ms. mikulski: mr.nt? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, may the call of the quorum be vacated? the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: mr. president, what is the pending status on the senate floor? the presiding officer: the senate is on the motion to proceed to s. 1569. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, mr. president. i rise then to speak for approximately ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: mr. president, we're 33 hours away from the possible default of the united states of america on its debt obligations. we are 33 hours away from the possibility of the united states of america becoming a deadbeat nation, not paying its bills to its own people and other creditors. we are 33 hours away from our t bills becoming a junk bond. mr. president, it is unacceptable that our t bills, our treasury bills should move to a junk bond status. we have got to get rid of that and we've got to get rid of the junk talk that's g

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i speak -- have permission to speak up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: mr. president, there is a misguided myth out there -- all myths -- not all myths are misguided, but this myth is the fact that there are those that will be that government shutdown is actually saving us money. i'm not going to go into all those details why that's not true, but i can tell you one area where a government shutdown is absolutely being negatively impacted in protecting the taxpayer dollar and fulfilling the mission of the agency, particularly in social security, medicare, and veterans benefits and some others. mr. president, you were an attorney general of the ocean state, rhode island. you know -- and you were also a u.s. attorney. you know about scammers and schemers. you know that where there's need, there's greed. and where there are large gove

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise to speak as the chair of the senate appropriations committee who really would like to be able to reopen government and for our committee to get back to regular order to be able to move our appropriations bills, to be able to debate them on the floor, amend them on the floor, and go to the conference to resolve either fiscal or other issues we might have with the house. but we can't do it because we are in lockdown politics. now, one of the things -- there's many things about where we find ourselves that are very frustrating to me. and one of the main ones is the fact that the tea party republicans are just out there saying things that simply are not accurate. tea party republicans say that president obama won't negotiate. that's not true. tea party republicans are saying senate -- democrats in the senate won't negotiate. that's not true. tea party republicans say that the senate has not moved appropriations bills. the proamtions committee has. that's n

ms. mikulski: i ask that the call of the quorum be vai vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise today to talk about once again where we are, where we ought to be, and where i hope we'll be. madam president, right now it is now 8:30 at night. we are 3 1/2 hours -- 3 1/2 hours essentially until the government begins to shut down. can you believe this? we are the united states of america. we are a superpower. we're supposed to be a nation governed by rule of law and we're about to shut -- shut down. not shut us down because of a catastrophic event that hit us. it's not like a meteor has streaked across the sky and hit the united states of america, taking out our power grid and rendering us powerless. autoit's not like we've been hiy a global pandemic that would bring us to our knees. we are in an act of self self-inducement about to shut down the functioning of the united states of america's government. i find this shocking. now, i lived through this in the mid-1990's. it is deeply disturbing to the peo

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, i ask the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. misdemeanorms. mikulski: madam , as you know, we're only two hours now from a shutdown. and i'm sure for those who are mesmerized by our behavior saw a group of senators here on the floor and we looked like we were smiling and enjoying ourselves. now, madam president, let me tell you what was going on. senators were actually having a conversation. we were talking about, is there a possibility of a compromise? what you saw there is what i would hope eventually would become a committee of 100, people actually thinking, what could get us to a situation where we could begin to focus on the fiscal problems of the united states. there is a difference between the house continuing -- the house appropriations bill, the senate. i chair that committee. so there is -- there is a difference with us. but what i wanted people to see here is that there are good people on both sides of the aisl

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, what is the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. mikulski: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: madam president, i wish to speak as this morning business and consume such time as necessary. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you, madam president. well, i think we're growing weary. i think we're growing weary of the gridlock, deadlock, hammerlock on our government. i think we're growing weary of the partisan posturing by one faction in one party in one house. the american people want us to reopen government so that government should be meeting the national security needs of the united states, protecting the safety of the people of tunes, meeting -- of the united states and meeting jobs like in physical infrastructure and laying the groundwork for jobs tomorrow investing in research and developme

ms. mikulski, mr. cardin, and mr. cummings, help the republicans understand, it's time to get my husband and son back to work. >> i think it's very troubling that our congress can't make a decision to keep our government working. that's a basic responsibility that they have. >> i would tell them that it's not fair to lay off these people and you still get a paycheck. if the federal government workers don't get a paycheck because of the shuts down, you should not be able to also. >> and the people we spoke with felt that the affordable healthcare act is the law and should not be used as a bargaining chip by congress. >> stay with wjz. for complete coverage of the shutdown. we will keep you updated on deal negotiations and the impact here in maryland. >>> it is hard to believe that it's the beginning of october outside. it's warm and the sun is out with a few clouds around. athletes are taking full advantage of this opportunity to train and work out. people were out today in swarms, enjoying the warm weather. not only p

ms. mikulski, mr. carden, and mr. cummings, help the republicans understand, it's time to get my husband and son back to work. >> i think it's very troubling that our congress can't make a decision to keep our government working that's a basic responsibility that they have. >> i would tell them, it's not fair to lay off these people and you still get a paycheck. if federal government workers don't get a paycheck because. shutdown, you should not be able to also. >> reporter: the people we spoke with felt that the affordable healthcare act is the law and should not be used as a bargaining trip by-- chip by congress. vic? >> we invite you to stay tuned for more on the latest on the negotiations and of course the impact here in maryland. >>> the u.s. naval academy sexual assault case is in the hands of the superintendent. three navy midshipmen, accused of raping a female midshipman. the alleged victim in the case has filed a lawsuit, arguing miller is likely to be biased as superintendent of the school and should recuse

ms. mikulski, mr. cardin, and mr. cummings, help the republicans understand, it's time to get my son and husband back to work. >> i think it's troubling that our congress can't make a decision to keep our government working. that's a basic responsibility that they have. >> i would tell them, it's not fair to to lave off these people and you -- lay off these people and you still get a paycheck. if federal workers don't get a paycheck because of the shutdown, you should not also. >> people felt the affordable healthcare act is the law and should not be used as a bargaining chip by congress. >> for the latest information any time,ing loonto -- log onto cbsbaltimore.com. >>> we have an accident to tell you about. sky eye chopper 13 is over the scene. >> reporter: good afternoon, a single vehicle involved in this accident. you can see it, upside-down, in the bushes, on the left side of the road there. this is the ramp from i-70 westbound, inside the beltway, as it merges onto the inner loop of the beltway. we did see one p

