jobs, deal with unemployment. mr. president, the other issue out there that all across this country people are deeply worried about is that most of the new jobs that are being created -- and this has been the case for a number of years no now -- that most of the new jobs being created are part-time, low-wage jobs. how is somebody supposed to survive working for $10 an hour and getting 25 hours a week of work? you can't do it. and we're seeing more and more of those types of jobs in the economy. and, by the way, jobs that provide little or no benefits. and what the american people are saying is raise the minimum wage. i can't remember what the last poll was, but surely more than 70% of the american people have said a minimum wage of $7.25 an

hour is a starvation wage. we need to raise the minimum wage. mr. president, anybody who has kids in college today understands that it is harder and harder for working-class and middle-class families to send their kids to college. and what the american people are saying to us, do something. you tell us what is true, is that it's hard to make it into the middle class unless kids have a college education. well, do something to make college affordable. don't have my kid leaving college or graduate school $50,000 in debt or $80,000 in debt. do something about that. and, mr. president, anybody who drives anywhere in america, in vermont or in indiana or anyplace else, understands that our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, wastewater plants, water plants, our rail system is deteriorating rapidly. and they say do something about

the infrastructure. and people are telling us that as global warming is perceived as more and more of a crisis, do something about energy efficiency. why are we emitting greenhouse gas emissions into the air when we can be a much more energy-efficient country. and on and on it goes. the american people are hurting, and they want us to address their problems. the other point that needs to be made is that when we talk about the financial and economic problems facing this country, it is terribly important to take an overview of what's going on in the economy in general. and there is no debate about this. the middle class in america today is disappearing. median family income today is less than it was 24 years ago. despite all of the increase in

productivity and technology, median family income is less today than it was 24 years ago. that's rather extraordinary. we have 46.5 million people in this country living in poverty, more than at any time in the history of this country. 22.5% of our kids live in poverty. that is the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. poverty among senior citizens is increasing. so we have major, major economic challenges that we face. now our republican friends who a few days ago were telling us that they had to shut down the government and threaten not to pay our bills because of the horrors of obamacare now apparently no longer are concerned about obamacare, and they are now concerned about the national debt, and they're concerned about our spending. well, this is what i want to say. if we want to have a conversation or a conference or

a discussion or a special committee, or call it whatever you want, we cannot just look at cutting social security, medicare and medicaid, as congressman ryan and many others want. we have got to put into that discussion how it happens that one out of four major corporations in this country does not pay a nickel in federal income taxes. you think that should be part of the discussion? i think it should be. we have to put into that discussion how it happens that corporate america is putting their money in the cayman islands and in other tax havens and avoiding paying tens and tens of billions of dollars in federal taxes. do we need that into the discussion? i think we do. and if you're going to talk about a conference on the economy, the conference must include the need to create

millions of jobs. it must include the need to raise the minimum wage. it must include pay equity so that women get the same wages that men do for the work they are doing. it must include rebuilding our infrastructure. this discussion on the economy cannot simply happen on republican terms. we live in a country in which the middle class is in rapid decline while the wealthiest people and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well. and any discussion that we have after we reopen the government, after we pay our bills has got to include that important reality. we cannot and we must not, for moral reasons arrested for economic reasons -- for moral reasons and for economic reasons balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the children, the sick and low-income people. the wealthiest people and the largest corporations have got to

get involved, have got to pay their fair share of taxes. and we have got to create the millions of jobs that this country desperately needs. so, mr. president, as i see the revolving or constantly changing agenda on the part of our republican colleagues as to why they have shut down the government, i just want to make it clear that the first thing that has to happen is they have to understand this government has got to be reopened and it's got to be reopened with a strong budget that lasts for the rest of this fiscal year. and we have got to pay our debts so that this country and the entire global economy does not descend into financial chaos. we have got to do that. and in fact, if mr. boehner were to give the members of the house

of representatives a vote on that issue today, i expect it would win. but as we go forward and we discuss broader issues, as we should, the agenda cannot simply be the agenda of the republican candidate for president and vice president who lost by five million votes. the agenda has got to be what the american people want, and that is expanding the middle class, creating jobs, raising wages, rebuilding our infrastructure, pay equity, making college affordable. those are the issues that have got to be on the agenda as well. and with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: you know, mr. president, my friends in vermont watch what's going on, and it's hard to explain it to

them. of course you see people who are hardworking, rely one way or the other on government programs, and they don't come through. it it was in the press today about the polls saying how angry people are about the small group in the other body that have held things up. and i understand that. it is probably difficult for those people who work hard every single day, pay their bills, trust in their government, and then see what's happening. i appreciated the meeting with the president yesterday. the distinguished presiding officer was there.

i know how much president obama wants to have the shutdown end and people go back to work, have the united states pay its bills. and i agree with him. i think the vast majority of americans agree with him. now he's got to get a tiny minority in the congress to agree with him. it is unfortunate, it is unfortunate that they do not, because we should be serving the best interest of our country, not what may work at a tea party rally or fund-raiser to get one's face on television. you know, i'll give you an example. when september 30 came and went, it wasn't just the federal government that shut down. the farm bill extension also expired.

now, i can speak to this in some sense of knowledge of how that works. i've been able to serve on the senate agriculture committee for 38 years. i served as chair of it. we have a superb chair now in debbie stabenow. i've seen both republicans and democrats in that committee traditionally over the years come together, work closely together. i think two people who are the nominees of their parties for president, miles apart in political philosophy -- senator george mcgovern a democrat; senator robert dole, bob dole, a republican -- one a liberal democrat, the other a republican. but on the farm bill, on the nutrition programs, they worked closely together for what was

best for americans and best for the country. but because we refuse to go through, and we passed an excellent farm bill, a bipartisan farm bill in this body, in the senate, because the other body would not take it up, and either pass it or vote to improve it, the farm bill extension expired and the one-two punch of political reality is needlessly harming our nation. it's leaving farmers with a great uncertainty about the future of vital pardon me programs, all the while with no staff at usda to answer their questions. i know the distinguished presiding officer has a lot of agriculture in his state. his state's much larger than ours but we also have a lot of agriculture in the state of vermont. and they're saying, why is it

that on the basic, essential responsibility of congress to fund the government, why has that been i guess in order. regular business has been replaced by bumper-sticker politician. and the shutdown was and is -- butcher-sticker politics. and the shutdown was and is entirely want necessary. and it's negatively impacting every single entire american family. now, they're not asking for compromise. compromise has already happened here in the senate. we conceded to the house terms. we adopted bumpe and we leader , harry reid, had to fight to get the votes to give the house what they'd asked for by adopting appropriations bill at the funding level the house wanted. but even he'd been told by the house leadership that would get us back, that would have the

