the hardship in a way that will lead to a shutdown. [inaudible conversations] >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage find it anytime online. videos and debates, events, markers that guides you to news worthy highlights. these point of interest markers are on the right-hand side of your screen. when you play videos, these will help you look at what was debated in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by

these companies and more, including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center? no, it's way more than that. comcast is partnering with a thousand community centers to create wi-fi enabling listening so students from low income families can get the tools they need for ything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> and this morning, senate lawmakers continue work on a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown on saturday at midnight. nell' vote at 11:45 a.m. eastern time to debate the measure. take you to the floor of the senate on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. immortal, invisible, god only wise, you still work wonders in the earth. teach us to do your will. teach us that prayer still brings results. teach us that we need not fear what the future holds, for your mercies endure forever. teach us that your blessings come new every day. teach us to number our days, to appreciate life's precious moments.

lord, teach us that you are able to do immeasurably, abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine according to your power working and through us. as our lawmakers continue to attempt to avert a government shutdowns, give them courage and wisdom for the living of these days. we pray in your sovereign 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. president pro tempore under the previous order, leadership time is reserve. the president pro tempore: morning business is closed and the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed h.r. 3935. the presiding officer: the clerk: motion to proceed to h.r. 3935, an act to reauthorize and improve the federal aviation administration and other civil aviation programs, and for other aviation programs, and for other

and its general jurisdiction over power utilities will focus

today on that aspect of the disaster. today what we learned today while the vote efforts at the federal, state, local and utility level to protect constituents and ratepayers and reduce the chances of preventable losses of life and property for wildfires in the future. that said, i will also tell you that we have another hearing going on downstairs where we look at the electric grid, and so you'll see members move in and out although some members are on both subcommittees. i think the witnesses for being here and participating in our efforts learned from this horrible event and to prevent summer disaster from unfolding. with that i get back in the recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee for her five-minute opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, everyone. just over seven weeks ago horrible wildfires devastated the town of lahaina on the island of maui and why. this was and horrific tragedy

and on behalf of of the democratic side we extend our sincere condolences. nearly 100 people died, many more, more have lost their homes and businesses. the first hand accounts of how quickly the fire spread in the chaos and confusion the resulted are horrendous. many hawaiian neighbors military service and coast guard members raced to rescue people that day. they worked through the smoke, flames and pollution to save lives. they are heroes. many other spot respond in the immediate aftermath and more are on the ground now dedicated to recovery and relief. understand over 27 federal partners including fema, epa, u.s. army and the small business administration are helping the people of maui get back on their feet. i appreciate the hands-on approach, represented and

senators in and how their supporting and advocating for their neighbors. top of mine for the congress at this moment of a threatened government shutdown must be to ensure that the recovery work continues uninterrupted for the people of maui. today i hope we can learn more about the conditions that cause the fire and what else congress can do for the island. there are things that we do know already. we know that strong winds from a nearby hurricane combined with drought conditions and dry vegetation led to advanced warning of fire on maui we know that the fire started on the edge of town in lahaina on the west coast and quickly grew out of control. ultimately devastating account and claiming the lives of too many neighbors. fire crews were deal with another fire miles away. we know that people are still suffering from the losses of their friends, family and homes, and the firefighters are still

working to contain wildfires elsewhere. what we do not know is exact cause of the fire and what more if anything could have done to the it from starting or spreading. hawaiian electric said that one of its power lines ignited an earlier fire in lahaina the morning of august 8. the maui fire department said it had extinguished that fire within i i was report again ie same location and it quickly spread. while the national weather service in honolulu begin issuing alerts days before the lahaina fire began, important questions remain about whether more could've been done to notify residents or deacon adjust powerlines sooner. there are also critical questions about the steps local officials took in the five years since wildfires struck maui in 2018. these are important questions that are already being

investigated, and while i strongly believe that we and congress have an important oversight role to play, i do think it would have been helpful to have the benefit of the on the ground finding from the authorities before pulling the intention of her witnesses away from recovery efforts to appear before us. nonetheless, i appreciate your willingness to be a today and hope we can learn more about this tragedy. whether an help might've been prevented, luckily done to prevent future tragedies like this. including, including ensuring that investments made for great hardening under the 5% infrastructure law and inflation reduction act are delivered quickly and effectively. i would also like to learn more about how electric and other infrastructure can be rebuilt any more resilient way. it's only been seven weeks since the lahaina fire and emergency is not over. investigators deserve time to do their work thoroughly and present their findings to

present their funny. can we get a clear picture our focus must continue to be on relief and recovery efforts for the people of maui. and that includes keeping government open and ensuring that federal resources are available to them. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> gentle idiots back. now reckon it's a chairwoman, chair of the full committee ms. mcmorris rodgers for five minutes. >> thank you, chair. [inaudible] >> critical one. when examining the tragic events that unfolded on the hawaiian island of maui last month. on august 7 and 8th a series of fires broke out on the island including one that destroyed the town of lahaina. our deepest condolences to the people of maui as as a face a daunting task of rebuilding their community, mourned the loss 11 dash with loved ones and

grapple with the memories of that terrifying day. the pain of seeing your home and your neighbors home destroyed within a matter of hours or even minutes is get ranging. of these 97 lives were lost to this disaster. we continue to pray that god provides straight and comfort to their loved ones. many are still missing. according to investment from the university of hawaii pacific disaster center at least 2200 buildings were destroyed, with about 86% of those building being residential. we must do everything we can to minimize the chance that such a destructive and deadly disaster will occur again on maui or anywhere else in the country. and, unfortunately, if we fail to learn from this event it very well could. the hawaii wildlife management associate, organization report that each year the percentage of total land burned by wildfire in hawaii is equal to or greater than any other state in the nation.

and according to the wildfire experts, from the university of hawaii, the area burned across all four counties in hawaii each year has increased by 300% within the last several decades. eastern washingtonians are no strangers to the disaster, disastrous consequences of wildfires either. last month the great and oregon road fires destroyed hundreds of homes, forced evacuations and have been linked to two deaths. how did your still recovering from and coping with the destruction of these wildfires. while it's difficult revisit the disaster that occurred on maui we must examine any factors that could cause or worsen the emergency. identify any unnecessary hazards that were allowed to persist, and pin point any additional precautions that could have been taken. i understand debate about the factors behind the cause and spread of the fires continue, but that hawaiian electric acknowledged that an early morning fire on august 8 appears

to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds. what happened after that, particularly concerning the second fight us went through lahaina that afternoon and destroyed lives and the town remains open to an investigation. part of our job here in congress to ensure that every american has access to affordable and reliable energy and the responsibility includes making sure that energy comes from safe, well-maintained infrastructure. there's been a lot of emphasis on some of the competing priorities when it comes to modernizing our electric grid in recent years. however, we must make sure that safety remains a top priority. a grid that is not prepared for extreme weather or isn't adequately maintained is not only unreliable but also unacceptable, , unacceptable safety hazard that could potentially cost billions and endanger lives. while we cannot prevent and control every hazards such as the high winds that struck maui,

leading up to the fire, we must harden our grid to have, address wildfire risk such as education, overgrowth and implement appropriate precautions for extreme weather. we appreciate all the witnesses traveling across the country to be here today. you have a difficult road ahead of you in rebuilding after this tragic event. i hope that today we can learn how congress can be a strong partner for utilities and state agencies and addressing great safety concerns. while there's other investigations ongoing we hope this hearing provides some clarity on how and why this disaster unfolded in such a catastrophic manner and what steps can be taken to minimize the likelihood of it occurring again. i yield back, mr. chairman. >> gentlelady yields back. recognize a ranking of the full committee, mr. pallone for his five-minute opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the wildfires that swept through the town of lahaina on august 8

were catastrophic disaster, and i want to offer my deepest sympathies to all those affected. it's a devastating tragedy and we must ensure that congress, of course supports and anyway we can. there are many unanswered questions about how this terrible tragedy happened, and i'm not going to go through all the things that already been mentioned by my colleagues in terms of what actually happened or what we know. but he know that first respos tried to contain the blaze and some residents were able to evacuate but tragically wasn't enough and the fire went completely out of control. i also want to say that we can't overestimate over overstate the enormity of the disaster and the destruction it brought and the fact that so many people died and are still missing, and many of the deceased have not been identified, and many residents are living in temporary shelters because their homes are gone.

