agree to work with ropes funding for the government -- with republicans on funding for the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. so i propose that the house passes our clean c.r., we'll sit down and discuss funding for the balance of the year. that's it. this deal they're pulling now -- they have the -- they have a rule over there that says that they want to go to conference on the c.r. madam president, that closes government. they want to close government. this is all a subterfuge to satisfy the tea party driven republicans. and this very, very strange -- this agenda that is so hurtful to the american people. so i -- i want everyone to hear what i just said. we will not go to conference until we get a clean c.r.

government closes, what benefit do we have from that? we have -- in two weeks, we have the government is not only going to close down, we're going to lose the credit rating because they're talking now about not raising the debt ceiling. mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: madam president, you know, i sort of feel sorry for speaker boehner. he has this hard right tea party group that is adamant about shutting the government down. many of them talked about shutting the government down in their 2010 campaigns. there are clips where they go to the audience, we will shut the government down if we win back the house, and the audience of tea party faithful cheers. and here we are, and now speaker boehner, who has not been

able -- not been strong enough, frankly, to stand up to the tea party realizes he is in a real dilemma, and they want to shut the government down, and he knows that the american people don't want that. cnn came out with a poll today. what should we do? end obamacare or keep the government going? 60%, keep the government going. only 30%, 34% i believe end obamacare. and the closer we get to this fateful hour -- we're only an hour away from a government shutdown -- the more people will understand what the republicans have done. so there is only really one answer, and that is for the house to pass the clean c.r. bill that we have sent them, that they have. they keep coming up with new diversions. they send us a message that says

this. they send us a message that says that. some of it's related to obamacare. some of it's related to contraception. and now they say well, we want to go to conference. well, as the leader said, we want to resolve issues. we'd like to get a nice omnibus for a whole year for the remainder of the fiscal year, and we realize we have to do that with both houses, but not with a gun to everybody's head. let's go to conference while they shut down the government and hurt millions of immigrant immigrant -- innocent people. speaker boehner isn't going to get away with this subterfuge, just as he hasn't gotten away with the previous ones. people will see through it. it's a way to take the focus off what they really are doing, shutting the government down and trying to get people to follow the diversion.

this time, let's go to conference. again, nothing wrong with the conference, but not, absolutely not when they're shutting the government down in an hour. all the talking in conference will not help the federal worker who is not getting a paycheck, the highway construction worker who uses federal funds to build that highway, the veteran who's waiting for a disability claim. a conference isn't going to solve that. there's one way to solve it -- pass the clean c.r. and then a conference that talks about the issues for the whole year, resolves funding makes sense, but only after they pass our clean c.r. bill. so peerk boehner, no more games. in the final hours, pass the clean c.r.

don't send us another one of these little gizmos that is simply meant to take attention off the fact that you don't have the courage to keep the government funded. pass the clean c.r., and then we can talk about conference. i yield the floor. mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: madam president, the statement made earlier by the majority leader is worthy of note. in less than an hour, the government of the united states of america will close. what it means is that agencies all across the united states will start notifying federal employees go back home, don't come to work. you may not be paid for today. and people who are reaching out to those agencies for services, s.b.a. loans, student loans, advice on social security, veterans' benefits, they're going to find recordings instead of government workers there to help them, and that's not good. it doesn't speak well for this great nation that we've reached this point. what we hear now from the house

of representatives is they want to talk some more. now they want to sit down with the senate to talk this over. but only after the government shuts down. that's the difference. they will only talk after the government shuts down. what the majority leader has said is that reasonable compromise. what he said is this -- pass the six-week budget that we sent over to you, the c.r., no strings attached, no political gimmicks so that the government continues functioning, so that america is open for business. do that. and during that time, we will sit down and talk with you about future funding for the rest of the year. party to that conversation should be the chairman of the senate budget committee, senator murray. she worked hard to pass a budget resolution here. tried 18 times on the floor to get to a conference committee with the house. every time the tea party republican senator got up and objected. we're prepared to sit down again. chairman murray is prepared to

sit down. the chairman of the senate appropriations committee, senator mikulski of maryland. i have worked with her and for her in our effort there to get the appropriation bills ready. the two of them, senator murray, senator mikulski, can work together in the conference committee and really chart a way to finish this year in an orderly, thoughtful way, but shutting down the government should not be the starting point. that is an admission of defeat. those of us who were sent here to washington to lead should be ashamed if it reaches that point. what the majority leader has proposed i hope the speaker of the house of representatives will take note of. don't send us the idea of a conference committee after the government shuts down. what the majority leader has said is after we have agreed to keep the government functioning for six weeks, then we can sit down and work out the difficult issues that face us. we have now entertained three different proposals from the house when it comes to funding this government, two today, and we're about to get a third this

day. each one of them has a fatal flaw. it either involves defunding, delaying obamacare, which the president and the democrats in the senate would never agree to, or in this circumstance they are sending this idea of a conference committee after the shutdown. i think what senator reid has offered now is reasonable, it's constructive, it gives us a chance to do our work. differences of opinion, for sure, but in an orderly process that brings some respect back to congress as an institution instead of the embarrassment of a shutdown of our important government. i hope that the speaker and his staff are listening carefully. i hope that they'll accept this offer by the majority leader to move forward in a positive and constructive way, keep the government open, solve our problems in a bipartisan and constructive fashion. i yield the floor. mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, i find it extremely ironic that we

are here right now, hearing that the house of representatives is going to shut down the government and then send us a bill saying they want to talk in a conference committee. madam president, let's remember why we are here right now with the threat of a shutdown. where thousands of families and communities are going to be hurt. we passed a budget in this senate six months ago. the house of representatives passed a budget in the house six months ago. the goal was to go together in conference, work out our disagreements, define the funding levels for the coming fiscal year so we wouldn't be sitting here tonight minutes away from a shutdown. madam president, the right thing to have done was to go to conference any time in that last six months, as we asked for 18 times but were told no by the same people who are now sitting on the other side of the aisle

and saying no, they want to shut government down. why do they want to do that? they want to create a crisis because they think they're going to get something. madam president, we know going to a conference means we have to compromise, that's what a conference is, but we're not going to do it with a gun to our head that says we're shutting government down and we're going to conference over a short little six-week c.r. we have to deal with a longer term budget. we have asked many times to go to conference on that. we stand ready to go to work on making compromises for our long-term fiscal crisis. but, madam president, tonight the only question that should be before the house of representatives and the united states senate is keeping our government open without a gun to anyone's head. the speaker should pass a clean c.r., send it to the president, tell americans that we are not going to disrupt their lives in this country for the next six

weeks while we work out the bigger agreement. that's what we need to be doing, and i urge the speaker to accept away from the precipice, have the government stay open, don't put everybody's lives and communities in this country at risk and allow us to get to work to solve our next year's fiscal crisis before it's on us again. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, i chair the senate appropriations committee. it's a great honor, and i'm the one that would go to conference. hey, i'm ready. however, a motion to tell us to meet in conference without a continued funding resolution to keep the government open is a hollow gesture and a cynical

gesture and a manipulative gesture. so to say to have a conference, that means myself, my republican vice chairman, other conferees that would be appointed, we would sit down with the house -- by the way, we talk all the time. we started something new under my leadership with the concurrence of senator shelby, talking with the house. so do we want to meet in a you bet. but to meet in a conference without the continued funding resolution included in it means that the government shuts down at midnight without a continuing funding resolution to a date certain. you can tell us to meet all you want, but the government will

shut down. so my whole point is to agree with my colleagues here that the house should take up with -- what the senate sent them. the senate sent in a gesture of comity and so on a simple continuing resolution -- keep the government funded until november 15. this would give us opportunities to have that conference. we accepted their funding level, hope -- planning to negotiate a higher level. we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for senator murray to be able to go to conference on the budget committee so that we could arrive at this. now, people might say senator

mikulski, i'm confused. murray's the budget, you're the appropriation. aren't they the same thing? no. senator murray is the budget committee. that is the full revenue -- that is the full federal budget. it includes discretionary spending. i'm one part of that. it includes mandatory spending. that's social security, medicare, veterans' benefits, other mandatory spending. and it also includes revenue which means so that your books ultimately balance and you have a balance in your economy. the budget committee's job is to arrive at that, working with the house. they then give we appropriators something called a 302-a.

it's a section in the budget act. that budget committee tells we appropriators the cap that we can spend, so we actually appropriators are neither free spenders nor free loaders. we get a cap, a 302-a. i have 12 subcommittees. those subcommittees we divided up in terms of what we think are the important investments that the country should make. that's into the 12 committees. they then work with their republican members to arrive at the subcommittees and we bring them to the floor. i haven't had a top line. i haven't had my cap. so what i operated -- because she can't go to conference. remember those conferences everybody likes to have? so had senator murray gone to a

conference, we would have had that number but in the absence of that, i did something really bold. i took the senate for its word. i took the senate for its word. this spring when the budget committee passed their 302-a allocation would have been a trillion 058. that's what we appropriators, our democrats marked up our 12 bills to. you might say it's a lot of money. it sure is a lot of money and we did a good job with it. we had smart public investments and every one of my subcommittees at their hearing had the inspector general so we could identify duplicative, dated, or dysfunctional programs. we're ready to cut. we knew how to cut. we're ready to go. and every one of my subcommittees is ready to go. so am i ready to go to conference? you bet. but to go to conference without

the continuing funding resolution is, again, a hollow action that once againways time andways the country -- wastes time and wastes the country. it's not just those watching c-span in our own country. the world watches c-span. the world is watching us. this is the united states of america. and they're watching, that under our parliamentary system, which was once the greatest in the world, we have gone from the greatest deliberative body to the greatest delaying body, and we delay through hollow gestures back and forth. i want to do everything i can working on a bipartisan basis to maintain the greatness of america. but in order to do that, the

greatness of america needs to work tonight. we need to come to our senses, come to an agreement, come to closure, keep the government open. i'm happy to go to the conference, but i would like a date certain, my preference would be november 16, keep the government open, keep us on -- not only our job but keep america working. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to s. 1566, the iraq special immigration visa extension. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: s. 1566, a bill to extend the period in which iraqis who are employed by the united states government in iraq may be granted special immigrant status and to temporarily increase the fee for surcharge

for processing machine readable nonimmigrant visas. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection the senate will proceed. the presiding officer: mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be ready read a third time, pad and with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, this is so important. people who work with our military in iraq as interpreters and doing other things that were essential who now are targets of the civil war that's going on in iraq, they've been wanting to leave some of them for two years. this will allow them to do that. i'm so glad we were able to extend this. every day these people who helped us are subject to arrest arrest, being killed, their family being hurt, killed, so this is so important we did this.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i just wanted to say a few words to try to reflect i think what tens of millions of americans are feeling at 11:25 tonight with the threat of a government shutdown in 35 minutes. and what i want to say is that this discussion is not about obamacare at all. what this discussion and what this debate and what this conflict is about is that our republican friends in the house

are trying to annul the election that took place last november. some of them were shocked that obama won and that he won by five million votes. they haven't gotten over it. they were shocked that they lost two seats here in the senate. they haven't gotten that. shocked that they lost some seats in the house. and what they are saying to the american people tonight is, well, maybe we blost lost the presidential election, maybe we lost seats in the senate and lost seats in the house, it doesn't matter. we can now bring the government to a shutdown, throw some 800,000 hardworking americans out on the street, and we are going to get our way no matter what. and i think, madam president, that that is a horrendous precedent to be established for this body and let's be clear.

