midnight eastern time tonight. about his possible anytime after that unless they agree to vote earlier. live coverage from the senate floor here on c-span2. senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, who calls us to a life rooted in faith, immerse our lawmakers in the wisdom of your spirit. guide them with your insights, enabling them to be salt in the world, living with humility and integrity. as they strive to be a force for

good, direct them around the pitfalls that prevent them from fulfilling your purposes. inspire them to rely on your love as they seek to faithfully serve you and country. lord, nurture within us all a godly sincerity and a daily reliance upon your strength, wisdom, and love. we pray in your strong name. amen. the president pro tempore: pleae join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, last night 77 senators voted to advance legislation that would fund the government through the fall at the bipartisan level agreed to by both parties. it's now the most viable way forward after democrats' extreme actions forced our country into this situation. let's remember how we got here. democrats knew the american people were unlikely to buy their desire for more

bureaucracy and more debt but they figured they might in a crisis. so democrats pursued a deliberate strategy of blocking government funding all year in order to force our nation to the brink. democrats said they'd block government funding legislation they even voted for this committee, and some of these bills, mr. president, came out of committee overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis. democrats said they'd block government funding legislation that they'd actually praised in their press releases when these bills emerged from the appropriations committee with large majorities. democrats even voted repeatedly to block the bill that funds our military, to repeatedly block the bill that funds medical care and pay raises for our troops. that's how far, mr. president, democrats are willing to go at a time of daunting international threats in order to tear down the normal government funding process and force our country

into this situation that we now face. well, i'm not prepared to let the government -- i'm not prepared to let the democrats lead us over the cliff. the bill before us would keep the government open. it would allow time for cooler heads to prevail. that's why i joined 76 other senators and voted to advance it yesterday. but, look ... obviously, the best way to fund the government is by, first, passing a budget; then passing appropriations bills. the senate already passed a budget. the senate is prepared to pass appropriations legislation, too. all that's needed is for democrats to drop these endless filibusters. we know that nearly all these funding bills are bipartisan. we know that democrats have supported and praised them. and with the c.r. behind us, we can turn back to the work of trying to pass these appropriations bills.

mr. president, i understand there's a bill at the desk that is due a second reading. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 2089, a bill to provide for investment in clean n.r.c. and so forth and for other purposes. -- in clean energy and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: in order to plaits bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceedings. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 719, which the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 719, an act to

require the transportation security administration to conform to existing federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions and for other purposes. mr. reid: i would ask the chair to call a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. paul: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i'm reminded of that famous line from "cool-hand luke" -- the presiding officer: the

senate in a quorum call. mr. paul: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. paul palmr. paul: i'm re-mingedt line from "cool-hand luke," what we have here is a failure to legislate. what we have here is is a failure to use our leverage, a failure to use the power of the purse. conservatives across america are unhappy and rightly so. we were told that when we took over congress, when republicans were elected to congress that things would be different. that if voters put us in charge, we would right the ship. we would stop the deficits. and here we are with another continuing resolution. what is a continuing resolution? it is a continuation of the

deficit spending of the past. it is a continuation of the waste. it is a continuation of the duplication. what is a continuing resolution? it is a steaming pile of the same old same old. let me be clear. a continuing resolution is not a good thing. it is more of the status quo. it is a warmed-over version of yesterday's failures. it is an abdication of congressional authority. it is an abdication of congressional power. let us at least be honest. with a continuing resolution, no waste will be cut. no spending will be cut. no regulations will be stopped. and the debt will continue to mount. we are told that we cannot win,

that we need 60 votes to defund anything. but perhaps there is an alternate future where courage steps up and saves the day. all spending is set to expire automatically. this is the perfect time to turn the tables. to tell the other side that they will need 60 votes to affirmatively spend any money. you see, it doesn't have to be 60 votes to stop things. all spending will expire, and only those programs for which we can get 60 votes should go forward. what would that mean? that would mean an elimination of waste, an elimination of duplication, an elimination of bad things that we spend money on. if we have the courage, we could use the senate's supermajority rules top stop wasteful spending. if we had the courage, we could force the other side to come up

