Government Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank my colleague the Senator from Connecticut for giving me a chance to very briefly-- less than 1 minute--add my voice as well.

I echo what my friend the Senator from Vermont has said. I want to commend the leadership of my friends the Senators from Maryland, Mr. Cardin and Mr. Van Hollen. The Commonwealth of Virginia is experiencing the same kinds of challenges and crisis that Maryland is. We have a disproportionate number of Federal employees, and I think we underestimate what is going to happen when these employees don't get their paychecks on Friday--that coming on top of countless number of contractors. I have small business contractors who have had to shut down their business because they can't make the payroll. Even reopening the government will not mean those businesses will come back into operation.

I simply wanted--I am sorry the majority leader is not here. The majority leader keeps saying, you know, that we are powerless in this body to do anything, that the only way we can pass any legislation is if the President agrees.

I do not want to overstate the case, but I would simply refer the majority leader to article I, section 7, clause 2 of our Constitution, which gives this body, if it reaches a two-thirds vote, the ability to override a Presidential veto and make the legislation, which has already passed this body by a 96 to 2 vote. If those same votes stand by the legislation that we all agreed to before Christmas--if it was a good idea before Christmas to reopen the government and continue the debate on national security on a separate path, how is it not a good idea today, when Federal employees are going without their pay?

So the majority leader's unwillingness to allow us to vote, to have our voices be heard--and if that vote would in any way appear close to where this same body voted before Christmas, we would have a solution to this crisis. I simply wanted to point that out.

I know the majority leader knows our laws and knows our Constitution, but I find it a little bit rich when he says that we have no ability at all to weigh in on this process and he refuses to take any action that will not meet with the agreement of this President.

The Constitution of the United States gives the Senate the ability to have their voices heard. We have already voted in margins that would well exceed the veto requirements laid out by the Constitution. I hope he will give us the right to vote and let us have our voices heard and potentially be able to have the government of the United States reopened.

With that, I thank my colleagues for giving me the chance to add that small item to the debate.

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