officials estimate that over 2000 structures were damaged or destroyed. it's going to be a very long road to rebuild, and emergency responders as has been mentioned are still working day and night to fight the ongoing fires in remote areas of the island. many factors appear to have contributed to the catastrophic scale of this fire. extremely high winds pushing flames through dry vegetation, rapidly escalated the fire spread and prevented successful firefighting efforts. evacuation routes were blocked by police due to downed trees and power lines which resulted in bottlenecks and grid locks on the few roads in and out of lahaina. and power outages damaged cell towers exacerbated medication problems and created for the confusion. we do not know what emergency sirens were not activated to one resident or what role electric grid may have played in sparking the private ultimate destroyed lahaina. in terms of a government response the acting government declared a state of emergency the day the fire started and two

days later governor green requested the disaster declaration which was immediately granted by the biden administration. within 48 hours fema was on the ground in maui assembling crews for search and rescue and survivor assistance. several official investigations are underway to get to the bottom of this disaster. the hawaii attorney joe has commissioned the fire safety research institute to conduct a thorough examination causes, is expected to make multiple inner reports before issuing a final report and recommendations around next year. those on the ground with the most information and experience, appropriate authorities to examine the causes of the fire and i look forward hearing from our witnesses but i am concerned this hearing is shifting intention and resources away from ongoing relief efforts on maui and the official investigations are still in the early stages. congress should focus on

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, today, the u.s. senate will continue its pursuit of a bipartisan, bridge c.r., to avoid a devastating government shutdown. in a little over an hour, we'll vote on the motion to proceed to the faa reauthorization, which will serve as a vehicle for the c.r. i announced, with leader mcconnell, two days ago. once we're on the bill, i will be introducing the substitute amendment, which will contain the legislative text of the bipartisan bridge c.r., which both -- which the appropriations committee worked so hard on. again, i salute senators murray and collins for the good job they have done. i will file cloture on the substitute and underlying bill. so members can expect to vote for cloture on saturday, if not sooner. things are coming down to the wire. as i've said for months, congress has only one option --

one option to avoid a shutdown, bipartisanship. it was true yesterday. it is true today. it will be true tomorrow. with bipartisanship, we can responsibly fund the government and avoid the sharp and unnecessary pain for the american people and the economy that a shutdown will bring. with bipartisanship we can speed along this process here in the senate, we can come to an agreement on voting on amendments, and allow the senate to work its will in a timely fashion. with bipartisanship, we can make good on the deal reached earlier this summer to avoid default. remember, mr. president, remember, bipartisan majorities agreed to funding levels back in june. the leaders of the house, the senate, the white house, we all shook hands on this deal. but now the speaker, and only the speaker, is going back on

his word. he is the only one of the five to go back on his word. what he is saying, by being the only one to go back on his word, speaker mccarthy is saying he cares more about the whims of the hard right, the hard, hard right, than avoiding a shutdown. we cannot have that. we need bipartisanship. if her with sists in partisan -- if he persists in partisan, which he's doing now by always looking over his hard-right shoulder, he will create a shutdown. sadly, every move the speaker has taken since the bipartisan deal in june has been to shred any prospects of bipartisanship. by focusing on the views of the radical few, instead of the many, speaker mccarthy has made a shutdown far more likely. let me say that again. let me say that again.

by focusing on the views of the radical few, instead of the many, speaker mccarthy has made a shutdown far more likely. despite the fact that many on both sides want to work together, despite the fact that here in the senate we're pursuing bipartisanship, the speaker has chosen to elevate the whims and desires of a handful of hard-right extremists, and has nothing to show for it. we saw glaring examples last night. last night, on the floor of the house, the house voted twice, with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, to keep ukraine funding in the house defense appropriations bill. each time, with over 330 votes, a majority of both democratic and republican members. and yet, after the vote, the house leader, republican leadership in the house, subverted the are of the -- the

will of the house by going to the rules committee and cut the aid to ukraine anyway. can you believe that? ten or so extremists, who don't care at all about governing, about preserving democracy or america's strength in the world, hold more sway in speaker mccarthy's mind than the majority of his party and the vast majority of the house of representatives, which he leads. we need to be showing strength against putin, not weakness. we need to be defending democracy, not abandoning our friends abroad. speaker mccarthy is letting a small band of very extreme members override the views of everyone else. it's the tail wagging the dog. that's the crux of the entire shutdown message. if speaker mccarthy continues on his path, it will have cons fences -- consequences for years to come. if we're forced to abandon

ukraine, by a handful of extreme people who seem to have no sense of the reality of the world, we will pay a price for years to come. how can speaker mccarthy let that happen? how can he let that happen? a divided government demands compromise. by ignoring this, speaker mccarthy is driving the country right to a -- straight to a shutdown. the longer he resists bipartisanship, the greater the damage of a shutdown will be to the american people. it's been alarming over the last few days to listen to some of my house colleagues on the hard right talk so casually about shutting the government down. some of them seem proud to do it. they sort of brag about it. it's incredible. they seem completely unbothered that, in a shutdown, over a million active duty military members won't get their pay. a shutdown would degrade troop readiness and devastate the

southern border. something our friends on the other side, who claim to care about border security, conveniently ignore. small business would lose access to capital. homebuyers would be unable to secure loans. our supply chains would be imperiled. and costs for american families would go up and up. all because of a needless shutdown. caused about i a few extreme -- caused by a few extremists and speaker mccarthy's obeisance to them. this will all become a reality, unfortunately, in less than three days, unless speaker mccarthy abandons his doomed mission of subcoupling to the maga radicals. the only way, i have to repeat it, maybe it will sink in over there, the only way we prevent a government shutdown is voting on legislation that can get bipartisan support. that's what we'll work on here in the senate today. as i've said, the bill before us later today is a bridge, not the final destination.