with 60 votes to fund things like planned parenthood. the budget is loaded with nonsense and waste. some will say our job is to govern, to preside. but to preside over what? to preside over a mountain of new debt to be the same as the other side? to continue to add debt after debt? our debt will consume us if we continue to preside over the status quo. it is as if we're on the tie p tan nick and -- titanic and just simply reshuffling the chairs. a continuing resolution continues the spending of wasteful money. i'll tell you of a few we spend money on. $300,000 last year studying

whether or not japanese quail are more sexually promiscuous on cocaine. these things should never have money spent on but if you do a continuing resolution it will continue. we spent several hundred thousand dollars l studying whether or not we can relieve stress in vietnamese villagers by having them watch television reruns. i don't know about you but i don't want one penny of these dollars going to this ridiculous stuff. we spent $800,000 in the last couple of years developing a televised cricket league for developing afghanistan. do you know how many people have a television in afghanistan? one in 10,000 people. i don't care if they've all got

tv's, it's ridiculous that our money -- which we don't have, we have to borrow it from china to send it it to afghanistan. if you're passing a continuing resolution, you're agreeing to continue this nonsense. we spent $150,000 last year on yoga classes for federal employees. so not only do we pay them nearly one and a half times as much as the private sector employees, we give them yoga classes. if you pass a continuing resolution, this goes on and on. nothing will change. the status quo will continue, and we will continue to spend ourselves into oblivion. we spent $250,000 last year inviting 24 kids from pakistan to go to space camp in alabama. we borrow money from china to send it to pakistan. it's crazy. it's ridiculous. and it should stop. we have the power to stop it.

congress has the power to spend money or not spend money, and yet we roll down and we just say say -- we roll over and we say it must continue. we don't have the votes to stop it. nonsense. the other side doesn't have the vote to continue the spending if we would stand up and challenge them. we spent a half million-dollar last year and the year before developing a menu for when we colonize mars. we sent a bunch of college students to hawaii to study this. $5,000 a piece we paid them. they got two weeks all expenses paid in hawaii. and you know what a bunch of college kids came up with for the menu for mars? pizza. this is where your money is going. i could go on, hundreds and hundreds of programs. if we do not exert the power of the purse, this continues. we should attach to all of the spending bills, all 12

individual bills not glommed together, we should attach hundreds of instructions, thousands of instructions. some of the media said those would be riders on appropriations bills. exactly. that's the power of the purse. if you object to the president writing regulations without our authority, congress should defund the regulations. congress should instruct him on obamacare, what we object to. congress should instruct him that we don't want money spent on planned parenthood. hundreds and hundreds of instructions should be written into every bill and passed and sent to them. would we win all of these battles? do we have the power to win every battle and defund everything we want? no. but you know what we start out with? our negotiating position right now is we start out with we defund nothing. why don't we start out with the

negotiating position that we defund everything that's objectionable, all the wasteful spending, all the duplicative p spend, let's defund it all and if there has to be negotiation let's start from defunding it all and see where we get. but it would take courage because you have to let spending expire. if you're not willing to let the spending expire and start anew, you have no leverage. the power of the purse is only there if you have courage. you must courage of convictions to say enough's enough, that the debt is a greater threat to us than letting spending expire. now some will report on this speech and say oh, he wants to shut down government. no, i don't. i just want to exert the power of the purse, and that means spending must expire. but i'm all for renewing the spending, but let's only renew the spending that makes sense. we have the power of the purse

if we choose to exert it. look at the mountain of debt. look at the debt that continues to be added up. we have not been doing our job. the way we are supposed to spend money in congress is 12 individual appropriations bills. they've passed out of committee. why aren't they presented on the floor? the democrats have filibustered the only one presented. let's present every one of them and let the public know, let everyone in america know that it's democrats filibustering the spend bills. it's democrats who desire to shut down government. it's democrats who desire not to have any restrictions on where the money's spent. it's the democrats who are saying we don't want to end wasteful spending. we don't want to end any spending. we don't want any controls over spending. we want to continue the status quo. but we should not be complicit with them. we have allowed this to go on for too long.

