small amount of fema money when president clinton was the president because the republicans had just come into power and argued back then, president clinton, to his -- well, to his credit, whatever, found an offset they could both agree to andid it. so it's been done once. i just don't think we should make this a routine exercise here. it's not right for the flood victims. it's not right for taxpayers in the long run. and like i said, eventually we will find a way to pay for these things. so let's come and reason together. harry reid has sent a reasonable compromise. i think the house should focus on this and try to take this compromise, if we can. it's been worth discussing because this is going to go into law one way or another. and we're going to be living with the consequences, and those of us along the gulf coast who are in hurricane alley dish showed this chart; it's quite disturbing, if you look at this

champlet but i'm going to put it up again. this is one of o faifortsz. the senator from florida is here. this is from 1851 to 200 this is every hurricane that has hit the lower 48. and these large colored spaghettis here, hurricane rita, gustav and ike, show the hurricanes along the gulf coast. this is just what happens. just like when i had a tornado -- just like if i had a tornado chart thathows where the tornadoes hit or the earthquakes, every part of the country at some time experiences some disaster and we don't want to have to run up to washington and gut the education programs overnight or gut our transportation programs overnight or try to call a special committee meeting to find out where we can come up

with1 billion, you know, by friday, to send money to femme mavment you send it and we make these decisions over time. it's the way any corporation would operate. it's the way any family would operate. and it is the way our government should operate. and, again, if you take this cantor doctrine to its ridiculous extreme, you would have firetrucks coming up, screaming down the street while the house is on fire. and before they turn the hose on asking the fily to come out, decide what do you want to cut in the city budget before we can turn the water on because we actually didn't have this disaster budgeted. because you can only make reasonable assumptions about what the disaster is going to be, their frequency, their rate. and if you go under a little bit, then you've got to just provide the money until you can fix it in the long run. so i'm going to yield the floor, suggest the absence of a quorum, and i thank the members for

engaging in this important debate. i'm sorry. the senator from florida is here. i understand he is here to speak on this subject. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, t senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 2608, which the clerk will report. th clerk: motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 2608, an act to roy for an additional temporary extension of programs under the small business act and the small business inslevment act of 1958 and for other purposes with an amendment. the presiding officer: without objection, sunderthe previous oe until 5:30 will be equally divided between t two leaders or her designees. the senator from florida. necessarily nem mr. president, i just want to comment -- mr. nelson: mr. president, i just want to comment before the senator from louisiana leaves the floor that it's kind of like

we've se this movie before. if recalit was friday the senator from louisiana and i were out here with this chart talking about the same thing, showing all of these paths of hurricanes and how those folks that live along the gulf and the atlantic coast understand what natural disasters are. are playing with people's live when we threaten not to fund fema that can respond to all of these. and how many of these do we have to have to get through to these decision-makers that are blocking the funding ofema because of some ideological position that there are people out there that are hurting in

tuscaloosa, alabama, in joplin, missouri, all throughout new england, through the atlantic coast,nd who knows what's going to happen? hurricane season goes until the end of november. and so i want to tell the senator from louisiana how much i appreciate her bringing this to everybody's attention and over and over again we need to remind people, there are certain things that only the government can do, and this is one of the when people are in need, the have to rely on emergency functions from their government. that's one of the main reasons of having a government. and hopefully that message will get through. well, mr. president, i wanted to speak aboutasically this budget conundrum that we find

ourselves in. in a little ss than an hour, we're going to vote on a motion to cut off debate just to get to the bill that would continue to fund the government after this friday so that the government can operate. now, speaking of movies that we've seen before, didn't we see this movie back in early august? then over a different question of whether or not the government uld continue to pay its bills but in essence it was the same thing. in that case it was the lifting of the debt ceiling. in this case, it's toeep the appropriations going starting october the 1st. so if we've ses

movie before, didn't senators and members of congress go home in august? and didn't they hear from their people, and the people said what in the world are you all doing? what are you thinking? have you guys gone off the rails that you wou threaten the shutdown of the government and all the necessary functions of the government that would then imperil our economy already more than how it's being imperilled now in this recession? well, you would think that members of congress got that message. and yet, here we are again in late sepmber, after we went through that drill in early august, and we're going through the same thing again.

