it's time for f.d.a. to focus on the things where there's an increase for children. i'll give them an example: marijuana, opioids, fentanyl, meth. we've debated it on this floor of the united states senate. while we're looking at one thing and f.d.a.'s got us focused on it, look at how many children's lives are devastated in this country, again, with illegal products. one can only conclude by what we're doing, which is banning menthol, is that we're emulating canada. several years ago they banned menthol and last year they legalized marijuana. that may be the route we're on. i'm not sure. nothing surprises me any more in washington. june of this year will mark the tenth anniversary of the tobacco control act which provided the f.d.a. regulatory authority over tobacco products. the law gave the f.d.a. broad

authority to regulate these products and it was intended to provide a path forward for innovative products, tobacco products as well, placing hope in advancements in research and development to provide new options for american consumers that are down the continuum of risk for those individuals who choose, potentially replacing their use of combustible cigarettes with electronic ones. the f.d.a. does not have a single governing regulation for the review. almost a decade after enactment, and more than $5 billion later, the f.d.a. has failed to issue one foundational regulation governing the viable review of any tobacco product. let me state that again. almost a decade after enactment and $5 billion later, the f.d.a.

has failed to issue a foundational regulation governing the viable review of any tobacco product. this failure would be unacceptable from any other regulated industry. the center for tobacco products receives hundreds of millions of user fee dollars each year and he'll still behind other review centers at the f.d.a. the f.d.a. has the responsibility to develop clear rules of the road for innovation and potentially less harmful tobacco products. some of the very products under scrutiny today because they are in a regulatory limbo ten years later. the agencies had ample time to act and instead focused its efforts and resources on banning a legally marketed product without the data to support their own action. i would urge my colleagues to take a serious look at the f.d.a.'s decision to ban menthol

cigarettes. the f.d.a. choice to decrease choices for the american consumer while their counterpart, the c.d.c. continues to show a decline in children's use of menthol cigarettes. these two agencies should, in fact, be in alignment. using the c.d.c.'s highly regarded data to use the products it regulates. the f.d.a. will argue that the data released on november 16, 2018, shows a steep increase in the use of all tobacco products, however the f.d.a. has not provided the data to show that traditional cigarettes have contributed to this increase from 2017 to 2018 in any way or that menthol have played a part in this increase. if it had, i'll take you back to the original chart. we would see -- have seen a significant change in the trend

line of menthol usage of youth. i would bet my colleagues today when you get to 18 you will see a decline in menthol. it begs the question of whether the leadership at f.d.a. is making decisions with any regard for years of public health data coming at the cost of choices for the american people. mr. president, this argument comes down to whether or not you believe americans have a right to choose. as long as i'm an elected official, i'll advocate for adult consumers to have these choices. i realize that this is the floor of great debate, and i'm not scared to have a debate on whether tobacco is a legal product. as long as it's a legal product, why would we encumber the consumer with choice when in fact we see a trend line like this as it relates to youth. so i say to the f.d.a. and i say

to my colleagues, don't hide behind our children and tell us that's the reason because the data doesn't support it. the data says in education and what we're doing as parents is convincing the next generation is that this is a product they do not want to use. but when you ban menthol cigarettes, you take many adults to choose and purchase and use a legal product with full understanding of the risks and tell them, it no, we're going to eliminate the choice of this product. it's wrong. it's wrong for congress to do. it's wrong for a regulatory agency to do and it's a blemish on this administration to sell a reducing regulation when in fact we're going out and instituting some of the most onerous regulations on american consumers, the american people who choose. i urge my republican colleagues to become educated on this and i will give them multiple

opportunities for the balance of this year to hear more about this industry. i yield the floor. mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: madam president, last saturday was an historic day in springfield, illinois, my hometown. the biggest snowfall in one day in our city's history. i spent that saturday not shaking hands with my constituents, but shaking hands with a shovel, trying to shovel the snow away. it was an historic day in springfield, but sadly it was an historic day for america. saturday marked the longest shutdown of the government in the history of the united states. as of today the shutdown has continued for 26 days. day by day the harmful effects of this government shutdown are getting worse. alarmingly, the president seems to not really understand or

appreciate the real-life impact the shutdown is having on many americans. in all, more than 8,000 federal workers in my home state of illinois are going without a paycheck during this shutdown. 8,000 who are concerned about paying their bills as most working families are. these are hardworking americans. i want to show you a photo of one of them who happens to be a friend of mine. his name is toby hawk. this is toby over here. toby is a veteran of the united states air force. his job in aurora, illinois, is to make sure that my plane when it arrives at o'hare, lands safely. he is an air traffic controller. air traffic controllers have some of the most important and stressful jobs in america. and this shutdown is a kick in the gut to toby hawk and all of

these air traffic controllers. many air traffic controllers like toby are working six days a week, i'm not happy to report that, pushing them to the limits of physical exhaustion isn't in the best interest of safety. but because of the shortages that's what they are faced with. the shutdowns are making the staff shortages in the air traffic controller facilities across the united states even worse. the shutdown has shut down the academy where new air traffic controllers are trained and stopped training at each facility to implement new procedures and new equipment. toby's father and grandfather, incidentally, served in the u.s. military as he did. and now you can see a picture here of his great son and toby's granddaughter because i wanted to bring another point home. you see, toby's son is deploying

overseas this month. toby and his wife will be looking after their 2 and a half-year-old granddaughter during the ten-month deployment and toby's lack of a paycheck since december 31 of last year adds stress to an already hectic life. toby says veterans are proud of our heritage and what we've done for the country and those of us who continue to serve the federal government as federal employees continue that pride throughout our career. toby says, we're hardworking, proud american employees doing a job for the american people that's essential to safety like air traffic controller. it's not acceptable as a veteran, toby said, as a federal employee, and as a air traffic controller to use my profession and my livelihood as a political football in washington.

toby doesn't stand alone as a veteran working for the federal government. veterans are some of the hardest-hit federal employees by this trump shutdown. today as many as 250,000 veterans across the country direct federal workers and contractors are going without pay due to the shutdown. according to the office of personnel management, as of the end of fiscal year 2016, veterans represent 31% of the federal workforce. this is more than a 5% increase since 2009. president obama encouraged veterans to apply for employment with the federal government to boost the hiring of men and women who served our country in uniform. in illinois we have 50,000 federal workers and almost 28%

of them are veterans. more than a quarter of all veterans working in the federal government also have department of veterans' affairs disabilities. for example, if the snap program, that's the food stamp program, runs out, 38 million americans could lose their food system p benefits, that includes veterans that live in households that participate in snap. you don't think about that very often, do you? you mean is there are veterans who live on food stamps. there have -- illinois is home to nearly 50,000 veterans who are food stamp beneficiaries. h.u.d. rental assistance programs that help upwards of 50,000 veterans on an annual basis as well. the very programs that are going to be hampered, slowed down and stopped because of the trump shutdown affect veterans in

illinois and across the nation. about 1,050 contracts under the contract-based rental system program have lapsed. people are suffering, federal workers are suffering. their families are suffering. veterans are suffering because of this trump shutdown. more than 380,000 federal workers have been furloughed, 450,000 or more are being forced to work without pay. these are hardworking americans like the t.s.a. officers i met last week at o'hare and met just a few days ago when i flew through st. louis lambert airport. they go to work every single day and their job is to make sure that dangerous people don't get on the airplanes with you and your children and your family. they can't afford to have their paychecks held hostage by a manufactured crisis. these families of federal workers have bills to pay. a worker at the environmental

