before the prescription drug bill took effect 21% of the public said they wanted it, they supported it, seven years later, 90% of the public says they support it. and now in health reform, we are able to fix one of the things people were concerned about then. one of the things that stopped seniors from getting help -- rather than stopping that, we said let's make it work the best we can and look for opportunities to make it better. now, under the affordable care act, we have made it better. we have made it better by closing the gap in coverage, which has been dubbed the doughnut hole, so that gradually under health reform, this goes

away, which will mean literally thousands of dollars in the pockets of many seniors. i would suggest to our colleagues in the house and the minority of the minority here in the senate who want to shut things down because they have not gotten their way on health reform, that it would be so much better for the american people if they chose the path that we did on medicare prescription drugs, which is to try to make it work the best that we can and then to look for ways to make it better. so instead of doing that, what we have is a situation where we are being held hostage, public services are being held hostage to eliminate something that frankly that the majority of

people already voted to say they wanted to put into place, fix it, yes. their problems, yes, fix it. but they certainly don't want to go back to hundreds of dollars a month for a family for a policy that covers almost nothing, which is what has happened all across michigan and all across the country, a situation where women get discriminated against on the basis of rates just because we're women or we can't find preventive care or we can't find maternity care as women. we certainly don't want to go back to a situation where a family has a child who gets a serious illness, and then suddenly finds, after spending hundreds of dollars a month on a policy that doesn't cover anything much, that there's a cap on how much care they can get for their child. so they end up with thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses, maybe going bankrupt,

maybe losing their house because even though they were paying for insurance, it didn't cover what they needed. and then, by the way, there's a limit on the number of treatments you can get. and, oh by the way, now that your child has a serious chronic illness you can't get insurance anymore because of your prekreufgt -- preexisting condition. this is the world in which millions, tens of millions of families have been operating for way too long. we don't want to go back to that. i'm certainly not going to be a party to going back to that. so we said, no, negotiate on the budget. be responsible. focus on jobs. move forward, yes. take us back to a time of bankruptcy for families when there's an illness in the family? no. take us back to a time when women are charged more than men just because we're women? no. take us back tpo a time when

seniors are paying more out of pocket for prescription drugs because of this gap in coverage? no. and we could go on and on and on. and you know, so, when we look at this whole approach -- and i do have to say given the fact that we as women gain so much under health reform in terms of protection, about unfair rates, getting preventive care without out of pocket expenses, access to maternity care, many women for the first time, so many other things. the majority of those on chair are women. so many ways in which we benefit. we now see the house over and over again sending us something that would delay or end health reform and then today on top of everything else, they've decided not only do they want to stop the next stage of health reform, but by the way, we want to repeal what already is the law of the land now on preventive

care for women, on family planning services and mammograms and all of the other preventive services that we know save lives. and the amendment that all of the women, democratic women authored under our leader, senator barbara mikulski which made sure that going forward preventive care would be available and affordable, no out-of-pocket costs, that was repealed in what was sent to us today. now, it's also interesting, preventive services for men were not repealed. only preventive services for women without out-of-pocket expense. so we find ourselves now in a situation where we are waiting for the house to send back something else again that will chip away at health care and put

in jeopardy the ability for the federal government in the greatest country in the world to be able to provide services tomorrow, whether it's safety, whether it's health, whether 's it's the basics like traveling with your family and needing a passport or visiting one of our national parks or any number of other things that affect us, protecting the air and the water and what we do to support our farmers and so on. so that's where we are. we will once again indicate that we are willing to compromise on the budget issue. this is a budget issue. support the level of funding that the house says they want, not what we want, because it

underfunds critical investments in services and hurts in middle class. but for six weeks as a compromise we are willing to operate the government at the level that they want. but we will not take the next step, which is to take away the ability of millions of americans to have access to basic health care. tomorrow is an important day for so many reasons, but one of them is that for the first time citizens across the country are going to be able to begin to get the information they need from healthcare.gov about what is available for them and their families in terms of new health care options. from what we've seen so far, the