government stay open, after we did it, they said, oops, we changed our mind. they moved the goal posts again. you cannot run government like that. that's by whim. that's not by commitment. that's by changing your views by the moment. it's not by keeping your word. anyone claiming that the senate's been unwilling to compromise has conveniently ignored the fact the senate came forward and passed a continuing resolution at the level the house requested. so i -- i'm like the american people. i'm like my fellow vermonters. i'm tired of having our political process obstructed. it's time to reopen the government for business. stop the silly season. stop the games. stop rushing to the tv cameras to get your face on there and say, "i'm the only person saving america," as i try and destroy

america. let's reopen. for the farmers in vermont who have found their local usda offices dark, they know the shutdown is even more troubling because it's diverted attention away from the now expired farm bill. this manufactured crises is making it next to impossible to reach compromise on the important agriculture and rural development and nutrition legislation. the bipartisan senate farm bill would provide $25 billion in savings. this is the bill that both republicans and democrats voted for in the agriculture committee and on this floor. $25 billion in savings that could be applied toward reducing the federal government. but in, the house forced us into the shutdown which is costing

the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars a day, $1.6 billion a week for nothing, so they can go on television and say, "look at us, rally to us because we're standing up for america." no, you're costing american taxpayers $1.6 billion a week. that's just straight to the taxpayers. but more and more the damage of the government shutdown is spreading across the nation n. every cit --nation. in every city, in every community with each passing day, state governments, local governments feel the inch and may go bankrupt -- feel the pinch and may go bankrupt. we heard last week that the c.m.e. group, the world's largest futures exchange, informed their customers that the shutdown and the usda furloughs could affect dairy and livestock contracts. while much of wall street's worried they won't have the bureau of labor statistics employment numbers this month on

main street and our nation's farms and agriculture business, the concerns are growing about missing agricultural pricing information. that impacts dairy and livestock future contracts and options for milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products. and while that may sound esoteric to some, if you're one of those farmers who gets up before dawn, who works hard all day long until after dark, seven days a week, paying your bills, paying your mortgage, being an integral part of the community, this is real. farmers are doing their work and their job. they ought to do ours. let me give you one example of the uncertainty the shutdown is imposing on farmers and businesses from coast to coast. vermont's own cabbott cooperative makes some of vermont's most award-winning cheeses, could be hit by the

missing pricing information. in recent years, cabbott, being good business people, they've increased use of futures contracts. it's an active part of its risk management efforts. it makes sense. we've seen many farmers and food companies and dairy cooperatives across the country do the same after the disastrous collapse in milk prices in 2009. but the usda staff is furloughed and farmers and businesses like cabbott can no longer have the daily and weekly reports on cash prices for agriculture products. these are the benchmarks for these futures contracts. they're used to head against risk and big price swings. to make matters worse, the entire usda web site is shut down. so that's keeping farmers from seeing and using previous agricultural reports from the agency. this to the same people who are

working these long, long hours. they're obeying the rules. they're doing what's expected of them. but suddenly they're having legs taken out from under them. i've heard from the vermont economic development associati association, we call it veda. it's vermont's statewide economic development finance lender. they're focused on supporting on vermont's commercial and industrial enterprises. nearly their entirely agricultural loan portfolio is $70 million. probably not much in some states. a lot in my little state. it intersnects some way with usda -- intersecretaries in some way with usda and their ability -- intersects in some way with usda and their ability to work on loans is quickly freezing usm the list that's growing for the number of customers that are going to be locked out in the cold because of the shutdown is quickly

causing the whole agricultural lending scene to seize up. i'm hearing from our apple growers in vermont. now, you have a very short harvest this time of year in vermont. this is fall harvest and then it snows. they're in the middle of a fantastic long-awaited harvest. they have to keep one eye on the weather forecast and the crops are doing other are on the department of labor to ensure their apple harvest work force, which is seasonable work force, will be there. many of our farms use the federal h-2a temporary federal worker program. i'm merely starting to hear a litany of problems due to the tea party shutdown of the federal government. farmers are unable to get their workers' required social security numbers because the social security administration is not issuing new numbers and cards during shutdown, during the tea party shutdown. now, these farmers are

republicans, democrats, independents. they don't want to play politics. they want to play by the rules. they can't understand why the tea party is playing politics with their business. resulting in farmers needing to pay huge amounts of backup withholding taxes, which are otherwise wouldn't needed to do if the their workers were able o acquire social security numbers. and h-2a workers are being stymied in the application process since the department of labor is not administering necessary parts that have process thanks to the artifici artificial, made-in-congress tea party shutdown. and the ripple effects of the shutdown are spreading ominously outward across vermont and every other state. now, this may -- let's talk about just one aspect of agriculture. my colleagues who represent all parts of this country could talk about a whole lot of other

aspects of agriculture. that's just one multi-multi-multibillion-dollar industry across this country that is being hurt and ultimately being devastated. some will go out of business. all because of the tea party shutdown. and all with problems that could be solved right now. they could be solved this afternoon. so let's stop this shameful politicking. how should end the shutdown. just vote on the senate-passed continuing resolution. after all, it has the numbers they in the house asked for. all they have to do is keep their word. we in the senate did. now it's time for them to. mr. president, i see no one else seeking recognition, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, i would ask suspension of the quornlg. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from michigan. mrs. mccaskill: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, there are two issues wrapped together right now that are causing dire consequences for people all across the country. the first, as we know and as we have been debating here, is the government shutdown and all that

is happening in terms of people being hurt, jobs being lost, small businesses not being able to get the loans they need, people not being able to complete their mortgage -- mortgage requirements, to get the homes that they want, the concerns about health and safety and all of the other issues, children, what's happening to so many people, senior citizens, veterans and so on. very, very serious. and this is the 11th day of the government shutdown that's costing us jobs, slowing the economy and hurting families all across the country. it's an absolute drag on the economy in our markets and on, frankly, america's standing in the world, which we should all be concerned about right now. it's frankly an embarrassment that in the greatest country in the world, our government is

shut down while a small minority tries to score political points. and, unfortunately, that's what's been happening. the second issue is also very, very important and that is the lapse of a farm bill, agricultural and food policy bill, in this country. the farm bill has actually been expired for 376 days. 376 days, because it ended in september of 2012. september 306789 and then last january there was a partial extension that extended subsidies that we all said should be eliminated, did not include reforms, did not include deficit reduction but there was a partial extension until this september 30, and that has also