protection agency, cynthia, from illinois, is going without a paycheck after serving for 26 years as a federal employee. how hard is it? she's a single mom and she says, i quote honestly, i get by paycheck to paycheck. she's never missed a mortgage payment. she's very serious about those things, but now she's worried that the shutdown will impact her credit rating if she doesn't have a paycheck to pay her bills on time. shutdowns not only hurt our federal workers, the impact is felt by small businesses around the country who rely on the business of federal workers and the government. this shutdown is hurting our economy and only adding to economic uncertainty. remember what happened in december? if you happen to have a retirement account with investments in stocks, you noticed that december was a pretty horrible month. there was an 8.7% drop in the

stock market in december, the worst december for the stock market since 1971's great depression. the c.e.o. of j.p. morgan chase is now warning if this shutdown lasts another several weeks, it could reduce our nation's quarterly economic growth to zero. in other words, the victims of this shutdown will not just be the federal employees, it will be the entire economy. because their input into the economy, the things they buy and pay for, will be diminished. just why are we in this mess? well, as the president said several weeks ago on camera in the oval office, it was his shutdown and he was very proud of it. he said that he was going to hold the hard-earned paychecks of americans hostage in an attempt to fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall on the southern border of the united states, a concrete wall, as he

described it, from sea to shinning sea, which, incidentally he promised would be paid for by the mexicans. let me say that again. all of the pain of this shutdown is made because the president made a campaign promise to build this almighty wall. well, we know something about walls. they don't work very well. we know it might have been a great response several hundred years ago to build a wall, not so much today. there are better ways to make america safe than to build a wall, and yet the president has said it's my wall or a shutdown. we can have a debate about effective border security. i want to be a part of it, but we shouldn't do it while holding the united states government hostage. every day that the government is shut down is another day that president trump is harming innocent americans, preventing hundreds of thousands of americans from getting their

paychecks and millions more from having access to vital services. we should open the government. one phone call from the president to senator mitch mcconnell is all it takes. nancy pelosi, the new speaker of the house, has already passed the new spending bills to open the government. she did it last week. they are sitting at the desk up here. we're not touching them because senator mcconnell said i'm not going to solve this problem until the president gives me permission. a little reminder to my senator, mr. mcconnell. under the constitution we're a separate branch of government. we don't wait for a permission slip from the president of the united states to do the job we were elected to do. today we had a vote earlier. i went to the other side of the aisle, talked to a number of my republican colleagues. i wasn't a bit surprised to find so many of them fed up with this government shutdown. they want it to end today and so do i. then we can sit down and

negotiate border security and do it the right way, not with a gun at our head -- i should say a gun to the head of 800,000 federal employees. let's reopen the government and then continue to negotiate. the house democrats have given us the bills we need to do that. now it's up to senator mcconnell. will he come forward through that door on to the floor, call these bills and end this shutdown before 5:00 today? he could. he has the power to do it. he can pass the spending bills. he warns us, you know, president trump may not sign these bills. well, senator mcconnell has been around the senate for decades. he's been around so long that i'm sure he's familiar with our constitution and you know what? if the president vetoed these spending bills, we have the constitutional authority and opportunity to override his veto, to come up with 67 votes in the senate, two-thirds in the house to override any

presidential veto. i think the votes are there. i think that's the reason senator mcconnell is afraid to call the bills. it's time for the senate to act. let's not wait for a permission slip from president trump. let's do what we were elected to do. let's spare toby hawk and 800,000 federal employees, including many veterans from the hardships their families are facing. madam president, i yield the floor.

mrs. fischer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: are we in a quorum call, madam president? the presiding officer: we are not. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. i rise today to discuss the state of our national defense. first i want to recognize the brave americans who were killed in a suicide attack in syria today. our deepest sympathies are with the families of those killed and the injured.

we are so grateful to these americans for their service and for their sacrifice. as i enter my seventh year on the senate armed services committee, i can't help but reflect on our past successes. i'm proud of what we have accomplished by working together to fulfill the first responsibility of our federal government, to provide for the common defense. together we've continued the committee's long-standing bipartisan tradition of working to strengthen our military, and we've been effective on a variety of fronts. we've provided our brave men and women in uniform with the resources that they need to carry out the missions that we give them every year through the defense, the national defense authorization act. importantly for the last two years, congress and the administration have worked together to rebuild the department of defense and

reoriented to today's threats. as the administration's national defense strategy correctly identifies, the primary challenge to u.s. interests today comes not from terrorist groups but from russia and chi china. in recognition of this fact, congress increased funding to restore readiness and expand force structure from near historic lows. while progress has been made, significant challenges remain. the bipartisan support for increased defense spending must continue and congress must ensure our service men and women have the necessary training and equipment for the great power competition that defines the current geo political landscape. as part of this effort to ensure our military is prepared for the

new threat environment, we must continue modernizing our nuclear forces. once again, this congress i will chair the armed services committee subcommittee on strategic forces, and this issue will be my top priority. since the end of world war ii, our nuclear deterrent has formed the bedrock of our nation's security. with russia and china increasingly seeking to challenge u.s. interests and to reshape the geo political landscape in their favor, the unique role our nuclear forces play in deterring conflict and preventing war is becoming increasingly important. meanwhile, our warheads and delivery systems age towards obsolescence as does the infrastructure that maintains our deterrent. many of these systems have aged

far beyond their designed lifetimes. they cannot be sustained indefinitely. put simply, madam president, as our nuclear deterrent becomes more important to our nation's defense, the need for nuclear modernization only grows. this conclusion is echoed in the administration's national defense strategy, its nuclear posture review, and the bipartisan national defense strategy commission which described nuclear modernization as a critical imperative. the previous administration under president obama also recognized the need for modernization and began an effort to recapitalize our nuclear forces. right now major programs are under way to replace our legacy systems. this includes the b-21 bomber

which will replace the b-52 and b-2 bombers. and the long range standoff weapon which will replace the existing nuclear armed air launch cruise missile. the ground-base strategic deterrent is replacing the minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile and finally the columbia class submarine will replace the ohio class submarines that are currently in service. the command and control networks on which our nuclear forces rely are also in need of replacement as is the scientific infrastructure that maintains our stockpile of aging warheads. in some cases, such as with the production of plutonium pits, essentially the cores of our nuclear weapons, we must reconstitute lost capabilities.

adding to the challenge as a result of decisions to delay and defer funding, there is no margin for error in the schedule. this is the position we find ourselves in. our existing platforms are simultaneously aging out just as their replacements are scheduled to be ready, something the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff refers to as just in time modernization. that means any delay, any error could put at risk our ability to field an effective nuclear deterrent in the future. we cannot allow that to happen. in the face of growing threats, our deterrent must remain strong. as chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, i

understand i carry the solemn responsibility to make sure that the nuclear forces that have deterred conflict, safeguarded our livelihoods, and preserved our nation's power for decades continues to protect the next generation of americans. while u.s. strategic command is located in sarpey county, nebraska, it is a national asset with a global mission. over 180,000 soldier, sailors, airmen, marines, and civilians are working every day around the world in support of the command's mission. during this congress i'm looking forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this key priority and continuing our work in providing for a strong national defense. thank you, madam president.