if we surrendered to that hostage taking tonight without a shadow of a doubt, these guys would be back two weeks from today, and what they would say is here is our laundry list of demands, and if you don't give us what we want, we are going to bring the financial system of the united states of america down, the world financial system down, and if it leads to a worldwide recession, well, that's the way it goes. but what's most important is we get our way and we don't care about the repercussions. and next year i can see these same guys coming to the floor of the house and saying you know what? we need to abolish social security. we think social security is a bad idea and if you don't allow us to do that, we're going to

stop the government again, and on and on it goes. so ultimately what we are dealing with tonight is an extraordinarily antidemocratic act. every member of the senate has strong feelings, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. but when you are in the minority they do not control the white house, they do not control the united states senate, they cannot force the american people to give them what they want. now, the irony here, madam president, is that because we have folks in the republican party in the house who believe that we should abolish social security, we should end medicare as we know it, we should privatize the v.a., we should eliminate the environmental protection agency, they do not believe that the function of government

is to protect the interests of the vast majority of the people. so these guys are sitting and saying my god, the government may shut down, what a great idea. if you don't believe that the e.p.a. should protect us from pollution, then isn't it a good idea we not have an e.p.a. starting tomorrow? if you don't believe in veterans' health care, isn't it a good idea that we should slow down the processing of veterans' claims? so for these guys who do not believe that in a democratic, civilized society we should have a government which represents the people, from their point of view what is happening is, in fact, quite good. now, what particularly angers me, madam president, and why the american people have such contempt for what we're doing here in washington is as we speak --, everybody knows this -- the middle class in

this country is disappearing. census bureau study came out last week, if you can believe this, median family income, right in the middle of american society, that family is earning less money today than it earned 24 years ago. all of the increase in technology, productivity, doesn't mean anything. poverty today at 46.5 million -- highest on record. youth unemployment, 20%. real unemployment, 14%. what do the american people want us to be doing? everybody knows what they want us to do. every poll gives us the answer. they want us to start creating the millions of jobs this economy desperately needs. they want us to raise the minimum wage because they know that millions of people in this country can't make it on $8 or $9 an hour. they want us to improve our crumbling infrastructure, our roads, our brinlz bridges, our

wastewater plants. they want us to bring about real tax reform so that 1-4 major corporations is today is not paying a nickel in taxes, they want us to change that as well. so, madam president, in my view, for the future of this country, we cannot allow a handful of right-wing extremists to hold this nation hostage. the american people have got to stand tall and tell them that, yes, in a democratic society, people have differences of opinion. yes, we can make improvements in obamacare. but you don't go forward by trying to destroy and bring the united states government to a halt. so i think it's important for the american people now to stand up, demand democracy here in washington, and tell a handful of right-wing extremists that they cannot get their way by holding this country -- this government in a hijacked manner.

and with that, madam president, i would yield the floor.

mr. merkley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: madam president, do i need to request a specific amount of time in which to speak? are we under any rules? the presiding officer: senators are permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes. mr. merkley: thank you very much. i appreciate opportunity to express my feelings tonight. quite frankly, i was one of the optimists in this body. many of my colleagues have been saying that the determination, the determination to run our economy over a cliff is so powerful, we're going to end up with a government shutdown. and i kept saying, i don't think so. i don't think so. i think that here in this senate and across in the house there are reasonable folks who know that this type of brinksmanship is doing intense damage to our nation. and i don't believe that we'll end up there.

so here is my faith in the common sense of the collection of 435 members of the house and a hundred members of the senate, my faith in their reasonablene reasonableness, and apparently that faith has been misplaced. because we are now just 27 minutes away from a government shutdown. and to what point? we've just heard from the house leadership that they want to have a conference discussion over the budget. well, certainly so do we. six months ago we passed a budget. the senate passed a budget. and we sought to have a conference committee to resolve those two budgets as a common foundation for a set of spending bills, our appropriation bills, and our republican colleagues blocked that budget conference

committee. and they've come to this floor 18 times and blocked the dialogue necessary to take the conversation forward over our budget and spending plan. that's what led us here tonight. the obstruction. that didn't start a week ago or two weeks ago. it started six months ago in not allowing a common conversation. now, i appear deeply disturbed about -- i am deeply disturbed about the profound dysfunction that now grips this body. i first came here to the senate chambers when i was 19 years old as an intern for senator hatfield. and, boy, legislation would be brought up, it would be debated, there would be a simple majority vote. sometimes you won. sometimes you lost. you send the bill over to the house. you have a conference committee and you get on with things, you make decisions, and you test those ideas.

and sometimes those ideas work well and you keep them, and sometimes they don't work so well and you either amend them or you throw them out. or the public says, you know, the bums who brought us those ideas that didn't work, we'll throw them out. but you had a completion of the democratic circle. but we don't have that completion now because you can't have a simple majority vote. our republican colleagues have so abused the -- the filibuster process, the courtesy of letting everyone have their say, is to never let us get to a final up-and-down vote. so instead of 12 appropriation bills being passed year after year after year, we have zero this year. we only had one in 2012 -- 2011-2012, only one. only one. well, citizens across the country are seeing this and saying, what's wrong with the senate and what's wrong with the house? the house has its own form of

supermajority, the hastert rule. they're saying, we are not going to put on the floor things we know will pass unless they belong to the ideology of the far right. because we know that right now if the majority leader -- excuse me, the speaker of the house was to put on the floor of the house the bill passed by the senate, a clean, simple extension of a continuing resolutions, that it would be adopted. and so the leadership does not believe in allowing a vote of that chamber, just as a minority of colleagues here in this chamber have blocked us from having a simple majority vote time and time and time again. we need to have a more substantial conversation about how to make both chambers work better, but in the near term, we have to find a path in which we stop careening from crisis to crisis. let's say in the final 23

minutes now before midnight that we were able to find an answer to pass a continuing resolution. let's say we were able to do that. is there no harm done? well, i wish that was the case. because there's been a lot of harm done. because what businesses know across america is that this process of brinksmanship, of hostage taking, of threatening to throw the economy over the cliff is happening time and time and time again. already members on the house side are saying, well, let's not only make these arguments tonight, let's make them in a couple weeks over the debt ceiling. the debt ceiling. the decision on whether to pay the bills we've already incurred, the decision on whether to honor the good faith and credit of the united states of america. you know, president reagan spoke on this multiple times, telling folks, you don't mess with the good faith and credit of the united states.

his team undoubtedly recognized that when you do so, you raise interest rates, you endanger the dollar as reserve currency, you weaken our purchasing power around the world, you do deep damage. but that reasonableness, that common sense that you don't take hostages and you don't threaten to destroy the economy that's going to hurt the middle class, that's -- that's gone. now, i live in a working-class community and folks don't have a lot of savings. they've been hit hard. they lost a lot of their savings in the 2008 meltdown, a meltdown that came from deregulatory actions that allowed predatory mortgages and securities based on predatory mortgages. they know that governance matters. they know that we could create a lot of jobs if we could pass those bills for low-interest loans, for energy-saving renovations, that would put a huge amount of the construction

industry back to work. well, that bill passed here in the senate but the house hasn't taken up, they haven't passed it. they know we'd have a lot more jobs if we invested in infrastructure. china is spending 10% of their g.d.p. on infrastructure. europe is spending 5% of their g.d.p. on infrastructure. and what are we spending here in america? we're spending 2%. not enough to repair the infrastructure that is wearing out across america that needs replacing, let alone to establish the infrastructure for the next generation. you know, in a ten-year period, two trips to china, i saw beijing go from bicycles to a bullet train. that's what happens when you spend 10% of your g.d.p. on infrastructure, you built the economy of -- you build the economy of tomorrow for the generation of tomorrow that's going to thrive in that city. but when you underinvest, you imperil the future.

when you underinvest in education, you imperil the future of our kids and we are certainly underinvesting in education. but for each of those policy issues we should be taking on, we can't succeed if a small number in the senate and the house can paralyze this process, can go to extraordinary lengths to basically hold hostage and damage the united states of america. this process must end. the senator from vermont who spoke a few moments ago said, if you yield to this hostage taking now, we'll see it time and time and time again in future. we'll see the throa threat to ed social security, et cetera. well, we're not going to go that direction. now. the house has said they want a conference. great. so let's not do so at the same time we're taking down the economy. so put the senate resolution on the floor of the house right now

with 20 minutes left, give it an up-and-down vote, pass that bill so that we have just these few short weeks from now until november 15 to hold that conference and to work out a deal without taking the american economy down with us. we await for common sense and reasonableness to return to a dialogue so that we can have a legislative process that the american people can believe in because we're tackling the big problems facing america. but as of tonight, with now 18 minutes to go, we do not have that process and that, madam president, must change. thank you, madam president. a senator: would the senator yield for a question? mr. merkley: yes, absolutely. mr. levin: the senator just made a reference to the fact that the speaker of the house has refused to put the senate resolution up for a vote in the house of representatives.

and it seems to me that this has not been adequately illuminated to the public. it's not just that we insist that there be a clean c.r., which we do, because we don't want every other issue that people feel passionate about to be insisted upon as a price of keeping the government going. each one of us have issues that we feel very keenly about. but i don't know of any of us, at least on this side, that have said, "unless you pass a bill with a, for instance, an infrastructure bill, unless you pass a bill that a -- a check of people's -- a background check before they can buy an assault weapon" -- i mean, i feel very passionately about that, but the idea that we or any of us on this side of the aisle would say, the government is going to close unless we get our way on a particular issue that we feel passionate about is

absolutely anathema to us. but nonetheless, there's a few folks that are willing to do that. but when we say we insist there be a clean c.r., in other words, that is not linked to some issue that a faction insists upon, what we're really saying is something even deeper than that, more basic than that. we just simply want them to vote on a clean c.r. we're very confident it will pass if there's a vote because it will have bipartisan support. now, for some reason over in the house, bipartisan support for a bill is now anathema. apparently it's called the hastert rule. and so the republican leaders over there say that they're not going to pass any bill that relies upon any democratic votes which is the exact opposite of what bipartisanship should be. over here, we rely on votes from both sides of the aisle for just about everything we pass. but over there, they've got this

policy now which is the most partisan kind of policy you could imagine. if you could design a partisan policy, it would be, we will not have any reliance on the other party for votes. only our party can be relied upon for votes. we're not going to pass anything which depends upon the other party. that, to me, it just wreaks of partisanship. and whenever i hear the speaker or any of the republicans on the -- in the house talk about bipartisanship, the first thing they ought to do is get rid of the hastert rule because the hastert rule guarantees partisanship. it bakes partisanship in to the process over there. but back to the narrower point that i want to ask the senator from oregon, my good friend. tonight as in previous nights,

all we are saying is not just we insist upon a clean c.r., which is not linked to some one faction's passion, which in this case is getting rid of obamacare. what we're saying is vote on the senate c.r. just put it up to a vote. we are confident it will pass, but does the senator agree that it's even something less than saying it must be a clean c.r. that we're insisting upon? what we're saying is vote on a clean c.r., we're very confident it will pass, but just put it up for a vote. does the senator agree with that? mr. merkley: well, absolutely. i appreciate the point you're accentuating. when you said this hasn't gotten enough attention, you're exactly right. the house has refused to have a budget resolution purr sund, a continuing resolution that

doesn't have extraneous policy attached to it, and they have absolutely said they will not take the senate version, which did not put on the things that you and i might wish to attach, did not put on the things my colleagues from across the aisle might wish to attach. it said let's keep the government open, let's keep it operating. using, by the way, the budget number proposed by our colleagues in the house. so if the cloture motion in the house say wouldn't it be great if the senate would compromise with us, well, we went further than a compromise. we didn't saylet split the difference between the senate number and the house number. we'll take the middle number and let's get rid of these extraneous policy issues and then put it up for a vote. and i think it's a simple request to make. doesn't it make sense to give a bipartisan group the opportunity now with just 14 minutes left to actually end this process of driving our economy over a cliff?

