mr. pryor: mr. president, while we're waitin waiting for r senators, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. kyl: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kyl: thank you, mr. president. throughout this day, a lot of our constituents back home have been watching the debate, and i wonder maybe if they're a little frustrated. i talked early this morning about flowing rotten apples at each other. there's been a lot of that here today. i suggested this morning that one of the things we could do while we're waiting to see whether or not an agreement can be reached to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year was to try to shed some light on the process, which undoubtedly is a bit confusing to people. what exactly is it that we're arguing about? how did we get here and what do we have in the future? we talk add lit

mr. pryor: mr. president, thank you. and i understand we're in a quorum call. the presiding officer: yes. mr. pryor: i would ask that that be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. pryor: thank you, mr. president. i want to talk just for a few minutes about an incident that's unfolding in arkansas that i'm sure is unfolding in other states as well about, say, less than two weeks ago, a 73-year-old woman and her husband received a letter from fema and fema demanded that this couple pay back $27,000 in fema assistance they had received three years earlier and that they do it within 30 days or face penalties, interest, et cetera. well, this is devastating news for her. these are social security recipients. they lost everything in a flood. and let me back up and tell the full story and tell the rest of the story. three years ago, arkansas had some floods on the white river and the folks in the mountain view area, some of them experienced very severe flooding. fema came -- actually came to this couple's house, walked around, told them on the s

mr. pryor: mr. president, we find ourselves in dangerous territory while republicans and democrats continue to point fingers and hold fiery press conferences, a government shutdown is quickly approaching. the blame game is like quicksand. it has the ability to drag down not just the senate and the house but our entire economy and even our country. no matter how you look at it, a shutdown would be reckless and irresponsible. we can get this short-term budget problem resolved if all parties would turn off the rhetoric and stop the campaigning. a few extreme partisans stand in the way of progress, blocking a good-faith effort of many others seeking common ground. i ask them to take to heart what it says in the book of eye disciia, "come now, let us reason together." we need to overcome this budget impasse and live up to the oath we took and to the people we represent. larger challenges await our attention. it is not in our best interest to see a government shutdown, and i don't think it is in the best

mr. president, i do want to ask unanimous consent for cosponsors to be added to my bill. senator mark pryor, senator john boozman, senator michael bennet, senator max baucus, senator johnny isakson, senator mark kirk, and senator tim johnson. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hutchison: that brings the total to 58. senator casey has been a wonderful supporter in this. he is the lead cosponsor. 58 united states senators have stepped up to the plate and sa said, this is not an option for us to equivocate for one minute. so, mr. president, i'm waiting to get two more cosponsors which will show that we have 60 and that we want to act as a united states senate, and i am hoping that senator casey and i could get the ability to bring our bill up and pass it. very simple, very clear. military pay and those who are serving our military in civilian capacities will not be delayed because they're going to report to work and they need to have the peace of mind to know that the mortgages that they have, maybe our direct lines to the mortgage companies, are going to be covered. that is the ve