i would yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. madam president, we are 26 days into president trump's completely unnecessary government shutdown. 26 days of pain and uncertainty, 26 days of missed paychecks and missed bills. 26 days, the longest in our country's history. i have heard from so many constituents in my home state of washington who have been impacted by this shutdown, heart-wrenching stories, workers who do not know how much longer they can make it without a paycheck. members of our u.s. coast guard, the very men and women who stand ready 24/7 to make harrowing rescues and keep our country safe didn't get paid yesterday, did not get paid yesterday marking the first time ever that

service members have not been paid because of a shutdown. small business owners who don't know when their s.b.a. loans will come through, people who are dedicated to our national parks, our national treasures who are in despair as they hear about trash piling up and irreparable damage being done. people waiting in lines at airports, worried about food inspection, worried about losing their homes or their cars or their jobs. entire families, entire communities impacted, uncertain and scared. in my home state of washington and in every state in this country, madam president, i have come to the floor time and again to share these stories along with many of my democratic colleagues, and we have called on republican leaders to stand with us, stand with their constituents, schedule a vote to

end the shutdown. all it would take is a vote. we know it would pass and we could move it through the house and send it to the president. but what have republican leaders done instead? what have they done instead of scheduling a vote to help workers and families and small business owners and our economy? what have they done instead of standing with their constituents to reopen this government and end this madness? well, they have done what they have always done when they don't know what else to do. they scheduled a vote to attack women and their health care. i almost couldn't believe it when i heard it. this government is shut down. people are hurting. they want solutions. they want for the government to open. and republicans are going to vote to effectively ban abortion coverage. that's the business on the floor. instead of voting to pay federal

workers, they're trying to tell women what kinds of health insurance they can or can't have. instead of working to make sure our airports are secure, they want to undermine women's access to the health care that they choose. instead of ending the chaos and dysfunction and getting our country back on track, they want to chip away again at every woman's constitutionally protected right to make her own health care decisions. instead of working with us to end this shutdown and then having a debate on border security or anything else they want to talk about, they are planning a vote that will not do anything but tell women across the country what they already know. republicans in washington, d.c. think they know better than you about your health care. well let me be clear. they don't. madam president, this is disgusting. women and men across the country are not growing to stand for it. we can vote right now to open government. we can vote right now to help

our workers and our families. we can vote right now to end governing by presidential tantrum. if republicans don't do this, if they choose as they have to attack women and throw their health care under the bus instead of doing their basic jobs, their basic jobs, then people across this country are going to see exactly where they stand. not with them, not with their families, not with their constituents, and certainly not with women. madam president, i urge republicans, end this madness. put this antiwoman health vote, pull it, and let's vote to reopen the government. that's what we should focus on. that's what americans want us to do. let's reopen the government, not attack women one more time. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. inhofe: mr. president, more than 100,000 people and families will join together and march for life in washington. it's going to take place actually tomorrow, i guess it is. they will brave the cold. it's supposed to be sleet and very bad weather out there, for one simple reason -- to give voice to the voiceless. the unborn, our most vulnerable among us, but are still deserving to the right to life. jeremiah 1:5 says, before i formed you in the womb, i knew you. before you were born, i sanctified you. to everyone who comes to the march for life, know that we hear you and we're standing with you, just as we have in the past. this is not a new topic, not for me, to speak on either. 25 years ago i came down here to tell a story, and at that time i was in the house. it's been going on for a long

period of time. i came down here to tell the tort of anna rodriguez. this is a quote from 1992. mr. chairman, there's a big misconception regarding abortion and the issue of women and the right to protect their bodies. it is not that right that i object to but the right that is given them to kill an unborn fetus, an unborn child. i want to share with you the story that my colleague, chris smith, told me some time ago on this floor. that was 1992. it is the story of a anna rosa rodriguez. she was a survivor of of an abortion at that time. another group of people we haven't talked about very much on the floor. at birth she was a healthy 3-pound baby girl except for her injury, she was missing an arm, and survived a botched abortion. her mother attempted to get an abortion in her 32nd week of

pregnancy. she was perfectly healthy, eight weeks past what new york state law legally allows in the unsuccessful abortion attempt, the baby's arm was ripped off. house,, they failed -- however, they failed to kill anna rosa and she lived. cases like the rodry guess case are probably not common but abortion-related deaths and serious injuries occur moring fromly than most people are away. it's amazing that we can pay so much attention to issues such as human rights abroad and can allow the violent destruction of over 26 million children here a home. we are fortunate that anna was not one of those children. she survived. that was 1992t but today we still don't have federal protections for the babies who survived the brutal abortion process. i'm working working with senato,

who is leading the effort this year to reintroduce the born alive abortion survivor act, which would ensure that a baby who survives an abortion will receive the same treatment as any child naturally born. premature at any age without prescribing any particular form of treatment. now, that's just morally right. and i don't see how anyone could vote against something like that. and we'll find out. just a few years later in 1997, i was on the floor of this body, the united states senate, with my good friend and former senator rick santorum to try to pass a partial-birth abortion ban and end the horrific practice of late-term abortion,s. so you remember -- some of you remember how active senator rick santorum was at that time, a real leader in the pro-life

cause. i spoke then saying -- and i'm quoting now from 1909 -- 1997. i was on the floor often with my good friend, former senator, to try to pass partial-birth abortion. i don't think i said, i thank the senator from pennsylvania for yield hing time. i think he made one of the best presentations i've heard on the floor of this bod. i want to say that. when i deals with the facts, he's dealing with the facts. but, you know, we are also dealing today with perceptions. i tried to make a list of those things i've heard over and over. there are a lot of redundancy on this floor, but there are some things that have not been stated i would like to share a couple of those with you. i am a going to do something that is a little unusual. because i am going to read some scriptures to you. it's not totally unprecedented in this body. in fact, i've done it many, many times. the distinguished senator from west virginia does it quite

often. i was talking about bob byrd. we remember bob byrd. he's deceased now. but this is 1997. he read scriptures every day on the floor of this senate. and he -- so i would like to read a couple of scriptures, just those who care -- anyone who doesn't care, just don't listen. first of all, i have used this number of times, jeremiah 1:35. i've heard it in the last couple of days a couple of times. before i formed you -- this is a quote. before i formed you in the womb, i knew you. before you were born, i sanctified you. for the 139th psalm, no matter which information you use it makes very clear when life begins. life begins a openings s then i was not too long ago at the u.s. holocaust museum. i had been in the museum in jerusalem and i found the same thing was printed on the last

brick as you are going through. this is deuteronomy verse 13. it said, i call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live. and last i'm always concerned that something that is as dramatic as -- and significant as this issue is going to go unnoticed by some people. some people that may be here in the senate, out there who are not really into this issue, they might want to vote the party line or they might want to say, well, maybe there aren't as many of these procedures out there, so they just really aren't knowledgeable on the subject. so i will read proverbs 244, 11, and 12. rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death.

