Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, unfortunately, our Democratic friends have now blocked another vital piece of legislation from moving forward by a vote of 54 to 42. The cloture vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has failed on that cloture vote. But I want to point out to our colleagues that this is not the end of this discussion. This is the beginning of the discussion once again.

I would point out that over the years we have actually been making some progress in favor of an agenda that favors life. In 2007 eight Senate Republicans opposed defunding Planned Parenthood, by 2011 five Senate Republicans opposed defunding Planned Parenthood, and in August just one Senator opposed it by voting to filibuster the bill. Last time we had zero Democratic Senators vote on such a measure. In August we got two.

The pain-capable bill that was blocked by Senate Democrats last year, of course, is what we just voted on again. Today we had an opportunity to be on the record and advocate for what is a top priority for pro-life groups.

There is legislation that has passed in the House of Representatives--namely, the born-alive piece of legislation, which really shouldn't divide Congress the way perhaps the defunding of Planned Parenthood bill has because at some point, whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, hopefully we can agree that a child who is basically grown to full-term in their mother should be protected from the abortion industries. I think we are going to have other opportunities to vote on that issue.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is really a moral imperative for our Nation. It says a lot about who we are as a country. This Chamber just had the opportunity to send a clear message that America is a nation that seeks to advance a culture of life and opportunity for everyone, particularly those who are the most vulnerable. As a father of two daughters, I don't understand the rationale of some of my colleagues on the other side. Do they believe there should be no limitation on access to abortion at all? No limit?

Well, we will have an opportunity for another vote that perhaps will give them a chance to go on record on the born-alive bill that passed the House of Representatives last week. Unfortunately, I think it appears that by blocking this vote, some of our colleagues were simply unable to cast aside the pressures of special interest groups to take a stand for life. But it is important to note for pro-life Members such as myself that protecting the sanctity of life is an ongoing mission, and it doesn't end with this one vote.

Mr. President, briefly on another matter, we will shortly consider or reconsider another vote that should be a clear-cut issue. This vote would make sure that our military has what they need in order to protect our country and deal with the rising and diverse threats to national security occurring around the world. This will most pointedly help our troops maintain their status as the greatest military. The Defense appropriations bill includes simple initiatives that make sense and serve our troops well, such as giving them a well-deserved pay raise.

I think it is worth reminding those here today that this will be the second opportunity to move this legislation forward. Earlier, our colleagues across the aisle blocked this Defense appropriations bill that provides critical funding for our troops and refused to allow it to move forward. That legislation, as the majority leader pointed out, was voted overwhelmingly out of the Appropriations Committee in June with the support of many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who then turned and voted against it on the floor. I guess, in the famous words of John Kerry, they were for it before they were against it.

So the bill we will be considering and voting on shortly is not a piece of partisan legislation, but holding up this legislation is unfortunately indicative of a larger strategy of keeping the Senate tied in knots and making it impossible for it to function as intended. If the goal is to stymie real progress, I would have to congratulate our friends across the aisle. But unfortunately they have taken as a hostage in this partisan political fight the very military which they claim to support and which I believe they do support, but their vote certainly does not indicate that when they vote against funding our troops.

I would point out that in 2013 the Democratic leader himself advocated for something we call regular order around here when it comes to setting our Nation's fiscal policy.

Fortunately, this year, under the new majority, we were able to pass a budget for the first time since 2009. But then what should have happened after that is the Appropriations Committee should have done its work--in fact, it did do its work--and then those bills would come to the floor and they would be voted on by the Senate. But that is what our Democratic colleagues have blocked. I think they have gone a bridge too far in blocking the funding for our military, particularly with the headlines we see in the newspapers and the conflicts arising and spreading across the world.

So this is the first time in 6 years that the Appropriations Committee has approved and reported out all 12 appropriations bills. But then these bills became hostage to something our Democratic friends called ``filibuster summer''--a political strategy telegraphed from the pages of the Washington Post just last June to block all appropriations bills.

I said it then and it bears repeating that stifling debate and blocking votes is a pretty lousy political strategy, and it is not what the American people sent us here to do. It is what lost my friends across the aisle control of this Chamber nearly a year ago. It is a losing strategy, it is bad policy, and it is cynical politics. It is simply shameful to take these partisan political fights to the point of denying our troops the resources they need in order to do their job.

So the Appropriations Committee has done its work on a bipartisan basis and painstakingly drafted, considered, and passed all 12 appropriations bills. Now this Chamber should do our job and move those appropriations bills forward, starting with the Defense appropriations bill.

Now that the majority leader has moved to reconsider that failed vote, earlier blocked by our Democratic colleagues, I hope our friends across the aisle have had a chance to reconsider and to think carefully about the ramifications of their decision and that they will join us in moving this bill forward. The world is far too dangerous and the threats are far too real to take this important piece of legislation hostage and prevent the resources going to the troops, who simply deserve it.

Quite simply, we have no time to lose when it comes to fulfilling one of our most basic duties to the American people: defending against threats to national security. I would urge my fellow colleagues to join me in moving this important bill forward.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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