Government Funding

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, can this be over now? Have the American people suffered enough or do Democrats need more?

Democrats have snarled air traffic; they have damaged small businesses; they left Federal workers in line at food banks; they jeopardized food assistance--food assistance--for 40 million Americans. Are they satisfied now or does the far left want more?

Surely, Democrats have hit enough milestones. The election is over. Democrats now have the extremely dubious honor of being responsible for the longest government shutdown in American history. So the question is, Can the American people get a break now?

Democrats should be embarrassed--embarrassed--that Federal workers are lining up at food banks and missing bills and in danger of losing homes or cars because Democrats can't summon enough Members to support a clean, nonpartisan funding resolution. That is right--a clean, nonpartisan funding bill sitting right here at the Senate desk. We have not asked Democrats to support a single new Republican policy. We haven't asked them to support a single partisan policy rider. We simply ask them to extend current funding levels for a few weeks so that we could have time to do bipartisan work on appropriations bills. The Democrats couldn't take yes for an answer.

On the subject of appropriations, if any Democrats cherish the faintest hope of still funding the government through a full-year appropriations process--a process that they have delayed for 5 weeks and counting--they should vote for the clean, nonpartisan CR today.

I realize the Democrats have been under a lot of pressure from their far-left base to keep the shutdown going. I assume that it was pressure from Democrats' far-left base that saw the Democratic leader flip his positions on shutdowns 180 degrees in the space of just 6 months. I realize that there are a number of Democrats in the Senate who are not just yielding to pressure from the far left but are themselves members of the far left and are happy to continue this shutdown forever if it means somehow sticking it, they think, to President Trump.

I am hoping there are still Democrats out there who can see beyond the political extremism of their leftist base. And I hope there are some Democrats who can take an honest look at the widespread damage that their shutdown is doing and say: Enough is enough.

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Parents are starting to think about what they are going to put under the tree. Do Democrats still want Federal employees lining up at food banks at Thanksgiving? at Christmas?

On the topic of the holidays, it is an open question whether people will be able to spend it with their families this year if the shutdown continues. Air traffic has been snarled for weeks as a result of Democrats' shutdown, and things are getting worse. The Transportation Secretary just announced yesterday that the government may be forced to close parts of our airspace if the shutdown continues into next week. Close airspace--think about that.

I could go on. I could talk about the unions asking Democrats to end this shutdown and support a clean continuing resolution. I could talk about the business organizations making the same request. I could read the headlines about Head Start preschools closing and SNAP recipients who are worried about their benefits and National Guard units that aren't training and on and on--every single thing as a result of the Democrats' decision to shut down the government more than 5 weeks ago. But surely--surely--there are at least some Democrat Senators who can see this for themselves, who can see this for themselves and realize it is past time to end this before the damage gets even worse. It is day 36 of Democrats' shutdown--day 36. How much longer are Democrats going to make the American people suffer?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source