at least have that vote. mr. levin: now, is it also not true that we have voted twice on the house continuing resolution. we've rejected it but we voted on it? mr. merkley: my colleague is exactly right. they sent it to us, we voted on it. mr. levin: they have not voted once on what we have sent to them. that's not something that you have to go to conference about. that's something which is sort of kind of fundamental. we have voted twice on your proposal, we've rejected it. you refused to vote on a senate proposal. why? because you're afraid it will pass with some democratic votes, and that is an anathema with the house of representatives republican leadership now to pass legislation which depends upon democratic votes. and at the same time they talk about bipartisanship, they have got that fixed, rigid rule that

they won't depend on democratic votes to get something passed in the house of representatives. the first step towards bipartisanship in the house would be to end that approach. but i thank my friend from oregon. it's just amazing to me that the refusal of the house of representatives to even vote on the senate proposal which we sent to them has had such little play in the media because i think that if the public understood that, they would then, without any doubt, instead of it being 60-30, that it's the republicans who are bringing this government to the brink of closing down, it would be 80-10, when they understand, when the public understands that it is a refusal of the republican leadership in the house of representatives to allow a vote on the senate proposal. i thank my good friend, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, we are at the verge of the midnight hour here, and what is playing out is a challenge to the very essence of our government, and it is a challenge both at home and abroad, and i will speak to that in a moment. i was in the other body in the house of representatives 17 years ago when we had the last government shutdown, led at that time by a republican majority in the house of representatives, and i had thought that they learned the consequences to the nation and to their party as a result of such a shutdown, but it seems that those memories have faded. and now we are on the verge of a

consequence that is consequential to the lives of american families, consequential to the economy of the country, consequential to the message we send across the globe. you know, what i cannot understand is that the fixation that our republican colleagues have on the question of the affordable care act which they derisively call obamacare is something that was passed by the congress, signed by the president, reaffirmed by the united states supreme court, which is the final voice of what is the law of the land, and then reaffirmed by the american people in their re-election of the president with a significant majority. there were two candidates in that election -- president obama

who said i intend to fully implement the affordable care act and create millions of opportunities for those who have no insurance, control costs to end preexisting conditions as a limitation to ultimately ensure that children can stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 26, to be able to provide millions of dollars of relief across the landscape of the country to senior citizens who often chose between putting food on the table, keeping their home and having access to life-saving, life-enhancing drugs by getting a doughnut hole for gap in coverage for seniors to be ultimately eliminated. it provides tremendous relief for seniors in our country not to have to make those dynamic choices. so what they could not achieve at the ballot box, they are trying to achieve by shutting down the federal government, and then at this late hour, after having tried a series of times

to undermine the affordable care act, and believe me when they talk about a one-year delay which they tried to seem to show that it is benign, it's not benign. there is a purpose to their strategy. the reason that a one-year delay, in addition to the fact that the law should be able to move forward for millions who have no insurance to be able to finally have insurance, is because if you delay the mandate, that means 11 million people will go uninsured who otherwise would get coverage. it means, as the congressional budget office, the nonpartisan entity of the congress that scores everything that we do, is this going to cost money, is it going to save money, estimated that repealing that individual mandate will increase premiums anywhere between 15% to 20% because fewer healthy people will enroll to balance out those

with higher medical needs. insurance is about spreading risk across the spectrum. now, in my home state of new jersey, we try to have insurance reform that limited preexisting condition exclusions and different premium band ratings without an individual requirement for coverage, and the result was skyrocketing premiums. so in essence, delaying the mandate for a year, which is the essence of what the house republicans have sent here various times, as a condition of keeping the government open, is a trojan horse because republicans know that in doing such a delay, the mandate will create higher premiums, and in creating those higher premiums, they in essence create rate shock, and they fulfill that which they would like to see, which is the failure of the affordable care act. so they have a very particular

strategy. it's not benign, by any stretch of the imagination. they are not concerned that the affordable care act will fail. they're concerned it will actually succeed. and so what they seek to do is to introduce poison pills to make it fail. now, it's amazing to me that i keep hearing well, we'll replace it. with what? we haven't heard with what. when we challenge our colleagues, they say oh, yes, preexisting conditions, we're for that, making sure that that doesn't exist anymore. we're for the seniors getting the rebates on prescription drugs. we're for making sure there's no more lifetime caps on anybody's insurance or they have a catastrophic illness, they won't come up against that cap. we're for all those things. the only problem is that to have all of those benefits which americans normally want, it costs money, and the only way to do that, of course, is to have everybody ultimately insured in the country.

this is not a fight between democrats and republicans. this is a battle for the very soul of the party. unfortunately, they are playing it out in a way that affects the nation. this is a design strategy. you know, jonathan shake of "new york magazine" wrote a tremendous piece. i recommend it to all of my colleagues. he basically described a meeting that took place in january of this year of demoralized -- i'm going to read from his article for a moment. in january, demoralized house republicans retreated to williamsburg, virginia, to plot out their legislative strategy for president obama's second term. conservatives were angry that they had not been able to stop a whole series of things, including the bush tax cuts on high incomes, and they wanted to make sure their leaders would no longer have any further compromises.

and they went on to decide that not only would they not have any further compromises, but in fact that they developed a legislative strategy. and before i go into that, i'm happy to-year-old to the majority leader who i understand has an announcement. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: through you to my dear friend from new jersey, who does such a wonderful job in everything he does especially running the foreign relations committee, thank you for yielding to me. madam president, this is a very sad day for our country. the president has told the head of the office of management and budget, sylvia mathers burwell, to issue a shutdown statement, and she's done that.

here it is. memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies. this memorandum falls september 17 memo and provides an update on the potential lapse of appropriations. no more potential, madam president. it's after midnight. appropriations provided under the colonel consolidated further continuing resolution act expire 11:59 tonight. unfortunately, we do not have any indication congress will act in time for the president to sign a continuing resolution before the end of the day tomorrow. october 1, 2013. therefore agencies should now execute plans for shutdown due 0 the absence of appropriations. that's what she said. so, madam president, the agencies of government are in the process of closing down. it now appears that the house is not going to do anything to keep

the government from shutting down. they've got some jerry rigged thing about going to conference. madam president, it is embarrassing that these people who are elected to represent the country are representing the tea party, the anarchists of the country and the majority of the republicans in the house are following every step of the way. this is an unnecessary blow to america. to the economy, middle class, everyone. the house has within their power the ability to avoid a shutdown. they should should simply pass a six-week c.r. we sent them. madam president, we are going to come in in the morning, and see what they've done sometime tonight, but i would hope they would understand within their power, any time all they have to do is accept what we already passed. all this stuff they keep sending over here they're so fixated on

embarrassing our president, the president of the united states. they think an election is coming this november. it happened last november. he was elected by five million votes over what romney got. five million votes. wasn't too close. so it is really too bad. madam president, i'm going to ask this consent but i would ask that -- we're going to go out tonight, come back at 9:30 in the morning. so the consent is that we're going to recess from 12:30 to

2:15 -- i'm sorry. we're going to recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning. but i want the senators who are here on the floor to be able to talk for five minutes each. so i ask consent when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 9:30 on tuesday, october 1, following the prayer and pledge, the journal be approved, the morning business be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders rereserved for iewfs later in the day and at that time i be recognized at 9:30 and that senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 tomorrow to allow for weekly caucus meetings. i ask before this is implemented that everyone understands that when we receive that message from the house, i hope we have it in the morning when we come in i'll make a motion to table it as we have done two other things the last few hours. if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask following the statements of senator menendez, durbin, yerm

yerm -- murray, schumer that -- mr. schumer: would the leader yield just for a question? mr. reid: sure. mr. schumer: the government shutdown, the only way to keep the government open would be for the house to pass the resolution that we've already sent them. is that correct? mr. reid: that's right. i it keeps the government funded and they've had that for days now. they could do it with the way they vote in a matter of 10 minutes. mr. schumer: nothing we can do until --. mr. reid: they're over there now negotiating with themselves, i guess. mr. schumer: isn't it true, leader, that until they vote for that resolution the government will remain shut? they could send us a hundred little doodads, gizmos and other things, but the dahl bawl is in their court and we hope

and wish -- the ball is in their court and it's our wish they pass our resolution and that would keep the government open? mr. reid: it's in their court and has been in their court. mr. schumer: thank you, leader. the presiding officer: is there objection to the unanimous consent request? hearing no objection, without objection, so ordered. the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, i had hoped we wouldn't get to this point and i believe that where i was headed is to embody why we've come to this moment today, and it just didn't happen. as i was referring to this article by jonathan shade of "new york" magazines that in january the house republicans met, retreated to williamsburg, virginia and came up with a strategy. what's that veaj? he goes on to say the -- strategy. he goes on to say the first element is a kind of legislative

strike. house republicans decided to boycott all direct negotiations with president obama and then subsequently extended that boycott to negotiations with the democratic senate, which only goes to prove why despite having passed a budget six months ago, or over six months ago, that each of the 18 times that senator murray, the budget chair, has asked to go to a conference, which is a meeting of the house of representatives and the senate to work out their differences in their budgets, there has been objections. so when i read this article and say that house republicans decided to boycott all direct negotiations with president obama and then subsequently 12e7bded -- extended that boycott to negotiations with the democratic senate, we are seeing the consequences of that strategy here today. and this kind of refusal, he says in his article, to even

enter negotiations is highly unusual. and the way to make sense of it is that republicans have planned since january to force obama to accede to large chunks of the republican agenda without republicans having to offer any policy concession of their own. it's pretty interesting. and, you know, madam president, for those who said, well, both sides, the reality is there is no moral equivalency to shutting down the government. if you're using to -- willing to use the tool of shutting down the government in order to elicit what you could not achieve by winning at the ballot box, i.e., getting a republican president elected, both houses of congress, you could ultimately repeal a law you disagreed with. but since you couldn't do it that way, to have a policy that ultimately says no, we're willing to shut down the government in order to achieve

