clear. there is no plan for $5.7 billion for a border wall. mexico will not pay for it. and the dysfunction of this administration is causing real turmoil in the lives of 800,000 workers and their families. i'm calling on the majority to bring some common sense to this situation and to stand behind the bipartisan legislation that republicans and democrats have passed over the last several months, over last month in particular, to reopen the government and put an end to this crisis. for that, mr. president, i yield the floor. >> live now to the floor of the u.s. senate. today is day 20 of the government shutdown. today the senate plans to vote at 1:45 eastern on advancing legislation that would extend military assistance to israel and put new sanctions on syria.

now, this is the second attempt to advance the legislation. democrats blocked the last one saying that during the government shutdown they'll oppose any legislation that does not provide funding to reopen the government. and now to live coverage. u.s. senate here on c-span2. pe senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, you are wisdom without end, mercy without limit, and strength beyond resistance. we praise your holy name. on this 19th day of the partial government shutdown, illumine our darkness,

revive our faith, and heal our wounds. give wisdom to our lawmakers. may they transform the jarring discord of ant and -- anxiety and fear into the music of your purposes. pardon and overrule what has beendone unworthily or left undone or done amission. we pray in your merciful name.

amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of 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. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i understand there are three bills at the desk due a second reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title to the second bills en bloc. the clerk: h.r. 251, an act to extend by to years the chemical facility antiterrorism standards program of the department of homeland security and for other purposes. h.r.264 an act making appropriations for financial services and general ga. for fiscal year ending september 2019 and for other purposes.

h.r.269, an act to reauthorize certain programs under the public health service act and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provision of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bills will be placed on the calendar. mr. mcconnell: so, madam president, all week i've been outlining the humanitarian and security crisis at our nation's southern border. i've discussed the threats from the inflow of drugs and criminal aliens. i've shared career border security experts' strong support for physical barriers. and i've cited the empirical data that actually backs them up. but on day 20 of this partial government shutdown, a shutdown being prolonged by my democratic colleagues' refusal to even come to the table, i thought i might

try something different this morning. so i brought a visual aid. the chart behind me right here sums up my democrat colleagues' past and present positions on border security. on the left over here, you have a border fence made out of steel bollard at the u.s.-mexico border in ie arizona. it began back in 2011 at the direction, mind you, of president obama's department of homeland security. this fence over here under president obama at the direction

of his department of homeland security. just five years prior, senator obama joined with then-senator hillary clinton, the current democratic leader, and several other democrats when they all voted to authorize 700 miles, 700 miles of physical barriers under the secure fence act of 2006. now, madam president, on the right, we have an example of a barrier like those the new speaker of the house has recently described as immoral. now i would defy my colleagues to tell me what the difference is. they're exactly identical. so we went from the obama administration when everybody was supporting a wall that looked just like this to the

trump administration where now it's immoral. the kind of barrier all of a sudden the democrats are so opposed to that they want to prolong the partial government shutdown. they'd rather do that than agree to an additional investment of approximately one-tenth -- one-tenth of 1% of federal spending. identical walls exactly alike when president obama was there, they were for it. when president trump's there, they're not. as i said, it's the same photograph twice, basically. i do that to underscore the point that the trump administration is requesting funding for the same kinds of physical barriers that the obama administration was actually proud to build, bragged about

it. fencing was spaced slats that allow visibility made with reinforced steel. they're the same kinds of barriers that customs and border protection experts have told us actually produce real results. you can call them walls. you can call them fences. you can call them steel slats. but what they really are is effective. that's what they are. call them what you will. they're effective. according to the government accountability office, after the outdated fencing was replaced by this particular steel slat structure, the border patrol reported a significant drop in violent encounters with illegal immigrants. now, the border patrol is not on either side of this debate. they're just giving us the facts, just the facts.

during the two years leading up to the 2011 construction, 376 assaults on border patrol agents were recorded in the knew gal liss -- in the nugalis station. in the two years after the bollard fence went up, the number of assaults fell to 71. that's 376 down to 71. that's a decline of 18%. after the wall or fence or steel slats, whatever you choose to call it. we've seen big success in other sectors as well. the trump administration reports that in four border sectors where physical barriers were recently built or upgraded, illegal traffic stopped by -- listen to this -- 90%. 90%. so, madam president, it's a fact

physical barriers are effective. as democratic senators used to understand perfectly well when there was a different occupant of the white house. and indeed us -- used to say publicly, used to say they are an essential ingredient in a balanced strategy to secure our border. that was then. and this is now. so why the tale of two completely democratic parties? why does the speaker of the house compel to denounce as demoral the very kind of structures that her own party leaders recently praised as essential? why does my democratic colleague, the democratic leader, feel the need to prolong this partial government shutdown to avoid getting more of the same investments he used to vote for?

what's the reason for this bizarre about-face? well, even these very democrats are finding it difficult to invent a good excuse. on tuesday, the distinguished house majority leader, mr. hoyer, was asked by reporters how there is any real daylight between border security construction projects the democrats have supported in the past and the ones they are now trying to block. here's what majority leader hoyer said to those reporters -- i don't -- this is an honest man. i don't have an answer that i think is a real good answer. i don't have an answer that i think is a really good answer. that's the majority leader of the house of representatives. well, madam president, the reason is there isn't a good answer.

there's no credible answer to this massive flip-flop. so we all know what the real reason is. my democratic colleagues are operating purely on political spite directed at the president of the united states. why else would they rather have a partial government shutdown drag on for nearly three weeks than get more of what they used to vote for and brag about? why else would they plug their ears and refuse to listen to the experts out on the ground who do this kind of work? like president obama's own former border patrol chief who stated just days ago -- and this is a direct quote -- i cannot think -- this is the border patrol chief under president obama. here's which he -- what he said.

i cannot think of a legitimate argument why anyone would not support the wall as part of a multilayered border security issue. so remember, madam president, the proposal we're talking about today would represent .1% of federal spending for this year. so with a straight face, democrats are trying to convince the country that the federal government simply cannot reopen, that they simply cannot negotiate with the president because the sky would come crashing down if we invest 1/ 1,000th of federal spending in proven border solutions.

proven border security solutions, by the way, their own party used to support and that president obama's border patrol chief and other security experts continue to support. so let's call it what it is, a flip-flop that is not based on principle or on evidence but solely on the fact that president trump is the occupant of the white house. so republicans support the president's commonsense request. the experts on the ground who actually risk their own safety to secure our nation, they support it. even the 2006 versions of president obama, secretary clinton, and the democratic leader supported it. but today's democrats now say

the same fencing and barriers that were a-okay, a-okay when president obama was in the white house are now immoral, immoral because president trump is the one making the request. this, madam president, is not how you make serious policy. partisan tantrums are no way to govern. my democratic colleagues need to get serious about their responsibilities, seek treatment for their brand-new partisan allergy. seek some treatment for their brand-new party allergy to border security. sit down with the president, negotiate a solution that works for everyone. that, madam president, is the only way to move the country forward.