lapsed. and i know the distinguished chair of the senate now, who's a member of my committee and from indiana and fights very hard for farmers in indiana -- and i'm grateful that you're a member of our committee, mr. president -- i know that you understand and share my tremendous sense of concern and urgency both about the government shutdown and about that we are seeing agricultural programs, rural economic development being shut down because we don't have a farm bill. nowhere is this felt more strongly right now than in south dakota. i'm not from south dakota. the presiding officer's not from south dakota, but we have colleagues here who have been in the -- on the floor. i have talked to the senators from south dakota about this i know who are deeply concerned,

as well as the senators from north dakota. but in south dakota, where last friday, october 4, an early autumn blizzard killed an estimated 75,000 head of cattle. 75,000 head of cattle. and just one of the many pictures of what is happening as a result of this blizzard. many producers lost half their entire herd. keep in mind that many thousands of these cows would have produced calves in the spring, so these are losses that are huge for ranchers and families and will be felt for many, many years to come. these cattle ranchers and their families have no safety net, zero safety net. they don't get direct payment

subsidies. they have right now zero safety net. they only had livestock disaster programs which expired october 1 of 2011, 741 days ago. their losses are expected to reach into the tens of millions of dollars. our farm bill, our senate farm bill which we passed, as we know, with strong bipartisan majorities last year and this year -- we have actually done it twice, doing our jobs, includes permanent livestock disaster assistance. for these ranchers and these families. to make sure that ranchers like those in south dakota don't go bankrupt, which is what is going to happen right now. if we don't get this farm bill in place as soon as possible. but there is no farm bill, and

even if there were, those farmers wouldn't be able to help because the farmers can't document their losses and get the answers they need from the farm service agencies because they are a part of the shutdown. so these ranchers, like many farmers across the country, are getting the one-two punch, not being able to go to their local f.s.a. office to get the help they need and at the same time not having the long-term certainty of agricultural policy and the safety net needed when there is a catastrophe. three things have come together to make this a major disaster for these ranchers. the need for a farm bill with livestock disaster assistance, which we have. we have a great livestock disaster assistance program in our bill.

the good news is the house has one as well. if we can get a farm bill done, which could be done any day now, we're willing to be a part of any agreement that anyone comes up with, do this any way we can. we will be able to help those south dakota ranchers. so of the three things, one is that we don't yet have a final farm bill even though the united states senate on a bipartisan basis has done its job twice. secondly, we have the government shutdown that is not allowing these ranchers to get the help they need right now. and thirdly, we have a blizzard. well, two out of three of these are self-inflicted. and think about it. because there is no farm bill, because there is a government shutdown, some ranchers, mr. president, really are going to lose everything -- their

homes, their land, everything. because of a freak blizzard in early october, and we can debate the larger issues around that as well. here's an irony. those ranchers in south dakota have three days under the law to dispose of their dead cattle. three days. they just got hit by a blizzard. they suffered unbelievable losses. and they have three days to clean it up. they don't get an extension. they can't kick the can down the road. they can't wait forever either. they can't wait any longer for us to get a farm bill done. this needs to be done right now. if there is the political will to do it, if there is the support from the speaker to do it, we can get this done

quickly. those cattle ranchers aren't alone, by the way. producers in the midwest, the northwest, the west, much of the south went through one of the worst droughts in a generation last summer. many producers sold off most of their herds because there just wasn't the grass for the cattle to graze on. feed was scarce and expensive. as a result, cattle inventories dropped to their lowest levels five decades, 50 years. i don't know about you, but for all of us that like to enjoy meat, we're seeing the consequences of the lowest level in five decades. farmers all across the country suffered from this drought. in addition, fruit growers in my state suffered heavy losses last year from an early spring followed by a late frost, and

our cherry growers were some of the hardest hit. in fact, they were virtually wiped out. their crop was wiped out last year. and they also don't have a safety net. like ranchers, they don't get direct payment subsidies, and they weren't able to get any crop insurance either. we worked hard in this farm bill to make sure that there were risk management tools, not subsidies just because you grow something. we can't afford, as taxpayers, to do that. it's not the right thing to do. we have a deficit we have to address. it makes no sense. but we worked hard to make sure that the risk management tools helping farmers and ranchers manage their risk when there was a disaster like south dakota, to make those available. but there is no help until we

get the farm bill signed into law. so for all the men and women, all the families and the vast majority we're talking about are middle-class families, small farms, medium sized farms who are working hard from sunrise to sunset, day in and day out, with the riskiest business in the world, they can't kick the can down the road. when the crop is ready to be harvested, they have to do it. they are looking at us and saying get the job done. get the farm bill done now. all of those middle-class families, all of the 16 million people who work in agriculture, 16 million people who work because of agriculture are saying we have waited long enough. how many disasters have to

happen yet without the right tools before this gets done. ms. stabenow: 16 million people. mr. president, the biggest jobs bill in the past year is the farm bill. rural economic development, energy, food-related industries, our conservation efforts, our help for people who are caught up in their own personal economic disasters, which is so critical, they are all counting on us. the men and women who are working hard right now to bring in the harvest are counting on us to get this done. they need a farm bill. we did our job. i'm grateful for leaders on both sides of the aisle who came together. that's how i know that we can stop this shutdown, that we can pay our bills, because we -- we've done things together in

the united states senate. we need our colleagues in the house to be willing to step up and do the same. people have waited long enough. it's time to get it done, and it's time to get it done now. thank you, mr. president. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. coats: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: i note the absence of a quorum and i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coats: mr. president, well, here we are again. i have been on this floor many, many times over the past two and a half years that i have been in the senate talking about yet another fiscal cliff, another drama, another soap opera playing out before us. the american people wondering what in the world is going on down there in washington, how come we can't get resolution to some of our problems, why can't we remove this dark cloud of

uncertainty about the future of our -- our fiscal future in this country? it is stifling growth. we're growing at an anemic four to five-year rate of less than 1% of growth. that does not put people back to work. that does not solve our unemployment problem. it only makes it worse. that does not revive an economy that even with all the new discoveries in energy and the lower cost of manufacturing, more competitiveness. we have not revived the economy to provide the american people, whether they are just graduating from school with a degree and can't find a job except maybe at a fast food restaurant or whether they are a middle-aged man or woman who has had their hours cut back or they have been laid off, whether it's a family trying to save for education for their children, this hurts all the way up and down the line,