rates aren't only competitive, but lower than was estimated that they would be. and in fact for most families and most individuals, they're going to be able to get much more care. they're actually going to get something they're paying for. and they're going to be able to receive it at much less cost than they currently can. so this -- tomorrow is an important day, whereas they say in michigan, the rubber meets the road. people will begin to find out for themselves, despite all the stuff that's going on for the last three years, all the misinformation, the scare tactics, the millions of dollars, the horrible ads that have been run, tomorrow people will be able to judge for themselves. we certainly expect it will take awhile, just as it did for medicare prescription drugs, for it to fully take effect. people will have six months the

first time around to figure out what they'd like to do, to be able to sign up for next year. if we find that there are things that need to be improved on, we need to come together and do that. and we are more than willing to do it. but we are not willing to go back to the days where families couldn't find any care for themselves or their families or couldn't afford it. because we in fact are the greatest country in the world, and health care is pretty basic for each and every one of us, and we need to have a system which begins tomorrow to private sector insurance and competition to have a way to be able to lower costs for families while making sure they're actually getting the care that they're paying for. that starts tomorrow.

i hope tomorrow, in addition to that starting, that we're going to see a continuation of critical public services in our country and that we'll send a message around the world that america really can get its act together, that this congress really can work together and be responsible and not see the kind of incredible partisan games that have gone on. not by everyone, but by a minority of the minority who are right now holding things hostage in this congress. we can do better than that. i'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in fact, to do that. and i'm hopeful that the speaker will just very simply put a continuation, a continuing

resolution on funding the government before the full body of the house of representatives and let them vote. we have heard from many house colleagues today, republican colleagues, saying that if they have an opportunity to vote on continuing the operations of government, that they will do that. a clean c.r., continuing resolution, that would allow the continuing functioning of services that the p-b depends on. and those, by the way, who are providing as well are depending on. and so the speaker just simply needs to allow a vote, up-or-down vote, just allow a vote this evening. and i believe if he does that, he will see a bipartisan vote in the house of representatives to be responsible and do the right

thing. thank you, madam president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. quorum call: stab madam president, i ask -- ms. stabenow: i ask you dispense

with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: i thought there were others wishing to speak and since there are not, i want to take one moment to speak about something else that is running out today that i am deeply involved in and deeply concerned about, and that is the farm bill, the five-year agriculture nutrition conservation policy of this country. we are seeing the end today of the extension that was put in place last year because of house inaction. starting tomorrow, we essentially begin to operate on fumes. we will see a time period, a few weeks when we don't see the full impact of having no farm bill. and it is incredibly important that we use this time immediately to negotiate a final

farm bill that will not only reduce the deficit as our bill does of $24 billion, but one that can get strong bipartisan vote as we did here in the senate with over two-thirds of the senate twice voting for a comprehensive reform bill that addresses supporting our farmers and ranchers from a risk management standpoint while eliminating subsidies that don't make sense from a taxpayer standpoint, strengthening crop insurance, strengthening conservation to protect our land and air and water, focusing on regional and local food systems, farmers' markets, small farmers to support them as well. new jobs in bioenergy as well as investing in rural communities all across america through our rural development efforts.

what we call the farm bill really is the rural economic development bill for the country. 16 million people work in this country because of agriculture. it's the biggest jobs bill we'll pass. and our farmers, all of those impacted, have been waiting and waiting and waiting. and, frankly have had enough. they want this to get done. so call on house colleagues again to join with us to be able to finally get this passed into law. this is incredibly important for the economy, for small towns like the one where i grew up in clare, michigan, all across michigan, all across the country, it's incredibly important for our efforts to continue to protect our soil and our forests, our air and our water and to be able to maintain

the beautiful outdoors that we do and support for hunters and fishermen and others that we do through efforts in the farm bill. it's incredibly important that this get done. it is long overdue. so i couldn't let this evening go by without indicating that on the long list of things that have not been done, the september 30 date is incredibly important for rural america, for our farmers and ranchers who need help when they have a loss, for our families that need help when they have a loss, and for our ability to continue to grow jobs. our largest area of exports is in agriculture. it is a vibrant, important part of the economy. there is no excuse for this not having already been done.