mr. schumer: madam president, are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are not, democratic leader. mr. schumer: madam president, now, today is the 20th day of the trump shutdown. tomorrow it will tie the record for the longest shutdown in american history, and 800,000 federal workers will miss a paycheck. t.s.a. agents and border patrol, air traffic controllers, and

food safety inspectors, veterans' affairs staffers and fema aides and more. many federal employees, particularly the g.s. threes and fours and fives live paycheck to paycheck. who is going to make the next mortgage for them? who is going to put the food on the table? what on earth do these employees and their agencies have to do with disagreements here over security down on our southern border? the president is treating these hardworking americans as nothing short of leverage, pawns in his political gambit to extract $5 billion from american taxpayers to fund the border wall that he promised mexico would pay for. this is ridiculous and it's cruel, and it needs to end now, right now. the democratic position is very simple -- let's separate our

disagreements over border security from the government shutdown, reopen all the government agencies unrelated to border security, and let's continue to work to resolve our differences. do not hold all of these workers as hostages, as pawns, as leverage. that's why democrats have passed through the house legislation -- have passed the house legislation to reopen government that was drafted and supported by senate republicans. we democrats are not trying to push down the throats of republicans something they don't support or they can't swallow. four of the bills in this package passed the senate 92-6. the other two came through committee. they didn't get to the floor.

they passed 31-0 and 30-1. there is nothing, i repeat nothing contained in the legislation that senate republicans oppose. so why aren't we voting on them? because leader mcconnell is hiding behind president trump, saying he won't bring to the floor a bill to reopen the government unless the president says okay. now, for the past three weeks, we have tried to get the president to yes. we have gone around and around and around with the white house and made little progress. congressional leaders have now been to the white house three separate times for negotiations. each time the president is intransigent and uncompromising. he refuses to back down from his position that the price to reopen the government is $5 billion of taxpayer money for a wall that he promised mexico would pay for.

on multiple occasions, he's refused our request to reopen unrelated parts of the government and continue negotiations on border security, revealing that he's holding the american people hostage as leverage. and he seems to be, in his words, proud of it. only a short -- after only a short time in yesterday's meeting, the president got up, said bye-bye, and left. does that sound like someone who's working to solve this impasse? allies of the president pointed out that he passed out candy to start the meeting. with all due respect, president trump, we don't need candy. federal workers need their paychecks. the congress, the senate in particular, can no longer wait for this president to see the light of reason. we gave it a good-faith effort.

staffers worked over the weekend. speaker pelosi and i have gone over to the white house whenever we have been asked. but the president is simply not budging. a few weeks back, we all thought that the president, realizing that he doesn't control the house, would come around and support a true compromise before hundreds of thousands of federal workers would miss their paychecks. clearly, that was wrong. we need intervention, and leader mcconnell and senate republicans have a responsibility not simply to wait for the president but to intervene. leader mcconnell has voted for every single one of the six appropriations bills democrats passed through the house. he voted for all six of them in committee. and he voted for four of them again on the floor because two didn't get to the floor. there is nothing that he or his party truly opposes in this legislation. they're refusing to vote on it

because the president has bullied them into his hostage-taking gambit. i know that's not where most of my friends on the other side want to be. i don't even believe it's where my friend, leader mcconnell, wants to be. just listen to leader mcconnell from last year. quote, well, i'm in favor of border security. there are some places along the border where a wall is probably not the best way to secure the border. and here's leader mcconnell in 2014. remember me, he said, i'm the guy that gets us out of shutdowns. it's a failed policy. fast-forward to today and leader mcconnell, quote, the guy that gets us out of shops, is aiding and abetting the blockade against reopening the government over a policy he doesn't fully support. in a moment, my friend, senator

cardin and van hollen, will give the senate a chance to do the right thing by asking this chamber to vote on the six appropriations bills already supported by senate republicans and a short-term continuing resolution for homeland security. frankly, even if president trump doesn't support this legislation, his intransigence has forced our hand and hurt america. we need to move forward, and leader mcconnell should allow the vote to happen. i yield to the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, as leader schumer has pointed out, starting today 800,000 federal workers are going to be missing their paycheck. in this region, there's 140,000. senator van hollen and i,

representing maryland, and senator warner and kane representing virginia, have made the point of what this is going to mean for families in our community. this shutdown is outrageous and dangerous, caused by president trump, workers are not going to be receiving their paycheck and are going to be at risk. our whole country is at risk. let me just put this in perspective, if i might. it is like at&t, apple, lockheed martin laying off their entire workforce at one time. that's the impact we have now with 800,000 workers not receiving their paycheck. the chair of the white house counsel of economic advisors points out that this will cost a $1.2 billion hit per week on our economy. america is being held hostage by president trump. held hostage over his desire to

have a wall built. it is not about border security. we've already appropriated funds for border security, and we're prepared to continue to protect our borders. this is about president trump and his wall. we should open government and work together for the american people. madam president, there are seven appropriations bills that have not yet been acted upon. six of those appropriations bills, there is no controversy. they have nothing to do with the border wall. they have nothing to do with homeland security. these are six appropriations bills that this body has already acted on in one way or the other. they include financial services and general government, agriculture, interior and environment, transportation and h.u.d.. those four appropriations bills passed this body by a vote of 92-6. and then there's state and

foreign ops that passed the appropriations committee unanimously, and commerce, justice, science that passed by a vote of 30-1. these six appropriations bills have already been acted on under republican leadership in a bipartisan manner in this body. that is exactly what h.r. 21 that is pending before this body incorporates. it is not a democratic effort. it is to reaffirm what this body has already done and allow these six appropriations bills to pass and for those workers and those agencies to be fully operable without the hostage-take by the president of the united states. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 5, h.r. 21, making appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30,

2019. i further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: reserving the right to object, you know, there is a lot of important business the senate could be tackling. we've typically done that during these government shutdowns. but the last thing we need to do right now is to trade pointless -- absolutely pointless show votes back and forth across the aisle. just a few days ago, very recently, not years ago, very recently before the latest shifts in political whims, my good friend, the democratic leader, agreed with me on this. he and i made an explicit commitment to several of our members on this very point. we announced it here on the

floor. we agreed that we wouldn't waste the senate's time on show votes related to government funding until a global agreement was reached that could pass the house, pass the senate, and which the president could sign. here's how the democratic leader himself stated his position. remember, this is very recently. in order for an agreement to be reached, all four congressional leaders must sign off and the president must endorse it and say he will sign it. that's how you make a law. most importantly, the president must publicly support and say he'll sign an agreement before it gets a vote in either chamber, before it gets a vote in either chamber. that was my good friend, the democratic leader, just recently. so i intend to keep my word, and i intend to hold him to his. yesterday the white house made clear the president opposes piecemeal appropriations that

neglect border security and would veto them. so obviously that isn't going to become law. so this proposal flunks the democratic leader's own test of a few days ago. so, look, the political stunts are not going to get us anywhere. senate democrats should stop blocking the senate from taking up other urgent matters, like the pending bills concerning israel and the syrian civil war. in previous government shutdowns, the senate has done business. the senate hasn't been shut down. so that's what we ought to be doing, and actually at the same time negotiate with the president on border security because nothing else is going to get a solution. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. cardin: madam president, i'd like to just very briefly -- i'm extremely disappointed. i can assure you, the majority