i urge my colleagues to continue to work to advance this bipartisan bridge c.r. and to avoid a reckless and devastating government shutdown. the senate once again is called on to lead by example, to lead the house and the speaker by example. now, on safer banking, yesterday, the safer banking act, i'm happy to say, was reported out of the banking committee with a good, bipartisan majority of 14-9. the next step is to bring safer banking to the floor for a vote, which i will do soon. i worked long around hard -- long and hard, for years, to get us to this point. now, the senate is one step, one crucial step closer to helping cannabis businesses operate more efficiently, more safely and more transparently in the states that allow cannabis to be sold. i brought together a bipartisan coalition, with senators merkley and daines, lummis, sinema, reed, and we committed to

reaching a deal on the issue. i'm really proud of the bipartisan deal we produced. i also want to thank chairman brown, ranking member scott, for moving safer banking through the committee. again, let me repeat, my other colleagues were heavily involved, senators lummis and sinema and reed and, of course, merkley and daines, the lead sponsors of the safer banking bill. safer banking's bipartisan vote in the banking committee underscores how much momentum we have right now on cannabis banking, and how important the issue is for so many business owners and communities across the country. no industry has the ability to thrive if its businesses can't access basic banking infrastructure, especially not an industry growing as quickly and one as new as the cannabis industry. cannabis must always be in the business of promoting

entrepreneurs, promoting small businesses, promoting job growth. safer banking will do that precisely in the cannabis industry, connected cannabis businesses to resources like bank accounts and small business loans, creating a safer and more transparent environment in which they can grow. when i go to the floor, we will add very significant criminal justice provisions to the bill as well. and that is important as well, and i'll talk more about that at a later time. so again, thanks to my colleagues on both sides for their cooperation on this legislation. we've been working on it for years. now is the time to get it done. i yield the floor. and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: well, congress has three days left to pass straightforward short-term funding legislation and prevent the federal government from shutting down. that's three more days to provide essential resources at the current rate of operations before critical government functions come to a screemping halt. -- to a screeching halt. let's be absolutely clear about what's at stake. shutting down the government is not like pressing pause. it's not an interlude that let's us pick up where we left off. it's an actively harmful proposition. instead of producing any

meaningful policy outcomes, it would actually take the important progress being made on a number of key issues and drag it backward. back in 2019, our colleagues on the homeland security and government affairs committee found that over the previous five years, government shutdowns had cost the taxpayer nearly $4 billion, $4 billion. the american people covered at least $3.7 billion in backpay for federal workers. some went to servicemembers, law enforcement officers, and other frontline personnel who actually stayed on duty. but some went to cover the equivalent of nearly 57,000 years of work that federal

employees hadn't even been allowed to complete, and that's not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in extra administrative costs. america cannot afford for congress to take government shutdown lightly. that's especially true of the crisis at our nation's southern border. the biden administration's utter failure at the border has been record breaking in worst possible ways. open borders have led to an all-time high. migration and stretched border security resources literally to the breaking point. meanwhile, flows of deadly drugs have made every state actually a border state. in fact, the border patrol reported recently in the past year agents have seized enough

fentanyl alone to kill the entire population of the united states. and time again government shutdowns have made the essential work of the border patrol and ice even harder. many of our colleagues have pointed out how border security personnel liked armed forces would work through a shutdown without pay. but the full consequences go beyond financial hardship. as our colleagues' 2019 report found, past shutdowns have delayed important maintenance and repair work that, quote, endangered the lives of law enforcement officers and created significant border security vulnerabilities. they forced officials to cancel tens of thousands of immigration hearings, and they've taken the department of homeland

security's employee e-verify system completely offline. mr. president, shutting down the government is a choice and it's a choice that would make the crisis at our southern border even worse. i'm encouraged that many of our colleagues who share my concerns are working to ensure that the short-term funding measure that we pass this week gives the men and women of border patrol and ice critical resources while we continue our work to clean up washington democrats' mess. now, on an entirely different matter, this week the senate will have the opportunity to push back one more time on a pair of shortsighted biden administrative policies with major consequences for small business and land owners across america. earlier this year thanks to the leadership of our colleague, the junior senator from kansas and the junior senator from oklahoma, the senate passed two

resolutions disapproving of president biden's decision to list to creatures, the lesser prairie-chicken and the northern long-eared bat as endangered species. as is so often the case under the endangered species act, this move by washington bureaucrats would encroach on private property rights and to block infrastructure and economic development in the name of preserving habitat. as many as 37 states would be affected by the designation of the northern long-eared bat as endangered, and nearly $14 billion in agricultural production would be affected by the designation of the lesser prairie prairie-chicken. in reality estimates show that numbers of lesser

prairie-chickens have grown from less than 17,000 in 2013 to over 26,000 in 2022. and the president's own experts admit that the declining proper laition of northern long -- population of northern long-eared bats is mostly explained by disease, not humans. of course that hasn't stopped the biden administration from pushing ahead with a plan to infringe on property rights, impede urgent infrastructure, and put even more of america's energy abundance literally out of reach. so i'd like to thank senator marshall and senator mullin for their leadership on these resolutions and i'd like to urge each of our colleagues to join me in voting to override the president's veto.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, it's that time of year again, ending the month of september, starting a new fiscal year. we have a responsibility we accept as members of congress to do some things. answer roll calls, respond to our constituents, keep the lights on and the federal government. the third issue is one which we are contesting this week. the senate i believe has taken a responsible, thoughtful approach to this. it gets down to basics. there are 51 democrats, 49 republicans effectively. and most measures of consequence require more than a majority vote. so the decision was made by both senator schumer and senator mcconnell to put together a continuing resolution which is a

stopgap spending measure on a bipartisan basis so that we would have partisanship as the starting point and they achieve that. they achieve that in a way that surprised a lot of people because we had a procedural vote in the senate on the senate bipartisan continuing resolution and 77 senators voted in favor. now, 77 senators in the united states senate is more than just a supermajority. it's a pretty impressive number and it doesn't happen very often. on tuesday evening, the senate appropriations committee chair, senator pat any murray -- patty murray of washington working with republican senator susan collins of maine released a text of the bipartisan continuing resolution. it spelled out what we think needs to be done to keep the government open and functioning for about six or seven weeks until november 17.

giving us time to negotiate a budget for the remainder of the year. i would quickly add that the efforts of senator murray and senator collins in the appropriations committee leading up to this moment were historic in nature. it's been more than five years i believe since we've come to the floor and actually debated spending bills and actually amended spending bills on the floor. we're usually faced with short-term spending bills or omnibus bills that combine the entire budget in one massive piece of legislation. but senators murray and collins had us moving in the right direction, a bipartisan direction, and that's evidenced as well in their efforts in this continuing resolution. this continuing resolution does more than keep the lights on. it includes crucial emergency assistance and program extensions. it includes $6.5 billion to maintain our commitment to ukraine and $6 billion to help

fema respond to federally declared disasters, including one in my state of illinois where 20 counties are working to recover from the impact of summer storms. it would prevent a lapse in funding for critical health care efforts, like the community health care centers. i'm sure the presiding officer has visited many of these centers in his state. i have in my state. it really is one of the more amazing products coming out of the affordable care act. i can remember when senators met the last minute and demanded that we fund these community health care clinics as part of the bill. it was a stroke of genius. it meant that people of limited means would have access to quality medical care. i've said and it's not political puffery that if i were seriously ill, i would gladly visit one of these clinics and seek treatment because i think they're of that good.