again, too many games have been played on this, attacking families that need help, choosing not to proceed in a responsible, balanced way as we did in the senate and i'm recommitting myself again as i have day after day, tomorrow, to make sure that i do everything i possibly can and i call on house colleagues, on the speaker, to do everything that they can in order to finally get a five-year comprehensive food and farm and jobs bill done. so that we can continue to grow a very important part of the economy. i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator pull your request on that? ms. stabenow: i would pull my

request. the presiding officer: thank you. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i know many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle are really deeply frustrated this evening because once again with just a few hours left on the clock, house republican brinksmanship has us struggling to avoid burdening our families and our economy with more dysfunction and more uncertainty. this pattern is simply unacceptable. and some of us, democrats and republicans, have been trying for months to break it. when the senate budget passed, i was hopeful that we could move to a bipartisan budget conference where democrats and republicans from the house and from the senate could come together and sit down and try to work out our differences. democrats tried to begin that budget conference 18 times. many senate republicans agreed with us that we should begin negotiations and begin working

towards that deal. but each time, tea party republicans and republican leadership stood up and said no. and, madam president, they made it pretty clear why. they believed that they would have more leverage in a crisis like the one we're hours away from than they had a few months ago when we were asking for orderly negotiations. instead of working on a bipartisan budget agreement that would star strengthen our econo, tea party republicans began manufacturing this crisis to defund the affordable care act, a law, by the way, that is helping millions of americans and beginning tomorrow shut down or no shutdown, is going to begin helping many more. and due to republicans' refusal to come to the table, we are now scrambling to avoid a shutdown. madam president, i'm confident the american people, including many in my home state, are looking at house republicans and asking the same question many of

us are. they're asking what are they thinking, and why would they hurt their own constituents simply to make a point? because even if tea party republicans don't want to admit it, a government shutdown wouldn't just impact people here in washington, d.c. it will be felt across the country. in my home state of washington, the impacts could be severe. first of all, washington state is home to tens of thousands of federal employeeses are, who will be -- employees, who will be furloughed or stop getting paid but it's also home to one of our nation's largest veterans communities and the v.a. has confirmed now this week that if the shutdown goes long enough, disability and g.i. benefits will stop for benefits in places like tacoma and everett and spokane, all because some tea party republicans in washington, d.c. can't have their way. and that's not all. if the tea party forces this

government to shut down, our designate state's gorgeous national parks, mount rainier will be closed to the public. students at the university of washington and washington state university may not be able to access student loans so they can pay their tuition bills. funds for important public health programs like w.i.c. could be cut for women and children who really rely on them. and federal support for dozens of head start facilities in seattle and across our state would be at risk. now, the good news is, madam president, none of this has to happen. we still have time. and the senate has passed a shutdown prevention bill that would avoid all of this harm. the senate's short-term funding bill would keep the government open at current spending levels with no changes in policies while we continue to work on that important long-term budget deal. now, the senate bill is not a

long-term solution, not even close, but as we work to bridge the gap between the parties on our bigger budget issues, the absolute bare minimum congress should be able to do, the least we owe to our constituents, is to not actively hurt them and sabotage the economy, but by playing partisan games with a temporary stopgap continuing resolution by trying to take away health care for millions of americans, tea party republicans are doing exactly that. madam president, even if their fellow republicans -- many of their fellow republicans believe that this is an irresponsible and unworkable attitude. many republicans have spoken out to discourage their own colleagues from waging this pointless, harmful fight over defunding the affordable care act. they have agreed with democrats while we might not see eye to eye on everything, we don't have to abandon our basic responsibilities like keeping