and it's frustrating. it's frustrating for all of us, particularly frustrateing for the people that i represent in indiana and i think for all americans to watch this -- this dysfunction that's taking place here in washington, this inability to come together to find a solution to our problems, and this careening from cliff to cliff, debt crisis to debt crisis. people on edge, the markets on edge. up 300 one day and down 250 the next. waiting for any glimmer of hope for some solution or reacting with gloom and doom for the failure to come forward with a solution. and now we have a government shutdown. now the clock is ticking toward debt limit expiration, and yet we have not come to any resolution or solution for the problem. people are sick and tired of

this broken process here in washington, d.c. i'm sick and tired of it. my colleagues are sick and tired of it, and yet we have not been able to come to find a solution that addresses the problem. i have been talking a lot about -- well, let me say this. republicans just came from a constructive two-hour meeting at the white house with the president, the vice president and the secretary of treasury. it's a step forward. now it's not a neil armstrong step forward because it's not a giant leap for mankind. it's a baby step forward, and it's a step -- an important first step forward because unless you come to the table to negotiate, unless you are willing to open up where you are in the same room together, sharing your concepts and sharing your thoughts and sharing your concerns, you can't

even begin to find the solution, and so this was a step in the right direction. the president had met with house members, republican members yesterday and senate republican members today. it was about a two-hour-long meeting. it was candid, transparent. everybody was -- most everybody was able to say what was on their mind to talk about possible solutions. i wish i could say we came out and walked out, stood together, like has been done before in solving these types of problems between presidents and members of leadership on both the house and senate. i wish i could say we were able to do that. we weren't. but going from i will not negotiate, period, don't even bother to even think about it to let's sit down and at least talk this thing through and see if we can come to a resolution is a step forward. and so i will take some hope from that.

now, it has been clear, ever since i made that decision in early 2010 to come back to the senate to work with -- to work to try to solve what i thought were some of the most fundamental issues affecting the future of this country, that perhaps we have faced in a long, long time, namely this continued deficit spending and plunge into debt, this accumulation of debt that is so jeopardizing our future and our children's future and the future of america. the passage of obamacare by one party without any bipartisan support, jammed through the congress by a waiver of the rules has turned into a nightmare, a nightmare of implementation. it's part of the fiscal problem,

and i didn't come here today to talk about that necessarily. you have been here before talking many times about that. what we need to do, what i think we need to do to address our health care problems clearly in a different way than is being addressed by the affordable care act. we see it unfolding before our eyes of yet another washington dysfunctional piece of legislation, can't even be implemented even though the party that passed this, this had three and a half years to implement it. so we hit the date, october 1, when people can start to enroll and the systems aren't even up and ready. now, if this -- you know, this law had been in effect for six months or three months, you could say well, they rushed it. it's been three and a half years, mr. president. actually, three and three quarter years, and they still don't have it right. those are major questions. so that's an issue that we must continue to deal with.

we haven't been successful so far, because we have not gotten any bipartisan support to make any significant reforms or addressing the overall problem or replacement. that is part of our fiscal issue, and that fiscal issue is eating up the promise of america that has been given to every generation in the history of this country and stands ready to be denied to the next generation and succeeding generations because of our inability to summon the political will to do what we all know we need to do. we cannot keep spending more than we take in. we cannot keep borrowing money to cover that difference. we have seen in just this last four and a half years of this administration a staggering increase in the amount of debt

we've accumulated, from just a little over $10 trillion to now $17 trillion in just the space of one administration with three more years to go. it is unsustainable, and i doubt that there is a member of this body, republican or democrat, liberal or conservative, that can simply ignore and say this is not a problem. it's a huge problem. and every day, every week, every month, every year we postpone it, the problem becomes worse. we have made effort after effort after effort, bipartisan effort, simpson-bowles, domenici-rif vin, laying out plans as to how to address this over a period of time, to put us on a path to solvency. the gang of six, all the efforts of -- of a republican, saxby

chambliss and a democrat, mark warner, and those of us who supported those efforts, try to find a way to solve this problem. the super committee, the dinner group which i was part of, substantive discussions with the white house, with the chief of staff, with the president himself, over a seven-month period of time, unable to reach a resolution, unable to even come to the conclusion that this problem is so great, it needs to be dealt with now, not pushed down later, not for some other administration. we have had too many congresses and too many administrations simply saying can't get it done, we'll have to push it off for yet another term, yet another election, yet another president. well, time is running out. so despite all these efforts, we have failed, and in my opinion and i think in the opinion of most, the reason why we have

failed is because we have failed to achieve presidential leadership. the kinds of changes that are needed to address a problem this large, to bring parties together, to put us in a position where we are willing to risk our careers, where we are willing to stand up and do what is right for america, regardless of the political consequences, willing to stand together, republican and democrat, and basically say this problem transcends politics. not use it against each other but stand there together and say this problem is of such magnitude that we have to stand together, have the will to go forward. that can only be accomplished and only has been accomplished if you look to past history. by presidential leadership. i was privileged to be here as a member of the house of

representatives, when we faced not as great a problem but a significant problem with entitlement spending -- in this case, social security, the trust fund was running dry, the case was made to the american people, a republican president reached out to a democrat speaker of the house of representatives, a divided government. democrats in one house, republicans in the other, reached out and said we have got a problem and it can only be solved if the two of us will stand together on a bipartisan bipartisan -- in a bipartisan way, and that they did. and it wasn't easy, but it was successful, and through it we made a substantial, meaningful change to our social security system, which bought about 35 years of insolvency. now we face an even more dire crisis than that.

but the solution will be the same, and that is we need to have presidential leadership. i proposed a number of things. it looks like we're going to be limited. i did not get any indication from the president that he is willing to take these kinds of risks to so-called go big. mr. president, i'm about to finish, and i know my colleague is waiting. i would like to ask unanimous consent to speak for three more minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, i'm not going to wait to speak, but i just, mr. president, if i might, ask the distinguished senator from indiana a question and then certainly to agree however much time he wants. the presiding officer: would the senator yield for a question? mr. coats: i'm happy to yield to my friend. mr. nelson: the senator from

indiana is very sincere as he has worked diligently and in a bipartisan way to tackle this budget problem, and it is this senator's hope that we can continue those kind of discussions that we had a couple of years ago. would the senator agree that the shutdown situation that we find ourselves in, however, which started for a different reason than the budget questions, it started for the reason of people wanting to defund obamacare, that that shutdown creates a crisis atmosphere in which it's very difficult to have those

