dont want any representatives to forget the real people affected by these decisions. Thats your duty, thats your charge, thats your enormous task. I hope that i can count on you to look out for my family and the many others. I hope you will consider our lives and our hardships. Thank you for your efforts to solve this situation. She doesnt want to be inconsequential. She doesnt want to be nonessential. Not just her husband who is furloughed but her as a citizen of this country. Again, is she asking for money . Of course they want to get paid and they will get paid, but thats not what this is about. This is about her husband getting back to work to do the duty that he was hired to do by the American People. This is a simple bill. It just simply allows them to go back to work. And i am heartened by the fact that the number i think its at 22 house members now on the republican side have said they want to vote on this senate bill. Thats a magic number. Thats enough to pass it. We have to let that bill come up for a vote. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Ms. Hirono mr. President , i rise today in order to talk about the impact of the current Government Shutdown on hawaiis federal workers. Here in washington, we debate on what most people consider abstractions. We use terms like obamacare, filibuster, discretionary spending. We talk about Government Programs and initiatives in the aggregate and in the abstract. Hardly a day goes by when we dont hear about some program costing in the millions and billions. And while we use these terms and concepts when debating the nuts and bolts of government policy, what we need to always keep in mind is that these dollars and these terms impact real people, real lives. The work of the United States senate is to debate and deliberate with a goal of finding Consistent Solutions to the challenges our nation faces. The core of what we do is about people, families and communities. When we get away from thinking this way, when we focus on the abstractions and the slogans and who is winning the days media war, it becomes easy to forget what we are all here for. And when we forget that, we find ourselves unable to move forward and find consensus. We lose focus on the people, families and communities that sent us here. Public service is a privilege. It is also a responsibility. When we stand for election or enter Public Service in some other way, we are committing to put ourselves in the back behind the people for whom we work and serve. So today as we mark another day of the Government Shutdown, id like to share some stories with my colleagues, stories about people and families affected by the shutdown. I have received letters like my colleague from minnesota has received letters from her constituents, from people of all ages serving in different capacities at different federal Government Agencies and even some who are just embarking on a path to Public Service. These are all people dedicated to their work and dedicated to their country. The damage we are doing by not getting these folks back on the job is serious and impacts our national security, our economy and a host of Necessary Services that the people of our country depend upon. This shutdown and the debate around it is undermining a commitment to Public Service for many people. It is damaging the effectiveness of our institutions and it is unnecessarily putting many families in hawaii and across the nation in a state of uncertainty and anxiety. One furloughed man who wrote to me expressed these views clearly. He said as a u. S. Air force civilian, i am a furloughed employee. Hawaii has nearly the highest percentage of federal workers. This has a huge impact on the aloha state. Unlike the recent sequester, one cant scale back when nothing is coming in. Some lower grade workers may lose their homes and with it their sense of pride for choosing to work for the government. Thats the reality of this shutdown. He went on by october 9, we will have lost more than the recent sequester cuts. Many have not overcome that, and now were summarily discharged and the dealing debate is next. I work in an office of ten or so, half active duty, half civilian. We provide the continuity needed year in, year out to manage instrument procedures at all our bases in the pacific air forces. And he goes on, are we nonessential employees . I respectfully ask Speaker Boehner to ask them. Im upset that a few politicians are holding my country, my community and, yes, my family hostage for political brinkmanship. I stand with you, leader reid, he said, and the responsible republicans in the u. S. House that want to get our nation moving again. Another constituent wrote to me about the impact of the shutdown on her family. She said as the wife of an essential personnel Government Employee, i would like to tell you that the shutdown is devastating. We are parents of three children, one of whom is special needs and requires expensive measures daily to survive. Without a paycheck, we will be unable to pay our bills, buy food, support our children. Many, many middleclass federal employee families are in the same boat. Savings will not support us indefinitely. My husband is right now as we speak at work doing his duty, protecting the American Public against foodborne illness and