the government open in order to negotiate. madam president, we desperately need this kind of commonsense bipartisanship because we have seen repeatedly that families from across the political spectrum are sick of governing by crisis and the uncertainty that it creates in their lives. they're sick of gridlock in washington, d.c. that impacts everything from their childcare to their paycheck. unfortunately, madam president, it seems that the house republicans haven't had quite enough yet. they seem to think this is some kind of game, that whoever is left holding the hot potato will be held responsible. let me be very clear. the american people are a lot smarter than that. they know tea party republicans have been pushing us towards this crisis for months, and they're going to know where a shutdown happened should the tea party refuse to pass the senate's clean continuing resolution to keep the government open.

madam president, allowing our government to shut down isn't in anyone's best interest, not republicans', not democrats', and above all, not the american people. so i would like to call on speaker boehner to take one simple step. i ask simply that he allow a vote on the senate's clean continuing resolution because, madam president, i truly believe that given the chance enough republicans in the house would join with the democrats in voting for a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open, to just keep the government open so we can deal with the bigger issues in front of us. speaker boehner takes that step, we could avoid all the disruption, all the harm that a government shutdown would cause to the families and communities we serve. and then we could move forward and continue our work critically important on a longer term budget deal that ends this governing by crisis and puts our families and our economy first. that's what families across the

country expect, it's what my fellow constituents in the state of washington expect, it's what i'm fighting for, and that is what we should deliver. thank you and i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: i ask that the call of the quorum be vai vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise today to talk about once again where we are, where we ought to be, and where i hope we'll be. madam president, right now it is now 8:30 at night. we are 3 1/2 hours -- 3 1/2 hours essentially until the government begins to shut down. can you believe this? we are the united states of america. we are a superpower. we're supposed to be a nation governed by rule of law and we're about to shut -- shut

down. not shut us down because of a catastrophic event that hit us. it's not like a meteor has streaked across the sky and hit the united states of america, taking out our power grid and rendering us powerless. autoit's not like we've been hiy a global pandemic that would bring us to our knees. we are in an act of self self-inducement about to shut down the functioning of the united states of america's government. i find this shocking. now, i lived through this in the mid-1990's. it is deeply disturbing to the people who work for the federal government, who get up every day and go to their job, trying to perform a service or a function

that they consider important to the united states of america. whether it's in transportation, protecting the environment, federal law enforcement, important financial regulatory agencies, the consumer protection agency for our financial services, the consumer product safety commission in my own state to protect ourselves and particularly our children against harmful products. but they're going to be shut down. and you know what's going to be told to them? men and women who work for the united states of america, most of you are considered nonessential. now, that might be a witty, throw-away line on a cable tv show, but i happen to think they're very essential and so does the rest of america. people who are doing very

important functions to protect america. the house feels it protected america by passing a military pay bill. the senate passed it by unanimous consent. but guess what, madam president? it still means that almost 50% of the men and women who work at the department of defense will be furloughed tomorrow. they're going to be told that they're nonessential. now, who's essential to defense and who isn't? we certainly know that our men and women who wear the uniform who are in harm's way need to get their pay, they need to get their supplies, they need to get what they need to do to defend america. but they also need a fully functioning department of defense. i think that there are other agencies that protect the united states of america, one of which is our federal law enforcement, whether it's the f.b.i., whether it's the martia the marshal sere

drug enforcement agency,, and yes, the alcohol, tobacco and firearms agency. yes, they put themselves in the line of fire, too, along with our customs and our border agents, some of whom have already died. and what about our prison guards who are up there facing people who are ready to either kill them or break out or break them up at the first chance they can get? now, we don't have to pursue this route. remember, this is self-induced, but it is really, as our president said, being induced by one faction in one party in one house of our government over one issue. not funding but should we fund the president's affordable care act. it's the law of the land. it's already in existence. and a good part of it will go into effect on october 1.