budgetary discussions that the senator yearns to have, as does his colleague from florida? mr. coats: well, mr. president, i answer to my friend from florida who did work with a group of us, democrats and republicans, in past efforts to address the larger question which i am addressing here. i know he's as disappointed as i am that we were not able to come to a resolution. republicans don't want a shutdown. we want a solution. we have found in the past that the leverage of a financial situation often gives us the opportunity to raise the issues and, hopefully, reach at least a partial solution, and that has

happened in the past. but i stand with those who simply say, i want to find a solution to the larger problem ... including the shutdown of the government. andist focusing my efforts on the debt -- and i was focusing my efforts on the debt limit that we're reaching because it's very hard for making a case to the american people for yet another $1 trillion of debt loaded on their shoulders without som some efforts to adds why this debt is being accumulated and why it continues to go forward and why hasn't the congress stepped up to address this spending. it's like having a credit card and the bank calls and says, you've hit your limit. and you've asked us several times in the past to raise that limit, and we've done so, but you keep reaching the limit and you keep asking for more credit.

and at what point are you going to amend your reckless spending so that you don't have to keep coming in here and we don't have to keep giving you more credit? how do we know you're ever going to pay this back? how do we know that you're not just going to declare bankruptcy and solvency because you've hit the point where you simply don't have the means to pay this back? so, look, we might be willing to give you some increase in your credit, but you've got to give us something back first. and that is, you've got to get off your addiction offed spending that keeps -- get off your addiction of spending that keeps drives us into this situation. so, yes, a solution to get this government back to work, combined hopefully with a renewed effort by the senator from florida and myself and others to strip out the unnecessary spending, the duplication, the egregious

misuse of taxpayers' dollars for nonessential functions of this federal government. there's no disagreement between now we need to fund our national security. there's no disagreement about some of the essential cancer research and a number of other things that this government engages in that can't be handled at the state level, can't be handled at the private level substantially. but there's a lot of concern about excess spending that continues to push us more and more into debt. so, in answer to my friend's question, i would simply say that republicans don't like this shutdown anymore than democrats, and we want to -- what we want to do is have some solution to the underlying problem, and the underlying problem is the merger of not only excessive spending but the debt limit that is the result of that spending. i know my time is rapidly running off down to zero here,

so let me just conclude by saying thi this: i believe we have a duty to the american taxpayer, but beyond that a duty to this country, which is not just my children and grandchildren but everybody's children and grandchildren. we have a moral duty not so laden them with debt that they will not have the simple opportunities that many of us have enjoyed, simple opportunities of owning a home, saving money for our kids so we can send them to and give them a good agency, getting the bills on time, living the american dream, which is not to become a millionaire or billionaire -- maybe for some -- but no for mot it's just to live a normal, quiet, peaceful life, passing on those values and giving our children those opportunities that we have found ou ourselves. until we summon the political

will to do so so and until, frankly, we have a president that has that same will, we won't solve that problem. i'll conclude with this: it is a story -- maybe you've heard it before. a man walks into the doctor's office says, "i don't feel well at all." the doctor gives him all the tests and exams and calls him back in and says, "well, the disease you have is terminal. it's going to kill you. there's two ways to address this. there is a cure. it has some pain attached to it. you can't just ignore it. but if you will agree to this medicine we're going to give you and these procedures, we can save your life. if you're not willing to do that, if you are not willing to have the will to go through that process to get you back to health, there is another

alternative, and that alternative is we can transplant that disease into your children and into your grandchildren and then let them deal with it." and that is exactly what we're doing here by not having and summoning the will to do the things that all -- we all know need to be done to prevent this country from becoming insolvent, from becoming -- from denying and destroying the american dream. the future of this country rests with our decisions, and, to date, we have not made those decisions. with that, mr. president, i'll yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i see the great junior senator of virginia waiting to speak here, and i just want to make a quick statement. i again want to real estat to re senate and anybody who is listening what brought about the

shutdown. it's been going on now for a week and a half, and we don't see any relief in sight. and what started the whole thing on the shutdown is, shut down the government unless you agree to reverse a law that was passed and declared constitutional by the supreme court, by reversing that law, by take the funding away from the affordable care act. now, that's what started it a week and a half ago. and, mr. president, i have just come from the commerce committee where senator rockefeller has had a hearing on everything from the consumer finance and the

consumer federation on how consumers are not being protected, everything to the national transportation safety board, how all of these accidents that have occurred within the last week and a half of the shutdown they can't get investigated because all of their staff is on furlough, to the aer aerospace centre indust. -- to the aerospace industry. they can't have airplanes that are ready for delivery because they have to have their final f. f.a.a. certificate. to, of course, the space program in nasa, and 97% tabor loa furld over 60% -- and then you take all of these government employees that are furloughed. what about all the contractors

to the government that are now laying off all the contractors? we had an alaskan captain talking about he needs the government certificates so that he can go to sea on the alaskan crab catch. he can't get that. guess who's lurking out there? russian captains to come in and start supplying the world market, including the domestic u.s. market, with crab. you can go through the whole thing. and then, of course, the other side says, in the midst of the shutdown -- now with a default on the credit rating of the government facing us -- you're not negotiating. that reminds me of the story, mr. president -- two people are talking. one say, can i burn your house down? the other one says, no. can i burn your second floor

down? no. can i burn your garage down? no. how about your utility room? no. oh, you won't compromise. you can't compromise over something that is hurting so many people's lives and is threatening the security and safety of people's lives. you can't compromise on that. you can't compromise on this nation going into financial default. come on. let's use a little common sense and get back into government functioning again and stop the nonsense about threatening a default of this country. and then let's do what the very sincere senator from indiana has said: let's continue those discussions about p what we can

do for the long -- about what we can do for the long-term financial integrity of this country. mr. president, i yield the floor and i thank the senator from virginia for his indulgence. mr.kaine: mr. president, i rise to deliver a status report, what the government shutdown has meant to virginia this week. i want to associate myself with the comments of the senator from florida. i'll talk about some similar effects. these effects are felt every wmplet it is not just furloughed employees. it is contractors. it's local communities and nonprofits, the housing market, so let me talk about little bit about virginia. the pages might have been on the floor last week. i talked about a tiny community off the barrier island of the eastern shore of virginia. it is not the place you would