leader, this is not a show boat issue with 800,000 federal workers being denied their page the last time i checked the constitution, we are a coequal branch of government, and we should act as a coequal branch of government and pass legislation that's overwhelmingly supported by this body. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: my colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle apparently have pledged to proceeding to other important bills that we've experienced during this government shutdown, even though there's no precedent for that. all but four yesterday voted against the motion to proceed to s. 1, and immerse assuming that we'll -- and i'm assuming that we'll vote against it again this afternoon. s. 1, the bill they're preventing us from going to, has wide bipartisan support, is a critical step in supporting our allies in the middle east, and

securing peace in syria. i've talked to many americans who are intensely interested in the israel issues. they don't understand why this important legislation should be stymied over a dispute over something entirely different. so, madam president, through the chair, i would ask senator cardin if this blockade against business on the floor is absolute. mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from maryland may respond. mr. cardin: i might return the question and ask the distinguished majority leader whether his objections to reopening government with action we've already taken previously is absolute. i can assure the majority leader that it's my commitment to our federal workers and to our country that the first order of business here should be the

reopening of government. there's other important issues that we need to do that i strongly support. i quite frankly do not understand the majority majorits position as to why he would deny us a vote on reopening government that passed this body unanimously in the past. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i'd say to my friend from maryland -- i will repeat the question in a minute. but the answer to his question to me is because this will not produce a result. it's been perfectly clear that the only way to produce this result is for the president, the speaker of the house, and the minority leader to agree because we need votes from democrats both in the senate and the house in order to pass a measure that the president will sign. but my question of the senator from maryland was, is this blockade against business on the floor absolute.

mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: and of course i would repeat my request to the distinguished majority leader whether his objections are absolute. let p me just point this how the. we passed the bill that i'm going to consider be -- that i asked unanimous consent. that's passed near unanimous by this body. the last time i checked the constitution, that's enough even for a veto override. i don't think anything has changed. these bills have nothing to do, zero to do with homeland security wall issue, zero. so why doesn't our distinguished majority leader, as the leader of a coequal brage of government, allow us to speak on behalf of our responsibilities under article 1 of the constitution. let us take our action that we can take right now today at this very moment and pass six

appropriations bills where there's no controversy whatsoever in this body. mr. mcconnell: as i've said, madam president, repeatedly, it won't solve the problem because the president has made it clear he won't sign them. so let me try again, let me try one more time. does the senator, through the chair, does the senator intend to vote against proceeding to other measures -- the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. mcconnell: could we have order in of the senate. does the senator intend to vote against other measures during the government shutdown? mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, my first order of priority right now, since we can do this at this very moment, is to reopen government. it's outrageous that government is closed. people's leaves are being affect -- people's lives are being affected every minute. i just heard yesterday of a layoff of another 180,000 -- 180 jobs in my state because the department of agriculture is closed. we have an important economic development program in baltimore that h.u.d. can't act on the

papers right now that's being delayed. to me, that is something we can get done right now. as the senator from maryland, i will use every opportunity i can to reopen government in a responsible manner, and i am disappointed that the majority leader is not using the opportunity that we have right now to pass six appropriations bills that are not in controversy. if the majority leader could answer for me why are we holding up these six bills that have nothing to do with the central debate argument, we can put enough votes on the board to show the president of the united states he doesn't have the support of the senate and we have the votes to override his veto. to me, that should be our first order of business. mr. mcconnell: so, madam president, i think since the senator from maryland is unwilling to answer my question, the assumption should be -- and i say this to the broad pro-israel community in america that we all interact with on issues related to the

u.s.-israel relationship, the senator is saying he might well vote to to proceed to something else, but not vote to proceed to these important israel bills and this important syria bill. i just want to make sure everybody understands where we are. the senator is refusing to answer the question as to whether or not this blockade against senate business applies to everything or just to these pro-israel bills. so i think the refusal to answer provides the answer for our colleagues. we could i assume anticipate that democrats will try to get votes on other matters during the government shutdown but just not the israel issue and the syria issue. mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i will express my views on issues. i don't understand the minority leader -- i don't need the majority leader trying to express how i will vote on future issues. i will answer the people of maryland on how i will act on issues brought before the

senate. my top priority right now is to reopen government, and i am very disappointed that the majority leader will not allow us to act as a coequal branch of government. mr. schumer: would my colleague from maryland yield. i would just say flee words to my friend from, the majority leader -- open the government. it is in your hands. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: so, madam president, i ask -- through the chair, i have a question of senator van hollen. he's going to propound -- i'm sorry, he's going to propound a consent agreement. mr. van hollen: thank you. madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: madam president, i think we all know that the constitution of the united states under article 1 says that the senate and the house of the united states are separate and coequal branches of government with the executive branch. we are now seeing more and more

americans hurt every day by the government shutdown. americans losing access to services. we just saw that the food and drug administration has stopped routine food safety inspections of seafood. we just saw that the e.p.a. has halted one of the federal government's most important public health activities, the inspection ever federal factories, power plants, oil refineries, water treatment plants. 800,000 federal employees are not getting paid. hundreds of thousands of them are going to work every day, including at our border protecting our border, not getting paid. hundreds of thousands more have been locked out of work. there's a maryland mom who just had to go on the internet to set up a go fund me account to help pay her son's college tuition because they're on a monthly

installment plan. i talked to the head of a community college in maryland just the other day. i went to see her, asked how are things. the first thing she told me, her phone had been ringing off the hook all morning because the parents of students at the community college weren't going to be able to make their monthly installment payments. hundreds of thousands of federal employees are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their mortgage or their rent and tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of them are not going to get a paycheck. so to the majority leader, i would just say we should not be contracting out our constitutional responsibilities to any president. certainly not a president who said he's proud to shut down the government of the united states. there's nothing to be proud of in denying important services and putting 800,000 people without a paycheck.

i don't think any of us should be proud of that we shouldn't be contracting out our responsibilities to the president of the united states. we should vote on these measures that we've already voted for. senator cardin just asked us to vote on this at the senate desk. it's been supported in various ways by a bipartisan majority right here in the united states senate. i have in my hand h. j. res. 1. this is also on the senate calendar. it is identical with respect to the department of homeland security as the measure that this senate passed just a few weeks ago. let's reopen the department of homeland security at current funding levels til february 8 -- until february 8. if i recall, that was the majority leader's legislation. we passed it overwhelmingly here on a bipartisan vote. the house one week ago as their first order of business, they passed this bill and the bill

senator cardin asked us to vote on. this bill to open up the department of homeland security as we negotiate the issue of border security and there is no dispute over whether or not we need border security. of course we need secure borders. the issue is over the most effective and smart way to accomplish that. and so now this bill is right back in our possession. it's on the calendar. and the question is why are our colleagues on the republican side refusing to allow a vote on the very bill they proposed in this body just a few weeks ago. and how can you justify to the american people that you're not going to vote on something you yourself proposed as the first order of business here in the united states senate when people are losing those services, losing public safety protections, and 800,000 federal employees are not being paid. so, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number