also the special nutrition program for infants, women and children. it's one thing to give speeches about mothers surviving pregnancy and about young children getting off to a strong start in life, it's another thing to put bread on the table. the wic program puts bread on the table. we would also extend the authorization of the federal aviation administration through december 31. how important is safety in airline travel? critically important. if you remember the last time there was a threat of shutting down the government, it was the people responsible for regulating and keeping our planes safe. it convinced us we could no longer play that gaism. i hope we no longer have to go through that experience again. 77 senators recognized that bipartisanship was the solution to avoiding a shutdown. that includes the democratic chair of the senate

appropriations committee and the ranking member who i noted. unfortunately over in the house it's just an exercise in chaos. speaker mccarthy declared that the bipartisan senate continuing resolution is dead on arrival. our bipartisan bill, worked out with both sides of the aisle, with 77 votes, he has dismissed as unacceptable. he has chosen the far-right rebellion of a few maga hard-right rebellions over the continued orderly work of the government. for however long it takes the speaker to gain control of this small faction of his party, federal employees and military servicemembers ll go without paychecks for their families. they are intent on slashing

millions from social programs, and before they'll even begin to discuss keeping the government open. the american people deserve better. i just left's meeting in the senate judiciary committee, and senator graham raised a legitimate concern at the border. we are swamped with people seeking entry into the united states. this is not unusual. if you look around the world, that's happening in many places. there are so many people now who have been dislocated from their homes that the refugee experts tell us there's no record of such a number in the modern history of the world. it's no surprise that the united states, as -- united states as a prized destination is experiencing this. why would we take the men and women on the border now trying to keep us safe and try to make

a dramatic budget cut in their agency? just the opposite of what we need. we need the resources and personnel to avoid shutting down the border. attaching their political agenda to the border say that they want to discuss these issues before any serious measure is considered. the american people deserve better. we're not a bargaining chip. a shutdown would harm every american who relies on government services, small business loans, if you can imagine, stalled medical research at the national institutes of health, and jeopardized nutrition assistance for low income women, infants and children. it would deprive children access to head start. it would likely cause travel delays because more than 13,000 air traffic controllers and 15,000 tsa officers would be

forced to work without pay. it would furlough a thousand air traffic controllers who are now being trained filling vacancies critically important at that agency. shutdowns are slowing down our progress and jeopardizing jobs and future economic growth. they also tell the world that in america politics can rule. it can get in the way of basically paying our bills, providing service to people and providing the day-to-day business. the last shutdown left to 6,090 years of loss productivity and cost more in taxpayers, which is being wasted because of the shutdown. the last full shutdown in 2015, reduced gross domestic product by $20 billion and a five-week partial shutdown in 2018 reduced

economic output by $11 billion. i ask my republican colleagues to resist making shutdowns a tradition. if we have the option of keeping the government funded, why put the nation through this pain? funding the government is one of the essential parts of this job. it's time that we meet our responsibility and do it in a way that doesn't disrupt america's livelihood and well-being the -- well-being. we need to finish the full-year appropriations process, i urge that those in the chamber pass the senate continuing resolution so we can continue the important process of funding the government in a grownup, responsible way for the year 2024. mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: the senate's not in a quorum call, is that right? the presiding officer: yes. mr. thune: three weeks ago the administration announced a cancellation of seven oil and gas leases in a small portion of anwar, the arctic national wildlife refugee that is ready

for energy exploration and development. it is the latest move by the biden administration to stifle conventional energy production. in his state of the union address, the president acknowledged, and i quote, we're going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond that. end quote. let me repeat that, mr. president. and, again, these are president biden's own words. we're going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond that. well, in this case the president's right. while a turn of energy is power and increasing energy production, we are nowhere near able to rely on all the energy technologies, we will -- alternative technologies. we will he need conventional energy for quite a bit. the best way to do that is by developing the abundant domestic

resources in an environmentally responsible way. but the president's plan seems to have us relying on opec and rely on expensive imports from sometimes dangerous countries and regions. there are multiple problems with relying on foreign sources of oil, hot the least of which is the potential for our oil dollars to fund oppressive regimes. even leaving that aside, depending on foreign oil sources threatens the stability and affordability of our oil supply. you only need to look at the energy challenges and soaring costs that countries like germany have faced in after the russian invasion of ukraine, how perilous it can be to rely on another country for energy, oil and gas production here in the united states is likely to be substantially more environmentally friendly than a lot of foreign production.

mr. president, the president's war on domestic production isn't the only dangerous element of his energy strategy. also of deep concern is the president's apparent determination for americans to adopt electric vehicles on a broad scale within the next decade. why is this so concerning? because our electric grid is nowhere near capable of supporting that kind of widespread transition to electric vehicles. rising electricity demand is stretching our grid which has been weakened by the move away from traditional energy sources. in the response to overreaching green new deal, nerc, for the first time identified energy policy as a risk to grid reliability in its recent biannual report.

discussing the move away from conventionally -- conventional sources of energy, nerc found that collectively the new resource mix can lead to widespread extreme events such as extreme temperatures or loss of wind, solar that can impact the ability to provide sufficient energy as the fuel supply is less certain, end quote. in february, the pga m connection which manages the electric grid released a report warning that fossil fuel plants are being forced to retire than a -- as a faster rate than renewables can be brought online at a rate of 2-1. we are rapidly approaching a situation which we simply don't have the ability to keep up with

current electricity demand. add charging for tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles on top of that and we could be looking at a future of widespread blackouts and brownouts, to say nothing of soaring electricity prices. i should also mention that the biden administration's proposed distribution transformer rule which would require a move to more steel cores for more transformers, what that would do to the grid is simply no favor whatsoever. it would worsen supply chain issues and seriously slow grid maintenance and upgrades. and the supply chain backlog also facing epa regulations. i don't need to tell anyone that

utility bills for electricity and natural gas have risen dramatically since president biden took office, as have gas prices. it's a predictable outcome of the economic policies president biden has pursued. if his war on conventional energy continues, today's high prices could look cheap next to the energy prices of the future. mr. president, i'm a strong and long-time supporter of renewable energy, and i am proud to be from a state that is a top producer of ethanol and that drives a substantial portion of its electricity generation from renewable resources like wind and hydroelectric, but the fact of the matter is energy technology has simply not advanced to the point where we can rely solely, or even for that matter mostly, on renewables. while the president may

sometimes pay lib service for our continuing need for conventional enter, his actual policies are setting us up for a future of higher prices, grid instability and insufficient supply. the president's policies have already resulted in a two-year-plus inflation crisis. if he keeps going the way he's been going, his legacy may include an energy crisis as well. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call. quorum call: quorum call:

doing and what does it mean for any sort of deal that would avoid a shutdown? >> good morning. i will try to explain this simply as possible. there two tracks right now. one is the short-term funding bill needed to avert any government shutdown saturday at midnight. the senate put together, with a deal for a bill for november 17. it has enough support to pastor

the upper chamber but it is going through a lot of totals right now. some senators including rand paul or making sure they slow down as much as they can but there will not be a speedy boat sending it to the house. the house is another problem in that it does not see eye to eye on the senate the plants in the house to introduce cr and bring it to the floor, he says by friday, that would be preserved short-term funding bill that would not include ukraine money, this experience that you mentioned. it would include hr to look for security package that i think the senate would have a really hard time making and the white

house would have a hard time putting that into law so the two chambers are not seeing eye to eye on any short-term funding path which is why so many of us on capitol hill think this is heading toward a shut down this weekend at least short-term, perhaps even longer. separately, i mentioned this other tracks, the appropriation bill the house is moving to their chamber. they have went through a series yesterday they will try to pass a package of the single subject appropriation bill. today these are bills that include, cut further than the deal president biden and kevin mccarthy negotiated and that has criticism from the president himself saying mccarthy made a deal, a deal is a deal.

he said this yesterday. he said kevin mccarthy has to work out between factions of his own gop conference and mccarthy is trying to affect blame on the president saying he needs to shore up the border and cut spending in america. a lot of finger-pointing suggesting me and so many others is heading toward a shutdown. >> does the speaker have the boat or whatever continuing resolution is on the floor friday? >> that's why he's going to his tedious process because he's hoping passing some of the bills by himself grace from conservatives in his conference and they will be more willing to hope for a cr.

conservative lawmaker will not vote for cr under any circumstance so it doesn't appear that mccarthy has the boat to pass a conservative cr relying on republicans in his own party. he would have to reach across the aisle to get the government open, democrats bail him out in this situation but as we have discussed so many times before, doing so could cause his other foes to make a motion to remove speaker the house. that threat is yesterday saying mccarthy put it on the floor, i will move forward with an effort to remove him.