what we should be debating -- and now, when i talk about this, i really speak from the standpoint that i chair the committee called the appropriations committee. that is the committee that puts the money in the checkbook, that puts the funding for the entire united states of america government that puts it in the checkbook to keep it operating. it is $1 trillion. wow, what a number. gasp. and you know what, it is a big number, but it's a big country with big responsibilities. that's not the total funding of the federal government because there's mandatory spending. mandatory spending are our social security benefits, our veterans' benefits, earned benefits -- earned benefits. all of that is over several other trillion.

now, there is a dispute about how much the spending should be. madam president, that is an honest dispute. that's what funding disputes and resolutions about those should be about. that's what i should be in a room right this very minute with my house counterpart, congressman hal rogers, the republican chairman, a fine, honorable man from kentucky, and my democratic counterpart, congresswoman nita lolowe loweym new york. and i should be in there with richard shelby, another fine gentleman, a fiscal conservative, my partner. we should be there doing it. but that's not what we're talking about. we're not talking about what is the house number, what is the -- the senate number, what is the

best number to fund our government and do it in a way that's smart, effective and frugal. oh, no. the big fight is over obamacare. that's not what it should be. we've had something called continuing resolutions before. a continuing resolution should have another word in it -- funding. it is about the continuing funding resolution. and it's to keep government funding while we resolve our disputes. they were always, one, short term. number two, they focused on fiscal differences, where did we disagree on fiscal matters? now, there is disagreement. the house marked up their bills primarily to $988 billion. that acknowledged that sequester is the new normal.

we in the senate, we marked up, at my -- the number that i used which was 1.58 trillion. the number that i used came from the senate-passed budget bill, under the chairmanship of senator patty murray. so there's a $70 billion difference between the house and the senate. do you know, what madam president? that is an honest dispute. now, i'm ready to negotiate with congressman rogers but i'm not ready to capitulate. what does capitulate mean? that we don't even get to a number because we're fighting about obamacare. we should be discussing what is the way to do this. i'm willing to see, is there a compromise? because my goal is that in december, we will pass all of the funding bills, we would have canceled sequester for two years, and we would have formed a compromise on that number that

does reduce public debt -- we acknowledge that -- but also makes public investments that create jobs and growth in our country. those would be transportation, research and development and things that we could also make and sell overseas. these are the kinds of things that we want to invest in. physical infrastructure, human infrastructure, like education, research and development, and have a pro-growth, pro-american future kind of approach. i want to get to that debate. i want to get to that discussion. i want to get to that conference. but i cannot get to it because we're fighting over obamacare. now, somehow or another that's supposed to be kind of a sarcastic thing, to call it obamacare.

i think we need to respect our president of the united states. i call it the affordable care act. but if people want to call it obamacare, let them do it. the president does care. he does care that 42 million people don't have health insurance and that we needed to reform our health care system to get more value for our dollar and get rid of the punitive practices of insurance companies of denying people health care on the basis of a preexisting condition. and, by the way, as a consumer advocate, you know this, charging women much more for insurance than men do of comparable age and health status. so i come to the floor tonight and i say to my house colleagu colleagues, i served in the house, please, let's stop the ideological amendments and get on to what appropriations are supposed to be, what a continuing resolution is supposed to be: a short-term

approach. that's why i'm recommending november 15 to get us to the point where we have compromised on fiscal matters. how can we end sequester for two years, how can we pass all of our funding bills, and how can we come to a sensible compromise on the $70 billion difference between us? now, we've tried everything we know. senator murray worked very hard to pass the budget bill. we passed it in a marathon session and i was proud of us. really, we worked hard, great debate. it was hard-fought but at the end we had over 70 votes. then senator murray did what the law requires. she said she wanted to go to conference along with her vice chairman, ranking member, senator sessions. six republican senators