what we could not do at the ballot box with the will of the american people, there is no moral equivalency. so it cannot be accepted that both sides are to blame when clearly only one side is willing to pursue their political goals by closing down the government and the consequences that flow from that. so it's an interesting article and i ask unanimous consent that the article be included in the record so that all of my colleagues will be able to read it. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: this is a battle within the republican party itself about where they're headed, and it is a battle that is totally unnecessary because i think there's a simple message to the speaker: allow the house of representatives to have an up-or-down vote on what the senate has sent it, which is basically a clean continuation of the government without any gimmicks, without any poison

pills, and if that vote were allowed by the speaker of the house of representatives on the floor of house of the house of representatives, i believe it would pass and the government would stay open. instead, a few within the republican party who hatched this concoction in january of this year when they lost the elections and retreated to figure out what was going to be their legislative tragedy are bringing the nation to its knees and that is simply unacceptable. now, i said at the beginning of these comments that it's not only consequential here at home and it will be consequential to many families, who those who are federal employees and their families, to those who seek the assistance of the federal government whether that's a small business loan, whether it's somebody for the first time enrolling for social security payments or veterans' disability or a whole host of other things, that will not be able to do it if the government is obviously going to be shut down as of tomorrow. but it's also a consequence in

the world. i say that as the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. what message do we send to the world when, in fact, we cannot get our own budget done and then one party is willing to hold the nation hostage in order to get their political views pursued? we're trying to convince iran not to pursue nuclear weapons, and we tell iran if you don't -- if you disarm totally and stop your nuclear weapons program, then sanctions can be lifted. i got to believe the iranians are saying is it possible that such an agreement could ever be delivered by the congress of the united states if we totally disarm, if we end all of our nuclear weapons program, if we do everything that the security council has asked us, would the united states lift the series of sanctions that they have ultimately passed upon us? this congress cannot agree with the president and when i say this congress, the republican congress in the house of representatives. so it's a dangerous message in

the world. we tell other nations that we believe they have to have certain disciplines, and yet we cannot ultimately keep our own budget open and the nation and its government functioning. i think this is the ultimate extortion and i believe that since this is by design, not by chance, that is going to have real consequences for our nation. you know, there is no doubt that if there is a prolonged shutdown, it will be consequential to our economy. it will be consequential to the gross domestic product. we saw that 17 years ago. it will be cons sequential -- consequential to not only wall street but to main street in terms of their confidence how to move forward. this economy is in recovery. the last thing it needs is a

body blow by its own government as it continues to try to grow an economy in which more people can be employed. the consequences of republicans doing this is more than a government shutdown, it's increasingly an economic shutdown. and that is simply something that we should not accept. finally, to send us a resolution after six months of trying to go to a conference 18 different petitions and motions on this floor to go to a conference to go to that simple meeting that might have reconciled these differences that were objected by -- to by certain republicans within this chamber, and now say you're going to send us a motion to go to conference when you have shut down the government and therefore have a gun at our head in order to be able to try to negotiate the critical issues that might be negotiated is

simply unacceptable. they already have a legislative victory. we have accepted an amount in the temporary budget that is less than what we devised in the senate budget. $80 billion less. yet that is not satisfactory to them. so this is not about the economics. this is about their drive to kill the affordable care act in a way that undermines the health and quality of opportunity for millions of americans who finally don't have to worry about preevmentdz --, preevmentdz, don't have to worry about -- preexisting conditions, can keep their children on their insurance until they're 26, millions of dollars to reduce the prescription drug costs and finally controls costs in this nation. their fear is not that it won't work, their fear is it will succeed and undermine the essence of what they've been against all along. that is a hard way to pursue a

political tactic at the consequence of the nation's loss and that is what is going on here today. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. we are, as has been said by leader reid and my good friend from new jersey, at an unfortunate moment. there are millions of people who are innocent who just wake up in the morning, work hard, get a paycheck and help feed, clothe their families, who will not be getting that paycheck tomorrow morning. they might be federal government workers. and, you know, i've heard some of my colleagues on the other side sort of demonize the federal government. when i think of the federal government, i think of individual people who are working, who show up at work in the rain and the snow, who work hard, like people in the private sector, like people who work for state governments or like the people who work for us. why should they be punished?

and then there are so many others. the veteran who needs a change in his or her disability formu formula. can't get it. the federal -- the construction worker who's working on a federally funded highway, or somebody who works in defense plant as a civilian. all these people have now been put at real risk. and there's an answer, as i mentioned in my colloquy with the leader. the answer is for the house to pass the bill that passed here. the key vote had a majority of democrats and republicans -- 25 republicans -- and keep the government running. now, they're busy working late at night on another little subterfuge, little scheme. keep the government -- have a conference. well,', as the leader said, conferences are fine with us. we tried to do a budget

conference 18 times. but don't do a conference as a charade while you're shutting the government down. that's what the other side is asking us to do. so let's modify what they're doing. let them pass the bill that's now in the house that will keep the government running till november 15 and then we'll have a conference on how to fund the government for another year. make no mistake about it, tomorrow morning, their next gambit will be defeated here in the house -- here in the senate, and then we'll be back where we were -- where we are now, that there is a bill, a ready bill in the house of representatives that can keep the government funded and prevent these millions of innocent people and our national economy from being hurt and hurt significantly. so a final plea at 12:15, 15

minutes after the government has been officially closed -- house members, speaker boehner, let the bill come up for a vote. it will pass. it will save such trouble and, even worse for millions of innocent americans, it will save our economy from great risk, and then we can go back to debating the many issues that you and we want to debate. so with that, madam president, with a bit of a heavy heart, because this didn't have to happen, and to have a small group of people who are so sure that they are so right, that they can hurt millions to pursue that righteousness, self-thought righteousness, is a bad thing and i hope it doesn't happen again. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate

stands adjourned until 9:30 a.me

republican leader.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president, the consent the majority leader the consent the majority leader now we will hear some of the debate from the senate floor today. >> consent majority leader just asked was one a number of my colleagues were about to ask the dell with a military pay issue in a number of them are here on the floor and i would like to ask consent that we be able to engage in a colloquy on the issue of protecting military pay >> without objection. >> mr. president? >> the senator from texas. >> mr. president i know is the republican leader noted there a number of members on the floor to come en masse from a meeting that we just held following the tabling of the latest house proposal that would keep the federal government operating and

make sure that all of our uniformed military would continue to get paid together with the other operations of the federal government. it's clear that it was under the pressure of the knowledge that we were coming to the floor to ask unanimous consent and the knowledge of how frankly untenable it would be be too objective fact that the majority leader has quite skillfully come to the floor to try to preempt this issue but the truth is none of us should he under any illusion that the majority leader has done anything other than make it more likely that we will have a shot down of the federal government tonight. the house has sent over several reasonable proposals that would keep the federal government operating which would also make sure our troops would be paid but not just uniformed military, but other government personnel performing and important jobs in

the majority leader rather than call us in yesterday after the house acted, we know that perhaps the majority leader and other members that enjoyed watching a little bit of professional football yesterday that waited until this afternoon to cut the legs out from under the house proposal and make it much more likely that the government will shut down. the house worked late into the night last night or this weekend to draft a compromise proposal that would fund the government and avert a shutdown. house members and the proposal over to the senate and the majority leader did nothing. until today. no emergency session no bipartisan negotiations. there's a report in politico that president obama suggested calling in the leadership on both the houses republicans in democrats to the white house to have the meeting.

what can we do to solve this impasse. and if the story is to be believed it was harry reid who shut that down just as he would be responsible for shutting down the federal government by the actions he took earlier today. so the question is who is really being unreasonable here? who is really being stubborn? who is really seeking to gain partisan advantage over the best interests of the country? of course we know the president has been eager to negotiate with the president of iran about a very serious issue. iran's nuclear aspirations but he won't talk to the speaker of the house of representatives or the republican leader of the u.s. senate. he won't talk to them but he will negotiate with the iranian president. he seems absolutely allergic to

doing his job. he can give a heck of a speech. he is a skillful orator but when it comes to actually doing his job he is missing in action. he won't negotiate over a government shutdown and he won't negotiate over raising the debt limit. in the past president obama's urged republicans to offer just a little bit of compromise. he likes to be the voice of reason but now he himself refuses to engage in any sort of negotiations and refuses to offer any kind of compromise whatsoever. is it possible that the president of the united states thinks in his own health care law's perfect in any way? 79 members of this body voted against the medical device tax and the house could pass that piece of legislation and send it over here and attach it to the continuing resolution.

and the president himself has repeatedly delayed different provisions of the health care bill and clothing the employer mandate. and what we would like to do is get the same break for the rest of the american people as he gave businesses. well the bill that was passed by the house of representatives would have delayed obamacare for one year and it would also have repealed the medical device tax which is already killing jobs and hampering medical innovation. well now we are being told that those very same proposals which mirror the same proposals the president has unilaterally taken or supported by a bipartisan majority of united states senate are called an active extremism. what is more extreme, trying to negotiate to an impasse and resolve this issue of the federal government functioning

or to refuse to negotiate and to stonewall against any reasonable proposal by the house and to make it more like the federal government will shut down tonight. i ask who is being more unreasonable and more stubborn? we know the clock is ticking mr. president and the american people are absolutely disgusted. i share their frustration and i can only hope that cooler heads will prevail among our friends on the other side of the aisle. >> mr. president? >> the senator from tennessee. >> i appreciatappreciat e being part of a colloquy with the senator from texas and i was listening to his comments. i remember her being asked by senators mcconnell and the house speaker john boehner to speak on behalf of republicans are at the's health care summit three years ago. about the new health care law and i was the first speaker there and since that time i've done my best to try to avoid its

passage to replace and repeal it but i am not in the shutdown the government crowd. i'm in the let's take over the government crowd and elect a number of more republicans and even a republican president to agree with us and who want a different kind of health care law one that introduces choice and competition and that actually reduces health care costs among americans. what bothers me so much about this impasse today is the effect it might have on our military men and women around the world. i'm trying to imagine what it must be like for someone fighting in afghanistan whose check might be late and whose spouse is at fort campbell and whose mortgage is due today or tomorrow or the next day or what if the department of defense school closes and that spouse

has a job in no childcare? these are very tactical problems that we need to be thinking about. we need not to be thinking about shutting down the government. we need to be thinking about the way to fund the government and change the health care law at the same time. the house of representatives has tried once and is trying again to make a reasonable offer. they are reasonable suggestion in these discussions are all about compromise and about taking suggestions that come from one body to the other body and doing what you can. if they would come back and say the united states senate had 79 senators including many democrats who voted to repeal the medical device tax. here's an opportunity to do that and they said let's delayed the individual mandate for a year. i'm surprised the president himself hasn't done that. the president himself has delayed seven provisions major provisions of the health care law and including the employer

mandate. the regulations aren't ready. the program is supposed to start tomorrow. seem to me it would be to the presence benefit as well as theri benefit to say instead of delaying parts and exempting these people let's get it right. let's delay it for a year. that is what the house of representatives and the republican house has said to the senate. they have said let's repeal the medical device tax that is particularly onerous a 2.3% tax on top of revenues that increases the cost of medical devices for millions of americans. the all agree we ought to get rid of it. 792 anyway about as many democrats as republicans in the president himself has acknowledged that this law isn't ready. the chairman of the democratic committee says it's becoming a train wreck so it seems to me this is a reasonable suggestion from the house of representatives to say let's