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr.president, i know we've been alternating on both sides of the aisle but i note that even with senator grassley's presence, if i -- may i speak, senator? because i think one of the things we ought to be observing here is at least courteous rules among ourselves. this is meant to be the greatest deliberative body in the world, and if we follow the rules and follow the regular order, follow the committee process, follow the ways through the committee process for resolving disagreement and dispute, i think we can get through this. i believe that on both sides of the aisle, there are pragmatic people devoted to this country who want to solve the two major problems that we have here facing us right this minute; that is, to reopen government because we're now in the 10th day of the shutdown, and; number two, meet debt obligations of the united states of america as mandated in the 14 14th amendmet of the constitution. mr. president, i call upon my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise to respectfully say that we in the united states senate and we in the united states congress have to do what our constituents elected us to do and that what the constitution requires us to do: keep the united states government open and make sure the united states of america pays its bills. to do that, we are open to negotiation and examining a variety of ideas. but the main ideas go through the regular order in the committee process. we can keep open the government. we can meet our responsibility on the public debt if we embark upon two solutions, and they are in the hands of the other party. we call upon the house to pass the senate continuing funding resolution that would reopen government, keep it going for -- until november 15. no long-term solution. get to it right now. keep it funding at 2013 levels, acknowledging the sequester level. that was a big compromise. i compromised, as the chair of the appropriations committee, to move that continuing funding resoluti

ms. mikulski: thank you, mr. president. i rise today in a twofold role. number one, i am here under my constitutionally designated responsibility as the senator from maryland, duly elected, duly certified. i love representing maryland. 5.5 million people of just one of the most wonderful, patriotic, hardworking, fill l.a.n. thropically community--- fill aphilanthropic communities. we have one of the largest civilian agencies in america. they have wonderful names, yes, like the national institutes of health, like the national institutes of standards that help set the standards that enable the private sector to be able to develop the products that they can sell around the world. we're the home to the nuclear regulatory agency, we're the home to the consumer product safety commission that looks at a variety of things from children's toys to the safety of our mattresses to make sure they're not flammable. i could listen those agencies -- the census, the weather service, the fishery service that helps keep our seafood industry in operation. so, mr. president,

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr.president, i ask unanimous consent that senator levin be the next democratic speaker following senator schumer's remarks. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, mr. president. before i go into my comments, i want to express my thanks to the capitol police, to the secret service, and all who responded to yesterday's pretty scary and dramatic incident. i also want to express my hope that the injured capitol police officer quickly and fully recovers. and to the little girl that's now been left without her mother, i just hope that all of this great tragedy that unfolds we give the support to the people who really have suffered from this. mr. president, my colleague from texas has laid out a vision of how he would like to see the day end. he would like to see the day end funding v.a., n.i.h., open the park service, and i think there was one more item. but i'll stick with those three. n.i.h., f.d.a., and v.a. he would like to see at t

ms. mikulski in the senate do want to pass full appropriation bills. ms. r 15 so she could put an omnibus appropriation bill together. that may not happen but i think it would be premature for us to try to have a continuing resolution for the entire rest of the fiscal year 14 when there are these pending issues. we don't have a budget resolution and we haven't resolved individual appropriation bills so that is why i think we are not able to do that. >> reclaiming my time that is exactly what i'm saying. what we are talking about from both sides as a piecemeal approach. i think we ought to look out further because we have some real issues coming upon us in their coming really quick. something that is five and a half weeks long is not enough. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. >> thank you so much mr. chairman and thank you for calling up the rules committee on this emergency basis. it shows the urgency of these bills and i congratulate you for doing that. i'm glad that we all came up and i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member who are he

ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i ask that the call of the quorum be vacated and i consume such time as necessary. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, mr. president. i come to the floor today with both a great deal of energy and a sense of relief. relief that it appears that we've reached a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government, pay america's bills, and give us a path forward to deal with the ability to negotiate on some of our long-term fiscal challenges. i come with a sense of energy because i think it shows that when there is a will, we find a way, and this seems to be a sensible approach to do this. i have a sense of optimism that the spirit of compromise that produced this new agreement will continue in the senate as we work together. mr. president, i'm so relieved that we're going to extend the debt limit at least to february 7, 2014. during this entire debate over the last several days i just was so apprehensive that america would become a deadbeat n

ms. mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, i chair the senate appropriations committee. it's a great honor, and i'm the one that would go to conference. hey, i'm ready. however, a motion to tell us to meet in conference without a continued funding resolution to keep the government open is a hollow gesture and a cynical gesture and a manipulative gesture. so to say to have a conference, that means myself, my republican vice chairman, other conferees that would be appointed, we would sit down with the house -- by the way, we talk all the time. we started something new under my leadership with the concurrence of senator shelby, talking with the house. so do we want to meet in a you bet. but to meet in a conference without the continued funding resolution included in it means that the government shuts down at midnight without a continuing funding resolution to a date certain. you can tell us to meet all you want, but the government will shut down. so my whole point is