objected. so we have yet to be able to even have a conference to get to the overall budget, which is about what our tax policy should be, our approach to mandatory spending and a target number for me to reach with my appropriations members on both sides of the aisle. well, we never got to that. so we marked up our bills on appropriations, we followed the guidelines given to us by the senate bill at $1.58 trillion. we've been in frequent conversation -- frequent conversation -- with congressman rogers and congressman lowey. that's the way senator shelby and i work. we have frequent conversations. but we're talking to ourselves. but now i'm talking to the american people. don't want an orderly process? you know, the founders of our country said we would not be a government of personalities and plebiscites and whims and wins.

we would be a government of institutions and laws and a process within our parliamentary form of government for resolving disputes. let's get back to regular order. let us pass a simple, straightforward continuing resolution to keep the government open until november 15 with the direction where we end sequester, come up with a compromise on the funding, and at the same time be able to pass all of our bills. i think we can do it. i think there's the will. i think there's the wallet. we just need to find the way. and the way for the house is, give us a clean, straightforward bill, let's pass it over here. let's keep america open and let's keep america running. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: mr. leader?

mr. reid: albert einstein said, when defining insanity, as follows -- quote -- "doing the same thing over and over again and thinking you're going to get a different result." einstein was a genius but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the proof is watching the house republicans because they've lost their minds. they keep trying to do the same thing over and over again. they have voted to repeal obamacare 45 or 46 times. now, that's kind a lot of repetition. and now they're trying to do it again. they just passed over there another piece of legislation to try to defuse, defeat, get rid of obamacare. madam president, obamacare is the law. we had a couple republicans today come and talk about the

obama health care bill. that's long since passed. it's the law. do i need to remind everyone again? the united states supreme court said it's constitutional. but the speaker, instead of allowing all 435 members of the house of representatives to vote to keep the government open for business, he is once again pushing for a government shutdown. i think this is what they want. remember, they don't believe in government. so what's a real good way to get get -- what's a good way to really hurt government? should it down. the house once again has attached ridiculous policy riders that are dead on arrival over here. i've heard this story before.

in fact, just six hours ago. republicans once again threaten to shut down the government unless democrats repeal obamacare for a year. once again, we will not relitigate the health care debate or negotiate at the point of a gun. this time the house has attached a poison pill that would punish 16,000 congressional staff. the amendment originally offered by the junior senator from louisiana would force congressional staff to cover their full cost of their health care. now, think about this for a minute. others have thought about it. the newspaper "politico" said yesterday in perfectly explaining the hypocrisy of this approach and saying this, and i quote -- "some health care opponents claim the obama administration is giving members of congress and their staffs special treatment under the affordable care act." continue to quote -- "the claim

is simply false. although they will be required to enroll in health plans offered within the new health insurance exchanges established under the law, members of congress and their staffs will not receive extra financial help to pay for their medical care." in reality, they go on to say, it's the critics, as part of their ongoing assault on the health care law, who are seeking special treatment for congress by proposing to make members and their staffs the only workers in the united states whose employer is barred from -- by law from helping cover their premiums." close quote. i repeat -- "in reality, it's the critics, politico said, as part of their ongoing assault on the health care law who are seeking special treatment for congress by proposing to make members and their staffs the only workers in the united states whose employer is barred by law from helping cover their premiums." madam president, like 150 other americans who get their health care through their jobs, a portion of the costs of

congressional staff health care premiums is currently covered by their employer. their employer is the federal government. there's about six million of us. in other words, members of congress and congressional staff live by the same rules as other americans and other federal employees. as a matter of fact, all members of congress will be getting their health care on marketplace exchanges just like tens of millions of other americans. 600,000 nevadans are now eligible. they will start signing up tomorrow. the house republicans want to force our staff who worked so hard to live by a different set of rules. although many of these republicans have gladly allowed the federal government to pay for a portion of their own health insurance for years, decades some of them, they now want to force 16,000 congressional employees to cover the full costs of their health