don't stand back and let them die. don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't know about it, for god knows, who knows all hearts knows yours, and he knows that you know. that's pretty specific. mr. president, i was listening to the senator from massachusetts, who said it does not do any good to pass this bill because the president is going to veto it anyway. and that was actually in 1997. the president, if you'll remember at that time, i advised the chair, that was bill clinton. but i suggest to you that the president may not veto it. and if he does veto it, maybe some people will come over from the other side. you see, that was 1997. it was pretty close back this. it could have gone either way. one individual at that time, his name is ron fitzsimmons, who just last year -- this was 1997 -- insisted that a number of partial-birth abortions were a relative handful and now admits

i lied through my teeth. he was lying. so if the president is predicating his decision to veto this ban on the basis of what was told to him by ron fitzsimmons, there's ever reason to believe he could turn around on the issue. isling also that we're talking now -- i suggest also that we're talking now not just about a procedure but about a culture. i have very good friend named chris -- named charles cosin. we all remember him. he's the guy that started the campus crusade for christ. he -- he gave these remarks upon winning the prestigious templeton prize for contribution to religion. listen very carefully. he puts it all together, now isolating one procedure or one issue. now, he said -- and this is a quote. he said courts like to strike down even perfunctory prayers, and we are surprised at schools bristling with barbed wire look more like prisons than prisons do. universities reject the very

idea of truth. we are shocked when their best and their brightest betray. celebrities mock the traditional family, even revile it as a form of slavery. we are appalled at the tragedy of broken homes and millions of unwed mothers. the media celebrates sex without responsibility, and we are horrified by plagues. our lawmakers justify the taking of innocent lives in sterile clinics, and we are terrorized by the disregard for life in blood-soaked streets. i think that kind of puts it into context which we are now approaching, and that is not just a normal type of abortion. i have a great deal of respect for one of the most intellectual members of this body. keep in mind, this is 1997, and his name is patrick moynihan, a very good man. he's from new york. not many people know that he has actually lived early years as my neighbor in tulsa, oklahoma.

so again, at that time, nobody knew it until i mentioned it. so he's a self-proclaimed pro-choice senator. he said -- and we have testimont too close to infanticide. it is infanticide, and one would be too many. that's patrick moynihan. thought of really and respected as one of the great liberal scholars of this body, and this is where we get the numbers game. i heard it said on the floor many times that we're talking about maybe 1% or maybe talking about those that are in the ninth month maybe an inif i test mall number, but -- did you but we may be only talking about 200 lives being taken during a normal delivery process. that is when a baby is given a natural birth, and yet they take the life by using this barbaric procedure.

we have all kinds of documentation that is being done in the ninth month and being done in a normal birth process, and they say only 200, 200 are taken, their lives are taken. mr. president, i agree with patrick moynihan. totally a different philosophy than he has. but one is too many. so i am -- i say from oklahoma and some of you remember that we lost 168 lives in the murrah federal office building bombing. this was the largest domestic terrorist attack in american history. did anybody say that is over 168 lives that were lost in oklahoma city? no. the entire nation came with compassion and mourned with us. one life, i agree with senator moynihan, is too many. one other issue that has not been discussed in this debate this year -- keep in mind that was 1997 -- is that of pain. rather than go into it, i do not

think anyone refused the fact that a small baby if that baby is certainly past the second trimester feels pain every bit as much as anyone who is in here as a member of the united states senate would feel pain. there was a study conducted in london, and i have the results here but i think everyone understands that this is something that is very real, that these babies do feel pain. my junior senator gave an excellent speech on the floor, and he talked about all of these issues in a much -- in a different way, but he is doing it currently and we're talking about now back many -- quite a number of years ago. i have a picture of a good friend of mine. his name is jace. -- james edward rapert. back when people our age were having babies -- and i'm talking about myself now. kay and i have been married 59 years. we have 20 kids and grandkids,

so we know a little bit about this. back at that time, they were having babies, they wouldn't even let you in the hospital let alone the delivery room. when my daughter molly called up and said daddy, the time is here. could you come over? and i went over to the hospital, and she said would you like to come into the delivery room? i said yeah, i would. so i saw for the first time what many of you in this room have seen and many of the women have experienced personally, but i was there when this little guy was born. it's hard to describe to some of the men here who have not been through that experience of seeing this wonderful life begin. i remember when in that room where the delivery took place, it occurred to me that when baby jace, my grandson was born, that that is at a moment when they could have used this procedure inflicting all the pain you have heard described so many times, going into the cranium with the scissors and opening the

scissors, sucking the brains out and the skull collapse. that's pain. and there are individuals who want to keep a procedure like this legal. if you did that to a dog, they would be picketing your front office. somehow we have developed a culture that puts a greater value in the lives of critters than human life. so i watched baby jace being born. i suggest that those of you who are concerned about choice, that this is really the choice. it's either that choice or this choice, and these choices we are facing today. mr. president, this is something on which i agree with the senator from pennsylvania that -- i am talking about rick santorum -- and we should not be having to talk about it. to think 100 years from now they maybe will look back and talk about that very barbaric society that killed their own young, and here we are just trying to save a few lives from the very

painful death, but nonetheless, that is the issue we are faced with today. now, i gave that speech in 1997 and again in 1998. year after year until we won the battle and finally ended up with the practice of partial-birth abortion in 2003, a ban that was upheld by the supreme court in 2007, but there is still much more that needs -- that we need to do to end the abortion-on-demand culture. president trump gets this. he was the first sitting president to speak at march for life, but his administration has made real progress to advance the pro-life agenda. he has reinstated the mexico city policy. we remember what that was. it was the one that bans taxpayer money from funding abortions abroad and directed the justice department to formally investigate planned parenthood. president trump also directed the department of h.h.s. to expand religious and conscious

exemptions to protect individuals' religious liberty. i'm working here in congress to end the practice of abortion on demand that strips opportunity away from unborn babies and deprives them to the right to life. this week, i have joined my colleagues in introducing five commonsense bills. this is taking place right now as we speak. in addition to the born-alive abortion survivors act that i mentioned by senator sasse earlier in this presentation. the no taxpayer funding of abortion act working on with senator wicker would establish a governmentwide statutory prohibition on taxpayer subsidies for abortion and abortion coverage. simple enough. i am pleased that majority leader mcconnell has set up a procedural vote for this bill today. the life conception act that senator paul has that would recognize that life begins at

conception. the title 10 abortion provider prohibition act led by senator blackburn, one of our brand-new freshman senators here, would prohibit title 10 family planning program funds, those are taxpayer funds now being used to subsidize abortions. now, you might be wondering how that is different from the one just talked about. here is how. every year, planned parenthood receives nearly $60 million from the american taxpayer through title 10 family planning program. the program is intended to assist low-income women with family planning services. unfortunately this unis being used to subsidize massive organizations that engage in abortion activities such as planned parenthood. we need to stop that. the protect funding for women's health act led by senator ernst would prohibit all federal funding of planned parenthood.

i also cosponsored the child interstate abortion notification act led by senator rubio which would prohibit individuals from taking minors across state lines where they have lax laws just to have an abortion, stopping their states from having that jurisdiction. and finally and perhaps most importantly, i am cosponsoring senator graham's pain-capable unborn child protection act which would prohibit abortions from being performed on unborn babies after 20 weeks when we know they can feel pain. only five countries allow abortion after 20 weeks, including the united states and north korea, and that's unacceptable. i'd like to acknowledge a very important day. the religious freedom day is today. it is clear our founding fathers recognize and enshrine the importance of religious liberty, one of our most precious and foundational religious freedoms

that allowed them to live their lives according to the teachings of the bible. i have long been a strong advocate of the basic human right to freely worship and i'm glad we can take a moment today to recognize that. so anyway, all from speeches in 1992 and 1997, as true today as it was then. and we're ready to start saving lives instead of taking the most vulnerable little lives, and we're ready now. with that, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the gentleman from oklahoma withhold his request? mr. inhofe: i will withhold my request.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, a few minutes ago, i got off the phone with jasmine tulle, who is an oregonian living with an inoperable brain tumor. and as the shutdown lingers on, i want to share her story because she had been bearing the unthinkable consequences of her illness, and i'm going to start today, mr. president, by asking

how can a country as rich and good and strong as the united states of america let jasmine tulle suffer this way? she is a 30-year-old mother of two young children. she lives in lake county. a rural community in south central oregon. she is a public servant, an employee of the u.s. fish and wildlife. she has been living with an inoperable brain tumor. the cancer has caused related debilitateing conditions. she is just in and out of hospital emergency rooms.