think of when you tbhaw thoughtt where would the effects of the shutdown be? there is a national seashore and a national wildlife reask that are there adjacent to ching c sg coteeing island. they have built up grocery stores, other shops for visitors. the fall is a very busy time. the island gets about a million and a half visitors a year. they're coming to the national wildlife refuge and seashore. on october 1 when government closed down, the seashore and wildlife refuge closed down. the visitors have stopped coming. and all those businesses, all those small mom and pops -- i can see the faces of my friends over there -- they've all called knee say, we are hit so hard because this is a becausecy time for us and we're closed down. last weekend there was a huge festival. there is an historic lighthouse

on the island. they have been working for six years to restore it. last weekend was the reopening of it. they had to cancel it because it is on the wildlife refuge. this weekend another big festival. some of you might have read the book "misty of chincoteague." some of the horses are sold for population control. it's just a tourism event, it hurts all the businesses. it is a fund-raiser. it is a fund-raiser for the volunteer fire department that keeps every home and business on chinncotaegue. the volunteer fire department put up on their web site the

fall pony round-up is closed because of the childish and idiotic antics of our government. the other main economy is n.a.s. savment there is a facility five miles away and over 80% of the 1,000 employers and contract histories work at nasa neill five miles from the island are furloughed. so you pull the guts out of the tourism economy and the pull the guts off the nasa that the community relies on. this community has been devastated by the government shutdown and why? why? mark wright is a retired lieutenant colonel from the united states army who served for 23 years, including service tours in iraq. very, very solid veteran. we're so proud. one out of eight veterans in virginia is a vent. when he retired he got a job at

the pentagon as a civilian, a d.o.d. civilian. he got that job earlier this year. mark wright was furloughed earlier this year because of the sequester, with a wife and two kids in elementary school, furloughed, days off work, less pay, got through that furlough. october 1, furloughed again. so this veteran who served his country, put himself in harm's way, fought in theatres of baltimore than once, has now -- baltimore than once has now been furloughed once again. they live in an applicant in stafford county south of d.c. they wanted to buy a home for the first time in their life. they are in the housing market. but they have decided that they can't buy a home now because he doesn't know whether he is going to have a paycheck to be able to make a mortgage payment with. he will be lucky enough to keep making the rent payment every month. that hurts their family but it also hurts the real estate market in stafford county. just this week, it was reported that foreclosures in virginia are up 52% from august to

september, the biggest jump since the start of the recession because of the effects of sequester and these kinds of foolish antics, as the volunteer fire department described. and so what mark wright and his family are asking is why, why? why are we doing this? i had an employee roundtable with about seven furloughed employees and contractors on wednesday afternoon in my office. they shared their anxieties about their own finances. they shared their anxieties about having kids at home and not getting a paycheck and what it would mean to them. i asked one, tell me about your family, and he said i'm lucky. i don't have a family. i'm lucky. i don't have a family. and then he caught himself and he said well, no, i actually wish i was married and have a family, but for now when i'm not getting a paycheck and i don't know whether i will get a paycheck, i'm lucky i don't have a family. and this was a d.o.d. civilian who was a west point grad who

had served as active duty army for ten years as an army officer and fought overseas. others talked about how it felt to be kicked around just because they're trying to serve their country. one said i've gone on unemployment. i never wanted to go on unemployment, but i have to for my family. and even those who were financially secure talked about i'm looking elsewhere for a job. why would i put myself and my family through this? i have other skills. maybe i can't serve the public anymore if the congress isn't going to back me up. why are we doing this to these people? a virginia business that i'm going to leave nameless called me the other day, thousands of employees in virginia. the shutdown caused their revenue, their weekly revenue to fall by 85% immediately. they're still doing work and they are still being told because they are contractors that they will get paid, they are just not being told when they'll get paid.

but they are paying for rent, office rent, and they are paying for utilities and they are paying salaries of employees and they are paying monthly health insurance premiums, so they don't know when they're going to get paid but they are having to write checks to others every day. the owner of this business said a few more weeks of this and we will be bankrupt. and hundreds of people will lose their jobs. why are we doing this to these businesses? mr. president, yesterday you were with me in a hearing before the armed services committee and a woman by the name of joanne rooney was nominated to be under secretary of the navy. i asked her a question about morale in the navy and the pentagon now, and her answer was interesting. she had been working, joanne rooney, in the pentagon for quite a while and then left a year ago to go be a president of a woman's college, so she has been away from the pentagon for a year, and now she is back in the pentagon as nominee to be under secretary of the navy.

the navy's pretty important in virginia. and she said the difference in the pentagon and with the navy folks she is working on from when she left a year ago to today is just completely stark because in the years she was gone, the furloughs hit and now the shutdown has hit and she is walking around the halls and looking at how people are responding, feeling like they are not supported when they are doing this important mission, and she had one question. why are we doing this to people who are working for the united states navy who protect us every day who we count on to protect us every day? why? we know as the senator from florida said the house pushed this shutdown through unwillingness to have a budget conference. we passed a budget in march. we wanted to sit down and find a budget compromise with a very different house budget. we were going to have to compromise and do that, but senators and house members had

blocked a conference, and with no conference, you don't get a compromise. with no compromise, you don't get a budget. with no budget, the government shuts down. and so they pushed this to a shutdown and only after the shutdown have they said all right, let's talk. but yesterday, they revealed a new plan in the house and their plan was we need to make sure we don't default on our debt but, but after 11 days of shutdown, we just want to keep the government shut down. we'll make sure we pay our foreign creditors, but we want to keep the government shut down. why? why cause this pain? why hurt the economy? why push businesses to the brink even of bankruptcy? why harm the housing market? why degrade and devalue public servants, especially those who are veterans? why jeopardize cities and towns like chincoteague? why hurt nonprofits like the

chincoteague island volunteer fire department? why leave families vulnerable to unemployment and force them to go on unemployment for the first time in their life? why cause all this pain? no one, no one in this country is benefiting from the united states government being shut down. and so why is the white house continuing to insist that this government remain closed? i keep reminding and i am continually reminded of those words of the founder of the modern republic -- of the republican party, the founder of the republican party, abraham lincoln 150 years ago at gettysburg, mr. president. you know what he said at the end of that amazing speech. he resolved and we resolved government by, of and for the people shall not perish from the earth, not for a year, not for a month, not for a week, not for a

day, not for an hour, not for a minute, not for a second. why can't the house agree to open the government and stop all this unnecessary pain? thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. tomorrow morning, unless it's otherwise changed, we will be voting on the request from the majority leader and the president to raise the debt ceiling more than $1 trillion. actually, it won't be a dollar figure. it will actually be suspended for roughly a year, the debt ceiling, that is, but just so everybody understands exactly what the majority leader and the president are asking us to do, america's maxed out our credit