this brinksmanship, this partisan ideological brinksmanship that has all the vestiges of being all balled up in election-year politics in a presidential election. now, that's not any way to run a country. let me tell you why i think if the folks out across america will start letting their elected representatives know that they have had enough, why we might e some change. with that cataclysmic confrontation that we went through in early august in order to get the government to pay its bills, we set up a structure, a process in law.

there was immediate deficit reduction of some $1 trillion, but there's supposed to be another -- and i'm rounding -- another $1.5 trillion done by this super committee that's supposed to report by thanksgiving, and we are to vote on it. you remember, mr. president, a week and a half ago you and i and 34 other senators, republicans and democrats alike, nt to the senate press gallery and we stood up and we said we want a big deal of deficit reduction. and a lot of us were suggesting that what we want is tax reform in the process, getting rid of a lot of the clutter in the tax code that is so inefficient in the tax preferences to

individual special interests that have grown exponentially over the last 20 years since the last tax reform measure, which was 1986. and instead utilize that revenue, which would be revenue gained, to simplify t tax code and lower rates, and the actuary's tells us that that would -- and actuaries tell us that that would in fact crank up the engine of growth and from that growth would come additional revenue. now why is that so hard? every constituent that i have taed to seems to think that that's a fairly good idea. you know what they say? they say it sounds like common sense. and i see other senators on the

floor that would like to speak. i want the senator from new york to know that i've been speaking to some of his constuents, the titans on wall street, and they're saying the same thing. what in the world a you guys doing? have you all lt your minds? all right, we've got an opportunity to do something. if we will have as our north star common sense, bipartisanship and what's good for the country and not for our particular little ideology,hen we can get something done. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: first let me thank my colleague from florida. he knew that i was waiting and i know he cut short his remarks, and i appreciate it. but more importantly than that, i areciate his insight, his articulateness and his desire to help the people of florida.

nobody works harder for the people of florida than the senator from florida. and they know disaster jus about better than anybody else given their geographic situation. and so his fight for fema llars is a fight for every citizen of that great state of florida, where i must say many of my former constituents n reside. so i care especially about florida as well. so thank him for both his courtesy and his insightfulness. now, mr. president, fema runs out of money very soon. and already recovery projects in more than 40 states have been halted so fema can focus their last dollars on responding to the latest disasters. to have fema not working in joplin, missoi, where we all saw the pictures because of the dangers that hurricanes irene and lee created that,'s unheard of in this country. it i unheard of.

the senate has already passed a bipartisan bill to replenish fema's coffers, providing $7 billion in immediate relief not just for fema, but the army corps. from my state we need army corps relief as well as fema relief because so many of our riversville changed course. they're -- rivers have changed course. they're flooded. the erie canal, the locks are no longer by the river because the storm's course changed the course of the mohawk. the great historic erie canal. so we provided this $7 billion. and a reasonable person might say, all our constituents are saying get government to work. the most logical thing to do would be quick passage by the house so we could begin to get those dollars out the door. but instead house republicans decided to take emergency disaster aid and leverage it to force cuts to a jobs program that they themselves used to support. if there's ever playing

politics, that's it. they didn't like this jobs program, fine, fight it out in the regular course of business. but don't hold fema dollars hostage to cut jobs. the american people don't want that choice. help those whore in the middle of disaster. but the only way you can help them is to cut jobs in michigan or louisiana or other states at a time when our country's hurting for jobs? that's not america and that's not what they asked us to do. the jobs program they want to end before they're willing to provide more daster aid is not some radical program. it was started under the bush administration. it was passed with a bipartisan majoty. and i understand their anguish, we have to cut funding. but you don't do it like this. you don't do it on the backs of the people of schoharie county whose homes have been blown away, of the people of

binghamton, who are in shelters because there's no rental housing for them. you don't do it on their backs. that's not fair. you want to have a fight over a program yoused toupport and now you say the circumstances have changed, fine, we should have that. that's what we're here for. but not holding disaster aid hostage. and i want to say this, lest people think that the democratic stand is some way out-the left-wing stand, guess who supports us? the u.s. chamber of commerce and the national association of manufacturers because they know that what we're doing is right. and those are groups that are almost always supporting republican initiatives. so when they say that we're right, doesn't that send a shot across the bow to my colleagues to back off this ideological, narrow "my way or the highway