insurance. if republican senators believe they should bare -- bear the full cost of their health insurance, they should decline the employer contribution and pay their own way. they should stop being hypocritical. they should practice what they preach. punishing 16,000 innocent congressional workers is simply mean-spirited. speaker boehner knows this new amendment don't last any longer than the last one when it gets to the senate, and it should be quick. the senate will vote it down and the house republicans will be in the same pickle they're in right now, but even with less time left before the government shuts down. but there is still a way for the speaker to get out of this quagmire, to get out of this ditch, this hole that they have dug for themselves, but, mr. president, crime not sure they want out of this hole because common sense dictates if you want to get out of the hole, stop digging deeper. but they do that.

they are over there now figuring how glad they are the hole is deeper than it ever was because i believe there is a significant number if not the majority of the house republicans want the government to close. so here's what the speaker should do to get out of this hole that he's dug. let the house vote, all 435 members, on the continuing resolution that we passed. we did it on friday. we affirmed that this afternoon. stop standing in the way, i say to the speaker, john boehner let the house work its will. if speaker boehner prevents the senate bill from coming to the floor before midnight, the responsibility for this government shutdown is clearly a republican government shutdown and will rest squarely on his shoulders, as all america knows. mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois.

mr. durbin: let me thank the majority leader for the statement that he's just made. it's hard to believe we're a little over three hours away from shutting down the government of the united states of america. shutting down the government of the united states of america. when you hear about this happening in foreign countries, you think, you know, it's a shame they just aren't as stable and strong as our great democracy. and yet, here we are facing that possibility just a few hours from now, and it's through our own fault. it's the failure of leadership. i'll tell you what we have done in the senate. i think it's the right thing. we passed a clean c.r., a clean budget bill. no political strings attached, none. we could have attached the immigration bill, the farm bill. a lot of possibilities there. none. a clean budget bill for america's government for the next six weeks. and we sent it over to the house and said just vote for this and we don't have to shut down the

government, and they have said no repeatedly, and they are about to send us the third effort of the house, and it, too, will be defeated, because they are obsessed with obamacare, obsessed with the health care reform act. more than obsessed. they are living in mortal fear of what's going to happen starting tomorrow. as you see across america, they are going to announce the insurance exchanges in every state. people who have never had insurance in their -- health insurance in their entire lives will have a chance to buy it. some of it will be affordable for a lot of families. some of it will be the first chance a family's had to buy health insurance. we had an article i read over the weekend, one of the chicago papers. a family is raising a child with mental illness. as a consequence, they have been disqualified every time they have tried to buy health insurance. nobody will insure them because their child suffers from mental illness. guess what? as of tomorrow, they'll get a

list of health insurance plans in their state they can buy, and it's in competition, in a marketplace, and they can choose from many different options. in my state of illinois, 54 different options that we can choose from for our health insurance. it means for that family that has lived without health insurance because of the mental illness of their son, for the first time in their lives, they will be able to buy health insurance. madam president, if you have ever lived as a parent with a sick child without health insurance, you will never forget it as long as you live. i know of what i speak. i was there, and i remember it and i'll never forget it. when you finally get health insurance, you can breathe again, knowing that if somebody happens, you're going to get some help in paying those medical bills. for some of these families, for a lifetime they have never had this chance. that's why republicans want to stop obamacare. they don't want these exchanges to be announced. they don't want people to see

these options. they know what's going to happen. 40 million uninsured americans are going to take to this because it gives them the first lifeline they have ever seen when it comes to health insurance. that's what it's all about, and that's why they fear it and state it so much. it's going to work. it's going to give peace of mind to family planning services, and we're never going back. oh, we'll change some of the provisions in this health care reform. of course we will. anything this big is going to be changed, as it should be. wisdom, experience. it's going to give us some ideas of how to make it better and stronger and work fairer. that's why the republicans are so determined to stop it tonight, tonight, before it can go into its first phase of advertising marketplaces tomorrow. they're going to fail again, for the third time they're going to fail, in just a few days with this house approach of strings attached. and there is one other element here. i'm glad the majority leader