card. about $16.7 trillion. now, i know we have talked about millions and billions and trillions as if we could actually conceptualize what that means, but here is an interesting comparison. under president obama, he has been in office about five years now, our national debt has gone up $6.1 trillion. the debt accrued by all 43 previous presidents was $10.6 trillion. so now our national debt is $16.7 trillion. president obama has asked to raise that credit limit another trillion dollars, but here's the catch. if he had a plan to actually deal with how we're going to repay or pay down the $16.7 trillion, then maybe there would be a discussion. but what he wants is what he

called a clean c.r. -- excuse me, a clean debt ceiling. that's a blank check. that's a blank check. president obama wants a blank check to continue to borrow more and more money, not so we, the present generation, can live up to our responsibilities to make sure that we are fiscally responsible, but rather to foist that debt off on the next generation and beyond, with absolutely no plan in place to repay it. now, we've heard discussions about grand bargains. we were with the president this morning. he was kind enough to invite republicans in the senate over to the white house. and he himself sort of chuckled about the grand bargain that he had been pursuing and that speaker boehner and others have been pursuing over the last few years, and he likened it to a unicorn. in other words, a mythical

creature that no one's ever actually seen. that's what the grand bargain is. at least under this administration. we reminded the president this morning that none of us wanted a government shutdown. this is not what we actually want. and that we're all eager to end it. but we also told the president it's now the time, a divided government is perhaps the best time to end our fiscal crisis and to be responsible for the $16.7 trillion to come up with a payment plan. you know, if you went to the credit card company and said i want to raise my credit card limit another $10,000, they would say well, what's your plan to actually pay down the debt you have already accumulated? if you come back to us with a plan, then maybe we can talk about raising the limit on your credit card. but as i said, for the 220 years

between the start of george washington's presidency and the end of george w. bush's, the federal government has accumulated $10.1 trillion in debt. during the obama presidency alone, it's been $6.1 trillion, and if the president gets his way tomorrow in the vote we're going to have to get a blank check to raise it another trillion plus, it won't be $6.1 trillion, it will be $7.1 trillion or $7.2 trillion with no plan to pay down the debt and to deal with the impact of this growing indebtedness on our economy and on our next generation. but it's important to remember what the president himself has said about the debt in 2008 when he was a member of the united states senate. he said adding $4 trillion to the national debt was, in his

words, irresponsible and unpatriotic. that was president obama back in 2008, and here he is again asking for a higher debt ceiling debt limit and no plan to repay the $16.7 trillion or any portion of it. president obama's also the same person who said in 2009, he said i refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay. he's the same person in 2010 who said that america's massive debt keeps him awake at night. i can't imagine he's getting much sleep these days if that's true. and this is the same person who in 2011 echoed the comments of the former chief of staff -- excuse me, chairman of the joint

chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, who when asked what his biggest concern was as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he said the greatest long-term threat to america's national security is america's debt. president obama said he agreed with that. and finally, president obama's the same person who in 2012 said he was running for re-election -- quote -- "to pay down the debt in a way that's balanced and responsible. well, the most amazing thing i thought about the meeting we had with the president this morning is that he was actually taking credit for a reduction in the deficit. now, of course, the deficit's different from the debt. the deficit's how we measure the amount of money coming into the treasury and how much goes out in a given year, and now we're spending roughly 16 cents on the

dollar of borrowed money, more money than was coming in, but the president actually was taking credit for the annual deficits decrease. now, the deficit can be zero this year and we would still have $16.7 trillion in debt. those are related but different issues, because the debt accumulates over many years where you spend more money than you have actually coming in. but the president was taking credit for the reduction in annual deficits when, in fact, if you look back, the two reasons why the deficit has gone down this year is because, number one, one of the largest tax increases in american history that the president demanded in january of this last year, that was the fiscal cliff negotiation, and secondly, it was the budget control act. and the sequester, which is actually capped discretionary

spending for the last two years. that's what's caused a reduction in the deficit, not anything else. so now the president said it's no big deal, this debt. $16.7 trillion is no big deal, and you know what? 17-plus trillion dollars is no big deal either, to hear the president say it today. so now the president's changed his tune. earlier this year, he told abc news we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. in fact, for the next ten years, it's going to be in a sustainable place. well, besides being completely irresponsible and not making the decisions today and, rather, kicking the can down the road to the next generation and beyond, this high debt is having a present-day impact on slow economic growth. all you have to do is read the

congressional budget office reports, and they say, well, when the federal government borrows this much money from foreign governments like china and elsewhere, that's money -- the federal government is actually competing in the marketplace against the private sector for credit, and it actually drives down the private-sector investment. and with the debt this high, people know something is going to happen. either the federal government is going to have to cut spending to deal with this debt or the president is going to want to raise taxes again, and that's exactly what he has requested year after year. speaking of the next ten years, the president's latest budget proposal, which he unveiled in april, would increase our debt by $7.4 trillion over the coming decade, and it would also raise taxes by another $1.1 trillion, even though the president has already raised the debt by $1.7

trillion -- excuse me, raised taxes by $1.trillio7 trillion a. there is a reason why our economy is is growing so slowl , why the private sector is sitting on the side lines rather than investing and creating jobs. there is a reason why the percentage of people active in the workforce is at a 30-year low. that's called the labor participation rate. all you have to do is google the bureau of labor statistics and it'll tell you what the labor participation rate is. it is at a 30-year low, which means that -- mr. president, i'd ask for -- unanimous consent for an additional two minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: so, mr. president, not sole the unemployment rate -- not only is the unemployment rate high, those are people still looking for work.