"position. most importantly, the house republican approach would require that we kill 40,000 jobs in order to help our fellow americans put their lives and businesses back together after this year's record disasters. that is not right. it is unprecedented. and i would say it is not the way we have done things in this country in the past. mr. president, the c.r. we're going to vote on this afternoon is a fail-safe measure. it is a bill that will keep the government running at funding levels agreed to by democrats and republicans in the debt ceiling negotiations. it is a good-faith effort to compromise and contains the same exact amount of disaster relief funding that house republicans supported. it falls short of fully funding fema as we did in the bipartisan bill passed two weeks ago with ten republican votes. but we're working to meet our colleagues on the other side of the aisle inhe middle in order to break the impasse. will they move a little to the

midd to meet us? or will they insist the only way to go is a bill that failed in this chamber with bipartisan vote against it by 59-36? is speaker boehner saying to us a bill that failsn the senate 59-46 is the only -- 59-36 is the only way to go when it is so wrong it is not supported by the chamber of commerce? when it is putting job holders and the future of this country in terms of energy independence versus the disaster assistance, pitting those two against each other, that's not fair. the only difference between our bill and senate bill is it doesn't require the job-killing that the chamber of congress opposes and that our fragile economy can't afford right now. now we know there's been a lot of pressure on the ten senate republicans that joined us two weeks ago to fight full disaster funding and not cave to pressure, and pressure on them

to cave to the extreme minority in the house. that demands job cuts as a precondition for disaster relief. i would urge them not to do it f. they can't resist that pressure, what is their solution? they know that the house bill is a dead letter here. so the path forward is clear. the senate has already spoken on theolitical bill sent to us by the house. now we must pass this commonsense measure, compromise measure, mide-of-road measure now before the senate. it will provide disaster aid to hard-hit commuties across the country immediately and provide an unnecessary government shutdown. we shouldn't even be talking about a shutdown. why are we? because the other body decided to attach disaster relief to government funding. another -- we're not just holding jobs hostage.

we're holding government funding hostage in a "my way or the highway" presentation. take it or leave it or your government shuts down. take it or leave it or 40,000 people lose their jobs. that's not right. every aspect of our plan received major bipartisan support. voting for it is the right thing to do. we must put politics aside at the times when the economy of this country is so fragile. we must avoid even coming close to a government shutdown. we must do what is right for our country, and what is right for our country is to pass the compromise measure that has had bipartan support in the past and vote for it on the floor of the senate in the next half-hour. thank you, mr. president. one other thing, mr. president. i'll continue to take my time. my great colleague from louisiana who has done an incredible job here, she's been showing this. but in case people missed it over the last half-hour, it's a

great little cartoon. there's a nice lady with a gray bun and little glasses talking on the telephone. there's her tv. she's on the roof of her house which has obviously been flooded. this cartoon is humorous but i've seen flood levels up to this level on house after house in the eastern part of new york. she says -- she's on the phone -- welcome to the republican disaster relief hotline. at the tone please tell us the emergency and how you plan to offset the cost of your rescue. does the next disaster, are we going to have to debate while people are struggling how much to cut education funds? in the next disaster, while people are -- the next earthquake, are we going to have to debate how to help those people while we talk about how much to cut border patrol funds? in the next disaster, when fires are ravaging across texas or new mexico or california, are we going to debate how much we have

to cut food safety inspectors? that is not our way, and that is why we need to support the bipartisan bill. it's not a bipartisan bill. it has bipartisan elements. elements of it have been support bid each, by both parties, members of both parties. so that bill, compromise bill, middle of the road bill that's on the floor of the senate. i'm going to yield my time and thank my great colleague from louisiana for the great job she has done. ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i thank the senator from new york who has been a very strong and clarion voice on this issue a has helped to really crystallize what this is about. and he's exactly right. and i want to read into the record, as the senator from illinois comes to speak, several articles, editorials around the country have etorialized exactly on the position that he ended. and it's the point of this whole