it threatens the very heart of the republic. it threatens our very foundations to continue to borrow $1 million a minute. it's time that we stood up. it's time that we took a stand and said enough's enough. when's the last time we did it in the appropriate fashion? when is the last time congress passed each of the individual appropriations bills with instructions on how to spend the money? 2005, a decade ago. it's been a decade. in the last decade we've added nearly $10 trillion in new debt. many it's time to take a stand. i for one have had enough. i've had enough. i'm not going to vote for a continuing resolution. a continuing resolution is simply a continuation of the mounting debt. i for one will not do it. a continuing resolution is retreat. it is announcing your defeat in

advance. what we should do is take a stand. we should say to the other side in the senate it requires a supermajority. what does that mean? 60 votes to pass spending. what would happen? you would have spending that is controversial, like planned parenthood, would fall away. they can ask for private donations. good luck on that. you wouldn't find things being funded that are controversial. what would happen stlld no longer -- is there would no longer be spending for wasteful and duplicative projects. we listed these a couple of years ago. i think we had $7 billion worth of duplication. did we fix it? no. every year the president, even this president puts forward $10 billion, $15 billion, $20 billion worth of programs that could be eliminated. do they get eliminated? no, because congress is dysfunctional and we continue to pass a continuing resolution

which means we do not to exert the power of the purse. congress is a shadow of what it once was. madison said that we would have coequal branches and that we would pit ambition against ambition. we no longer do that. congress is a withering shadow. it's a shadow of what it once was. congress has no power, exerts no power, and we walk and we live in the shadow of a presidency that is growing larger and larger and larger. the president's not afraid. he says he's got his pen and his phone. so he is writing and creating law. one of our founding fathers -- one of our philosophers they look to is montesquieu, and montesquieu said when the executive begins to legislate, a form of tyranny will ensue. that's what we've got now. we have executive tyranny. not just this president, though. it's been going on for awhile. probably for 100 years we've

been allowing more and more power to accumulate in the hands of the presidency. what we need is a bipartisan taking back of that power. we need congress to stand up on its own two feet and say enough's enough. we are reclaiming the power of the purse and we are going to do whatever is necessary to get rid of the wasteful spending, the duplicative spending, the offensive spending. and we are going to do what the american people want, and that is to spend only what comes in. but i will tell you, i for one will oppose this continuing resolution, and i recommend that everybody in america call their congressman and say we're tired of the mounting debt. we want you to stand up. we want you to stand up and say enough's enough. let the funding expire and make the other side come up with 60 votes to spend the money. it's time we took a stand. i hope we will. thank you, mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

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mr. brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio.

mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: and i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for ten minutes, up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. in august this country lost a hero, a woman most have not heard of, but her story is legendary. francis oldom kelsey passed away in august at the age of 101. she was a woman of tremendous courage and conviction. she was a trailblazing scientist. she earned her ph.d. and her medical degree from the university of chicago while raising daughters. she did things that women of her generation were usually not allowed to do or certainly never -- rarely encouraged to do. as she began her professional life, it was the early 1960's, an horrific scourge was afflicting europe and countries around the world. thousands of babies were dying in the womb. thousands more were born with

severe birth defects including deformed arms and legs that as history will tell us, arms and legs that resembled flippers, missing organs, missing limbs. the united states was largely spared from these terrible, terrible effects because of dr. francis oldom kelsey. as a medical officer at the f.d.a. she was charged with investigating and approving the drug called kevedan, better known in history as thalaydamide. the pharmacy was expecting a speedy approval because it was used as a sedative. they were hoping for the same in our country. dr. kelsey who at that time a woman in a very much a man's world at the f.d.a., a woman who was not all that experienced

yet, was willing to show her courage and demand for the investigation before she would approve this drug. with few studies providing the safety of the drug, she rejected the application. merrill protested, drug companies were outraged. a number of other employees at the f.d.a. disagreed. she asked for, though, and reviewed more did the and again she rejected the application. again merrill protested, again other people were outraged by this woman's decision. merrill's executors called her a petty and nit-picking bureaucrat. it's always easy to pick on a nameless, faceless bureaucrat or a named bureaucrat with a face. it's easy to pick on bureaucrats. people here do it all the time. they called her office, peppered her with letters, went over her head. dr. kelsey, imagine a young

woman without the support that a more experienced older, particularly in those day male researcher might have had, she held her ground. she continued to reject the application. meanwhile the horrible toll was mounting in places around the world where thalamide was sold. in 1961 the german manufacturer pulled the drug, health departments around the world began to issue warnings. in march 1962, merrill, the drug company here, seeing the handwriting on the wall, finally withdrew its thalamide application. that miervet end of the story -- might have been the end of the story but staffers gave "the washington post" a tip. a senator's staff wanted the country to know about this woman, dr. kelsey, wanted people to know about the heroine who spared our children from the