work on getting rid of obamacare. that is what we would like to do or change it. that is what they would like to do to make it work but let's fund the government. let's not run the risk that one single soldier fighting in afghanistan has a paycheck that is one day late because his spouse is in fort campbell well the department of defense school is closed and there is no childcare for the spouse who has a job while her husband or his wife is fighting overseas. that is something we should not allow to happen whether republicans or democrats. it may be that the majority leader agrees with that and he is brought that up and we have brought that up but we should do more than bring a political points. people expect us to act like adults and work together and come to a result so we can change the health care law and we can keep the government going. i have said for three years instead of the historically made

in the past expanding health care the cost to much we should go step by step to have the health care law that reduces health care costs to make medicare solvent instead of taking a half trillion dollars out for other programs. get medicaid more flexibility so governors can serve more people. repeal the medical device tax. these are steps we could take to make it easier for employees who want to help their employees have a healthier lifestyle so they can have cheaper insurance and allow people to buy insurance across state lines. allow small businesses to pool their resources and offer insurance. i have listed a half-dozen already steps we could agree on that would reduce health care health care costs in the country. that is where we should get it. i'm not in the shutdown the government crowd. neither are most anybody know around here. we are in the take over the government crowd and let's elect

enough republicans and a republican president to change the health care law. but in the meantime we should make absolutely sure that men and women whether on active duty or the national guard not want active duty at this time we should make sure that they are paid on the day they are supposed to be paid and their spouses and waiting for it to check and i think the senator for joining in this colloquy and i want to join them in this effort. >> mr. president? >> idea that obamacare in the affordable health health care at overtime will be seen in history as having been a good thing for the american people i guess that is a bit in doubt. the president keeps saying there will come a day when you will look back and claim to have voted for this. maybe he is right. maybe that day around the bend down the road over the hill is

there. all i can say is don't we know enough now about the affordable health care act obamacare to slow down, take a timeout and see if he can make it better because the problems associated with the act are real. we don't need any more information. we don't need any more time. we just need to fix fix it in a bipartisan fashion. we passed it in a partisan fashion and we began to look at the law in a new bipartisan fashion. america would be better off. what off. what do we know? a lot of people are working 29 hours. if you don't believe me as the unions. i never thought i would live to say this. just listen to the union. they are telling the president and a the president than anybody who'll listen that the obamacare affordable health care act as destroying the 40-hour workweek. why can we do something about that? the medical device manufactures the people that do all the neat things to make life better particularly the people who have

been devastated in iraq and afghanistan coming up with ways to make people's lives better that it had a catastrophic injury. 34 of our democratic friends have said this tax is not a good idea for that sector of the economy. the jury is in enough for us to slow down and start over and get this thing right. the good news for today is that we are not going to agree to blame each other. they are not going to to accept blame and we are not going to accept blame about where we are at but the one thing we have done today solving the problem for the mid-to-late -- military and the civilian side i don't know if they are covered or not they want america to understand the congress did something appropriate just a few minutes ago and that is to tell the men and women in the military don't worry about this debacle in washington when it comes to your paycheck. you are going to get paid. i will talk later on down the road about what kind of military

we are handing to the next generation what kind of funding we have for the military and how smart sequestration is what i want to say to my colleagues don't we know enough already about the affordable health care act to stop and work together. it starts tomorrow and i don't know why our democratic friends are so insistent that we can't take a timeout and start over and say let's find bipartisan consensus. until we do that this problem only gets worse and i will conclude with this thought. the democratic party came up with the affordable health care act. they pass it on a partyline vote for this thing is just not helping democrats or hurting republicans. it's hurting the economy as a whole so the one thing i can tell you about big ideas when one party pushes it through and nobody else on the other side signs up we need to be wary about that problem.

>> the senator from texas. >> i see might colleague from texas on the floor who gave a very high-profile speech for about 21 hours the other night on the subject of obamacare. i know he feels passionately about it and his efforts have captured the imagination of the american people and reminded them of the various failures of this piece of legislation some of which we talked about perhaps fixing it in the course of this continuing resolution. but i might ask him through the chair there have been so many failures that have been dated but obamacare that are not avoided being kept.

if you like what you have you can keep it. i think that is one of the complaint says the senator from south carolina mentioned earlier that organized labor among others went to the white house to get a special card out. the president said the average family of four would see a reduction of $2500 the cost of their health care and that had been proven to be true. so many promises that have not been kept in so many broke and promises in so many reasons why we have to be working together through the course of this to fix fix it so i would ask my colleague through the chair perhaps he can list a few more reasons why he believes that we need to be dealing with obamacare. i know his preferred method was defunding obamacare. i know he is not giving up on that. i am a co-sponsor of this legislation that would accomplish that but i would ask my colleague through the chair

if he might comment on that? >> under previous orders the majority leader is to be recognized at 4:00. >> mr. president? >> majority leader. >> at was happy to ask consent to pass a bill which is passed to ensure that the troops would be paid but i do disagree with remarks about my colleagues about much of what they have said in the last few minutes. we talk about what was in this amendment that they sent us this message. among other things mr. president here is what it had in it. a provision. it's hard to comprehend but listen to this. allow any employer insurance plan or individual to refuse to cover any of the women's health preventive services -- by senator mikulski and her women's health amendment. things like contraception or for

virtually any reason during a one-year delay. that was in their amendment and it was spoken of so clearly and i will talk about it a little later. a cancer survivor in the house of representatives debbie wasserman schultz. it would have an adverse effect on cancer survivors. on women. that's one thing they did. there has been a lot of talk here about the medical device revenue issue. mr. president it's something we will take a look at. we need to do that but remember this magnanimous get rid of this by the republicrepublic ans in the house and in the senate now would run up the debt by $30 billion. how do you like that? $30 billion. no offsets no pay go. just what does it matter because they are fixing on obamacare and

i mean fixated on it. and my friend from texas referred to it as a bill. it's not a bill. it's the law. it has been for four years. my friend from tennessee said he thinks how this should be resolved by having a republican president. mr. president less than a year ago the american people took a look at that. the number one issue on the campaign obamacare. that was the number one issue and overwhelmingly the american people said we wanted. we reject the republicans efforts to get rid of it. now mr. president, to republicans always oppose big things. they opposed social security.

they opposed medicare. mr. president i have carried with me for 25 years -- i have it in my wallet here. it's getting old and frayed but here is what it says. i was there fighting the fight. one of 12 voting against medicare because we knew it wouldn't work in 1965 senator dillard. we didn't get rid of it because we didn't inglis politically smart but we believe medicare is going to wither on the fine. newt gingrich. medicare has no place in the free world through social security is a rotten trick. i think we are going to have to bite the bullet on social security and phase it out over time. the leader in the house dick armey. mr. president they opposed social security and they opposed medicare but now madam president

even though they oppose his social security is popular. democrats republicans and independents matt. medicare is popular. why is a popular? my first elective job was on the big hospital district in nevada. it was an indigent hospital in some frame of reference that 40% of the people that were senior citizens admitted to the hospital had no health insurance and we made sure that somebody vouched for their hospital bill. father mother son brother neighbor and if we didn't -- if they didn't pay we went after them. madam president the reason people like medicare is because today virtually 100% of seniors that come into a hospital have medicare and that is why they like it. obamacare. tomorrow in nevada 600,000

people will have the opportunity to sign up and by the way the changes were established by a republican governor brian sandoval, and madam president people they are -- there are some people who can buy health insurance tomorrow for $100. people who have nothing. just give this obamacare a little time and it will be looked at like social security and medicare. right now people love what they are able to get up this and i will go through some of that stuff. let's renew where we are madam president. this week the republican in the house of representatives did we all feared they would do. they voted to shut down the government. republicans knew there into political stunt would fall on its face in the senate and it did if they voted to hold the government hostage until the gut gut --

democrats but greed to turn to the day when insurance companies put profits before hospital care. that is the way it was. they are irresponsible and stunningly callous. republicans don't seem to understand the stripping health insurance from millions of americans would have literally cost lives. maybe none of those republicans have gotten a doctor's bill that they couldn't pay. maybe none of those republicans spent one night awake worrying about whether a heart attack or car accident would drive them into bankruptcy or what are you going to do with your mom or your dad or brother or sister? who has no health insurance and they are sick? millions of americans have experienced fears that i just described. for a glimpse of just how little regard the republicans have for struggling families look no further than the chief senate rabble-rouser senator ted cruz. listen to this madam president. he told david gregory on "meet the press" how easy it is for

the average american to get health insurance even during these difficult times. here's exactly what he said. quote if you want people to get health insurance the best way is to get a job. that is what he said. i'm not making this up. his comment comes at a time when more than 11 million americans are still struggling to find work and millions more who already have jobs still lack health insurance. that is why we passed upon the care in the first place, to ensure access to quality affordable health insurance for all americans. two republicans obamacare is a punchline to rile up their base. but for american families obamacare isn't a punchline it's a lifeline. for millions of americans the affordable care act is the only option to access quality health care and an affordable price.

i indicated 600,000 uninsured defendants who are eligible to purchase insurance on that insurance on nevada's health link beginning tomorrow. obamacare means access to affordable doctor visits prescription drugs and more. uninsured defendants will have access to good insurance plans that cost as little as $100 a month. in fact many nevadans willed get quality coverage for less than they pay for their monthly cell phone bill. republicans would rip that lifeline away. republicans want to return to the days when insurance companies could discriminate against women. why? because they are women. madam president i am not making that up. that is the way it was. that is how it was before obamacare. republicans want to return to the days when insurance companies can't deny care because of pre-existing conditions like diabetes epilepsy breast cancer. madam president even ask me was

a pre-existing condition. again i'm not making this up. that is the way it was before obamacare. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz is a breast cancer survivor. and sunday i saw her say on the house floor and i quote make sure that every single day -- that is what they are trying to do she said. make sure each of us who have survived cancer stay living in fear for the insurance company that puts you off of your insurance end of quote. again that is what it would do. i'm not making this up. that is the way it was before obamacare. they want to return to the days where even children could be denied lifesaving coverage because they were born with a heart murmur or some other disability. again and madam president i'm not making this up. that is the way was before

obamacare. they want to return to the day where the insurance company can drop you when you are sick. that is the way it was. that is the way it was before obamacare. because of the because of you for the paragons of seniors saving money on prescription drugs. no one can dispute that. the doughnut hole is being filled and it's all because of the affordable care act. millions of seniors are saving money on prescription drugs and many other things. seniors today have -- at no cost can get a wellness check. they could never do that before. millions of young people are staying on their parents insurance. madam president do you know how important that is? i will tell you how important it is. a little town of searchlight where i'm from, a woman who is an assistant postmaster retired and her husband retire. they have a son jeff and he is going to school. he was going to school at a community college.