her digestive system is impaired. with the invaluable care provided by a home health worker , she takes in liquids and nutritional infusion you through tubing that is plugged into her abdomen. because she lives in a rural area, her treatment can require long-distance travel. that's hard to deal with when you are suffering from the flu. just imagine, mr. president, and those paying attention to this how hard it is with a brain tumor, a broken digestive track and feeding tubes attached to your body that events you from eating or drinking normally. she is confronting this health challenge with remarkable

bravery, and i don't believe there is a single member of the united states senate who would wish jasmine's struggle on their very worst enemy. and then comes the government shutdown. jasmine was due to travel to nevada this month for treatment related to her tumor, but last week as she was prepared to go, she was informed that her health insurance had lapsed. initially she thought it might be, we all know with insurance, kind of a recent hiccup, recent problem, something that could be corrected quickly. this week she learned it lapsed in october -- october --

months ago, and her insurance company told her that only her employer could fix it. jasmine's employer is shut down. nobody is answering the phones. right now jasmine tulle is suffering, this mother of two, and is unable to determine what caused the lapse in her coverage or what can be done to get it fixed. the most immediate threat is this, jasmine was told that her home health assistant cannot continue to help her if she doesn't have insurance. that means that within days this 30-year-old mom won't be able to get the infusions she needs to

stay alive. now if that isn't enough, jasmine has been failed by the government on multiple occasions. shortly after she went on medical leave in early 2017, she began the process of applying for disability, disability retirement. she worked with the appropriate human resources official to prepare the paperwork to send to the office of personnel management. she thought, as anybody would, that the process was underway and she would hear back soon about the results of her application. she just learned recently that the official who prepared the documents retired without

sending them in. for a year and a half while jasmine fought cancer and was just hoping to get some positive news, her disability paperwork sat in an unused office, just sat there collecting dust. she had to travel to that office against her doctor's orders to finalize the paperwork once more and prevent a loss of benefits. but the office of personnel management, that shut down too. jasmine hasn't been able to learn where her benefits stand. mr. president, it is too cruel already that thousands and thousands of americans, our

workers are going without paychecks, but this shutdown is making victims of those who do public service. but consider what it's doing to this young mother of two, a woman who is currently fighting for her life, right now. because of the shutdown, she can't figure out how to restore her health insurance. she can't get the status of her disability application. she could be cut off. and i just talked to her from her nutritional supplements in a matter of days. mr. president, that means jasmine could starve. that's what she just told me. so i say, mr. president, and i've been talking to people who suffered from health challenges

for a long time as director of the gray panthers about seven years at home, i listened to jasmine and i just said how can it be that there is no outbreak of conscience here? no outbreak of conscience here in this senate. how can a country as rich and powerful as ours fail jasmine in such a shameful way? our country is going to spend $3.5 trillion on health care. $3.5 trillion on health care this year. it is not a lack of money that's causing this nightmare for jasmine tulle in rural oregon. with the government reopened,

things would be different. things would be very different for jasmine. there would be somebody on the other end of the phone line to tell jasmine what happened to her insurance. and because of the professionalism of those in these positions, i think they could tell her how to renew that insurance. there would be somebody to tell her what's happening with her disability application. jasmine could bring back her home health aide and get the infusions she needs to survive. so i'm asking the senate how can this be allowed to continue? how can this be allowed to continue? the senate passed a bipartisan government funding bill by voice vote just two weeks ago in the

previous congress. i see senator collins has had a long-standing interest in these issues. senator sasse also, who i know from our conversations has a heart and cares about people. the house passed this legislation. the pathway out of this shutdown is right in front of us if the majority leader would decide when to bring the legislation up again, we could do it tonight. jasmine tulle could get that lifesaving health care that she needs based on her conversation by week's end so she won't starve. mr. president, otherwise, unless the majority leader calls it up, it seems to me the white

house has no plan to end the shutdown. so i just think it's got to end right here, right here in the united states senate, where all of us say this cannot go on any longer. i just spoke to a young mom in rural oregon who's in a fight for her life, a fight for her survival. mr. president and colleagues who are here, i'm sure jasmine is not the only such case in america. jasmine tulle, my guess is there are plenty of others in communities across the country. jasmine tulle does not have the luxury of time. i'm going to go back to my office. my staff here, my staff folks in oregon, we are just going to be pulling out all the stops now

because it really is a matter of hours to get jasmine the help she needs. we do it recognizing there is only one immediate solution: the shutdown must end, and it must end now. i yield the floor. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, government shutdowns are never the answer, no matter how difficult the problem, we should never resort to shutting down government. it harms too many innocent federal employees, in this case 800,000 federal employees and their families.

and it hampers the ability of american citizens to deal with their government. at the same time we do have a problem at our southern border. we do need to strengthen our border security and fix our broken immigration system. we need to address the issue of the dreamers population, those young children brought to this country through no decision of their own who are now often young adults and who are going to school or working or otherwise serving in the military or contributing to our country. mr. president, the outlines of a compromise are evident, but in order to get there, i

believe that we need to assure the president that we will seriously consider his supplemental request for border security, a request that includes not just funding for additional physical barriers to supplement the more than 600 miles of physical barriers, walls, fences that were built during two previous administrations, but also includes $800 million to meet the humanitarian needs of those who are crossing the border. it also includes additional funding for border patrol agents and for immigration and customs enforcement. mr. president, this simply

cannot continue. we need to come together in good faith, reopen government for a limited period of time at least, and negotiate a package that will strengthen security on our borders. and that is what i would urge the president, his administration, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do. mr. president, in the meantime we also need to get back to the work of the senate. that too is important. and today i rise to introduce a bill that would help americans who are struggling with high health care expenses.

the tax deduction for certain unreimbursed out-of-pocket medical expenses assists many taxpayers significantly. regrettably, the threshold to claim this important tax deduction rose from 7.5% to 10% of income at the end of 2018, ending its value for many american taxpayers who simply will no longer qualify. today i reintroduced legislation that i have sponsored with my colleague, senator cantwell, that would reinstate and make permanent the lower income threshold for the medical expense deduction. our bill, the medical expense

savings act, would once again allow taxpayers to deduct unreimbursed health care costs that exceed 7.5% of their income. mr. president, for those who suffer from preexisting medical conditions, have chronic illnesses, experience unexpected sickness or injuries or require long-term care, out-of-pocket health care expenses can quickly become an unbearable burden. too many americans are forced to choose between medical services and other equally necessary expenditures, or they find themselves going deeply in debt. the affordable care act

increased the income threshold for taxpayers to deduct their medical expenses from 7.5% to 10%. i very much oppose that provision of the a.c.a. for individuals under 65, the crease went into effect in 2013, but for those over 65, individuals would have been exposed to this higher threshold for the first time in 2017. fortunately, we were able to remedy that for those over age 65. when the a.c.a. increase was phased in, many individuals struggling with serious health conditions saw their financial health worsen. for example, a 2016 study

estimates that parents, including many with limited means, already provide nearly $36 billion annually in uncompensated medical care at home to children with special health care needs, such as muscular dis if i -- dystrophy. a 2018 survey of cancer survivors show that one-third go into debt, and of those, more than half incurred $10,000 in unreimbursed expenses. for for his with significant long-term care needs, the deduction helps with the cost of home health or personal care services, or when needed, the cost of a long-term care facility, such as a nursing

home. the deduction can also be used for other expenses that medicare generally does not cover, including dental treatment, vision care, and certain transportation costs. seniors can also use the medical expense deduction for expenses like wheelchair ramps, installing railings and support bars in bathrooms, lowering our modifying kitchen cabinets and equipment, and other home modifications made for medical reasons. these improvements can allow seniors with medical conditions or disabilities to live at home in the safety, confident, -- comfort, and familiarity of their own homes safely. some seniors find that their savings become rapidly depleted.