6, h.j. res. 1 making further continuing appropriations for the department of homeland security. i further ask that the joint resolution be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: i object. madam president? the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. mcconnell: i'll not prolong this. i know a lot of my democratic colleagues are on the floor and may want to speak. but there are two shutdowns going on here. the first one related to the government can only be solved with a presidential signature supported by the speaker of the house and supported by at least ten of our democratic colleagues or seven on the other side. in other words, there has to be a deal, an agreement. but there's a second shutdown going on that as far as my

research can discover is rather unprecedented. the senate itself is being shut down because of our colleagues on the other side's refusal to do business here in the senate during this period. there's no precedent for that. there's no reason for that. we're all here. and the bill that they are refusing to let us get on relates to israel, our great friend israel and addresses the atrocities that have been occurring in syria. and i'm having a hard time understanding why the senate should be shut down as well as the government. we're all here. in fact, attendance looks pretty good. and i don't know why we can't process bills that the vast

majority of us support. i had hoped to pass all of these bills at the end of last session. we had some last-minute objections. i would say they were on our side. so we were unable to do it. but the vast majority of members of the senate do want to process these bills. i would hope no matter how you view the government shutdown that there's no real significant reason toll shut down the senate. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: we're clearly not shut down. we're all here. i would say to the majority leader, if you go to a lot of federal agencies right now, no one's there. they are shut down. they can't do the work that the american people -- of the american people which is why the f.d.a. is no longer doing

important food inspections on seafood. it's why the e.p.a. is not being able to inspect major polluters to protect the public health. we're open. all we're saying is we want our first order of business to be also to open the eight of nine federal departments who have nothing to do with a wall or border security. the e.p.a.'s work has nothing to do with a wall. the work the f.d.a. does on food inspection has nothing to do with the wall. so pass the measures that have already been agreed to here in the united states senate on a bipartisan basis. open those eight of nine departments at funding levels that the senate supported to the end of the fiscal year. then with the department of homeland security, do exactly what the majority leader proposed right here in which we supported just a few weeks ago. so we can work with the president -- i mean, he walked out the other day but we'd like to work with the president to resolve that.

what we're saying is we are open and we want to focus on the urgent business of reopening the rest of the federal government both to provide the american people with the services that they paid for and to make sure that federal employees don't go without paychecks. and i will tell you your phones will all be ringing off the hook tomorrow when federal employees begin to miss that first paycheck. i will tell you gs2's, gs3's in the federal government they are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their bills. on top of that you've got small businesses all over the country. i've heard from my republican colleagues, small businesses that contract with the federal government, they are being squeezed. one in the state of maryland, nonprofit small business, laid off 173 people just yesterday. and the federal contractors'

employees, they're not coming to work. they're shut out. and they're not getting paid. so this is having an increasin increasingly harmful effect every day on people throughout the country. and we have in our power today to vote on bills we've already voted for in the united states senate on a bipartisan basis to reopen. we should not be accomplices to the shutdown the president said he would be proud of. we should say today we're proud to cast our first vote as the house did to reopen the federal government and get people back to work. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed s. 1 which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of s. 1, a bill to make improvements to certain defense and security assistance provisions and so forth and for other purposes.

mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i appreciate what my colleagues from maryland have said. i totally agree with them. we should be voting on matters that create jobs and put people back to work in the united states and take care of our problems here in the united states. then we can talk about voting on matters for helping foreign countries. but right now we ought to be taking care of americans first and foremost. you know, president trump is right about one thing. there is a crisis in america. and i want the president to know i agree with him. but i would note it's not the fictitious hoards of illegal immigrants crashing into our southern border. that's nothing more than the imagine near invasion of a president obsessed with constructing a wasteful monument

to himself. the obsession of a president who long before the trump shutdown began resorting to misinformation and stoking fear among the american people for political gain. there is a crisis in america, but it's not the crisis the president wants us to believe. it's a crisis at the kitchen table of americans. hundreds of thousands of american families are preparing to miss their first paycheck through no fault of their own. these families are trying to figure out how they're going to make ends meet, how they'll pay their mortgage or heating bills or god forbid whether or not they can afford both food for their table and medicine for their children next week. that's a real choice. that's not fiction. that's a real choice in america today. that's a crisis in america. these are the adjustments

president trump has glibly said our country's public service are willing to make on behalf of his wasteful border wall. incidentally, a wall that the president repeatedly promised, gave his word that mexico would pay for it. you know, i've been privileged to be here for a long time, but my 44 years in the united states senate, i've never seen something so tone deaf from a president of the united states of either party, even during his address to the nation on tuesday night which is more of an exercise in data distorting demagoguery than informing the american people. president trump refused to acknowledge the real pain the trump shutdown is causing. but dozens of vermonters have

contacted my office to share how they're suffering under the trump shutdown. these vermonters are urging the president and my republican colleagues here in the senate to stop playing politics with their lives and reopen the federal government. these are not just people who are federal employees. these are people who have contracts with the federal government. these are people who have to rely on the federal government being open. i give you one example. like many americans affected by the trump shutdown, one of the vermonters who contacted by office is a veteran. he spent more than two decades serving this country in the navy. he's now a federal employee in charge of more than a dozen people who are going to -- he writes, i've run out of words to tell the 15 employees who work for me when asked how they're

supposed to provide food, heat, electricity for their families here in vermont. keep in mind, the weather in vermont is projected to drop well below zero this weekend. with enough snow to close down this area very quickly. but this veteran continues, this navy veteran continues, we are real people, with real families, real bills. creditors do not understand as the president had claimed they would. they want their money now. try to explain to the bank why you can't pay your mortgage this month. tell the bank well, the president of the united states is throwing a tantrum and he's holding my paycheck hostage.

try to explain that to the bank. try to explain that to your children. another vermonter is expressing his concern for his 88-year-old aunt. she recently moved nursing homes to be closer to the family. because phone calls are being unanswered, approval of the transfer of his aunt from one facility to another have been delayed. thankfully, we heard that the transfer has been approved just this morning, but that doesn't detract from the uncertainty, the anxiety caused for his family. and i would say pairn threatically that she was used to stay but we here in washington sort out this mess caused by president trump. the bills are piling up and delays are placing a burden on what is a small local nursing

home that has to pay its bills, including when it's five below zero. and the vermonter said in his letter, to be sure we do not believe the capitulations of republican demand for the wall is the answer, yet the toll on the people of holding the government hostage to such outrageous demands must not be ignored. and finally today let me share the story of a vermonter who wrote to me about her sister. her sister joined the u.s. forest service. in the wake of the recent hurricanes and typhoons, she used a government credit card issued in her name, following orders to travel with the service to assist in the aftermath of these disasters. but now the bill is for official travel, official travel, travel she was ordered to take by the

federal government are due. but guess what? there's no one at the forest service to pay them. she is now stuck with more than than 5,500 in government bills in her name for carrying out her duties for the federal government. now she has to pay them a risk damaging her own financial record. in her letter to me she writes, this, though, is one very small story in a flood of credit disasters, unpaid mortgages, christmas debts, anxieties and uncertainties among government employees affected by this shutdown. i'm writing you to suggest this kind of government shutdown should not be on the negotiation table because it holds out the possibility that the suffering of the american people can be

used as political leverage. there are other ways, close quote. i agree. this is just a handful of stories from my small state of vermont, but think of the fear and anxiety today of american families as they sit around their kitchen tables trying to figure out what to do when the check doesn't arrive tomorrow. think about the impact this has on the talented young student who was thinking about taking a pay cut to work for their government out of a sense of duty. think about the morale of the american people who serve this country when the president of the united states says glibly their livelihoods are worth risking over his border wall. and i say border wall on purpose. if this was about border security, the men and women who protect our borders, patrol our