terrible consequences of this drug. they wanted to know -- senator kefauver wanted to know the big drug companies fought her every step of the way putting pressure on the f.d.a., going over her head, sending her letters, perhaps indirectly threatening her. she stood her ground, fortunately, against a very powerful, very powerful combatant, for want of a better term. in no small subpart because of dr. kelsey -- part because of dr. kelsey, we have the kefauver amendment. we have a branch of the f.d.a. dedicated to testing and investigating new drugs. who became head of it? dr. kelsey. over a 45-year career, she helped to rewrite our drug and medical testing regulations. she strengthened patient protections. she cracked down on medical conflicts of interest. her rigorous standards were not only instrumental in improving drug safety, they also set the

standard -- drug safety in the united states, they also set the world standard for drug safety. the united states is known all over the world as having the gold standard to protect the public by rigorous testing and rigorous examination, to protect the public against drugs that can do damage. everybody thought thalidomide was harmless except dr. kelsey. because she had the authority at the f.d.a. to do it right and was able to expand that authority working with congress, uncounted lives, innumerable lives, we don't know how many lives were saved and how many more people have been protected against harmful drugs. she had a 45-year career. she made a huge difference. her accomplishments are heroic. she received many honors. we should remember that for all of dr. kelsey's recognition, there are thousands more federal employees working with little appreciation and sometimes not very high pay. i'm sure dr. kelsey could have been making more money practicing medicine, but look at

the lives she saved and look at the difference she made. extend that, expand that to so many government workers, so many people that do their jobs, people in congress, members of congress, well-paid, well-dressed, getting good taxpayer benefits love to attack the bureaucracy, love to call the bureaucrats names, love to nit-pick agencies when in fact so many of them are making a huge difference in keeping the air we breathe, the water we drink, the drugs we take, the consumer products we use, in keeping them safe. and that's something that those federal employees should be proud of. they protect americans from pollution and predatory lenders and faulty products and infectious disease and dangerous drugs. we made so much progress over the past century because of americans like francis kelsey. but unfortunately too many people in this town seem to have amnesia and are trying to turn back the clock. i sit on the banking committee at least once a week for a

couple hours. i listen to my republican colleagues who seem to have forgotten that the economy sort of imploded, almost imploded in 2008 and 2009, and they seem to want to go back to those days with deregulation, with not holding wall street accountable. the same kind of things: the deregulation, the weakening of the f.d.a., the weakening of the consumer products bureau, the weakening of the department of agriculture standards, and all the things that we do where this country works better because we have government -- call them bureaucrats -- we have government bureaucrats that are working to protect the public interest. so, mr. president, we should honor dr. kelsey not with awards but with action to protect her legacy. yet, people in this -- right now in this congress -- i heard a long speech last night from the junior senator from texas, not ever to be confused with the senior senator from texas, i heard him again threaten

government shutdowns, that when government shuts down, food is less protected and water is likely going to be less clean, and all the things that when government is not doing its job. i hope my colleagues join me in honoring dr. kelsey's legacy and remember the work that heroic public servants in our public workforce do. i ask unanimous consent to put this next statement in a different part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i was at my 45th high school class reunion. some of us in this body might have reached an age close to that. most of you have not. at my 45th reunion, i met a woman there visiting someone else. she was much younger. she handed me this letter. she said senator brown, i want to thank you for a couple of things. then she says thanks to the affordable care act -- she has a photography business. she said thanks to the affordable care act, i was able to pursue my dream and open my business. i'm diabetic. i was unable to self-insure due

to my preexisting condition. i was forced to work low-wage jobs just so i could get insurance. she said now, again, because of the affordable care act, obamacare, i can thrive as an entrepreneur. thank you. i hear those stories. i meet people, 600,000 ohioans have health insurance that didn't have it prior to the affordable care act. 100,000 additional ohioans who are not much older than these pages sitting here that are 19, 20, maybe 25, have insurance on their parents' health plan. that's just in ohio alone. a million seniors in ohio have gotten no pay -- no co-pay, no deductible, preventive care tests for osteoporosis, tests for diabetes, physical exams. a million seniors, more than 100,000 seniors have saved an average of $700 on their prescription drugs because of the affordable care act. and a family like this, if you have a child that has arthritis or diabetes or juvenile