contamination. Yet he is doing it with no pay. We are devastated. Please, please tell our story. Tell the republicans who have not crossed the aisle to please be reasonable and fund the government. They can argue later children are paying the price for the shutdown. Mr. President , as of right now, at Pearl Harbor Naval shipyard, three of our Nations Nuclear submarines are in dry dock and work on them stopped due to the shutdown. And one of the Shipyard Workers wrote this to me i am an employee of Pearl Harbor Naval shipyard. The shutdown has left my coworkers and myself with a sense of trepidation, insecurity and angst. Most of the hardworking, dedicated and patriotic federal civilian employees i work with live paycheck to paycheck due to the high cost of living in our islands. I have fears of not being able to pay my mortgage on time in november. But more importantly, the operational readiness of our Pacific Fleet is in jeopardy because we arent able to keep our ships fit to fight if we cant go to work, repair them and meet scheduled deadlines for returning them to operational status. Our workload already is stretching our resources and demanding we perform more with less. How can we recover a day, a week, a month or more sitting at home with so much when so much is at stake . The longterm consequences of this shutdown has ripple effects that are not one for one but are much longer period when moving a Large Industrial work force back into a rhythm of productivity and efficiency. Please continue to work with your colleagues in congress and convince them to end this shutdown sooner rather than later. This letter is an example of the selflessness of so many workers. While he is concerned about himself and his colleagues, his greater concern is for the impact this shutdown will have on our nations security. I have also received letters from people just starting out in life and in Public Service. For example, one young woman wrote me i am in jeopardy of losing my americorps vista placement which would prevent me from developing essential workplace skills and an education stipend that would lighten the load of my Student Loan Debt. And another shared this my husband and i are closing on our first condo today, tuesday, october 2, and now are faced with the challenge of my husband not receiving a paycheck during the shutdown. He is a Government Employee who is expected to work during the shutdown without a payday in sight. I am extremely nervous now about paying our mortgage and other essential bills when i should be excited about our first home purchase. I know eventually this will be straightened out, but at what cost to us . We are both in our early 30s, trying to make a life together, and like many or stackless, this is yet another setback. I hope this comes to an end quickly. Mr. President , these are people just starting to make their way in the world. They are working hard and doing all the right things, yet through no fault of their own, they are facing uncertainty and are likely questioning whether they have chosen the right path. The last letter id like to share today and i will be sharing more in the coming days about other areas of hawaiis economy that have been impacted is one that i hope my colleagues will think about as we go forward. This couple wrote my spouse and i are both federal employees with a combined Public Service commitment of over 50 years. We have seen and lived through many congressional sessions and many more shenanigans, but neither of us can recall a time when the truculence of a few has caused so much hurt in the lives of so many. I am essential, my husband is not. We will get by. Others are not so lucky. Our administrative assistants, for example, both of whom are barely hanging on, trying to feed their kids on the same pay that they received three years ago while the costs of health insurance, transportation and housing have continued to rise are now not being paid at all. Our daughter, for example, over 200,000 in Student Loan Debt tends to our veterans as a physician in a v. A. Hospital still had to come up with her rent on tuesday and still has to pay for healthy food and quality daycare so she can go to work but not get paid. Mr. President , these people devoted their careers to serving the public, helping people and making our country a better place. I ask my colleagues to think how long will this couples daughter or the Administrative Assistance that they mentioned in their letter and continue to hang on and stay in Public Service. If our political system cant function, our institutions and the people that work in them and rely on their services suffer. In one of the most damaging legacies of this shutdown could be the crisis of confidence that it will create among the American People towards their own government. That would be devastating. Im not arguing that government should be the answer to all of our problems, provide all of our services, but the services it does provide should be worthy of the people, families, and communities we are providing them for. Having a dedicated federal work force is central to that goal. And our job as senators is to give that work force confidence that their work is valued, that they are valued, that their contributions are worthwhile. This shutdown fails miserably in