he had to go off his parents insurance when he turned 23. madam president within a few weeks of his turning 23 he was sick and they didn't know what was wrong. he went to the doctor eniac cancer. he had to interrupt his education and had to have three surgeries. his parents struggle to pay for that. they are not people of means. one doctor friend of mine did one of the surgeries for nothing but madam president other people didn't have that in a fit of my being able to help them more parents like kids who have struggled to take care of their son. that is why anymore that won't happen.

again the jeff hill's story i am not making up. that is the way it was before obamacare. because of the affordable care act fines of seniors are saving money. that is the way it is. millions again people are staying on their parents insurance. hundreds of thousands of businesses that offer their employees health insurance are getting tax credits for doing the right thing but republicans want to turn back the clock on all these benefits are more. they want to force more than 25 million families to once again rely on crowded expensive emergency rooms and go without lifesaving care they need in many of them go without that care. that is how it was before obamacare. unless democrats meet other demands of us we agree to strip tens of millions of americans up health insurance they will shut down the government. that is where we are headed madam president. why do you think the republicans

came over here thinking by some reason that we wouldn't agree to fund the troops? they know that boehner is going to shut down the government. the house of representatives could have voted yesterday. they could have voted today to keep the government running but they are going to vote i am sure to shut it down. many house republicans have it committed that speaker boehner has the votes to pass a clean bill to keep the government open and functioning. here's what republican paul f. adora from idaho said. he said this on "meet the press." i'm not willing to vote for clean continuing resolution but i think there are no fuss in the republican party who are willing to do that and i think that is what you're going to see end of quote. republican congressman charlie dent from pennsylvania. here's what he said. poe i interpreted both for a

clean resolution today. it's time to govern. i don't intend to support a fools errand. that is what he called us and that is what it is. these reasonable republicans are correct. the house easily code and clearly should pass a continuing resolution today. all speaker boehner has to do so every member of the house of representatives democrats and republicans all 435 vote on a clean cr and it would pass big time. the speaker has enough opportunity to do that. this afternoon the senate voted to strip the hollow ransom note from the house. we rejected the house amendments and the house has had it since last friday. the house republicans will face the same choice tonight. or this afternoon or this evening whenever they choose. pass the sense clean bill to

keep the government functioning or force a government shutdown. democrats have already met republicans in the middle and agree to lower funding level even though republicans have refused to negotiate a responsible budget for more than six months. now let's talk about what a lot of my republican friends have talked about madam president this afternoon. they need more time to negotiate democrats that i'm president has already met with republicans and committee. senator murray the chairperson of our budget committee because the republicans said they wanted it and it was the right thing to do passed a budget. six months ago and where are the republicans in the six months, and i figure? why couldn't we go to conference? because they wouldn't let us.

they wouldn't let us. now what has happened and why they can't take yes for an answer is hard for me to comprehend. our number was a lot higher than theirs. we took a lower number. senator murray doesn't like that. senator mikulski doesn't like it we took their lower number, 988. why can't they take yes for an answer? in addition to that all these people who whine that we haven't done any negotiating. how many times has the president taken republican senators to dinner at the white house this restaurant that restaurant? and what did he do? he put in writing what he was willing to do and many of us were concerned that he had given far too much. we didn't like it.

but that is what the president did because he wants a deal. he wants something big to help the government. so all of these meals that he paid for a have we gotten anything from the republicans? not a single sentence. not a single sentence. they refuse to put anything in writing so let's not talk about not negotiatinegotiati ng. we have negotiated, negotiated and negotiated. the last two weeks we have had enough only are not owing to negotiate. that is where we are. now for shrill republicans in the house who had more time to negotiated simply ludicrous. i looked up today what ludicrous means and here's what it means. comically ridiculous and that is a good definition. when i put in this ludicrous i wasn't sure what it meant i might to make sure i got the right word. i thought it. comically ridiculous.

the president met with republicans in the white house and overton and other places. he is given a list of difficult cuts is willing to make to reduce the debts. they have never put down in writing what they are willing to concede so democrats are through negotiating with ourselves and that is what it amounts to. the fate of our economy rests with john boehner. tonight we'll see if the speakers willing to shut down the government risking our economic recovery to extract callus -- i hope he makes a responsible decision. i doubt that he will but i hope he does. and help avert a government shutdown. >> madam president? >> the senator from texas. >> madam president, it's no secret that majority leader harry reid and i disagree on a great many topics and yet i rise

today in praise of senator reid in particular i wish to praise senator reid for agreeing to pass the bill that the house resolution -- the house of representatives passed at 12:30 in the morning yesterday that would fund our military. four weeks, president obama and senate democrats have been threatening to hold in jeopardy the paychecks of the men and women of our military affairs of government shutdown and i commend the majority leader for agreeing to pass it for not objecting and not standing in the way and for everyone who thinks the compromise is impossible in washington, that working together is impossible in washington i would point to this as an example. that house bill passed in the house of representatives unanimously. it came up in the senate and just a few minutes ago we all saw it pass the senate unanimously. they should be able to be it on

president obama's for signature by tonight and madam president that is exactly as it should be. the soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines who risk their lives defending our nation should not have their paychecks held hostage to any potential government shutdown in washington so i salute the majority leader for doing the right thing. isolate the senate democrat for not blocking the paychecks of the men and women in the military taking them off the table and saying regardless of what happens we are going to pay our troops. that was the right thing to do. now i would also note for those who would like to see a resolution of this impasse, i for one don't want to see a government shutdown and i think it is unfortunate that the majority leader seems bound and determined to force the government shutdown. in the course of the past several weeks we have seen the house of representatives repeatedly attempt to compromise

my few and a few of a great many republicans is that obamacare is a disaster a train wreck a nightmare. the term train wreck comes from the democratic senator who is the lead author of obamacare. nightmares the word used by teamsters president jimmy hoffa. i would note that was not my starting position. it was not the starting position of the house of representatives. is that they started with the position that it should be defunded which is self represented compromise. the house of representatives passed a bill to fund the entire bill every bit of that except for obamacare and today found obamacare. they send it over to the senate and what did the majority leader senate democrats do on a straight partyline vote? every senate democrats voted no absolutely not and rejected it in its entirety and voted in

fact to force us into a shutdown. the house resolution house of representatives was not done with that. ing late saturday night early sunday morning and pass another continuing resolution that represented a second compromise. yet again the house said we want to fund the government. we want to keep the government going. instead of the funding which is what the house for preferred the house instead said let's delay obamacare. let's delay. delay. price obama has debated for giant giant corporations. he has exempted members of congress. both of those actions were contrary to law. the house of representatives said let's delay for ordinary families the the same light has been delayed for big companies. shouldn't be the case that giant corporations get treated covered covered -- better than the federal government. that was the compromise and even though the senate under majority leader -- leader reid had not compromise at all and held an absolutist

position. 12:30 in the morning early sunday the house voted on that. of the senate come back yesterday? no madam president we did not. the majority leader should have called the senate back with. we were just 48 hours away from a government shutdown but apparently the majority leader made the decision was it was more important for senators to be home on vacation home playing golf home doing anything that being here in the florida senate doing the people's business. so instead many senators came back today and we voted just a couple of hours ago and once again majority leader reid and every single senate democrats voted to shut down the government. responding to the house's second compromise not with any discussion and a compromise any middle ground but said simply no the position of the senate democrats is absolutely not. rb going to listen to millions of young people coming out schools were not able to find jobs because of obamacare?

the majority leader says no. are we going to listen to the millions of single moms struggling to feed their kids and finding cells forcibly put into 29 hours of work excess of obamacare? the majority leader says no. are we going to listen to millions of recent immigrants who are struggling to provide for their families and facing skyrocketing health-insurance premiums? the majority leader says no. are we going to listen to the ninth of retirees and people with disabilities and spouses or covered under their spouses health insurance plans all of whom are losing or a at risk of losing their health insurance? the majority leader says no. instead the majority leader shared through this body and i wrote this down. the quote chief senate rabble-rouser. madam president i'm not entirely sure what that his i wasn't aware that was an official designatidesignati on. i would not previously the majority leader from the florida

senate described me as a quote schoolyard lowly. look it is entirely the majority leader's prerogative if he views the way to carry out his job as a personal insult ad hominem attack. i for one did not intend to reciprocate. i will note that what he seems most dismayed about is in the past two weeks the voices of the american people have begun to be heard in this body. in the past two weeks the voices of millions of americans losing their health insurance losing their jobs being forced into part-time work mark millions of americans who are struggling have begun to be heard. we have begun to make d.c. listen in that apparently -- the voices from our constituents the men and women of america apparently the majority leader constitutes a quote as rabble-rouser. i have a different feel for what our responsibility is.

i would also note that the majority leader just told us moments ago quote we have had enough. we are not going to negotiate. madam president i find that quite remarkable because to date it has been the house of representatives that has been negotiating and compromising in trying to find a way to resolve this so we can keep the government running at the same time answer to millions of americans who have been hurting and the answer from the majority leader over and over again has been no one will not compromise, we will not talk and as the majority leader said he hasn't compromised yet and he doesn't intend even to negotiate. >> would you yield for a question? >> i would be happy to yield to my friend from texas for a question. >> the senator has described accurately the back-and-forth between the absolutist position that the majority leader has taken that says nothing can change obamacare because apparently he thinks it's

absolutely perfect and we shouldn't change it. we shouldn't change a letter even though as you pointed out a number of obama cares because advocates are coming back and saying it's a nightmare. you quoted jimmy hoffa for one of those. .. the individual mandate, to make it match, as the senator pointed out, the employer mandate. it's already been unilaterally delayed by the president in an act of lawlessness. unfortunately it's not an isolated event. and then the vitter language, which will overturn the office of personnel management interpretation which basically carves out congress and congressional staff from the -- the law that will apply to havel

apply to have one else. it strikes me that is another attempt by the house to enter into some negotiation. into some negotiation. >> observation whether heothinge believes, as i do, that senator reid is a large team at toward a government shutdown nothing the house passes will deter him from shuttingenis downen the federal government at midday today. the setback i think myma friend the senior senator. he is exactly right. rep with the conduct of the the majority of leader has beensed o recently n reported that its camelot with the president hedas not even engaged in, t

conversation or negotiation with congressional leaders.ing i a senior senator from texassponm observe the houses repeatedly trying to solver from the problem and doing in aagain way for those who are hurting in under obamacare and the answer of the majority leader over and remind over and over again we will not talk, we will then wds negotiate, we will not to hear, compromised, and we willse, if u listen to the american a people and the old compromise of a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear, does it make a noise?? with the majority leader and to the president refused to address the problem can be insis sold ultimately? the only way to solve the gernmt problem is for washington to listen to the people. governmen majority leader harry reid insist on the shutdown that we will have a shot down but that is sid irresponsible course of action if the house ofntin representativeouse baxter night, i believe the

senate should come backe, immediately to pass the continuing resolution or whatever the housern passes ry m the other good faith effort to keep the government rending and to redress the trade wreck of obamacare. i hope this body begins to listen to the people. thank you madam president.

current government thuggee expired one hour 10 minutes ago and a partial government shutdown has begun. soviets office of the trip in budget sent a memo said to execute pleiads 48 orderly shutdown. not to mention continue to watch with the house is doing live on c-span tonight. earlier today education secretary hardy duncan talks about the education challenges it like he hopes to accomplish in his second term and also the potential for the government shut down. this is what our. >> [inaudible conversations]