arthritis or diabetes or whatever, a child might be afflicted with, your parents can get insurance in spite of the child's preexisting condition. and when i hear the republican debates all saying appeal -- repeal obamacare, repeal obamacare, it would be nice if one gutsy rioter -- reporter would say what about those millions of people that now get insurance, what about those millions of people that have consumer protection because they can't be denied coverage if they have a sick child. what about those millions of people that have gotten so sick that their medical care was so championship that -- so sick the insurance companies canceled their care. they can't do that anymore. we honor dr. kelsey today and think back when government does do right as part of the private sector to make this country a better place to live. mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum.

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

mrs. gillibrand: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. gillibrand: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. gillibrand: thank you. mr. president, we just passed the 14th anniversary of the september 11 attacks. americans all across the country honor the memory of 2,977 lives lost. there were moments of silence. there were testimonials from friends and family. and there were statements and speeches and posts online by my colleagues in congress vowing never to forget. but the victims of september 11 are not just the men and women

who were killed on that horrible day. the terror attacks on that day in 2001 is still claiming american lives. this includes the heroes who ran into the towers to save who they could, who worked on the pile so that americans might rebuild, who would not abandon their community in a time of terrifying confusion and intense grief. many of them are now sick because of their work at ground zero, and many are dying. in 2010, after years of delay, we finally established the james zedroga 9/11 compensation programs to help our survivors and families with the health care and benefits they very desperately needed. and tomorrow at midnight, the bill authorizing this funding will expire. more than 33,000 first responders and survivors have an illness or injury caused by the

attacks or their aftermath. more than 1,700 have passed away from 9/11-related illnesses. more police officers have died since 9/11, from 9/11-related disease than died on 9/11 itself. and since the 14th anniversary of the attacks earlier this month, another six 9/11 first responders have died. think about that. in just a few short weeks, six more of our 9/11 heroes have died. john mckie, roy mclaughlin, reginald humphrey, kevin kelly, thomas aise, paul mccabe.

they were married. they had kids. their average age was just a few years older than me, 53. they will all miss birthday parties and grawgz. they will miss -- and graduations. they will miss evening dinners and holidays. they leave behind mortgages, car payments, college tuition payments. these 9/11 illnesses not only rob families of their loved ones, but they leave them to face expenses without in many cases the family's primary breadwinner. two years ago, hundreds of first responders traveled to washington from all over the country to lobby congress. this was just two weeks ago, they all came here, hundreds of them, from all over the country to lobby congress, not to let their health care expire.

if congress doesn't act now, how many more first responders and their families are going to suffer medically and financially because we didn't do our job and reauthorize this program. mr. president, let me tell you about just one responder, ken george. he's from long island. ken was 37 on september 11, 2001. he was working for the new york city highway department, and after the attacks, he went to do search and rescue work. he was there for a couple of weeks. almost right away, ken developed a cough, then asthma, and then the asthma led to restricted airway disease. doctors found crushed glass from ground zero in his lungs. he was forced to retire in 2006 because his medical ailments became too burdensome, and now as he put it he's financially

hurting like you wouldn't believe. mr. president, we're not talking about statistics. we're not talking about data points on a chart. we're talking about a 51-year-old man with a wife and three kids with crushed glass in his lungs because he chose to do the right thing. he chose to answer the call of duty, and he chose to search for survivors after 9/11. on top of everything else he's dealing with, ken now has to worry if he'll get the health treatments he needs and if his family will have the basic financial support they need. the health program officially expires tomorrow at midnight. but these illnesses, tens and thousands of others, they never

expire. neither should their health care. mr. president, we must reauthorize and make permanent the world trade center program and victims compensation fund. the participants in the health program live in every single state. they live in 429 of the 435 congressional districts. every senator in this chamber has constituents who are sick and dying and are in this program. mr. president, a majority of this body has already signed on as cosponsors of this legislation, including many after our day a couple weeks ago. so let's finish this job. let's give our 9/11 heroes the care and compensation that they deserve and so desperately need. let's truly never forget the clock is ticking.

let's do our job. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip.

mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess as if under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned -- or stands in recess until 2:15.uz:? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: mr. president, there