debate. if we accept the cantor doctrine which requires an offset before you can send help to people that are stranded or flooded out or in an ice storm or in the middle of a tornado, we have to come to washington to cut the budget, the central pennsylvania newspaper said it well. they said it's easy to generalize and say our government spends too much money and needs to cut all gernment programs. then a tornado wipes out joplin, missouri, or a hurricane called irene slams into the east coast, destroying countless homes and lives in vermont or a flood devastates communities in dairy township, middletown and harrisburg, pennsylvania. it is then we count on our local, state and federal government for help and in particular the federal government. we have certainly seen this year through wind, fire and rain, and the ice could be next to come,

that fema's financial efforts cannot be tie to some sort of congressional pay by disaster system. we cannot decide with each new catastrophe where we will find money, stripping funds from transportation this month and education the next. that is what this debate is about. we didn't choose this fight. it was started by representative eric cantor. there was a moment in time when he said we must offset this disaster, and some of us stood rit up and said no, we will not. now, i see my senator from illinois, but i want to sit for the record. i have sent four letters as the chair of this committee as early as february, so please don't anyone in the press criticize me for waiting to the last minute. february 16, 2011, i sent a

letter saying heads up, this is going to be a pblem. now, not many people listened. so then i sent another letter in march. and then i sent another letter in may. then i sent another letter may 11. we're now -- what are we? september? so please don't -- you could accuse me of a lot of things, i most certainly make mistakes, but being ahead of this one isn't one of them. and i knew this was going to happen. so here we are because this was not started by harry reid, it s not started by leader durbin from illinois. it was started when eric cantor sa despite the fact that we sent $1.3 trillion to iraq and afghanistan to build cities and communities and houses in iraq and afghanistan, we can't send any money to vermont or to new hampshire or to virginia, his own state, which is really

mind-boggling to me until we find a program to c, and then they go cut a program that has bipartisan support that's creating jobs in america. so, mr. president i turn it over to the senator from illinois. he always has some interesting things to add to the debate, and i appreciate his support and his leadership. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. durbin: i ask consent to speak for ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: let me sayo the senator from lisiana, you have been a clarion, consistent voice on this issue because you have seen it and lived it. anyone representing the state of louisiana can give a lesson to all of us about what happens when the unexpected occurs and people lose their homes, their businesses, their lives. they are uprooted. we had some folks from new orleans up in chicago. they were leaving new orleans to come up to one of our fabulous winters because they have nowhere to go. i saw the look in their eyes.

they didn't know where to turn. at that moment in time, many people across america count on the american family. that's who we are, and we represent that family here in the united states senate. we stand up for this country and for the families that are suffering through no fault of their own, no fault of their own. and when the senator from louisiana comes and tells us be careful when you set a standard that says before you can send the first dollar to someone who has lost their home or their business or their farm or whatever, you've got to come back to washington and go through a budget debate and deci where you're going to cut out of money for education and medical research and the like. that isn't the way it has ever happened. emergency spending is emergency spending. i have lived through it. nothing like what you went through in louisiana. the floods of 1993 and down state illinois, i was in pretty decent shape when it was over for allhe sandbags i filled,

pushed around, with thousands of volunteers. and we saw what happens. there are terrible things that happen, and i think the senator from louisiana would agree with me that flooding is one of the worst. it just doesn't go away. it sits there, destroying your home and everything you love and own, and when it finally goes away, what a mess is left. we also in the midwest, we had a little thing called a tornado. i grew up as a kid in illinois, down state illinois, listening for the siren and heading for the basement. we did that i don't know how many times. sometimes in the middle of the night. but look what happened to joplin, missouri. this beautiful town in missouri almost wiped off the map by a tornado. so what do you tell the people who survive the next day? sorry, congress has to meet and debate. we'll get back to you. of course not. we stand up and help people. scores of volunteers, hundreds of volunteers who come from the re cross and so many other agencies and all of the first responders. government don't say we'll see