>> good afternoon and welcome to the national press club. i am a reporter for bloomberg news into wedges six president of the national press club. we're the world's the team professional organization for journalists committed to our profession through our programming with the events like this while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information please visit our web site at press.org for those programs offered to the public please visit for us.org backlash is to on behalf of our members wrote widely to great honor speaker also our c-span and public radio audience for it you can follow the action on twitter using #and pc lunch. then we will have a question

and answer period i will ask as many questions as time permits. for the past five years our guest today has use the bully pulpit and executive authority and facial incentives to change a landscape of american education with president obama is first term party dunkin leveraged almost 5 million in many of school reform for a competition within 30 states and the district of colombia received graces the top grants to help receive higher standards and expand access to charter schools and improve early education programs. these grants have also funded the development of new test aligned with a common core standards. developed by the state's aim to set a high bar what children should learn in school that are consistent but in part because of the

administration and support some conservatives calling a federal intrusion. rick scott announced he will try to withdraw the state trading at one of the common core assessments. the secretary's position it as it has the capacity to change education to raise the bar for students to strengthen our economy and build the clear path to the middle-class. and president obama won the second term people wondered if the secretary would stay on he has been a professional basketball program, a mentoring program a big skit city school chief pieces this is the best job he has ever had. now expanding access to preschool on the top of his party last in to help

students get a greater value for their increasingly expensive degree. with the polarization of washington and the government on the brink of a shutdown his mission faces tough challenges. please give me a warm national press club welcome to education secretary duncan. [applause] >> 84 that introduction what is unusual right to talk about education in america. after five years in washington inherited inside the beltway and of wind is not really up -- reflect the realities. the ico across america. is somehow a think they are the center of the enter effort -- universe all those affected this alternative. said that as of congress

think it is not a backstop for accountability or to expand educational opportunity and innovation anchorage also some armchair pond in to assist our efforts to improve public education doom to fail because they believe the government is incapable to improve education for because they think reform cannot possibly work but the real problem is that so many children are born for. some say they are working just fine in fundamental changes needed the we have to address poverty first before schools can improve cahan. at the opposite extreme to discount this school leaders and teachers with little

heat for their impact to the inhabitants of this universe are so supremely confident of their perspective they have simply stopped listening to people with a different viewpoint. instead of talking with each other and more important important, listening to each other with respect to humility with a genuine interest committee people talking past each other ignoring plead evidence to distort the other position. they're not focusing on the children students but on a false debate. the people and the real world have to doubt the debate they're busy getting real work done and focusing whether three years old or 13 or 303. all across america the districts are moving forward

states every standards and are piloting a new assessments to show with students know they can't do. teachers are seeking a deeply of their practice a profession in rewriting curriculum to share lessons of wind. technology drives access to knowledge and innovation and professional development in unprecedented ways in minneapolis performing schools for the first time to drive improvements and increased. every state in america is with the complex real-world questions had to get better, faster, how to serve those arrested support the nation's teachers and how to transition to standards and increase access to early chou the education and how to better control college cost. the state's part of the federal government to break free of the rules that inhibit innovation to hold

themselves accountable to a higher standard. and they're getting real results. today haskell graduation rates our higher as they have bent over 30 years in college a mold is a particularly for retarded students. 2007 through 2010 the high school graduation rate from african americans and average 5% higher at 66 percent and then among hispanics jumped 8% at the 71% to these are very, very encouraging trends. partly because of the targeted dropout factories to turn the grabher of federal resources to give those people a real shot in life. 10 years ago half of them african-american high school students and 54 percent of latin american students

would actually attend a drop of factories. thinks too hard work with the today members and teachers and parents in the students themselves we have cut those a half. today there are 700,000 fewer students and failing schools than just four years ago. seven injured thousand students with a better chance to get a good job to own their own home and support from family and continue with their community. we have a long long way to go with the data in the stories that i hear directly from students give me great reason for hope. said to make real progress the students of disability of 2001 through 2010 the percentage of students with disabilities have a graduate with a regular high school diploma increased from 40% to nearly 63%. hire high school completion rates also boost enrollment at college. the census estimates hispanic college enrollment

went up 50% between 2008 and 2012. while many nations outperform gas on the international test a number of states and schools perform on par with the best of the world for others to learn from. there's so much good work on the way and thankfully the people doing this difficult critically important worker not distracted by be drama inside. in the real world outside the washington bubbled the vast majority of people are not debating if standards are needed. they're not advancing a false narrative of mind controlling robots but just putting the high standards and to practice and not questioning up awful system of evaluation and support is needed. they do evaluation and historically is meaningless not developmentally a broken in working together to help

strengthen there kraft to be recognized in reward excellence. even in my hometown of chicago less than one year in a recent study shows that teachers like the new evaluation system and want to make it work even if they have lingering concerns. in the real world most people are not a canst make a full testing. they know we need some kind of test to know the kids are learning to hold everyone accountable including students themselves. that doesn't mean they have to stop teaching to the tester nearing the curriculum. i share those concerns. to the deal we should die gather realtime data on what they know and able to do is absurd. the goal of education is not just to teach but to help our students learn. working together the vast majority of states are measuring essentials skills plus critical thinking.

states are developing these assessments because they want parents to know the truth hall there during also to have the critical information they need to improve instruction. take a look at the sample items online. outside the bubble people are not arguing whether that we need to fix poverty or education. that is a false choice. protecting the safety net with a wraparound services feeding hungry children and their families to provide greater access to health services but we cannot use the brutal reality as a catch all excuse for educating children arabesque to beat the odds as thousands to year after year after year.

our children only have one chance to get a great education they cannot wait for poverty to disappear. they don't want to waste one minute they're chasing the american dream with everything they have we have to help them get there. no one gets a pass. as working in disadvantaged communities they need extra support and guidance but nonprofits and face base partners working together every single day to prove that poverty is not destiny. in the real-world parents just want their children to go to great schools. bonds don't care if it is traditional, a magnet or charter school. they just want a school that is safe where the child is cared about and challenged to excel. parents will not debate the

possibility to turn around but they can see for themselves if something is there is not working and helping to lead the turnaround efforts themselves with a sense of vision and purpose. parents listen to those voices that matter the most, their children just as i did the other day when a panel of students from across the country. one woman from baltimore recalls the links the parents used to go to avoid sending their children down the street to their school. now with federal support there is a waiting list to attend. people see we have a plan and we will accomplish our goals by any means. from students instead francisco who turned around a middle school fare troubling and also inspiring at the same time.

here in the washington bubble there any constant state of forbidding the real world they have partners in reform of the flock to the controversy it goes uncovered and recognize. for example, it was virginia they're working hard to isolate the role school system ended evansville indiana the local teachers' union in administration work together over the school day and the school year. the union leader told me she is supporting this work because the children there deserve something better. added hillsborough county florida unions and minister of working together to find new and better ways to

reward success in the classroom. so what difference does the debate inside washington and ultimately make the students? who wants to ignore the war sam press ahead to solve the problem? it does make a difference. across the ideological spectrum politicians can disagree but from different starting points it makes strange bedfellows with the transformational change is to address and lusby stop. the perfect becomes the enemy of the bird -- and we have the good and is a recipe for continued mediocrity. it my department we work hard to be a good partner with the states that is not always easy given the highly

dysfunctional politics and in the last year to introduce a worded to vocabulary of educators, a sequester that is only meant one thing. cut the programs like head start, but serving military families and give americans cut the programs with low income students. yet an a classic washington fashion congress did a sequester their own salaries or budget for staff. lee people in the real world felt the pain. evened out as we speak congress hasn't reached an agreement for the spending bill. putting policies ahead of governing and hurting in our children and hurting the country. creating stress and a surety for schools in districts for both red states chambliss states at a time when our schools need stability and investment. the of all the unfinished

business that affects our schoolchildren with comprehensive immigration reform to common-sense gun laws. with a principal at sandy hook elementary school did not that i know what will. in malls and movie theaters and basketball courts in chicago and recently here at the navy shipyard while other nations have chosen to work together to eliminate this threat. congress has failed to carry out the basic core responsibilities on education. the bedrock of career education are long overdue. both the president and i pushed hard for strong bipartisan reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act. we would still like to see one with the governor in this state chiefs as

teachers and parents. of congress cannot work together on behalf of children, what can they do? education leaders the certainty to set goals and strategies to improve and that is where our department works to adopt ambitious targets that capture more students than risk cover raise standards and move forward with the accountability system on a single task for. i promise the end of us will get everything right the we're working together with his working in what is not what is necessary. b.c. extraordinary courage and leadership as we challenge them to maintain a high bar showing as much flexibility as possible to innovate. reform is hard and tough and complex work but if you have the right conditions and if they work together you see great results.

ted is the achievement school district is hitting growth rates of the lowest performing schools that match the statewide average and is beginning to close the achievement gap. tennessee's trading tens of thousands of teachers to implement this new rigorous security standards. and boosting rates through low-income students and minorities with the highest is:graduation rates in the country one of the first dates to a sustenance based on the new higher standards. florida is thinking stems students was working scientist and north carolina has a stem recognition program to help share best practices in the area of training in pre-columbian linking students to jobs. new york city is treating drama and music teachers to work with the students. many communities are expanding critically important wraparound services to address the

emotional issues like it the way of learning that are compounded of poverty and violence. i just finished 11th hundred mile back to school bus tour that included stops at an early learning center in santa fe new mexico. the governor and a republican is boosting spending on the early learning. were the one dozen governors around the country, democrats and republicans have done exactly the same. congress ought to get out of washington to go see for themselves with the states are doing then come back here to assess resources of the federal government can partner with states to help them expand access to high-quality learning to every for year-old that once it or needs it. it is not a partisan issue and the real world. educators and law enforcement even military

leaders all agree high-quality early learning is the single best investment returning $7 in savings. extremely unusual coming together to make this happen. another place for congress to visit right on the border of new mexico. those children born in the american hospital crossed the border every single day and go to school in columbus. the community has welcomed them with open arms from within six years and despite said dangerous journey columbus elementary school has nearly perfect attendance that dedication and a profound understanding from staff is something you'll never forget.

and then come back here to work together to reform education to contribute to the economy can do that. no parent should have to do a parent teacher conference by stipe because baum in data never allowed to visit there child's school to attend a play or watch there child's performance. those willaert i went to midway we using technology to brodeur of the curriculum. they're not debating if computers will replace teachers. that whatever happened another argument that you here with the alternative universe. in the real world schools are doing what every organization and household america is already doing using the resources of the internet to be smarter and faster and technology could

be hugely important tool as we strive to increase equity and raise the bar for all students. we can accelerate that is why i am so excited the sec has answer president obama is called the best expand broadband access in schools. in el paso texas with the trans mountain high school and early college high school where most are hispanics trans mountain has a stem concentration they all complete the associate's degree by the end of their junior year and have the effort to end the to attend tech during their senior year of his goal. lawmakers ought to visit trans mountain holler school with hayek expectation is literally transforming lives. they should visit the labs were 13 and 14 year-old are

doing college level biology experiments as a freshman in high school. then give the resources to prepare and hire 100,000 used and educators to creep programs and the students are challenged and supported it is amazing to see if they can do. every student in our country should have the chance to earn college credit while in high school. in scottsdale some of my colleagues saw firsthand to improve outcomes for all students included with disabilities to a collaboration as well as a school psychologist has significantly reduced what was identified as special beads and then with the marine corps error station at human arizona who wants to be a special education teacher.