raised it. people think that members of congress have these gilded health insurance plans, and the honest answer is we do have a pretty darn good health insurance plan. we go through what's known as the federal employees health benefit program. eight million federal employees and their families, including members of congress and their staff, buy into it. it's been around for decades. it works well. my wife and i can choose from nine different health insurance plans in illinois as federal employees. well, we choose the big plan, the big blue cross plan and we pay the highest premium for it, but our employer pays a share of the premium. this is not a radical idea. 150 million americans have exactly the same arrangement. they get their health insurance through their work and their employer pays a portion of the health insurance premium. now comes the house republicans and they have come up with a new idea. first the requirement that members of congress and their staff buy insurance through the

marketplace. it's okay with me. i have taken a look at the marketplace plans. they'll cover my family just fine, thank you. now they add the kicker. but the federal government cannot pay for any of the premiums. why? because we know under the health insurance marketplace small businesses with fewer than 50 employees can provide an employer contribution to their employee buying through that marketplace. it's in the law. so members of congress aren't being treated any differently when our employer, the federal government, pays part of our premium in the marketplace. that's all that the law says. they want to stop that. it isn't because of the injustice because others are getting the same benefit, we're not getting special treatment. it's because they want to find a way to create some pain in the process. senator reid talked about 16,000 congressional workers and their family members -- i'm sure that number included their family members, and they want to single them out and say that they get no employers contribution for

their health insurance. shame on them for coming up with this idea. to deny hardworking people, whether they are members of congress or our staff, the basic protection of health insurance without digging deeper in their pockets, is that their idea of making this a fairer, more just society? i don't think so. we're going to reject what the house is about to send over, and the clock's ticking. it will be a few hours left before midnight. there's an answer to this, though. an easy one. right now, speaker boehner has in his power the ability to call a bill on the floor that will avoid the government shutdown. it's a bill passed in the senate, a bill with no political strings attached, a simple extension of the government's budget for six weeks. six weeks. he can do it. he can stop what otherwise will happen tomorrow morning when agencies all across our nation give notice to their federal

employees go home, we're shut down. and it means hundreds of thousands of federal employees tomorrow will be sent home and not paid for their days of work, and the things they do to make this a stronger country and to keep our government working will just come to a stop. the greatest nation on earth shutting down its government on october 1, 2013. totally unnecessary. it is a manufactured political crisis by tea party republicans, and we're hoping that some of our friends on the republican side of the aisle, conservatives, moderate conservatives from all over the nation will join us. let's spare this. let's spare this embarrassment for america. let's let those federal workers go to work tomorrow, as they should, provide our country the services it needs. let's get ready for health care reform and the marketplace, and let's let the american people be

the judge as to whether it's the right thing or not. i think it will be. but trying to stop it in its tracks is just a fool's errand, as one of the members of congress on the republican side described it. if the speaker will call the spending bill that passed the senate for a vote tonight in the house of representatives, we can be spared this government shutdown. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: just talking to my friend from arizona -- the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i direct this question to my friend from illinois. nevada is not a heavily populated state like illinois. but we have a number of really beautiful systems that are part of our national park treasures.

we have one, lake mead, which we all know about. lake mead, we have about 15,000 people visit that every day. that will close in the morning -- or yeah, 12:01 tonight. you add that up that's about 500,000, 600,000 a year come there. red rock, a beautiful place not far out of las vegas, tourists love it, like lake mead. we have 11 million people a year come there. this is going to happen all over america. and i will mention a couple things in nevada. i'll bet my friend knows that there are -- of the national treasures in illinois that will close. is that true? mr. durbin: i would say to the senator from nevada that we have 50,000 federal employees in illinois and we expect the majority of the