if the federal government helps pay for this before we get in and provide life-saving efforts. they do it. anticipating that we'll stand with them. now congressman cantor of virginia decides that there should be a new approach. we need congress to get together and debate before we help people who are victims of disasters. that's a serious mistake. we've got to stand by people whether they live in red states or blue state whether they are democrats, republicans, independents. we stand by one another, and that is critically important. let me say to the senator fm louisiana, i think the thing that i noticed over the weekend back in illinois as i traveled around was how fed up people are with what's going on here in washington on capitol hill. when they see us break down into another cussing match over shutting down the government, they say for goodness sakes, ow up. grow up and accept your responsibility. we're here today accepting a grown-up responsibility. the house of representatives is

not here today. i hope they're going to send a message to us that they found a solution, or if not, i hope they are planning on returning this week because we have work to do. on saturday, the spending for the government ends, and once again, we face a shutdown, a shutdown which would cause unnecessary hardship to innocent people all across america. if you think you have heard this script before or watched this movie before, you have. this is the third time this year that the house leadership has pushed a shutdown in front of us and said that's it, take it or leave it. that is no way to run a congress and it's no way to run a great nation. we need to come together and agree. i'll tell you what senator reid, the leader on the democratic side, did to try to reach an agreement. we had original asked for $7 billion for next year, additional money for fema. i'll bet we need it. but senator reid said in an effort to compromise, i will cut that request in half, we can get back together if we need it. there was an effort and

consensus and compromise. itas totally rejected by the house. that's not a good way to act. i also want to add what the senator from new york, senator schumer, said earlier. this idea that the only way to pay for disasters is to eliminate jobs in america, how wrong is that? to go from a natural disaster to making our economic disaster worse? but that's what the house wanted to do. they wanted to eliminateobs that are created by programs that have worked. let me give you an example. this intelligent vehicle, fuel-efficient vehicle program has put money in the major automobile manufacturers to create more manufacturing jobs in illinois, in illinois where we have had more jobs, good-paying american jobs that n't be shipped overseas for workers with a good salary and good benefits. now, what's wrong with that picture? isn't that what we're hoping for the rest of america as well? all across the midwest, these

car manufacturers have used this program, and more than 40,000 jobs have been created, and the house republicans have said let's eliminate that and pay for disasters with it. totallypside-down thinking. we've got to be thinking about helping those in distress and w have got to be thinking about creating jobs, and we can do both. i take no back seat when it comes to tackling the debt and deficit of this country. i have been engaged in this debate for quite a while now and intensely over the lt year and a half, but every economist and every clear-thinking person has said before y start the serious deficit reduction, take care of your immediate needs. that would be the defense of america and responding to disaster, and make certain this recession is behind you. you cannot balance the budget with 14 million americans out of work. so get busy in creating jobs, and we're going to. the president has come up with a proposal which i think makes sense. giving a payroll tax cut to working families.

in my state of illinois where the average family makes about $53,000 a year, president obama's payroll tax cut would mean an additional $1,500 a year for them. that's going to be about $2,500 a month in their paychecks. i bet they can use it as they watch the price of gasoline go up and go back down again. they can use it. they have also said let's give small businesses a tax credit and a tax incentive to hire the unemployed. i know, we all know creating jobs in america has to start with small business. the senator from louisiana heads up that committee. she knows it. she has been the most aggressive spokesperson for that cau of any in the united states senate. and the same thing is true about where we spend our money. we should be investing in america. i visited a school today in the suburbs of chicago in martin grove, illinois, the gulf middle school, and they took me on a tour of the 60-year-old school. it's hard to imagine how they keep it going. they took me down to the boiler room.

i don't think many senators spent too much time in boiler rooms in schools today but i did, looking at a 60-year-old boiler, and the fellow jim burke who keeps it running says it cost us $180,000 last year to keep this runng. need a new h-vac system for the hundreds of kids that go to is school. that's an example of buying things in america, installing them in america, investing in america so kids can be educated and succeed in america. that's a plan we allhould endorse in both political parties. in just a few minutes, we're going to have a vote on the floor of the united states senate and i hope we can vote in a bipartisan fashion in a clear voice to say we're going to stand behind the victims of disasters across america, the american family can come together, and we're not going to cut jobs in order to reduce the pain that people feel in disasters. we can do both. create american jobs and make certain that those whore struggling through these disasters have the help they need.iding officer: please let's have order.

