Government Funding

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I would like to finish the colloquy of the Democratic Senators who talked about this important issue--the need to reopen the government and to stop the shutdown--and I intend to do so before 9 o'clock. I want to thank my colleague from New Hampshire and all the colleagues who appeared on the floor today.

On Friday, January 11, if we do not end this shutdown, it will be tied for the longest shutdown of government in the history of the United States. It is also a payday where more than 800,000 Federal employees will not get a paycheck. My quick census research suggests that is essentially the population of South Dakota. More than 800,000 people who just want to serve their country, some of whom have been forced to work without a paycheck, will not get a paycheck on January.

Friday, January 11, is right after Christmas, when a lot of Christmas bills come due. Friday, January 11, is in the middle of winter, when heating bills are at their highest. Friday, January 11, is right before the beginning of the college spring semester, and families will be sitting around kitchen tables to write tuition checks for their kids to go to school for the spring semester. That will be this Friday.

This shutdown hurts workers. I told stories of workers in Virginia who have already suffered, and my colleagues have as well.

It hurts citizens. I had the experience two Saturdays ago of going to four Federal--either national forests or Park Service operations and seeing gates closed. I watched families come up. They had driven. They may not get a lot of vacation. They had a lot of kids in the car, and they were coming up to have fun with their families that day. I watched the looks on their faces as they pulled to the locations and saw the gates closed and the sign saying that they weren't able to enjoy the day they had planned with their family. That is not the same as missing a mortgage payment, but for families who are stretched in time and want to spend a day enjoying time with each other--I saw the looks on their faces as they were turned away.

Mr. President, you and I have worked together on an important initiative to train students, college students, to be our next cyber professionals. Today is the cyber jobs fair that the National Science Foundation sponsors for college students all over the country. It was at National Harbor. I went there. I walked by a lot of students who had come because they want to serve the country as cyber professionals, and they were having interviews. But a lot of the booths--the Department of Justice--there was a booth, there was a sign, but there was nobody there. There was nobody there from the Federal Agency to hire.

These are effects on everyday citizens, kids who want jobs, Federal agencies that want to hire workers, families who just want to go to the parks.

This is hurting workers, it is hurting citizens, and it is hurting our country.

In conclusion, I just want to say: Why? Why would we want to hurt Federal workers? Why would we want them to be without a paycheck? Why do we want to hurt everyday citizens? Why do we want to hurt the reputation of the country?

Because I could see from the looks on the faces of those getting turned away at the park not just aggravation, I could see: What kind of country is this? I am a hard-working person, I pay taxes, I am coming to a national park, I am coming to a national forest, and I am getting turned away because the President wants to shut down the government over a debate about border security.

You know, Mr. President, because you and I worked on it together, in February, $25 billion for border security, that wasn't enough. The President blew up the deal. Five years ago, $44 billion of border security wasn't enough for the Republican House.

We want to fund border security, but as I conclude, I just would say to this President: Do not hurt American workers. Do not hurt American citizens. Do not hurt the reputation of the greatest country on Earth.

I would say to my Republican colleagues, please be willing to vote and support exactly what you voted and supported just 3 weeks ago.

Why the change in position? Why was it OK in December, and it is not OK now? Is it not OK because the President suddenly said he didn't like it? Is it the job of the article I branch to play Mother May I with the President and seek his permission to be an article I branch? I don't believe it is. Let's end this shutdown. Let's reopen government. Let's do border security and immigration reform the right way.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source