>> there is some reporting for senate republicans may try to add border security amendment in their debate in the upper chambers to appease the house. how do you think mitch mcconnell and other republicans who voted for this resolution to come, how do you think they would vote on this provision? >> clearly mitch mcconnell and others support additional border security given the migrant crisis and images we see at the border and the images in major american city sees. mitch mcconnell has signed off on this mcconnell schumer short-term cr. he spoke out yesterday and spoken favorable terms you need to keep the government open, it is critical.

the white house on top of that has been making.that a shutdown, border security agents would go unpaid. tens of thousands of american troops protecting this country would go without pay so they believe democrats white house, remind national security if we head into a shutdown including when it comes to protecting the border. >> finally, senator bob menendez is expected to address senate democratic colleagues behind closed doors today. what you know about that meeting. >> what we know from what he's said, he has been defiant and denied all charges. he pleaded not guilty yesterday. in an interview he said he may change his innocence and said that's why i am not resigning

despite or so calls of democratic members. they have come forward publicly and reporters in the capital saying menendez, based on the seriousness of the charges in details of the charges must. menendez will make this case and explain, we hope in detail because we haven't heard too much yet to make that case about why he should remain senator. democrats are saying is choice, no talk of expulsion but democratic senators want to hear from him and believe he wants to

explain allegations in a personal way with people he works with and rubs shoulders with everyday. >> chuck schumer answer the question whether or not he should resign and why he stayed on as chair in the senate during this investigation. >> some called lori within 30 members of the senate have grown far number two senator schumer has, i came together with the house of representatives and over to the senate and worked, a lot of cooperation between them

and senator schumer pronounced leader, he said will play out and leave the commentary for others really it is impacting caucus in a severe way. a handful of democrats told me this past week they will there consequences to having menendez remain in the senate. a very narrow majority in they believe there will be a number of vulnerable members on the ballot this year and menendez state through the general election drink during colleagues and perhaps as john fetterman said, put the united states senate majority at risk milk you can follow is reporting on nbc

news.com and at nbc news as well. thank you as always.

it is true yesterday, true today and will be tomorrow. bipartisanship weekend fund the government and avoid unnecessary pain from the american people and the economy shut down. bipartisanship we can speed along this process in the senate and come to an agreement voting on amendments allow it to work in a timely fashion. with bipartisanship we can make good on the deal made the summer to avoid default. remember bipartisan majority agreed funding levels and leaders of the house and senate and we all shook hands on this deal but now the speaker and only the speaker is going back on his word and the only one going back on his word.

what he is saying, speaker mccarthy is saying he cares more about the winds of the hard right, hard hurt right then avoiding a shutdown. we cannot have that. we need bipartisanship to persistent partisanship which he's doing now looking over his heart rate shoulder and he will create a shutdown. sadly, every move the speaker has taken since the deal and doing has been to shred any prospects of bipartisanship by focusing on the views of the radical view instead of the many speaker mccarthy is made a shutdown far more likely. let me say that again. by focusing on the use of the radical view instead of the

many, speaker mccarthy has made a shutdown far more likely. despite the fact that the on both sides want to work together, despite the fact that here in the senate we are pursuing bipartisanship the speaker has chosen to elevate winds and desires of a handful of extremists and has nothing to show for it. he saw examples last night. last night on the door of the house the house good twice with overwhelming bipartisan majority to keep ukraine funding in the house defense appropriation bill. each time with over 330 votes majority vote democrat and republican. after the vote, the house leader, republican leadership in the house subverted the will of the house by going to the rules committee and cut aid to ukraine

anyway. can you believe that? extremists who don't care about governing, preserving markers the for america's in the world hold more sway in speaker mccarthy's mind than the majority of his party and vast majority of the house of representatives. we need to show strength against putin, not weakness, we need to defend democracy, not abandon friend abroad. speaker mccarthy is letting a small band of extreme members, override the views of everyone else, the tail waking the dog. that's the crux of the entire shutdown and speaker mccarthy continues on this path, there will be consequences for years to come. if we are forced to abandon ukraine by a handful of extreme people with no sense of the reality of the world, we will

pay a price for years to come. how can speaker mccarthy let that happen? how can he let that happen? a divided government demands. by ignoring this, speaker mccarthy's driving the country straight to a shutdown and the longer we resist bipartisanship, the greater the damage of the shutdown will be. it's been alarming the last few days to listen to house colleagues on the hard right casually about shutting the government down. some seem proud to do it and brag about it. incredible. they seem bothered over active duty military members who won't get the bed. the shutdown would be great and devastate our southern border, something friends on the other side and they conveniently

ignore. small business would lose access to capital, homebuyers with able to secure an cost for american families would go up and up because of a jesus shutdown because but a few extremists in speaker mccarthy's and this will become a reality in less than three days unless speaker mccarthy comes to minor radicals. the only way, i keep looking because maybe it will sink in, the only way we prevent a government shutdown is voting on legislation i can get bipartisan support. that's what will work on the senate here today. as i've said, the bill before us is a bridge, not the final destination. i urge my colleagues to continue to work to advance this bipartisan which tr avoid

reckless government shutdown. the senate is called on to lead by example, the house and speaker by example. >> congress has three days left, straightforward legislation. to prevent the federal government from shutting down. that's three more days to provide essential resources at the current rate of operations and critical government sessions come to a screeching halt. what's up steak, the government and pressing because, not in interlude and pick up where we left off, actively harmful

proposition instead of reducing meaningful policy outcomes, it would take important progress made in a number of key issues. in 2019, our colleagues in homeland security and government affairs committee found over the previous five years government shutdown crossed the taxpayer nearly $4 billion. the american people at least 3.7 billion in back pay for federal workers service members, law enforcement officers and other frontline personnel who stayed on duty for some covered

the equivalent of nearly 57000 years of work federal employees hasn't been allowed to complete. that's not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in extra administrative costs. america cannot afford congress to take government shutdown lightly. that's especially true of the crisis at our nation's southern border. the biden administration's utter failure to secure the border has been record-breaking and worst possible place. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to modify the previous order in relation to the veto messages on s.j. res. 9 and s.j. res. 24 so that beginning at 2:20 p.m. today, there be up to

