Concurrent Resolution on the Budget, Fiscal Year 2016--Conference Report

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, a budget is far more than a series of numbers on a piece of paper. A budget really is a statement of values and priorities, a statement of the kind of Nation we are and the kind of Nation we want to be.

For many of us, these values and priorities are clear. We believe that a budget should help us move toward an economy that is built from the middle out--not from the top down--and a government that works for all of our families--not just the wealthiest few. But the Republican budget that we are here debating today would move us in the opposite direction.

Instead of working with us to build on the bipartisan budget deal we struck last Congress, Republicans have introduced a budget that would lock in sequestration. It would hollow out defense and nondefense investments and use gimmicks and games to paper over the problems.

Instead of putting jobs, wages, and economic security first by prioritizing policies such as paid sick leave, which shouldn't be partisan issues, the Republican budget would cut taxes for the rich and leave working families behind. Instead of building on the work we have done to make health care more affordable and accessible, the Republican budget would take us back to the bad old days when insurance companies called all the shots and when fewer Americans had access to the care they need.

I will take a few minutes today to talk about each of these issues and to urge my Republican friends to take a different approach, to put politics aside, to come back to the table, and to work with us on a responsible budget that puts the middle class first and will actually work for families and communities that we all represent.

The first issue I want to talk about is the automatic cuts from sequestration and the failure of this budget to address an issue Democrats and Republicans agree needs to be solved.

I am proud that coming out of the terrible government shutdown at the end of 2013, we were finally able to break through the gridlock and dysfunction to reach a bipartisan budget deal that prevented another government shutdown, restored investments in education, in research, and in defense jobs and really laid down a foundation for continued bipartisan work.

That deal wasn't the budget I would have written on my own, and it wasn't the one Republicans would have written on their own, but it did end the lurching from crisis to crisis. It helped workers and our economy and made it clear that there is bipartisan support for rolling back sequestration in a balanced way.

Our bipartisan deal was a strong step in the right direction, and I was hopeful that we could work together to build on it, because we know there is bipartisan support to replace sequestration in a balanced and fair way.

Not only did we prove that with our bipartisan budget deal, but Democrats and Republicans across the country have continued to come out against the senseless cuts to defense and nondefense investments. But Republicans went the opposite way with their budget this year.

They were able to cut trillions of dollars of programs that support families and fight poverty--nearly $1 trillion cut from Medicare and Medicaid and more than $5 trillion overall. But they refused to dedicate a single penny of that to roll back the automatic cuts to education, research or defense investments.

To put that in perspective, we were able to roll back sequestration for 2 years in the Bipartisan Budget Act with $85 billion in savings. But the Republican budget won't fix the problem even for this coming year with more than 50 times that amount of savings.

Instead of using just a tiny fraction of the enormous cuts this budget has in it to pay for investments that both Republicans and Democrats agree must be made, this budget uses a gimmick by increasing OCO funding to appear to patch over the problem on the defense side without raising the cap on defense funding and doing nothing at all for nondefense investments such as education, research, jobs, and infrastructure.

We know the automatic cuts are terrible policy, and we know the President has said he would veto spending bills at sequester levels. I also know there are Republicans who have seen the impact of sequestration in their States, as I have seen it in my State of Washington, and I know there are Republicans who look at this budget and wonder why it couldn't use some of the trillions of dollars in cuts to reinvest in American innovation or in our defense investments.

So I am hopeful that instead of continuing to kick the can down the road or relying on gimmicks that don't actually solve this problem, Republicans will come back to the table and work with us to build on our bipartisan budget deal in a balanced and responsible way, will allow the Appropriations subcommittees to actually do their work and not wait for another crisis before they push the tea party aside and work with us to get this done.

Instead of rehashing old debates and lurching us toward another completely avoidable crisis, we should be working together to put in place policies that boost the economy and help our working families--policies such as allowing workers to earn paid sick days. No worker should have to sacrifice a day's pay or their job altogether just to take care of themselves or their sick child. But today, in this country, 43 million Americans do not have access to paid sick days.

Making sure more workers have this basic worker protection will give more families some much-needed economic stability. And, by the way, it is pro-business. Access to paid sick days boosts productivity, and it reduces turnover--two huge benefits for employers.

Businesses that want to help their workers stay healthy should have a level playing field so they aren't at a disadvantage when they do the right thing. A strong bipartisan majority of Senators affirmed their support for allowing workers to earn paid sick days during the budget amendment process, and I was hopeful we could build on that momentum and keep working together to increase the economic security for millions of workers and families.

So I was very disappointed that the conference report does not reflect that provision. Instead of keeping our bipartisan amendment and providing paid sick days to help workers and families, this conference report instead allows for tax credits for employers that would not guarantee access to paid leave. That is a step in the wrong direction. But it doesn't have to be the last step this Congress takes.

So I urge our colleagues to work with me to pass the Healthy Families Act, legislation that would move this debate beyond budget amendments and make paid sick days a reality for millions of Americans. Allowing workers to earn paid sick days is one way we can ensure our workplaces are working for all families--not just the wealthiest few.

I also want to talk about one more way this budget would be devastating for families across the country. The Affordable Care Act was a critical step forward in our efforts to build a health care system that puts patients first, and it allows every family to get the affordable, high quality health care they need. But the work didn't end when this law passed--far from it.

Families across the country are expecting us to keep working to build on this progress and continue making health care more affordable, more accessible, and with higher quality, and that is what Democrats are focused on. Unfortunately, this Republican budget would do the exact opposite. It would roll back all the progress we have made, take us back to the bad old days when insurance companies called all the shots, when being a woman was a preexisting condition, when far fewer families could afford to get the health care they need. In fact, this Republican approach could even mean an average tax hike of $3,200 a year on working families who would have to pay more for their care.

Families are tired of Republicans playing games with their health care. So I hope my Republican colleagues will listen to the millions of people across the country who have more affordable, quality health care and to the vast majority of our constituents, who want us to work together to solve problems and not rehash old fights, and that they will finally drop the political games and work with us to move our health care system forward--not backward--for the communities we serve.

Republicans control Congress. It is their job to write and pass a budget. But our constituents actually sent us here to work together--not simply to argue with each other. People across the country are expecting us to break through the gridlock once again, like we were able to do last Congress, and deliver results for their families and the communities we represent.

So I urge my colleagues to oppose this budget that would be devastating to middle-class families, seniors, investments in our future, and the economy. I really hope that Republicans decide to come back to the table and work with us on policies that grow the economy from the middle out--not from the top down--and that moves us towards a government that works for all families--not just the wealthiest few.

I yield the floor.

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