mr. reid: the night can best be summed up by johnny isakson, the senator from georgia, who said it's only worth fighting when there's something to fight for. we've basically resolved this issue, mr. president. i want to recognize -- excuse me. i want to recognize the leadership, senator landrieu. she chairs the homeland security subcommittee on appropriations. she's our expert on disasters. she's done a wonderful job in maintaining this in the eyes of the public. friday morning's vote we established beyond a shadow of the house that the senate can't pass the house-passed c.r. it got 36 votes. with today's vote senate republicans are showing they'll back up the house vote on the question of offsetting spending in 2001. that's the vote we just took. today's news also points a away of understanding and a way out. today's news story says fema

disaster aid has enough money to last through this fiscal year. this afternoon i received word from jack lew of o.m.b. and fema that they'll be able to get through the week without additional funding. that means they can get through the fiscal year without more money. i think that it's very clear this is the right way to go. it shows us the way out. it means we no longer have to fight over 2011 funding. i repeat what i said, mr. president, at the very beginning, and that is the way out is to focus on 2012. if we no longer need 2011 funding, we can paos a bill that funds -- we can pass a bill that funds 2012. this compromise should satisfy republicans. it includes their 2012 fema funding number. it should satisfy the democrats because it does not include the offsets we talked about so much here. it will be a win for everyone because we couldn't win without another -- end without another

government crisis. i appreciate senator mcconnell for being understanding in this regard. but i end where i started: senator johnny isakson. let's fight when there is something to fight about. there is nothing to fight about tonight. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'm going to walk us through where we've been and where we are. after tonight's vote, i think the quickest and surest way to get fema disaster funds it tphaoepd and end -- needs and end talk of government shutdown would have been to take up the house-passed c.r. right away. as we know, our friends on the other side will not agree to that. earlier today, as we all know, fema indicated it already has the funds it needs for the duration of the current c.r., which is basically this week, without the billions more in funding that democrats have been calling for. quite frankly, i think this is a vindication of what republicans

have been saying all along. before we spend the taxpayers' money, we should have a real accounting, a real accounting of what is actually needed. we also believe that in these days of huge deficits, we need to prioritize our spending around here. that said, with this next vote, i think the majority leader has found a path forward, one that will continue to fund the government and which gives fema the funds it needs without any added emergency spending for the rest of this current fiscal year. in other words, this week. emergency funds, fema now says it doesn't need. so tonight we will have had, after the next vote, two votes; one to reject deficit financed disaster spending without necessary spending cuts elsewhere, and one to keep the government operational and to provide responsible disaster funding into november. the c.r., should it pass, will

be within the top line we agreed to last summer. we've already basically voted on this top line. it will provide fema $2.65 billion in funding next fiscal year to continue the recovery efforts. it will not contain any emergency spending for this current fiscal year, the rest of this week, so it will drop both the emergency spending and the provisions paying for that spending from the house-passed bill. again, my preferred path forward would have been to pass the house bill. but since our friends on the other side have reject that had approach, i believe this is a compromise that is a reasonable way to keep the government operational. so now that we have demonstrate that had there aren't enough votes to support more un-offset spending, i'm going to vote and would urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the clean c.r. which is the next vote we're going to have. in my view, this entire fire drill is completely and totally

>> later, the senate passed an extension for one week that the house is expected to pass. it eliminated disaster aid and cuts. the house still needs to vote on a longer-term measure. here is harry reid and other democrats talking to reporters.

>> i am glad we were able to pass a bipartisan agreement. we got funding for fema which protects people all over this country. we saved 45,000 jobs and prevented an unnecessarily damaging government shutdown. i am happy that 26 republicans joined us tonight. in times of crisis of our fellow americans, the most important thing is to make sure that they get the resources that they need without delay and not engage in

partisan posturing. i am satisfied that tonight we held to that principle. we should never choose between an american jobs and aid in disaster victims. between jobs and people saying that government can function. since 1990, we have rarely, rarely handle this funding by the regular budget process. it has always been and should be above politics. this, i repeat, ensures that fema will have the funds that needs for food and shelter for people affected by this disaster. and they can restart this program depends -- that had been