they may spend down their financial resources in order to receive the services and support they require through the medicaid program. according to jenworth's survey, home aid service can costs $50,000 annually, child a private room at a -- while a private room at a nursing home can costs $100,000. but maintaining a lower threshold for medical expense tax deductions, some families would continue to pay their essential costs themselves. now, mr. president, some erroneously believe that this deduction only benefits the wealthy when in fact it is mainly lower and middle-income americans who have been hurt.

according to aarp, nearly 70% of taxpayers taking the deduction in 2014 reported income of $75,000 or less and nearly half reported incomes of $50,000 or less. in maine, according to aarp, almost 36,000 of our residents claimed this deduction in 2014, and nearly 19,000 of these individuals reported an income of $50,000 or less. that is why during the tax reform debate in 2017 i introduced a successful amendment that rolled back the income threshold to 7.5% for taxpayers to deduct their

medical expenses in 2017 and in 2018. my amendment expanded upon the efforts of senators rob portman and sherrod brown who had worked to prevent this increase from going into effect for individuals over 65. as i said, my amendment was incorporated into the new tax law and thus for 2017 and for 2018 the threshold for deducting these out of pocket medical costs was 7.5% of income. but at the end of last year, that expired. the aarp and 44 other consumer groups have strongly endorsed the effort undertaken by senator cantwell and me stating it

provides important tax relief which helps offset the cost of acute and chronic medical conditions for older americans, children, pregnant women, disabled individuals, and other adults, as well as the cost associated with long-term care and assisted living. mr. president, this is a step that we can take to reinstate an expired tax deduction that will make a real difference to people who are struggling with high out-of-pocket medical costs. i urge my colleagues to support our legislation that will help our families cope with high medical costs by making sure that this important deduction

remains available for future tax years. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that a letter from aarp dated january 15, 2019, endorsing the collins-cantwell legislation be entered into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: i rise today to offer a very basic resolution. i want senators to unanimously reaffirm our oath of office to a constitution that rejects religious bigotry. it is useful to regularly remind ourselves that americans are first amendment people. each of the five amendments, speech, press, religion, assembly, protest, they define who we are. in america we talk, we read, we

argue, we write, we march, and we pray and we worship without fear. because of this fundamental celebration of human dight knity and human freedom, america is big enough to welcome a whole bunch of messy fights on everything from who you vote for to who you call god. and just as the first amendment prevents the government from dictating anyone's religious belief. our constitution explicitly federal tests -- religious test it's for federal office. this isn't a republican belief. this isn't a democratic belief. this is an american belief. but tragically, over the last couple of years, some strange things have been happening in this body and we seem to be forgetting some of those basic 101 american civics truths. i want to tell you a story. brian bissher from my state was nominated to be a federal judge

for the district of nebraska. this is an honor for him and his family, it's a celebration of his brain, work ethic, and integrity. by the way, brian is also catholic and an active member of the knights of columbus. it is the largest catholic from fraternal organization. the knights raise millions of dollars for charity every year and they contribute millions of hours of volunteer service. like a lot of guys back in nebraska, brian joined the knights of columbus to give back and also to be involved in a whole bunch of fish fries. this is not the stuff of headlines, but it is the stuff of basic neighborliness. is this where the story gets weird because at brian's confirmation hearing before the senate judiciary committee a few weeks ago, one of my colleagues on the judiciary committee called the knights of columbus an extremist organization. it got worse.

brian then got a letter from a member of this body asking him if he would resign his membership in the knights of columbus if he were confirmed to the federal bench to, quote, avoid the appearance of bias. this is nuts. we're talking about the largest catholic fraternal organization in the world being called an extremist organization and a nominee for the federal bench being asked if he would resign from this organization so he could serve without the appearance of bias. the clear implication here is that bryan's religious beliefs and his affiliation with a catholic organization that invests countless hours and millions of dollars serving special needs kids, brian was potentially unfit for federal service. this is the same kind of garbage that was thrown at a member of this body, john f. kennedy, 60 years ago when he was campaigning for the presidency. and so today i've introduced a

resolution, a 101 basic resolution, that reaffirms the belief of this body in american religious liberty. the resolution simply says that it is the sense of senate that disqualifying a nominee for a person for the federal bench based on his catholic beliefs or a member of the knights of columbus violates the no test cause of the constitution. that seems obvious on its face. in this we are reaffirming with president kennedy and countless other americans throughout 230 years, protestant, catholic, agnostic, atheist, and more, we are reaffirming the idea that america is big enough for disagreements. stated differently, we're saying that we believe the u.s. government is not in the business of trying to resolve debates about heaven and hell,

rather the business of the u.s. government is to preserve peace and order so you and your neighbors can wrestle about things like heavy and hell or sports loyalties. america can handle principled pluralism and honest debate. this should have the support of every single member of this body. after all, each of us took an oath to defend this very idea when we first came here, this is is what america is actually about. and so the text of the resolution before us, quote, expressing the sense of the senate that disqualifying a nominee to federal office on the basis of membership to the knights of columbus violates the constitution of the united states, whereas throughout the history of the united states the religious liberty protected by the first amendment and no religious test clause of the constitution of the united states has been at the heart of the american experiment and whereas since 1960, the u.s. presidency of john f. kennedy was meant with bigotry of

catholic -- where he responded to this bigotry with these timeless words, for this year it may be a catholic for which the finger of suspicion is pointed, in the future it may be a jew or a quaker, a unitarian or bapt ties. today i may be the victim and tomorrow it may be you until the whole society is ripped at a time of great national p peril. the knights of columbus service organization in the world, whereas the knights have a proud tradition of standing against the forces of prejudice and oppression such as the k.k.k. and nazi germany and whereas the knights are founded on the prints manies of charity, unity, and patriotism, whereas in 2017 the knights made more than $185 million of charitable contributions and volunteered more than $75 million -- 75 million service hours, now it

be resolved that it is the sense of the senate that disqualifying a nominee to federal office on the basis of membership in the knights of columbus violates clause 3 article 6 of the constitution of the united states which establishes that senators shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the constitution, end quote, no religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any office or public trust under the united states. close quote. period, and full stop. if a senator has a problem with this resolution, you're probably in the wrong line of work because this is what america is. this is a super basic point, no religious test. if someone has a problem with this resolution, what other parts of the constitution are you against, freedom of the press, women's right to vote, freedom of speech? this isn't hard. no religious test for serving on the federal bench. we should, in this body, rebuke these anti-catholic attacks.

