mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president, and thank you for recognizing me. i'm pleased to be here today with my senior senator from colorado to talk about these important issues, and the first thing i wanted to talk about was the debt ceiling itself because people at home have -- have are asking me constantly, michael, what in the world is going on back there? we're dealing with our budget at the local lev, we're dealing with our budget at the state level, we're making choices that aren't popular and that aren't easy to make, but we're moving ahead, we're making decisions in our businesses, we're making decisions at home, we're moving ahead. what's wrong with washington, d.c.? part of the problem in this place is that people aren't just entitled, it seems, to their own opinions. they are also entitled to their own set of facts, and i think when you're getting paid by the taxpayer, you have an obligation to actually not play with your own set of facts but to come out here and say, you know, what the facts really ar

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to talk about our debt ceiling and our debt issues as well. i wanted to thank the senator from texas for her words of encouragement for the product that the so-called gang of six read out this morning. it was a remarkable hour to see 50 -- roughly 50 united states senators, both republicans and democrats, set aside the talking points and try to come across a partisan divide to hear their colleagues who have been working for such a long time on a plan, a bipartisan plan, three democrats and three republicans to really try and address in a material way our debt and our deficit was to say the least refreshing, and i wish that it weren't as unique an experience as it has been, but in the two and a half years i have been here, i can't remember as thoughtful a conversation as the one that we had this morning. i have said for months, for month after month, week after week on the floor of the senate that i think i'm pretty clear about what colorado wants, whether it's red

mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the time for debate be extended until 7:30 p.m. with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i wasn't going to come to the floor today but i was in the chair and i've been hearing some of the debate that's going on about this debt ceiling and i decided that once again i needed to stand and remind people what this vote is about when we get to it. and the president's heard me talk about this before. but our failure to lift the debt ceiling is not like the united states of america cutting up its credit card and saying we're not spending money anymore. it is exactly like a household at home back in colorado saying we overspent, we weren't careful and we're not going to pay the cable bill this month even though we owe it. or that we're not going to pay our mortgage this month even though we owe it. those are the kinds of things that in the real world lead, in

mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr.president. i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we have reached a point in this country's history that i never thought that i would ever see, which is the major credit ratings -- credit ratings agencies have said that our credit rating is in jeopardy and the united states may face a downgrade of its debt. but, mr. president, you and i both have had our issues with the credit rating agencies who failed to predict the crisis that we were driven into by very, very poor business decisions -- i can't even really call them "business decisions" -- horrible decisions that were made that drove our economy off a cliff, both here and in our financial markets, both in washington among our politicians and among people that securitized debt, sold it off and took no responsibility for it. but having said all of that i don't think these agencies have any political incentive other than to shoot straight on this

mr. bennet: i've been talking about the debt limit and the debt reduction negotiations but today i wanted to talk about another absurd and needless washington-inflicted -- what i can only think of as a mistake and that is the partial shutdown of the f.a.a. this shutdown while buried in the headlines, is affecting colorado jobs and the economy across the united states, mr. president. unable to walk and chew gum at the same time, congress' inability to resolve this impasse has caused the furloughing of thousands of workers nationwide and put at risk several very important summer construction projects at our airports in colorado. earlier this year, the senate worked together to pass a long-term f.a.a. re-authorization bill. this important bill which i supported will modernize our nation's air transportation system and reduce truck and costly delays. the american people would be astonished to learn how antiquated our system is right now. but the house and senate conference committee have been unable to finalize the bill. last friday, congress failed to pass a short-term authorization measure

reid of nevada, johnson of south dakota, kirk, durbin, hagan, bennet, warner, kerry, bingaman, udall of colorado, murray, leahy and whitehouse. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is -- by unanimous consent the -- the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act of 1974 for h.r. 2055, any amendments thereto and motions thereon. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to waive the points of order under section 303 of the congressional budget act for h.r. 2055 and any amendments or motions thereto shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays

mr. bennet: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. like you you i have heard a lot of loose talk over the past few months invoking the founding fathers, loose talk to underscore an expedient argument about what they'd be doing if they were legislating today. but the way our founders are often used is as a caricature to distort history for the benefit of partisan and gnash row interests. to hear some people talk about it, madam president, you'd think the founders were engaged in a process of dismantling a country rather than building it. that version of events is not only wrong but also thoroughly diminishes the founding generations' extraordinary accomplishments ant the lessons we should draw from them. our founders met enormous challenges with great courage and sacrifice to start a country around an ideal. in the same vein, our modern history has been characterized by meeting great chall