brought to a screeching halt in joplin and in north carolina, and of course, in louisiana, which is just been devastated. we are also not over the devastation of tropical storm lee. people in new york, vermont, new hampshire, tilted very much. and of course, irene, the hurricane, we are still mopping up the damage from that. i hope the house will come back from their little break here and complete this work as fast as they can. it is certainly something the country needs, and i cannot understand has -- how they can have any question about what they need to do now. senators schumer. >> i want to thank you, leader reid, for being you're persistent, indomitable celt, --

for being your persistent, indomitable sell. -- self. and she was convinced the importance of getting the funds in never giving up until we got it. and debbie staff and now make clear to our caucus how important it jobs portion of this bill was. debbie stabenow made clear to our caucus so important that jobs portion of this bill was. it should be clear that help is on the way. all of us hope disaster aid would have been settled two weeks ago when the senate acted in a bipartisan way on a package that fully funded fema. the house insisted on a different approach that complicated matters needlessly,

against the urgency -- the urging of many in their own party. they wanted to insist that we sacrifice critical jobs programs in order to afford aid for hurricane victims. pitting the poor victims of the hurricane's against workers who had just found work because of the successful jobs program. last thursday night at our caucus met and decided to show that this was false choice that went against history and any sense of fairness. it was the wrong precedent to set, one that would have jeopardized the swift approval of disaster aid funds in the future. had we agreed to what the house wanted to do, the next time there were victims of an earthquake, would they say that we would have to cut education or help the earthquake victims? so we were forced to pass forward tonight of bipartisan

deal in the senate, along with updated accounting by fema which is help us reach a breakthrough. we expect pete -- speedy passage of this by the house so that the flow of disaster aid is not interrupted. it is hard to see how the house republicans could reject this proposal, given the overwhelming majority of both parties and the senate, which does not happen on major bills these days. make no mistake -- this is not a long-term solution. we will need to return in the coming months to provide funds for disaster aid and the 2012 requestn's for payment does not -- is not fully met here. but because of this agreement, future efforts to provide fema with the funds it needs will be

less filled with politics. republicans have never attempted to demand that funds for fiscal year 2012 peak offset. next year, we will enter a new fiscal year. the biggest hold up for the still will be a non-factor, because we will be in fiscal year 2012, when we revisit the issue of disaster rate down the road. >> thank you. i want to thank leader reid and leader schumer for helping the democratic party fine the backbone it needed to fight and win this debate. the strong vote in the senate tonight rejected that kantor doctrine -- cantor doctrine, a dangerous doctrine, which would put put us in a tough position and all future disasters.

i also want to thank senator stabenow, who is tireless in her efforts and work and speeches on the floor if to remind us all how important this advanced technology loan program is, how many jobs we have created in our countries, and the unnecessary and mean-spirited approach they came through from someone to cut this program, even though there were letters in support to provide jobs in their own district. we have kept the operation -- the government operating, and have very strong bipartisan vote on this. i thank the leader for giving us that opportunity -- in the time that it took to get this message out and to actually win on this issue. thank you. >> i want to thank senator reid

for his tenacious fight to make sure that we were helping victims of hurricanes and floods and tornadoes across this country. senators schumer for his equal tenacity and senator landrieu for her strong leadership as well in fighting for those across our country where people have find themselves in a weather emergency. for me i found they were hurting those in a jobs emergency. it is an emergency when you lose your job and you cannot put food on the family for your family.

it is an emergency and the advanced technology program was put in place to help us as we move to smaller, more fuel- efficient vehicles, to make sure that we were making them here, not overseas. this is a proven program to go into communities where factories are closed or are about to be close, and retelling them for new kinds of vehicles. we have saved our added 41,000 jobs to date. we have wonderful stories with the first long given the ford motor company which is bringing jobs back from mexico. the next 11 passible loans were

about ready to be given which went at up to 50,000 more american jobs, making things in america. that was part of this fight as well. i want to thank the u.s. chamber and a number of businesses and the national association of manufacturers when they said that this is an example of what government and industry partnerships can accomplish. this helped create and preserve thousands of auto sector jobs and put our nation on a path toward greater energy security. it would have hurt manufacturers and their employers. this is something that clearly manufacturers large and small across the country understand is part of our commitment to making things here in america. and i can want to thank senator reid, senator schumer, and senator landrieu, our house democratic colleagues who are ready to stand up.