and so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 19, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 19, expressing the sense of the senate that disqualifying a nominee to federal office on the basis of membership in t knights of columbus violates the constitution of the united states. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. sasse: i then ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sasse: thank you, mr. president. i thank the members of this body for reaffirming basic constitutional 101 stuff today and i will report back to brian bisher, the nominee for the federal bench for the district of nebraska so he can ignore those questions he received

about whether he would resign his membership in the knights of columbus before this body proceeds to vote on his confirmation. thank you, mr. president.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 8, h.r. 251. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 8, 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. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the johnson amendment at the desk be

considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, the johnson title amendment be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 4:00 p.m. thursday, january 17. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 109. finally, notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees and upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to s. 109. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's

no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator merkley. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, the most important words of our constitution are the first three, we the people, three words written in big, bold, beautiful script conveying the mission of our constitution. we are a nation as abraham lincoln opined of the people, by the people, and for the people. that was the mission.

but our constitution also lays out how our founding fathers intended to be a nation by and for the people, to be governed by coequal branches with the branch carrying the weight of policy development being congress, the house and the senate. the executive to have quite a different role in executing the laws. judiciary with yet another role in weighing whether the laws are in accordance with the parameters of the constitution, the principles of the constitution. so there we are, the branch of government, the senate and the house, with the power of the purse, with the responsibility for laying out the governing vision rules for our nation, and

yet a quarter of our government goes unfunded for a fourth week. why? why is this chamber not full of senators? why are we not debating funding bills? why is there not a bill before the senate right now? it's because in this chamber, the rhythm of the floor is guided by the majority leader. the majority leader refuses to put the bill on the floor so that we can go about our work putting the government back in business and ending this shutdown. the majority leader's refused to have the senate fulfill its responsibility, indeed has said we'll not take up any proposal that does not have a real chance

of getting a presidential signature. of course we have in the constitution the ability to set law without a presidential signature. so it's certainly not a waste of time to be here debating on proposals for funding the government. in fact, this is a complete abdication of our responsibility, an abdication at a time when 800,000 american families have a mother or father who is not getting paid, when many more thousands of contractors are not getting paid, when many millions of americans are seeking government services and finding there's no one to answer their phone call or their letter or process their online application, whether for

an fmpleghts h.a. mortgage, whether for an agricultural grant or loan for the next farming season, whether it's any of a host of hundreds of roles the government plays in facilitating the commerce and life of this nation. president trump and the senate majority are holding seven funding bills hostage. now, hostage taking is not the wisest move. only one of these hostages has anything to do with the battle over the border. so why not release six of these hostages? why not end the trump-mcconnell shutdown and release six of the seven

hostages, and on the seventh do a continuing resolution so we can continue debating the issues at stake while putting people back to work? that's a pretty good idea. and here's the genius of the idea, which is these bills are bills that already have support in the senate. if we were to look at that support, we would find that it was substantial when these bills came through in a bipartisan fashion under a republican-led senate so you have the republican endorsement from here. you have the democratic endorsement from the house. that's the making of a path forward. well, yet we need to remind the members of how our constitution is constructed.

article 1, section 7 says in the abbreviated format, if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections. then it comes back to the house and senate, whichever body first initiated. and if approved by two-thirds, house and senate, it shall become law. so let's recognize that the vision of our constitution was not for us to sit on some chair or bench somewhere waiting for someone far down pennsylvania avenue to tell us what to do. that's not fulfilling our job. the president is supposed to implement the laws we pass, the vision we adopt, not for us to sit here doing nothing waiting for the man in the oval office to tell us he has some message

from on high what we're supposed to do. no, that's not the vision of our constitution. so it's disturbing that that responsibility -- a responsibility we all signed on to when we took our oath of office as being so neglected here in this chamber at this moment, when so many americans are suffering as a result. so those funding bills i'm speaking of and that support, how strong was it? the ag bill, interior, financial services, general government, transportation, housing, urban development, those passed this floor just a few weeks ago on a 92-6 vote. how much more bipartisan does it get? a 92-6 vote.

the state and foreign operations bill passed out of the republican-led appropriations committee, 31-0. the commerce, justice, and science spending bill passed 30-1 in our spending committee. homeland security passed out 26-5. so these have a powerful imprint of bipartisan overwhelming support in this chamber and yet we sit here afraid to take action and lay out the vision we have a responsibility to lay o out. i hope every member will say back home that they invite the feedback of their constituents, that they'll hold town halls because then they'll hear what i

hear which is this is an absurdity. it's an irresponsibility. it is a failure of leadership. it is a neglect of duty. and that's not what this chamber should be about. that is not a proud moment to have such dysfunction here in the heart of the senate. i'm reminded of the historical reference while nierro fiddles, rome burns. it's a reference to the year a.d. 64 when rome burned to the ground. the historians records that

nierro was responsible for the fire and he watched it from a tower while playing an instrument. and singing about the destruction of a different place, a destruction of troy. and here we sit today, our leadership fiddling while our nation suffers while our leadership watches from afar from the tower playing some fiddle for their amusement instead of taking action here on the floor of the senate. while the republican senate leadership fiddles, our farmers aren't getting the funds or assistance they need to get through the winter and prepare for the next season because the department of agriculture is closed for business. while the republican leadership

of this chamber fiddles, firefighters, who we ask to risk their lives fighting massive infernos in our nation's forests are missing out on critical preparation an training time -- and training time for the next season. in addition, the work being done to thin the forest to make the forest more fire resistant is suspended. the fuel being taken off the forest floors is suspended. the prescription done to make the forests more fire resistant are canceled, and yet this is the time it has to happen. while the leadership fiddles, they are setting the stage for more savage forest fires wreaking havoc on the western states in the united states for this summer to come. while the republican leadership in this chamber fiddles, 100,000

low income tenants are -- no one would be able to renew 1,100 affordable housing contracts that expired last month. while the leadership fiddles, small economies like lake view, oregon, will not be able to move forward on projects according to the development director, they are working at trying to give a loan to a small loan in lake view, but they need e.p.a. staff approval to use the graph funding for an environmental assessment before they can borrow funds to buy a building. so they are up a creek while the republican leadership fiddles. the real victims in this misguided standoff, the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who aren't being paid, the contractors who might never be

paid, let's listen to them. what do they have to say p about this? are they -- say about this? are they writing and saying, love this dysfunction in the senate, love the failure of leadership, love the incompetence, love the fact that nobody's working here to solve the problem? no, that's not what they are saying. aaron, a furloughed federal service employee from oregon wrote that she and her husband are forest service employees and they are terrified about their personal finances. aaron writes, i have two boys that i will still have to continue to pay daycare for so i don't lose their spot in the daycare, and that's $1,400 a month alone. she went on to say, we have to

be smart how we balance our finances because the cost of living is going up but our salaries have not increased, beside a minor cost-of-living adjustment last year, so i'm very worried about what a long shutdown means for my family and my co-workers. erin and her husband have every right to be worried about what shin the future for her family, this shutdown effect through no fault of their own. steven from southeast portland wrote in to say, i am residing as a constituent in oregon as a furloughed federal employee. i do not support president trump's efforts to build a wall along the southern border. the proposed wall is unneeded. it would be a wantonly wasteful use of our taxpayer money. it would be environmentally destructive. it would further the inhumane disregard for the rights of those seeking asylum.