coastlines would be receiving their paychecks, not forced to be pawns in the president's political games. think of that. if this really was about border security, these people protecting us would be paid. the great irony of the trump shutdown is that it's made our borders less safe, not more safe. today 88% of the department of homeland security, including 54,000 customs and border patrol agents, are working without pay. at our airport where the overwhelming majority of these suspected terrorists president trump's wall is expected to stop are actually intercepted. keep that in mind. he talks about all these suspected terrorists. they are not coming across the border there. they are at our airports. but so what's happened at our airports? more than 51,000 t.s.a. agents

at our airports are working without pay. morale is so low that many have just stopped showing up for work it's leading to longer wait times and straining security measures. take another area. more than 42,000 members of our coast guard -- and that is, the coast guard is an effective investment in securing our borders, stopping the flow of drugs. 42,000 members of our coast guard are working without pay as i stand here today. the coast guard are employed along the coast in the distinguished presiding officer's state. they are actually deployed in my state. and what does president trump

say to all of this? nothing. it has been widely reported that since sitting down and negotiating with democrats, president trump simply stood up and walked out of the room like a bully yesterday, tweeting shortly afterwards bye-bye. now, does anybody think he hadn't planned to do this before they even came down there? i mean, this is like what you do in so-called reality tv. this is not reality tv. this is reality. try to act presidential. there is a real crisis in our country. a crisis at the kitchen table as families struggle over how they will make it through the next week. it's a crisis of morale. dedicated men and women who serve our country. debate stop serving our country

and leaving instead for a career that can't be used as a political pawn. it's a crisis of confidence in the young men and women doubting a career in public service. and it is a crisis in leadership when the president simply walks away so he can make another tweet. this is a crisis created by one man, president trump. we have bipartisan bills before us that could reopen the government. we had passed them in this body before by an overwhelming veto-proof majority. i would call upon our republican leader, bring up these bipartisan bills, reopen the government. it's time for republicans and democrats to join together to

tell the president to put a stop to this self-inflicted wound on this great country, and he needs to hear it from both democrats and republicans. i implore leader mcconnell bring up h.r. 21 and h. resolution 1, send them to the president, send them to the president. show the rest of the world the united states is a great country, it can act like a great country, not act like a pawn in a temper tantrum. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. warner: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: i thank my colleague, the senator from connecticut, for giving me a chance to just very briefly for less than a minute add my voice as well. i would echo what my friend the senator from vermont has said and really want to commend the leadership of my friends, the

senator from maryland, senator cardin, senator van hollen. the commonwealth of virginia is experiencing the same kind of challenges and crises that maryland is. we have a disproportionate number of federal employees. i think we underestimate what is going to happen when these employees don't get their paycheck on friday. that coming on top of the countless number of contractors -- i have got small business contractors who have had to shut down their business because they can't make their payroll. even reopening the government will not mean those businesses will come back into -- back into operation. i simply wanted to -- i'm sorry the majority leader is not here. the majority leader keeps saying, you know, that we are powerless in this body to do anything, that the only pay we can pass any legislation is if the president agrees. and i wanted to not understate

the case, but i would simply refer the majority leader to article 1, section 7, clause 2 of our constitution, which gives this body, if it reaches two-thirds vote, the ability to override a presidential veto and make the legislation, which has already passed this body by a 96-2 vote. if those same votes stand by the legislation that we all agreed to to before -- agreed to before christmas, it was a good idea before christmas to continue debate on national security, how is it not a good idea that today that federal workers are going without their pay. the majority leader's unwillingness to allow us the vote to have our voices be heard and if that vote in any way appeared close to where this

same body voted before christmas, we would have a solution to this crisis. i would simply like to point out the majority leader knows our laws, knows the constitution, but i find it a little bit rich when he says we have no ability at all to weigh in on this process, and he refuses to take any action that won't meet the agreement of this president. the constitution of the united states gives the senate the ability to have their voices heard. we have already voted in margins that would well exceed the veto requirements laid out by the constitution. i would hope he would give us the right to vote and let us have our voices heard and potentially be able then to have the government of the united states reopen. with that, again, i thank my colleagues for giving me a chance to add that small item to the debate. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the minority whip. mr. durbin: i was happy to yield to the senator from virginia

because i know that this issue of the government shutdown is particularly acute in the state of virginia and maryland, but we feel it all across the united states of america. just a few minutes ago, i was on the telephone with dr. scott gottlieb of the food and drug administration and asked him what has been the impact of the trump shutdown on the food and drug administration, and dr. gottlieb was very explicit. he said the area which was hardest hit was food safety. food safety is a responsibility assumed by the federal government over 100 years ago after the publication of the novel "the jungle" by upton sinclair. we decided that we would create a federal agency with the responsibility of inspecting food so that people across america would not suffer food-borne illness or worse. well, we have a great agency and it does a great job when it's fully funded operationally, but the fact of the matter is over 40 million americans will end up with a food illness in any given year and over 3,000 will die.

so the responsibility of this agency is not some bureaucratic function. it is literally a life-and-death responsibility, and i asked dr. gottlieb, so what does the government shutdown do to the food and drug administration when it comes to food safety? well, he said we have had to suspend inspections at the highest risk food operations. i asked him for an illustration. he said, for example, those facilities which make baby food, baby food, high-risk food inspection responsibilities to the f.d.a. he said we have decided we have to call back 150 employees to make sure that we resume inspecs at these high-risk facilities like those that make baby food. thank goodness they are going to resume them, but he told me he has a problem. here's the problem. the people he's going to call back are in the lower income categories of federal employees. many of them are making a decent wage, but only a decent wage and certainly are not wealthy by any

stretch, nor do they have savings to turn to. he said i have got to call back these folks who are literally out of work because of the government shutdown, some of whom have applied for unemployment compensation, and tell them they have got to come to work. when i declare them essential, commissioner gottlieb said, that's the law. they have to return to work and come here for no pay. so here we have an important responsibility of the government, food safety, which is now being ignored -- i should say diminished because of the shutdown, and as they try to resume some part of it, commissioner gottlieb has the awful responsibility of trying to pick those employees who will be hurt the least if they're called back to work. this is america. this is the united states of america. this is a great country, perhaps one of the greatest in the history of the world, and this is where we stand, that when it comes to making sure that baby food is safe for american families across the united

states, we have to pick and choose those who will be asked to come to work for nothing to perform that function? that's not the only area that he mentioned. he went ton talk about areas that are not covered by user fees. you see, some of the pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies actually pay for inspections, so as long as user fees continue be, the inspections continue. but it doesn't apply to aspect when this comes to medicine. when this comes to compounding medicines, which is done at a state level primarily, the federal government has a responsibility in some areas to make sure that those medicines are safe. do you recall a few years ago the state of massachusetts when the compounding standards were lax and innocent people died because the injections they were i have goin' were not sterile? those are exactly the responsibility of the food and drug administration, and they are responsibilities that are not being met as they are supposed to be met today because of this government shutdown. so if you think this is just

about a lot of bureaucrats who are not showing up to work and are sitting by some swimming pool, you're dead wrong. these are people who are doing important things for america and keeping us safe in the process. there is also one other thing i want to mention to you. if you are in the midst of a clinical trial, the clinical trials continue through the government shutdown. but if you have completed your trials and you want to make an application to sell is this drug in america, you're stopped cold by this government shutdown. stopped cold. commissioner gottlieb says we can't process these. those potential lifesaving drugs have to sit on the shelf because of the government shutdown, which this president has proudly declared he believes is in the best interest of america. now, tell that to the families that are waiting for that drug. tell that to the people who labored for years to get it ready for market, that they just have to wait until the president is ready to movement i was there

yesterday. i was at the meeting of the leaders with the president, vice president, members of his cabinet. it was not a long meeting. i think it lasted 17 minutes. the president came in and distributed candy bars to the people who were in attendance, and then started his speech. and it basically came down to this -- unless you're prepared to give me this wall, i will keep the government shut down. that's what he said. and when we made it clear that government shutdowns should not be a bargaining chip in this process, the president stood up and said this is a total waste and in a fit of pique left the room. that was a sad moment, when the chief executive of the united states government, a man who was elected to manage and lead our government, has voluntarily shut down important and critical functions of this government for a political purpose, he is not serving the american people as he was elected to serve.