we made a very important point tonight about helping those who need help as a result of weather disasters but also standing up for people who lost their jobs and wanted to continue to make things in america. >> did you speak to us speaker boehner about what you one of the house to do? and can you briefly explain how this works and what the house has to do to get to the october 4 portion of this? >> sure. my staff has been in touch with his staff all weekend. i had conversations and shared them with senators schumer with whom we have spoken many times over the weekend. i've talked to the speaker himself, not about anything further, but we always have conversations through our staffs. your second question is pretty simple.

tonight we passed a cr that functions until november 18. in case the house has the poor judgment of not coming back this weekend confirming this, we needed to pass a short-term cr until tuesday. >> you talk about accounting to help your cause. is someone at the men getting political what their accounting? -- at fema in political with their account? >> you have been around. fema was desperate for money. we all know that. they had briefings on a daily basis about the problems. we knew that they could function until probably tomorrow. what they have done is, probably

not paid a few bills, and said that they can make it until friday. fema had to cut back, they had not cut back on a whole lot of projects. >> and they were working principally last week for tropical storm lee and hurricane irene. they even had to cut back mat. i am satisfied with what fema has done. there's been no institution more forthcoming that they had. as i said, readings every day for this past week. >> can you tell us when you will take up the president's jobs bill? >> we're going to next week try to complete our work or lease

start our work on -- or at least start our work on the trade matters. i do not think that there is anything more important for jobs then china trade. that is what we're going to work on next week. china trade is a jobs bill, long, long overdue. it is bipartisan and i feel very comfortable that we're going to pass that. we understand that there is conversations about the president's jobs bill which i support and i will introduce it and we will get to that. but lest it to some of these things that we have to get done first. we started on the trade bill some time ago now. [unintelligible] >> it is $2.6 billion. >> any guarantees from republicans said they will not cut off any further needs of

fema? >> if they want to go through this again, i cannot imagine how they would want to try this again. the american people are so upset. why haven't we got in this time after spending three months on the deficit reduction package? how could put republicans possibly come back as they have now and try to manipulate the agreement that we had toward the end of the last july? but they did that. i cannot imagine they will try it again. i do not think that this has been unhappy week for the republicans in the house. -- a happy week for the republicans in the house. >> already hearing some criticism from republicans, saying that democrats here at the decision and the decision they made was to cut fema $1

billion from what the house said over to protect $1 billion in corporate subsidies. >> could you write on their a big party -- on there a big hearty har har? [laughter] >> these people are willing to write a blank check to build roads and bridges in iraq and afghanistan, for the people of iraq and afghanistan and then blow them up. but for money in bridges and roads in america, and guarantee we will keep them intact. >> make sure that you understand that we feel totally

comfortable on november 18. remember, the president in his budget has four $4.6 billion for the whole year. we just got $2.6 billion for the first couple of weeks in november. >> you said corporate subsidies. >> i do not want answer that. we will keep the hearty har har there. thanks, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> that was senate majority leader harry reid with other senate democrats last night. yesterday the senate-passed resolution to fund the government for one week and the house is expected to approve it later this week. the senate also passed a measure that would fund the government through november 18 that eliminates the disaster aid and energy tax that was in the house version. the house is expected to vote on this next week. >> get regular updates on what is on the c-span networks with on twitter. it is easy to sign up. go to twitter and hid floo -- hit follow. >> "washington journal" is next.

we will take your calls. david axelrod is attending a politics and eggs event. he will discuss the president's reelection campaign and feel the republican candidates. we will have his remarks tonight at 8:00 eastern. and then chris christie will be at the reagan library in simi valley, california. nancy reagan will be on hand for this event. our live coverage get started at 9:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, we will get an update on the short-term funding measure passed by the senate yesterday and what we might expect in the house. ed o'keefe of "the washington post" joins us. steve bell on the challenges facing the joint deficit