20 minutes for debate concurrently and equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to roll call votes on passage of s.j. res. 9 and s.j. res. 24 in the order listed, the objections of the president to the contrary notwithstanding. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we all know we are down to the wire right now, so we need to keep moving with this c.r. so we can avoid a damaging and completely unnecessary shutdown. this is a straightforward, bipartisan c.r. that simply keeps the government funded so we can continue work on our full-year bills. it includes absolutely essential time-sensitive reauthorizations for the faa and others and extends urgently needed funding for disaster relief and our allies in ukraine. i worked closely with the

senator from maine and leadership in both parties to put together a truly straightforward bill that can pass the senate, pass the house, and be signed into law. i'm confident there is enough support for this to pass the senate and the house, just as soon as we put it up for a vote. the question is, how quickly we can all work to get this done. i understand there are senators who don't think there is enough in this bill, but this is not meant to be the end-all, be-all when it comes to legislating. it is meant to prevent a devastating shutdown. i think we all understand there's more work to do on many of these issues. many of you want to do more on disaster relief, something we must do after we prevent a shutdown that cuts off relief to communities in the middle of a recovery. i want to address the child care funding cliff head-on, which we have got to do after we pass

this so we can save parents and kids from a shutdown that would mean they would lose their access to head start. i know there are colleagues concerned about doing more on border security, something i am willing to continue to discuss. but time is of absolute essence here, and a shutdown would mean the folks who are working at our southern border would be forced to work without paychecks. a shutdown is no solution to anything. we've got 12 bipartisan appropriations bills. i worked with many members on both sides of the aisle to pull together, and i want to get them passed and address all of these critical issues. but we need to prevent a shutdown first. so let's not act like this c.r. is the last bill congress is ever going to pass, and let's get this done so we can avoid a shutdown that hurts our families, hurts our economy, hurts our national security, and

more. and then let's get back to work on the other issues that are important to everyone here and the folks that we work for back home. i urge all of our colleagues to vote yes now on the motion to proceed. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. speaker, i urge that we go to the vote. -- the vote that's scheduled. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the motion to proceed. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey.

mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth.

the clerk: mr. durbin. the clerk: ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty.

ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee.

mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul.

mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer.

mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen.

mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

senators voting in the affirmative -- barrasso, blumenthal, casey, cornyn, cramer, duckworth, hickenlooper, king,

klobuchar, lujan, murray, padilla, schatz, and shaheen. no senator voted in the negative mr. romney, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. vance, no. mr. fetterman, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. johnson, no. mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. ms. hirono, aye. mr. lankford, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. lee, no. mr. sanders, aye. mr. tuberville, no. mr. kelly, aye.

mr. peters, aye. mr. ossoff, aye. mr. young, aye. the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. mr. risch, no. ms. baldwin, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mr. graham, aye. the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye.

mrs. blackburn, no. mrs. fischer, no. mrs. capito, aye. mr. moran, aye. the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. mr. reed, aye. the clerk: mr. crapo, no.

mrs. gillibrand, aye. mr. coons, aye. mrs. britt, no. mr. wicker, aye.

the clerk: ms. collins, aye. mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mr. hawley, no. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: ms. ernst, aye. mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, aye. vote: vote:

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. mr. menendez, aye. the clerk: mr. marshall, no.

the clerk: mr. thune, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. ms. rosen, aye.

mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. rubio, aye. ms. lummis, no. mr. paul, no.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. budd, no.

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. mr. boozman, aye.

the clerk: mr. mullin, aye. mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. grassley, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. ms. hassan, aye. the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye.

the clerk: cortez masto, aye.

vote:

the presiding officer: the clerk: mrs. feinstein, aye.

the presiding officer: on this vote, the ayes are 76, the nays are 22. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: calendar number 211, h.r. 3935, an act to amend title 49, united states code, to reauthorize and improve the federal aviation administration and other civil aviation programs and for other purposes. mr. schumer: mr. president. i call up substitute amendment 1292. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, for mrs. murray, proposes amendment numbered 1292.

mr. schumer: i ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll -- the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. schumer: i have an amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposed an amendment number 1293 to amendment number 1292. mr. schumer: i ask that dispense with further reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to commit h.r. 3935 to the committee on commerce, science, and transportation, with instructions to report back forth with, with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, moves to commit h.r. 3935 to the committee on commerce, science and transportation with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment 1294.

sideline i ask to dispense with further reading. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. mr. schumer: i have an amendment to the instructions at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposed amendment 1295 to the instructions of the motion to commit h.r. 3935 to committee. mr. schumer: i ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the substitute to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will reports. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senator in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to close debate on the mur why i subsubstitute amendment number 1292 to calendar number 211, h.r. 3935, an act to amend title 49 united states code to reauthorize and improve the federal aviation administration and other civil aviation programs and for other purposes, signed by 20 senators as follows.

mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 211, h.r. 3935, an act to amend title 49, united states code, to reauthorize and improve the federal aviation administration and other civil aviation programs and for other purposes signed by 20 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, september 28, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: no one wins in a shutdown, not republicans, not democrats, certainly not the people of hawaii or americans across the country. i've been here for three previous shutdowns in the majority and the minority, and i've seen the same thing over and over again. shutdowns don't work. the government eventually reopens and neither side has accomplished a single thing. no one wins but americans have a lot to lose. millions of federal workers, including military personnel,

will be forced to work without pay. children most in need will lose access to food and early education programs. tens of millions of people can't get care at community health centers. the food that we eat will go uninspected. relief for disaster stricten communities will grind to a halt. loans for small businesses will not get processed. seniors will have to wait to get new medicare cards. travelers will face the risks of more delays. we have the ability and the responsibility to prevent all of this unnecessary pain and disruption which is why tuesday and today the senate has a solution. the senate voted overwhelmingly to advance a bipartisan bill that will keep the government open. and look, this is not the civil rights act. this is not that big of a legislative accomplishment. it's a 47-day stopgap measure to

prevent a really ridiculous, terrible thing from happening. but we do need to pass it. anyone that is serious will governing knows that the only way to prevent a shutdown is through bipartisanship. and let me just repeat that. the only way to prevent a shutdown is through bipartisanship. this bill is a compromise. no one will get what they really wanted but it is the only viable path to keeping the government open as we work on passing appropriations bills in the regular order for the full year. it's really that simple. i just want to point out one thing about shutdowns. we don't have to do this to ourselves. shutdowns are a uniquely american tactic. we're not more prone to polarization or partisanship than other governments across the world. but you look around the planet and you won't find other

legislatures pulling the plug on the government itself and the critical fses that people -- critical services that people need because they couldn't resolve a policy dispute. it just doesn't happen because it's that ridiculous. it's that insane. it's that counterproductive. only we do that to ourselves. but here some house reaction are openly inviting a shutdown that we know will exact pain on millions of american families. representative nor man has said, quote, we're going to have a shutdown. it's just a matter of how long. representative hosen dale -- rosen dale agreed. i will not vote for a c.r. it doesn't matter what you attach to it. what a weird thing to say. doesn't matter what is stached to it. i'm for a shutdown. this from representative bob goode sums up their view. we shouldn't fear a government shutdown. well, maybe a member of congress is not afraid of a government

shutdown, but all of the people who work for the federal government and all of the people who rely on federal services do fear a government shutdown. one of the republican colleagues agrees with me. this is not conservative republicanism. this is stupidity. these people can't define a win. and that's the problem. the only thing these people know is that they want to shut the government down. they haven't seen articulated their policy -- hasn't even arctic rated layer policy demands. we need to act like grownups and do our jobs. to be clear we are acting like grownups and doing our job. this is not a criticism of the u.s. senate. so far so good. even though it's 48 hours, we have a long way to go, a lot of negotiating to do, a lot of burns in the road. as i like to say, it will get worse before it gets better. so i'm not suggesting we're done

here, but i am suggesting that we're behaving like grownups. for the people of now we and those -- people of maui and those across the country who have had the misfortune of being struck by disasters, this bill provides funding that will allow recovery work to continue uninterrupted. the recovery on maui alone will require enormous federal resources in addition to what's needed in dozens of other states that have been slammed by hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather. and while this funding by itself won't ever be enough to cover everything in each one of these communities, it is an important downpayment. whatever our disagreements are or our personal politics, we can all agree no one wins in a shutdown. we've lived through this before and know how this ends. there is an alternative. we can continue what we started earlier this week and just did right now on the floor.