and the victims, of course, won't the president and his family, nor will it be many of the people who were in that room. it will be the 800,000 federal employees, victims of the shutdown. it will be half of them who are showing up for work today with no pay and won't receive a paycheck over the weekend. many of us will travel home over the weekend, go through an airport. we'll go through the t.s.a. inspection, as all passengers do, to make sure that we travel safely on airplanes. it's tough to look those t.s.a. agents in the eye because we know what's happening. many of them bear making enough money to get by paycheck to paycheck won't receive a paycheck this weekend. i called a group of them together at the o'hare airport on tuesday. we held a press conference, and i asked four of them, explain what this means to you. and they talked about being unable to come up with the money to pay for gasoline to drive back and forth to work 39 miles each way.

they talked about the difficulties that families are going to face in comes to day care for their children. what will they do with their kids if they're coming to work for no pay and they can't pay the day care service? and those who have mortgage and rental payments, some real consequences could follow if you fail to make that mortgage payment on a timely basis, you may face an interest rate increase on your movement utah may face a downgrading in your credit rating. that's the real result of this shutdown that president trump believes? the best interest of this country. he is wrong. it is in the best interest of this country to open this government. it is in the best interest of democrats and republicans to sit down together and work out our differences. we're all dedicated to border security. we just see it differently. we've got to find a middle ground to come to a conclusion on this important issue. the last point i want to make is is this -- i am concerned that the majority

leader, the republican leader, senator mcconnell, has made it clear that he's waiting for a permission slip from president trump to be the leader of the united states senate. we are a separate and proud branch of government. we are given authority under this constitution, which the president does not have. we do not wait for a permission slip from him to exercise that constitutional authority. the votes to pass these appropriations bill, i believe, are on the floor of the senate today and that is what has led senator. mr. mcconnell: to -- and that is what has led senator mcconnell to the conclusion that he won't call the bill. mr. durbin: there are enough senators who have joined me today to say end this mind pless shutdown. will it reach enough to override a presidential veto? it just might do that. but let's test it, not by waiting for a permission slip

from president trump. i yield the floor. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, my colleague from illinois is absolutely right. the votes are there to pass these six bills. the majority leader, in effect, is acting as a buffer for the president. he is not severing this body because he knows that his own members would vote for it and vote to reopen the government. and that is because they are hearing the american people tell them, as they are telling us, reopen the government. that was the message that senator schumer delivered. it is simple, direct; it is true. the american people want the government reopened, and they know we have disagreements all

the time. we disagree about policy and politics and proposals in legislation, but we don't shut down the government simply because we disagree. the government continues to do its work and serve the american people, even as we have disagreements. and so our friends on the other side, the republican leadership, are complicit in this shutdown by refusing to permit us to do our duty and our work, which is to consider and pass legislation that will keep the government serving the people of the united states. and if the president vetoes those bills, there may well be enough votes here to override him. that's our job as well. and the reason that the american

people wants us to reopen the government is that they know that the crisis here is one that donald trump has made himself. it is a manufactured crisis involving dedicated public servants who are missing paychecks, taxpayers denied critical government services, economic hardship for small businesses and low-income americans. it is a crisis that is spreading. it is not a crisis at the border in security that the president supposedly is witnessing as we speak here. there is a humanitarian crisis at the border, which is also of donald trump's making. but the broader crisis throughout this country will affect our economy, our education system, our

transportation and the real security of this country, which is our ability to help each other. i've looked at those folks in the faces, most recently at food share. the day before yesterday, our food bank in connecticut, which will soon be unable to meet the challenges and needs of the food insecurity in connecticut because the commodity's distribution unit will be crippled, their costs in transportation and storage will be overwhelming and unmet. children and seniors will begin to go hungry because their reserves will be exhausted by the end of this month. i've spoken to the coast guard members who will be unpaid, among our military services is

unfairly, unfortunately, unacceptably -- they will be unpaid. we know that connecticut the value of our coast guard as a military branch of our government. we're moment proudly to the coast guard academy. over 2,000 active duty service members, cadets, and civilian employees are feeling the direct effect of this trump shutdown. in reality, it's a trump lockout -- not a shutdown. he is locking out so many dedicated workers in our federal government. but the coast guard is continuing to work. it's the only branch of the military that isn't guaranteed pay during this trump shutdown because, by a quirk of history, it is now part of the department of homeland security, not the pentagon. these active duty coast guard

members based in new haven and london and across the country are continuing to protect our nation's security, continuing to rescue americans at sea, continuing to interdict drugs that threaten our nation, and they are going unpaid. and that's why a bipartisan group-senators -- and i want to thank senators thune and cantwell and others -- have introduced legislation to pay them during this trump shutdown and any other shutdown going forward. and i call on the senate leadership to immediately approve this bill and arizona how this for a vote. our military members in the coast guard deserve better, but so do all of the homeowners of this nation who are seeking mortgages and must put those efforts on hold. so do the communities

development block grant projects that create jobs and economic growth. so, too, do law enforcement, essential to our security, who are going untrained. food safety inspections have been suspended. housing safety inspections, like the ones at barber gardens in connecticut have stalled, breweries like many in connecticut -- and i'm hoping to visit a number tomorrow -- are unable to deliver their products to market and on to store shelves. the national barks have been left unsuper--- the national parks have been left unsupervised. last week the hartford current highlighted the story of someone named brian. he is an air trafficker controller at bradley international airport. a number of air traffic controllers are here in washington, d.c., and they will be outside this building later

today. he is continuing to work but he told the hartford current, quote, i am a single father of my date, and she relies on me to be her sole provider. i have a home and mortgage. it's a hard time to be in. i'm forced to continue to go to work or face the possibility of losing my job. end quote. if the federal government is still closed at the time of his next scheduled pay, he will receive a zero-dollar paycheck. like him, so many of these federal workers are living paycheck to paycheck, and they will be without that paycheck. but the effect will be on americans as a whole. the president continues to

divide us with rhetoric that is distorted and divisive, with misleading maligned mendacity. i'm reminded of the sign that i saw on tv -- stop truth decay. the president should stop truth decay as he visits the border today, and he should recognize that there is no crisis in security at the border. it is manufactured by him. the idea that drugs are imported across the border is correct, but it is at the ports of entry. the idea that terrorists are coming across the border is factually absurd. in fact, the 3,700 figure that