as a senior already has gone to 10 different schools service members talk about the boards have consistent high educational standards as families hatter reassigned. the least we can do is to give their children a high-quality education regardless of where they happen to be stationed. going to catholic park middle school in california where they turn around the school parents and kids of more engaged same children in saving families in the same challenges the same building but very different expectation and great leadership lead to war early different outcomes. bearing a teacher with the name of a college one of those was arizona state.

a couple days earlier earlier, they're already doing exactly what obama has challenged the country to do to raising graduation rates improving access and improving quality while keeping costs down at the same time. they're willing to be more transparent with cost and other indicators to help them make decisions about college and debt exceeds $1 trillion leaving with a six-figure debt and worse of all if they decide to forgo college this is not just the educational crisis is the economic crisis. the basic bargain that has built the country you can expect to have a decent wage that supports basic health court call up -- basic health care, quality education and retirement.

in 2009 while those for arabesque in several still or. falling since 1899 a and then darr requires a post secondary trading or degree. without that the chances for a good job are slim to none. legally still have a long way to go. the dropout rate for those going on to college as high

and is at its highest in the minority communities. about two-thirds of students as star and a committee college have to take remedial class is to be ready on the one at a five african-americans have a bachelor's degree or higher and the numbers for hispanics are worse. for all the progress phaser still, the last thing we should do is retreat. the most striking trend this says students are of moving forward. ministates are investing in preschool cobbett child care is and how busy programs and the early learning grants to improve quality at the k through 12 level as flexibility offered leaders

of both sides are moving ahead with higher standards with comprehensive accountability of preparing for new assessments this better measures through 30 to tell the truth reid as a country are in what we need to do to get better. i've especially inspired by the leadership of hard work around issues like persistence that educators know is just as important as reading and math skills. if we have learned from thing that we must get better to recruit nation's teachers. that urged having big gains in asian real par with other professions in three words

those achievements to take on the toughest assignments. in higher education the number of universities universities, public and private and nonprofit and for-profit are keeping down cost at the same time focusing on the outcome than input are delivering value? are they getting good jobs once they leave? and the repaying student loans? there is an explosion along online your name to focus on outcomes. groundbreaking work around competency based learning your party with universities or institutions will award tickets based on what they know rather than on how long they sat in the lecture hall. the need to make the shift

to the high school and middle school as well. wesley to build partnerships among committee colleges and employers to provide a pass from school to work for those unemployed, underemployed and other skilled adults. they're eager for more rewarding careers. the fact so many americans are out of work of hundreds of thousands of high-school jobs go unfilled is a market failure their hurts the family, hurts the country in the nation's economy. public-private partnerships must close the skills gap and community colleges are the centerpiece of that effort. so as a new school year gets under way i am inviting any member of congress to join me as i continue to travel to run the country to highlight the forms that work. i by blockers and journalists and policy makers to see what is working and bring these lessons back here to washington. let's talk to students to

see what they want and need for their future not for our present. right now believe our country faces a stark choices we can continue to play politics where we can fund the federal government that americans can count on. congress can tree education as an expense but they can see that as a critical investment for our nation winning the race for the future. other countries get this. there are expanding preschool and its strengthening teacher preparation. we can looks either way at the expense of many. or shift these resources to programs that make it different. we can stand up to the ideologues in the party set promote the vision and all showed real courage in jews to leave rather than follow. there are many good heart of republican leaders many

g.o.p. governors to the right thing and they know education is the best thing for america. but we're reasonable republicans who will stand up to the tea party into will be the profile in courage to make it safer others to right thing for the country to provide all of our children. there is nothing political about giving a three in four year-old astronomer start in life. the nonsense from the extremist but somali the education committee to put aside the rhetoric to come together to push for against the one the common enemy we must fight together coming academic failure. the american public is ignoring much of the debate around school reform. they just want schools and education to keep improving. they're not letting the enemy of the good and they are the reason why i remain

so hopeful. i've messily optimistic and inspired because of what is happening outside the beltway in schools and colleges and universities in communities all across america. i am optimistic because the teachers and principals i have met and parents and community leaders, college presidents sit and governors and state cheese sobel sides of the aisle. i am optimistic above all to the millions of students that come to school every single day. but they come because they feel safe and engaged and loved and valued by their hard working teachers. our students ponder for the emotional and social and until there's trend that comes from a great school. how the schools can be life changing places and at their best for creativity and industry.

with the economic opportunity for all. public schools of the hope imprimis of every child who walks through their door. our job is to make their school the best they can be. thank you so much. i am happy to take your questions. [applause] >> i would also like to tell the audience if you have a question for our speaker please write to them on the cards and pass those up to the head table. i will start with the shutdown how will the lives of teachers and students be affected if the government shuts down? >> first come to mind standing is we have been told that they to solve this and died here were there is a will there's a way in a desperately hope it will happen before midnight tonight. i am worried but the effects may not be found immediately

the whether it is a shot down or sequester the these are good for children archimedes sort kids we need a functioning federal government and the disfunction here right now frankly is pretty staggering still make this is the first time you have faced a threat. what steps have you taken to mitigate the effects of education? >> let me be very clear like sequestered there is nothing i can do to mitigate. so in reality thousands of fewer children having access to headstart less money to live below the poverty line around military communities were children's parents, the best money for higher education and we either want

the best educated work force in the world but for me the choice is obvious. right now with the immediate fear of a shutdown we will do everything we can to try to be helpful to college students to make sure the money keeps flowing but at the end of the day we just need congress to get its act together. democracy works of folks come together and compromise. that is what we need. >> looking at, and court conservatives have called in other federal intrusion by the obama administration to think politically the support fuels the opposition? >> a think the fear of federal takeover is the height of silliness these weren't adopted voluntarily by the state's my wife and i have two young children we want more for our

children, not less. if you look at lessons from states like tennessee, like many states had come down standards in replying to children in families for a long time. they were saying 90 percent of fourth graders were proficient but then they went from 90% from 29% and the chief recaps for doubled but guess what it is the truce will recover if things up who were we helping or benefiting other than the politicians? it is the kids. so to raise standards to challenge ourselves it is hard it is tough. the parents say we cannot compete in ned globally competitive economy. and in the year after they raise standards with highway

standards high expectations matter in 31 to continue to support for the nation's economy. >> by using the standards have become a lightning rod? >> against folks who say we want to fly in control the matter the conspiracy theories it is not on this. pulse can choose to make political issues but it should be nothing political about wanting more for our children. there's a lot of noise on the far left in the far right for my you actually seen as the vast majority of states to bring their hard work to implement them bystander its.

and students working harder higher change the next generation of assessments are coming in the short amount to time there will be mistakes but again in the real world amazing courage and leadership that we're seeing. >> you talk about common corps has raised achievement but in some places parents are concerned they hold more indians students back especially in math you think it discourages acceleration beyond grade level? >> absolutely not. let's have a conversation with the statistics in mind and then to move to a competency based education not to say your three days to get the credit but if you know, out to prove one in

fifth grade or seventh grade you should get credit and move on to the next thing. we're partnering with colleges who move in this direction were the schools and middle schools the higher standards does nothing to hold people back better raises the ceiling. and in order to do that. >> can you talk about the movement of teachers' unions to put in place a moratorium on any assessment based the vibration while common core is rolled out? benefit is an important conversation and to have. with hundreds of teachers around the country every survey says 75 for 80% loved of higher standards of course, that is not covered as much so they are praising the higher standards.

but there is some fear that if we do more with teacher evaluation how tough that will be. if you want to take another year that is fine. there is no value. either way there is no right or wrong answer. we love the idea to hold the states accountable to be flexible and creative hot ticket it. we will then surely what states are moving forward on the same timeframe and we will continue to partner and work together. >> what are the biggest priorities to reauthorize the higher education act? are we ready given the debate in the higher education sector from

accreditation into a curriculum to technology? >>. >> we have been ready to partners congress. we want to continue to challenge universities to keep the cost down. and they have to move away in universities to increase access. so we stand willing and ready and able whether perkins, a new child left behind for congress to do some work with the government shut down today as part of the solution. >> the president has called for a push of all americans to have the least one year

of higher education would uc of progress in that direction? >> i think that is just the bare minimum if students drop out of fiscal today they are condemned to poverty and social failure because they're no good jobs for a high-school graduate -- drop out so some form of higher education to your community colleges and vocational training, we start to see some progress we had a slight increase of college career gyration rates and increase of enrollment but frankly we are a long way to go. and now we are 12th we stagnating got complacent and for us to leave the graduation rate by the year

2020 we have to get better faster. >> you said one year should be the minimum and you talked about the dropout rate so then why is that the goal? >> it is a minimum goal but some additional education beyond that one of the real barriers is college costs and every right go whether on an airplane or to the dry cleaners or the garage restore hard-working parents say the cost of college is crushing. i met one girl who was the senior in high school in iowa came up she has a twin brother her parents tried to decide which one to send to college because they cannot afford both. no family should be put into

that situation. so we have to challenge to keep costs down. the $1 trillion of debt it has to be attainable and affordable we want to continue to invest up the federal level for the pell grant we got 6 million up that 9 million but this is about shared responsibility. we cannot do it ourselves. we cannot invest in reinvest to keep such costs down and to make sure it is not just in a moment. >> what is the rule of the federal government to keep cost down. >> we're working very hard in one thing we have been challenges come up with their ratings system to provide much more transparent data to young

people who have families in the country. it is so hard especially first-time people to navigate the process with the grants in the loans one year, for your costs, the major, graduation rates, a huge amount of basic information that is difficult to have access to do. so we do believe in transparency. we want to come out with their rating system that allows the parents to make more informed decisions we want to see good actors doing the right thing and those are not doing the right thing to be less. but the federal their friend puts out $150 billion each year with grants and loans. all of that. >> so we're part of the

problem. the second thing is for them to retract the statements they were identical and going to a different local university. summer graduating 80% some or 15 or 20 is a huge outcome in the started for those who have support programs to build a culture is start to steer them away from other universities who did that to get responsibilities seriously. we have for the seven dozen institutions two years, a four year, a nonprofit, a for-profit, and this is in a furled with a very inefficient market place of parents cannot make informed decisions and do not have enough information. so we try to move resources to the good actors to put

parents in a much more empowered position. >> taking a market-based approach with the amount of many college students can borrow will that stop the increase of college tuition? >> we're open as we think about the ideas we do with great humility spending lots of time traveling the country, my team those in the white house listening to good ideas. if you are borrowing money but have a great likelihood of graduating in getting a good job when your done then that is a good investment if you borrow money and your flow prospects to get a job so it is less about what you are borrowing but if that was the right investment for yourself and your family. so to climb the economic ladder it is great.

view end up in the worst financial position than we started is not fair to the young people. . .