we know that more and more people are simply giving up because they've quit looking, and they're reflected in that smaller percentage of people actually in the workforce. so, as we all know, the president has had multiple opportunities to make that grand bargain on debt reduction. he's walked away from his own bipartisan fiscal commission, the so-called simpson-bowles commission in 2010. he might also have endorsed the grand bargain put forward by the domenici-rivlin commission. but he walked away from that one, too. president reagan negotiated with tip o'neill. president bush 41 negotiated with george mitchell. president clinton negotiated with newt gingrich. president bush 43 negotiated with ted kennedy. that's what presidential leadership requires and which is

so obviously missing in this context. i hope the president will follow up on this meeting we had this morning and begin the kind of negotiations that would provide a payment plan to pay off the debt that america already owes. and, by the way, it is not just america; it is every man, woman, and child in this country. before he comes back here and asks us to raise the credit card limit by another $1 trillion. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitcamp: mr. president, yesterday came to the senate floor to automati talk about hoe government shutdown is affecting north dakota farmers and ranchers, particularly my ranchers that were hit by last week's storm and lost a vast number of cattle and yep diced their lively who had for -- and

jeopardized their lively who had for years to come and aren't getting the services they need. today i want to talk about another devastating consequence of this shutdown, and that is the consequence of this shutdown on indian country in my state. and undoubtedly indian country all across this nation. in north dakota we have five indian reservations home to many native american families. these are communities where economic development and many times employment has been trying to get a foot hold foothold, tro catch up, and where many, many, many of my state's most vulnerable individuals live. we have heard and made much about the united states living up to its obligations, its contract obligations, its obligations to the entities that hold our debt. but we haven't talked about the united states living up to its treaty obligations to indian tribes in this country, and this shutdown poses a serious -- and i am not exaggerating -- a serious threat to the basic

services of the -- that the federal government provides to native families as part of its trust, its contract, its obligation to native americans and native american nations. when i -- i recently had a discussion with tribal chairs all across north dakota, as i was hearing more and more of the kind of horror stories that you hear when all of a sudden weather is coming and food assistance is needed and fuel assistance is needed, and the stories that i heard i want to share with this body today, mr. president. they are telling stories about how foolish -- how foolish and how dangerous this government shutdown is to many, many very, very vulnerable families, particularly vulnerable native american families. and so, just by way of introduction, most of the five tribes in north dakota are

direct-service tribes, which means b.i.a. itself performs critical functions to help the native american families. so b.i.a. is the place you go to get that snangs. with th -- to get that assistan. with the shutdown, there are little or no b.i.a. employees to carry out this very important work. that means the general assistance programs are no longer able to serve, for example, the 600 families on the turtle mountain reservation who would otherwise receive an average of $97 per person to meet essential needs of food, shelter, and utilities, and i will tell you, the food banks and the food pantries are overrun. it is not an exaggeration to say that this shutdown has caused people in the turtle mountain reservation to go hungry. at the spirit lake nation, something that we've heard a lot about in the last year where social services are stretched to the max, where we have problems in even a fully funded government.

today the vast majority of b.i.a. social -- child social service agencies have stopped, leaving children stuck in limbo in the court system waiting for someone to find them a safe and decent home. just some examples, mr. president: a woman wishing to report a sexual abuse of her son has been attempting to contact child protective services for over a week now. when she went to the of course, the doors were shut and the -- when she went to the office, the doors were shut and the 24-hour phone person didn't answer the phone. there is a lot of acreages out there that the b.i.a. has too cover. it is limited to one officer per shift. they are patrolling 252,000 acres with one officer. at the siston reservation, the

tribe is preparing to furlough more than 200 employees. right now the tribe is able to pay them out of carryover funds. but unless the government reopens soon, it won't be able to afford to pay these employees, and they'll be furloughed. in a couple examples of great tragedy, the sisnon wauktaw community recently lost a 3-month-old baby and because of the shutdown shall the mother lab turned down for burial assistance for her child. a vietnam vet at the reservation -- i know on the floor is our senator from south dakota; he can attest to the great number of native americans who serve our military at a much higher hate ratrate than any other groe receives a small federal stipend which is not even enough to cover the basic essentials. he's no longer -- all of that is

no longer available because of the shutdown. his wife is suffering from diabetes and stage-3 kidney disease. he worries about not being able to afford the gas to drive her to fargo once a week, and he wonders how he is going to buy propane and heat for his family. -- and his home. at indian health service, health care workers such as those at standing rock recognize that people still need medical attention and so they're still coming to work. no promise of a paycheck and probably some people would argue here doing so illegally. another nation at the epicenter of the bakken oil shale will see that development slowed. there is always competition for rigs in north dakota. everybody is waiting for the rig to show up and begin to drill their wells. the tribes have had a tremendous opportunity not only to develop the resource that will help them

economically but to develop this resource, which is moving us in the right direction for energy independence. but because of the shutdown, m.h.a. nation is losing a substantial amount of federal oil and gas revenue. right now the tribes aren't able to get energy development agreements. they can't get drilling permits approved or have environmental impact assessments completes because b.l.m. and e.p.a. are shut down and not available. those rigs will move someplace else. the tribe has hundreds of drilling permits waiting approval and this is only going to delay them further. the situation is also dire in urban indian communities. utech you nighted tribes has one of several tribal colleges that serves over 600 students and another 300 children that attend their k-8 elementary school on the college campus. because of that shutdown, they're reducing the education

services and those -- to both their students, the college students, and to the children who live on that facility. the list goes on and on and on. and it will only as get worse. if we continue to not address this problem, we are turning our back on these very real needs. i think also importantly, turning our back on an obstacles that this country undertook when they signed treaties with the tribal people of my state. all across north dakota families, workers, children, people who are disabled are losing access to services and assistance and are losing their paycheck. why? why is this happening? because congress -- arguably the greatest body ever envisioned, the greatest democratic body ever envisioned -- is bickering and plagued with inaction.

house republicans continue to i believe bring up individual bills that only address the issue of the day. whenever there is a headline, we can found that because we want to say we're responding to those needs. well, i think i need a headline for our native american families who are in dire straits and for the bureau of indian education as well as b.i.a. so i ask, what about native american families who are unable to get critical social services to afford food or housing because b.i.a. is closed during the shutdown? where's the bill for them? and also equally important, where's the public safety for them? where is the public safety for those tribal members? what about the ranchers who lost a huge percentage of their herd not only in my state in the southwest corner but also all across west river in south dakota, who can't get assistance from the department of

agriculture? where's the bill for them? what about our young farmers who are trying to build the farms of tomorrow and feed our country who aren't able to receive their income checks because farm service agency is shut? they can't even get their money. so where's the bill for them? and what about north dakotans trying to start small business or get a home mortgage and aren't able to bein access those federal programs? where's the bill for them? it is about time we stopped this. it is time we respond to the very real hurt in america, the very problems -- you know, you hear a lot about who's winning and wh who's losing politically? that is a sad did i whe day whes the deliberation we have. it is the american people we have an obstacle obligation to. we need to end this impasse and open up the government. my people in indian country in

north dakota need and want and believe that they've earned that respect and earned that commitment to their treaty rights. thank you soarchtion mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, a week ago today western south dakota was preparing for a coming storm, but no one had any idea it would be one of the worst and most devastating snowstorms in that area's history. i grew up in western south dakota. i was born and raised there. we saw a lot of nasty blizzards over the years, storms that sweep through the middle of our state and all across our sta.