the president broached has been completely debunked. the idea that a wall will be effective or practical has been abandoned by members of his own administration who have recognized that a wall from sea to shining sea simply is impossible and impractical. so we are left with a vanity project, an applause line in the president's campaign that has become a wall to progress. it is a wall to progress only in the president's mind. everybody in this body knows that there is a path forward to reopen the government. that's what the american people want. reopen the government, adopt

the bills that are necessary for these agencies to go back to work and reopen the department of homeland security as well while we debate those disagreements that we have, and do our job here. the congress must do its job and send to the president the bills that are necessary to reopen government and save american from this manufactured, unnecessary, unacceptable crisis that has come to us and our country from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. mr. president, i yield the floor. ms. cortez masto: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. cortez masto: thank you. mr. president, tomorrow many workers in nevada and across this country will miss their first paycheck of this shutdown. our president's govern by chaos

approach pulled the rug out from under hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors across the country who are currently furloughed or being forced to work without pay, including over 3,000 in my home state of nevada. it's outrageous. i have heard from many federal workers in nevada, and they didn't sign up to live in constant fear that their paychecks may be withheld. they didn't sign up to wonder if they will be able to pay their rent on time, cover child-care costs for young children or put food on the table for their families. and they certainly didn't sign up to be used as pawns in this president's political game. they signed up to serve the american people, and they deserve the certainty of a functioning government and a steady paycheck. instead hardworking nevadans are writing and calling me to say that they are worried about

paying the bills, supporting their children, and keeping up with their mortgage payments. one nevadan who currently is working without pay told me that he and his colleagues are struggling to pay for the gas to drive to their unpaid jobs. another nevada mother told me that her son, newly enlisted in the united states coast guard, is now facing eviction just one month after reporting for duty. a vegas government contractor working to help the department of justice reduce its immigration court case backlog told me how discouraged he is and his colleagues are that this shutdown is hurting the very people trying to help fix our immigration system. and nevada's veterans, park rangers and t.s.a. agents have all contacted my office asking for an end to this senseless shutdown so that they can continue to provide for themselves and their families.

this is one of the major impacts on nevada, but it's not the only major disruption we're seeing. at our national parks and monuments there's over flowing trash and it's threatening the wildlife and public safety because the park rangers and the maintenance staff are furloughed. and in nevada's tribal communities, lapses in funding threaten to close the doors of health clinics, food pantries and child-care centers. the small business administration has stopped processing loans that helps nevada's small businesses and job creators thrive. over 7 of,850 -- over 7,850 nevada seniors enrolled in food nutritional programs and over 437,000 nevadans receiving snap benefits are at risk of losing access to the food assistance that keeps them and their families healthy. real people, families and communities are hurting.

these are the people who do an honest day's work. they do an honest day's work and expect a steady paycheck and a government led by a president who cares about their needs and their family's safety. mr. president, the solution to this is simple: reopen the government. reopen the government and stop holding federal workers hostage for political gain. they're not leverage. these are hardworking people who are committed to going to work every single day if that's what they are told to do to make sure our services run, that we are protected, that they are standing guard, and they're not getting paid. and i would ask every single one of us as we go on about our day, if you see one of them, thank them. they're actually going to work and not getting paid and can't pay their rent. and for those that are furloughed and staying home,

they're still struggling the same way. and that's why i support what my colleagues have done in introducing legislation that provides the back pay that is necessary to protect these families and make sure they get paid, that we look out for them, ensure that their credit does not get dinged because of a government shutdown that they had no control over. and don't forget, do not forget that there are going to be thousands of workers out there who will never get paid because they're contract workers. and we should be doing everything in this congress to ensure that they are getting the support they need. people are having to look for second jobs. some can't even look for a second job because their federal job that they cannot go to work for doesn't allow them to even look for a second job. it's outrageous. this whole process is outrageous. there's a simple answer to all

of this, mr. president, and we know it. we know it. it's doing our job. i came to this congress as a united states senator. i believe in article 1. i believe that we are a coequal branch of government. we should not be abdicating to the executive branch. we should be doing our job. we know we can pass legislation that opens up this government. we've done it. we've done it in the senate in the last congress. there are many in a bipartisan way that want to do this. let's just do our job. let's show the rest of the country that this branch of government can govern and protect everyone. it's very simple because i know if we got together and we passed these bills and we sent it over to the president, then he makes his decision. if he decides to veto that, then we override that veto. that's the process. that's the process that our founders and our framers set up so that no one branch of government can control.

and i hate to see leadership here abdicating our role to another branch of government. it's time for us to come together. let's open this government. let's do it now. and let's show these federal workers they are not political pawns. they are not leverage. let's show them the respect and dignity that they deserve. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i come to the floor today to discuss the ways in which this pointless shutdown is causing real harm to american workers and families. i appreciate the words of my colleague from nevada as she explained how devastating this has been in her state. well, we are now in day 20 and the stories are flooding in, the calls to my office, about how this political gamesmanship from the white house is harming the american people. "the washington post" estimates that 6,100 federal workers in

minnesota are affected by the shutdown. this includes 1,700 who work for the agriculture department right when the farm bill has passed. we have many, many dairy farmers in minnesota, small dairy farmers who we worked so hard for to get this bill passed and now they need to understand it and they need to figure out what programs to sign up for. and they have no one to talk to. these aren't big milking operations. these are places with a couple dozen cows, with 50 cows. they have no one to talk to. "the washington post," as i said, said 6,100 federal workers. some of these employees are furloughed and forced to stay away from work. others are forced to work without pay. here's a few of their stories. sandy parr works as a food service supervisor and nurse at the federal prison in rochester, minnesota. she has been asked to work 60-hour shifts during the shutdown and fill in for dozens of absent colleagues all without being paid.

she told one of our newspapers that she may soon be forced to choose between groceries and medications for her 14-year-old son who has autism. celia hahn is a transportation security officer at our airport, the minnesota yap -- indianapolis -- she told us she canceled her plans to sign up her twin nine-year-old boys for a soccer clinic. if the shutdown drags on she will have to contact her mortgage lender. it goes from the small soccer sign-up, might not seem that important. but anyone that's a parent knows these are really important things for kids. then it goes to the big, are you going to be able to afford your house? then it goes to the even bigger as you look at major airports

with lines, with people that are working without pay, where you have law enforcement on the front line, whether it is homeland security or whether it is the f.b.i. who are going to be working without pay. of course my state is by no means unique in being hurt by this shutdown. i have heard the stories from so many of my colleagues. senator kaine told us about allen, a veteran and civil servant in york town. he had to work without pay since the shutdown began. his emergency savings are exhausted, and he is behind in his bills. senator durbin in illinois talked about a transportation security administration worker, t.s.a. worker who fears the the impact of missing a mortgage payment. the man told the senator that if he can't make one of those payments on time it will hurt his credit rating which could affect the interest rates he will pay on loans and mortgages for the rest of his life. these are real people with real-world problems.