pass this bill with bipartisan support. and keep the government open. let's get it done. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. a senator: thank you. i want to join my colleague from hawaii, senator schatz, whose reasons for avoiding a shutdown were ones that we all share but whose state also has suffered devastating -- a devastating fire in maui and where we in vermont have suffered a major flood this summer and need fema aid. mr. welch: a couple of things i want to say. i want to express my gratitude to my colleagues in the senate who have come together. leader schumer, leader mcconnell, bipartisanship

where, where we have a way of passing a bill to keep the lights on, keep the government functioning. no good comes out of a shutdown, to quote senator mcconnell. and like senator schatz, i've been through it before. and as senator schatz has said, when you ask the folks who literally explicitly favor a shutdown what's next, they don't have an answer and don't seem to think they need to have an answer. and we do. the consequences of a shutdown are really devastating in large ways and in small ways. a shutdown means our men and women in uniform don't get paid. seriously? we are going to condone asking people who are protecting the safety of this nation to do it without paid? that's what shutdown advocates are saying. it's no big deal to them. on some small things. i got a letter from a vermonter whose heart has been set on taking his family to a hike in

the grand can yonl. i don't know if any of you have ever done that hike, but you have to go on the website. it's almost like a lottery and you hope you can get a permit to hike. he got a permit to hike and camp for two nights for his family. that's on october 5 and october 6. if we're shut down, that family hike is not going to happen. you know what? that's cruel. it's such a wonderful thing that this family is going to enjoy our grand canyon. they wouldn't be able to do it. but i want to talk specifically, too, about what happens to vermonters and this is a situation that of course senator schatz and senator hirono share with hawaii. we got hit with a flood. fema has done a tremendous job. the fund needs to be replenished. as a result of the low amount of money in the fema fund, they've had to cut back on their efforts of recovery that have already been promised.

mr. welch: just yesterday "the washington post" said they are delaying disaster aid to keep from running out of funds. they have to have some money available if there's another event that requires immediate response to save lives. we understand that. that's the right decision for them. but it has real consequences for us in vermont. repayment of these long-term recovery projects that are being halted aren't from last month. they're from last year. just think what that means for my state of vermont who's in the throes of recovery now. fema has paused 13 projects in vermont totaling $7.5 million. as of september 15, vermont has incurred $291 million in flood-related infrastructure damages and we need over $160 million from fema and $131 million from the department of

transportation. on top of that the state has estimated that it has incurred $225 million in damages related to fema public assistance activities. $75 million for fema personal assistance hazard mitigation -- i'm sorry $4 -- 406 activities. 20 million in damages related to fema, individual assistance activities and $11 million for the minor residential damage repair program. again, i was so reassuring to me that republican colleagues approached me and said peter, we're going to be there to help you because we know that but for the grace of god, my state, thank you colleagues. but there's a small group in the house that has this notion that it is no big deal if we

literally shut down government. well, it's a big deal for those folks in vermont who need fema relief. it's a big deal for those men and women who serve in the united states military services when they won't get paid. and it's a big deal for that family that wants to have this dreamed about hike in the grand canyon and won't be able to do that if in fact we're shut down on october 5 and october 6. so thank you to my colleagues. i believe we're going to pass a bipartisan bill. bipartisanship is the only way you can avert a shutdown and for us to have an opportunity to negotiate other issues down the road. and i yield back, mr. president, and thank my colleagues for their assistance in our effort.

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask -- i guess we're not in a quorum call. i come to discuss with my colleagues the plight of our local pharmacists, which is always difficult, particularly in small towns, but it's going to be particularly difficult come january 1 and through next year. i've heard firstshand from rural

-- i've heard firsthand from rural pharmacists about the looming cap looming -- the looming cashflow challenges they face. these are a direct result of the powerful pharmacy benefit managers and the managers' behavior in rens to federal regulations. -- in response to to federal regulations. this is the situation. you see is pharmacies are going to face direct and indirect remuneration clawback fees or what we call dir's for calendar number year 2023 just after january 1, 2024. and, at the same time, pharmacies are also facing lower

post--point-of-sale from pbm's starting january 1 next year. so it is a double whammy against cashflow problems of small rural pharmacies. for over a decade, these powerful pbm's have gouged rural pharmacies by clawing back part of the reimbursements many months after the sale. it's almost like you sign a contract the first of the year that if you're doing business with the pbm's and then at the end of the year you get it done to pay back sometimes even thousands of dollars and i've heard examples of tens of thousands of dollars. you see, this situation comes

because three very large pbm's control nearly 80% of the prescription drug market. some of them are vertically integrated. also with chain pharmacies, insurance companies, and other parts of the prescription drug supply chains. so pbm's have a lot of power over what the prescription drug patients can access through the formulary and how much these drugs are going to cost the patient and then the reimbursement for the pharmacy. in other words, what is the pharmacy getting paid for doing this service? now, i want to end all direct and indirect reimbursement fees. i attempted to do this in

legislation that never passed the senate, but a bipartisan bill by grassley and wyden called the prescription drug pricing reduction act. now, even though that legislation didn't pass, we luckily in 2021 have the centers for medicare and medicaid services determine that that agency had the authority to hand most but not all direct and reimbursement -- direct and indirect reimbursement fees. now, i support what cms has -- the actions they've already taken, but we still need to pass legislative action to end all dri fees. cms's regulations will go into effect this january.

with cms's regulations nearing the effective date to end most dir fees, you'd think rural pharmacies would be about to see some relief. now, sadly, this is not the case. these changes have turned into a cashflow issue for many rural pharmacies, forcing many rural pharmacists to consider closing or go without pay for a while so that they can keep their staff around and keep the lights on. now, let's get to a suggested solution for this issue. pbm's should work with rural pharmacists to make sure that they don't close because, if

you're paying everything back to the pbm's or you're getting less reimbursement and you're running your accounts from day to day, it brings financial problems particularly to the small rural pharmacies. now, of course, pbm's are so financially strong that they have the ability to help these small pharmacists after the first of the year, and we aren't asking them to help forever, we're asking them just to help through this interim period of clawback and less reimbursement. so what i'm asking here of pbm's

should work with pharmacists to give a little extra time to pay back the 2023 direct and indirect reimbursement fees. i'm not asking the pbm's to give up a single dollar that they're entitled to. and cms's final regulation, because cms can help us solve this problem, in their final regulation the agency spoke to concerns about rural pharmacy cash flow issues saying that, their words, particularly attuned to this issue. cms said that through law, they have the power to conduct oversight. they said that they could enforce, first of all, provider network access

standards. and, second, prompt payment rules. in july i wrote to the cms administrator to see what the agency is doing to conduct this oversight and in turn help small pharmacies through 2024, and of course only that one year, with their cash flow problems. as of mid-december, i have not received a response from cms, so i'll soon tell you about a telephone conversation i had with it. it shouldn't take an agency almost two months to respond to me about a problem that they said that they're particularly attuned to. and remember, i told you previously those words particularly attuned to is their words. so last week i spoke for a long

time on the phone with a cms administrator. i asked what her agency is doing to conduct oversight and protect our constituents' access to the rural pharmacy, and particularly our older seniors that can't travel for miles to get their drugs. and i asked that question because so far i have not seen any action of oversight by this agency. the administrator committed in the phone call to monitoring compliance to pharmacy access standards and the prompt payment requirements. but at the same time the administrator didn't offer any specific action that she has taken or even what action she might take.