stephen's a federal worker who's not being paid and he doesn't support this shutdown. july, the wife of a firefighter in redmond, oregon, wrote saying that her husband isn't able to work because of the government shutdown. they were supposed to hire all of their seasonable firefighters for the summer. if they can't work the hiring will be delayed or not happen which will put communities at serious risk. this summer from builderness fires. well, this risk for this coming summer, it's very real in our state of oregon. julie goes on, in no way is it okay to let the government shut down. don't participate in holding our own country hostage.

dr. genevieve grady from sheraton wrote, i'm a licensed clinical scholgist working at the federal prisons in oregon. i'm also a mother with a 5-year-old. i'm required to continue to work without being paid, as a licensed psychologist, i could cultivate outside work with agency permission to supplement my income, however, i'm unable to do this due to having to continue working full time. given that i am a single mother of two small children, i must provide care for my children during all the other hours of the day in order to maintain a roof over my children and my heads, i have to contact my federal student loan company to seek relief. unfortunately, they cannot alter my student loan status any

earlier than february 6. i can use my daycare provider so i can continue to work without pay as an in-home provider with three teenaged children of her own. she can't ask her to go without pay as she too needs to keep her family financially able. she writes, there are very view expenses in my life that can go without money, food, daycare, gas to get to work, car insurance to drive legally, phone, required for my job to contact me in an emergency, medical expenses, both my kids have been sick during this furlough and had to see the doctor and get medication. after 26 days without pay, these

bills continue needing to require cash to pay. i continue to wonder how much longer i should keep coming to work or when i should look for another job. lid ia from roseburg, oregon wrote to me saying, the unrepentant hostage holding of people's wages is cruel and shows just how far removed the trump administration is from the american people. she continues, i live in a single-income household in which the only breadwinner is a government employee, my mother. this means that we went through the holidays not knowing when the next paycheck was going to come and we still don't know. brett, a furloughed i.r.s. worker who is proud of his government service and calls it

his small way to participate in our democracy, says, quote, my savings are small and will not last for an extended shutdown. i have already applied for unemployment insurance compensation, but that process takes several weeks before i actually receive any money. i have never had to file for unemployment before, and it's quite unsettling, i am forced to resort to government aid. briane writes, like so many other oregonians in a state that is 20% national forest, -- well, writes, brien, who is like so many other oregonians, works for the forest service, he wrote in to say, quote, as a united states forest service employee, i am waiting for relocation

reimbursement on a current move. i used most of my savings to move duty stations two noteses ago -- months ago, and with the current furlough, i cannot afford to misa pay period, even if i get it in the end. i currently paying on -- if the furlough lasts longer than january 13, it will be extremely difficult to avoid late charge payments to utilitieses and other bills. don't hold me and my family, my middle-class family hostage to a rich man's antics. well, that is exactly what's happening. a president so far removed from the reality of ordinary people, a president who worked with the leadership of this body in the senate to approve a series of spending bills that we passed by a vast bipartisan majority who then changed his mind and

withdrew his support after they were passed. the president switched his position after the bills went through this senate. the president bragged about owning this shutdown. he didn't have one second that he worried about the plot of an ordinary american struggling to pay their bills. from his ivory tower, his skyscraper in florida, his club, oh, he's still happy with his golf courses. he has no idea of the pain this is inflicting on people, and if someone explained it to him, he doesn't care. that says a lot about the failure of leadership, and this writer said, don't hold me and my middle-class family hostage to a rich man's antics.

air traffic controllers are essential for the safety of our air traffic across this country. i received a stack of letters last week that were handwritten, old fashioned, ink on paper, all kinds of different paper, all different closer of pen, handwritten by oregon air traffic controllers who are absolutely incensed with what is going on. being an air traffic controller is an unbelievably tough job. you are responsible for thousands of lives at any given moment. you have to be on your game 100% of the time. it can't be 99.5% or a plane is going to crash on you that day. these folks are working without pay, inflicting stress, anxiety on people who should have their

full -- absolute full attention solely on the job of making sure no plane hits another. james furgeson of forest grove writes, if the shutdown lasts any longer, i will lose my health insurance and will no longer be able to pay for my son's 1-year-old physical therapy, potentially adding months to correct his spine and neck muscle problems. another example of the pain. here is a parent who feels the affliction -- the medical affliction of their child is going to be ex enter waited -- is going to be worse by the actions of the republican in this senate and by the president in the oval office. james isn't complaining that he

needs to go shopping for new clothes or wants to check out a new car. he's worried about his infant child getting medical care. he's worried about his infant child having his recovery, his improvement be stalled or damaged by this callous, inhumane shutdown. trevor stokes of hills borough, and his wife are veterans of the u.s. navy. they certainly are no strangers to sack fies for -- sacrificing for their country. trevor writes in his letter, quote, over the past few weeks during the shutdown, i have worked over christmas and new years as well as their eves, i was not table to spend time with my family which is a necessary sacrifice. then he says, now our financial future is uncertain to a

potentially long unpaid period. i had to withdraw from mutual funds just to cover monthly financial obligations. my family and the families of my air traffic families have suffered from the loss of income. please end the shutdown. we ask so much of these people. we ask long hours and missed holidays in the name of protecting us as travelers. shouldn't we also be looking out for them and -- in their time of need? why don't we reopen the department of transportation and make sure our air traffic controllers start getting paid? all of these individuals are saying do your job. do your job. do your job. senate leadership, do your job.

put the bills that have passed the senate already back on here so we can send them to the oval office. do our job. this trump-mcconnell shutdown, this inaction of the senate, abdicating its responsibility, isn't that exactly parallel to nero fiddling while rome burned? that fire here in america is touching the lives of so many. 800,000 workers without pay, thousands more contractors, millions of americans caught in limbo in the midst of an important transaction, applying

for an agricultural loan, trying to get a mortgage, signing up for help from the small business administration to launch their business, getting their paperwork processed in one of a thousand different ways. and here the leadership fiddles while the american public suffers. it is wrong. it may not be comfortable to have a debate on these spending bills. it may not be comfortable to vote on these bills. it may not be sweet to support or oppose a particular amendment. but you know what's worse? what's worse is doing nothing. and that's what this chamber is doing right now. it is doing nothing despite our responsibility to the millions of americans to act.

so let's change that. let's change it now. i understand that the majority is going on a retreat. how about instead of going on a retreat to play the fiddle, instead you be here on the floor and put these bills on the floor. let's get all 100 senators on this floor and actually talk to each other, actually wrestle with the issues, actually make our arguments, actually take the votes instead of going off somewhere to party. that is just wrong. mr. president, i encourage the majority leader to read the letter that was sent to him today from the freshmen in the house of representatives down the hall. the freshmen haven't been here long enough to become cynical. they haven't become trapped in the partisan boundaries, that

warfare that seems to ensnare so much of this chamber and the chamber across the way. they're here fresh from other occupations and other responsibilities, still full of the common sense and passion to do what's right for the american people. so let's listen to them. they sent a letter today to majority leader mcconnell which i read on the floor earlier today, and they said put the bills on the floor. put the spending bills on the floor. the bills already passed here in the republican senate or passed overwhelmingly by the republican-led appropriations committee, endorsed by the democratic house. put them on the floor and act. let's listen to the freshmen down the hall. they are reminding us that we have a responsibility to act,

and let's do so immediately. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until mr. mcconnell: one dollar -- one dollar. that's the amount that the speaker of the house recently said she'd be willing to invest in