senator heinrich, new mexico told the story about nicholas a firefighter. if the shutdown isn't resolved, he told the senator that he won't be able to support his family. on tuesday night i joined senator shaheen and she talked about how newer lows slowed down the -- furloughs slowed down the work at the office of the national drug control policy. it will pull the rug out from first responders who rely on this funding. senator warner of virginia talked about the shutdown's impact on federal contractors, including custodians, cafeteria workers, security guards who work as federal contractors, who will never see back pay for the shutdown unless we do something about it. this is what's happening. the public i.r.s. office is closed. that's in my state. a woman is trying to make a payment for taxes due and is concerned about interest and

penalties because of the time that it would take to process her payment by mail. the neighborhood development corps of st. paul, minnesota, a community lender has two projects awaiting construction funding from the s.b.a., the small business administration. that shut down. a young man needs his tax transcripts for a late enrollment in college. with the i.r.s. not providing this service, he isn't going to be able to attend the first day of his classes. a woman who was the victim of identity theft in my state was trying to report it to the i.r.s. but to no avail. these are basic services that our constituents are being forced to go without. these are promises we made to our constituents and to the men and women who serve the public as federal employees. it's time for the president to end this pointless shutdown and reopen the government. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. kennedy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. i want to talk for a few minutes today, mr. president, about -- about america's foreign policy. i want to talk about interests,

and i want to talk about values. mr. president, as you know, congress is about to consider our foreign policy priorities in the middle east, and as we do that, i want to draw attention to one of our most vital allies in the middle east. these allies have stood by america and we have stood by them for decades, through thick and thin. and, as a result, america's interest in the middle east have been protected and their people have been protected as well. i'm talking about the syrian kurds. i'm talking about israel. i'm talking about jordan. for the syrian kurds, for israel, and for jordan, all of whom who have paid a heavy price

for the destabilization in syria over the past five years, in my judgment america must now stand by them, mr. president, to make sure that p fight -- that that fight stays one. once the senate turns its attention to s. one, and we will eventually, i intend to have an amendment that will allow the united states military to defend the kurds in syria if need be. it would give the president the authority to use the united states armed forces as he deems fit to keep our promise and to protect our allies, and that's all my amendment would do. it wouldn't require anything, but it would give the president of the united states the authority to protect one of our allies in the middle east, the

syrian kurds. because, after all, the kurds have contributed mightily to the fight against isis and we owe them -- we owe them some peace of mind as we draw down our presence in the region. the kurdish-led syrian democratic forces, they are better known, as you know, mr. president, as s.d.f., have been another set of boots on the ground in our fight against isis. in the words of former secretary mattis, kurdish fighters, quote, shredded isis. we couldn't have done it without them. with the help of coalition supplies, weapons, and airstrikes, the s.d.f., the syrian kurds, have been able to recapture large parts of both northern syria and eastern syria from isis's iron grip, and that's just a fact.

four years ago there were nearly 100,000 isis fighters. thanks to our kurdish allies, and others, including american blood in treasure, those numbers have dwindled to just 5,000. today isis has surrendered 99% of its territory. let me say that again. today isis has surrendered the 9% of its territory, -- 99% of its territory. to put that accomplishment in perspective, mr. president, in january of 2015, isis controlled more than 34,000 square miles of syrian iraq -- 34 miles of syria and iraq was isis-controlled

territory. the world is a lot different today. less than three weeks ago, the so-called isis caliphate withdrew from its last major urban stronghold in syria. they are now held to a small sliver of territory on the eastern border with iraq. i think it's plain to see, mr. president, that the syrian kurds have been indispensable in our fight against the islamic state. today the s.d.f., the syrian kurds, control nearly a quarter of syria. that land no longer belongs to isis. that land is being lived in peacefully by the syrian kurds. it doesn't belong to russia and it doesn't belong to iran. it's land where the kurds know they will be free from

persecution and from slaughter. there are 30 million kurds in the world, mr. president, as you well know. they are living in iraq, iran, syria, and turkey. in each country the syrian kurds have been subjected to discrimination, to masters, to forced relocation, and to countless other human rights violations. the kurdish people are one of the largest, if not the largest ethnic minority in the world that doesn't have a state or a country to call its own. after world war i when western interests carved up the middle east, the kurds were left without a state despite

president woodrow wilson's argument that would be -- that that would be and, indeed, is unfair. the fact is that the kurds are not completely safe anywhere. the turkish defense minister made that clear just this last december when he said that when the time comes -- when the time comes, the turkish defense minister said the kurds will be buried in the ditches they dug. no one should doubt this. that's a direct quote, mr. president. just last week secretary of state pompeo said, ensuring the turks don't slaughter the kurds and the protection of religious minorities there in syria are still part of the american mission set. secretary pompeo is a wise man.

our troops there in the region who stand beside our kurdish friends do more than simply offer supplies and logistical support, they are a sign of our solidarity in the fight against islamic terrorism. without assurances of our support, the kurds will be left to fend for themselves, and without the kurds, we cannot be certain who will step in to fill the power vacuum in the areas of syria they currently control. we just won't. we can only guess and the answers aren't good. mr. president, the threat of u.s. military force has been a major deterrent for the reemergence of jihadists like isis and al qaeda, we know that. our presence has held back assad, turkey, russia, and iran

from gaining stronger footholds in the area. if the kurds were vulnerable to attack from turkey or syrian rebels, they may turn to our enemies for protection out of fear. and even if the kurds didn't, they can't fight off the turkish troops and pursue the remnants of isis at the same time. to abandon the kurds -- for america to abandon the kurds in syria now would compromise the security of our allies, it would compromise the security of israel, of jordan and risk exposing the region to more turmoil. mr. president, i think it was the late great ambassador george kennen writing, of course, during the cold war who said if the policies and actions of the united states government are to be made to conform to moral

standards, not self-interest, to moral standards, those standards are going to have to be america's own founded on traditional american principles of justice and propriety. the ambassador was correct. and as i read his words, and as i have read his words, as i have studied his words, i thought long and hard about what he meant about the american principles of justice and propriety. if justice is getting what you deserve, as c.s. lewis said, and propriety is doing what's right, as i think most of us believe, then we should give the president the authority to protect the kurdish people, and that's what my amendment would do. and we've got to do it because they are our friends, but we also have got to do it because it's the right thing to do for

america's interest and for the middle east peace process. i want to urge my colleagues in the senate, consider my amendment once we take up the bill and help me make sure that american foreign policy continues to have that important moral component. standing with our friends -- standing with our friends in the face of evil des pits and dick attack thors is -- dictators is just as important today as it was during the cold war. mr. president, i understand president trump's decision with respect to syria. i understand his concern about mission creep. i understand his concern about america's failure in our efforts at nation building. i think all of the american people are frustrated with the middle east. all of us want a prosperous america, but all of us in

america want a prosperous world and we've been disappointed time and time and time again by totalitarian governments in the middle east. i don't want any of my remarks to be construed today, madam president, as critical of the president's decision with respect to syria. frankly, i don't know whether he's right or not. i'm still listening to both sides, but i know this. american foreign policy never has been and never should be based solely on self-interest. certainly self-interest is part of it, but american foreign policy also has to have a moral component, and morality in this case, madam president, dictates that if we withdraw from syria, we do not allow our kurdish allies in syria to be butchered,

to be gutted like a fish. thank you, madam president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. we are in a quorum call. a senator: could i have consent that the quorum call be dismissed with? the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: men and women are being hurt by a government shutdown that president trump said he was proud to cause for the wall. so i rise today on behalf of minnesotans, on behalf of 4,790 federal employees and low-wage contractors going without pay in minnesota right now. and i rise today on behalf of the taxpayers of our country who just want t