the administrator also committed to looking into what the agency can do to encourage payment plans between rural pharmacies and pbm's, or at the very least bring rural pharmacies and pbm's together to work out a joint effort. i'm going to be holding the cms accountable for following through on that promise. iowa seniors and rural pharmacists are counting on the center for medicare-medicaid services. the agency can't sit on the sidelines and let rural pharmacies go out of business. i told this directly to the cms administrator, and i'll state

it now to the same cms administrator. please use your authority and bully pulpit to protect seniors' access to the rural pharmacies. these very powerful pbm's who receive a lot of public funding from medicare and medicaid programs can also put many rural pharmacies out of business if you just stand down. pbm's can't put the blame on others. they must and ought to work with rural pharmacies. don't drive them out of business by idly standing by. pbm's have the opportunity to protect seniors' access to their local pharmacy. it's kind of this situation in rural america because i see it all the time in rural iowa,

losing local health delivery professionals. it happens that your local pharmacy is oftentimes the only health care provider that you have. so obviously, and what i'm telling my colleagues today, we need them in our communities. and i hope my colleagues, because everybody in the united states senate has rural communities, i hope that you'll check into this situation affect ing small pharmacies starting january 1, 2024. we've got about three months to get cms, rural pharmacies, and pbm's together to smooth out this cash flow problem that rural pharmacies are going to

have through next year. i'm not going to stop fighting to protect rural pharmacies. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

i appreciate senate coming to an agreement we find acceptable and of course i appreciate the ship on this issue. i will the senate to adopt this resolution in a few minutes and i yield my colleagues from west virginia. >> center from west virginia working with us to come to this conclusion we appreciate this very much and appreciate mcconnell for being part of this drink bipartisan effort and my dear friend bonnie been part of

these efforts will of honor and appreciation for what you been able to do. that it be lifted. i rise to talk with my colleagues and constituents and talk about an issue that is important to our nation here and the nation's capital for the well-being of our country, but certainly an issue that kansans care grateful about -- care greatly about, and that is the crisis on our southern border in particular but border security across and around the country. the administration's continued failure to control the border has created not just a humanitarian crisis but also a national security crisis as well. it's no secret that the lack of operational control of the border has led to the apprehension of chinese nationals, individuals with ties to isis and others who wish to do this country harm, serious harm.

perhaps the biggest failure of the nonshah latin approach -- nonchalant approach is the rapid flow of harmful drugs into the united states, deadly drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and most critically in today's world fentanyl, fentanyl being carried into this country and distributed into cities, towns, neighborhoods. it's a real detriment to our children and the most vulnerable those distributed to cities in kansas and causing the death and misery of many kansans and americans today. a bright spot in this effort to combat fentanyl and other drugs is the drug enforcement agency. this morning i was at their headquarters to celebrate with them their dea's 50th anniversary. the ranking member on the science subcommittee appropriate, therefore, senator shaheen and i are

responsible generally for the appropriations of the drug enforcement agency, and i've seen firsthand the critical results achieved by the dea and their personnel in this fight. dea agents, investigators, analysts, chemists, attorneys, support staff provide invaluable services to the public since the creation of the dea 50 years ago in 1973. the dea has faced increasingly well-equipped, well-financed and well-resourced international drug trafficking organizations, pushing more complex drugs and substances including fentanyl. i'd like to commend the da -- dea for their work and commend the 50th anniversary in the process. we need to reminded of the number who have been wounded and injured in the line of duty, including 79 individuals who have received a dea purple

heart. this administration, this congress, this senate, we owe it to the dedicated individuals at dea and to the lives and family members of those who lost loved ones to put forth the effort required to create a whole of government proash to securing -- approach to securing the border and cutting off the pipeline of supplying drugs into this country. in 2022 alone -- let me say that correctly. there were around 110,000 overdose deaths. that's a little over 300 deaths a day. around 70,000 of these deaths were attributed to synthetic opioids and fentanyl, including 1,200 individual kansans. mr. president, i find this next fact staggering. so far this year the dea has confiscated more than 62 million

pills and it estimates that 70% of those pills contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. 70% of 62 million, this puts at risk the lives of 43 million americans. we know that mexican drug cartels control much of the fentanyl market and in the u.s. the amount of fentanyl available has allowed the market price to drop to as low as 50 cents a pill. further, we know that many of the precursor chemicals originate in china. these chemicals are extremely difficult to interdict. they are used in cheese and soap and can be easily hidden in shipping containers, this is a full blown national security crisis, and it's time the administration reacts to treating it like what it is, a

national security crisis, a humanitarian crisis, and loss of lives of american citizens. i was in mexico with a couple of colleagues, several of my colleagues earlier this year, and i discussed this issue with president obrador. i urged him to take it up with the chinese officials and i believe we have a willing partner in mexico to combat this problem. the fiscal year 2024 bill that has been passed by appropriations, and it recognizes the challenges the dea faces, including $66 million additional funds over the fy-23 level. i know we're talking about fiscal responsibility today, that comes at a time when our appropriations bill is reduced by $1.3 billion. i say to kanasans, that i share

their concern with the amount of spending and balancing of the books. we have reduced spending this year from last year $1.3 billion, but within the amount of money that we can spend, we prioritized the fight against drugs. given the fiscal responsibility act has made our work more difficult but moves us more closely towards balancing the budget, and it shows that we can work together in this case in support of combating this fentanyl and other drug crisis in our country in a bipartisan manner. while law enforcement efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking are bipartisan, we should not -- we have not yet had a bipartisan support to seriously close the border to drug traffickers. mr. president, it's a lot of

challenges we face. it is also important to recognize that we need less demand in the united states and americans are buying the drugs that are coming here. we need to make certain that we do the things necessary to make certain that americans are certain and certainly know the consequences of drug use and the consequences of them, their families, their loved ones and even to our nation. while law enforcement efforts to combat fentanyl traffic is bipartisan, we have a lot more work to do when it comes to the united states border with mexico and our other borders. for all the work the dea does to disrupt drug trafficking, the border is by far the most important single line of defense. we are debating whether or not to proceed on a continuing resolution to continue funding the federal government. i oppose a shutdown of government in part because a shutdown would make the crisis that we face at our border even

worse. our dea and border patrol agents are already starved for resources and many cannot afford to miss a paycheck while continuing to put their lives on the line to secure the border. this body make take seriously the crisis we face, and while funding the government is important in this battle, we also have a lot more than -- that we can do. we need to make certain that the appropriations bills that i just talked about, the 12 appropriations bills that have been reported by the senate committee work their way across this senate floor, recognizing that the continuing resolution is only a pause while government continues to function, we continue to work. mr. president, i look forward to every opportunity to see that we do more at the border, that we put americans on notice about the importance of avoiding drug abuse and drug use in this country and that our national security is at risk.

i look forward to that conversation, but more importantly, i look forward to the results. mr. president, i yield the

we have a responsibility as members of congress to answer row calls, respond to our constituents, keep the lights on. this is one we are contesting this week. the senate i believe has taken a responsible thoughtful approach to this. it's down to basics, 51 democrats, 49 republicans effectively. most consequences require more than majority vote so the decision was made in senator mcconnell to put together a continuing