Budget Negotiations

Floor Speech

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise to speak on the current state of partisan budget negotiations.

For weeks now, the offices of the Senate majority leader, the House Speaker, and the White House have been engaged in serious talks seeking a long-term budget agreement. It has been a long hard process. There have been a lot of fits and starts in the negotiations. But it is no exaggeration to say that as of last week talks were on a smooth path toward a compromise. The Speaker's office was negotiating in good faith. The parties significantly narrowed the $51 billion gap on how much spending should be cut. House Republican leaders had agreed to come down from H.R. 1 and meet us halfway. We could begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

But suddenly, at the end of last week, House Republicans did a strange thing: They pulled back from the talks. They changed their minds about what level of spending cuts they could accept. We were on the verge of a potential breakthrough, and they suddenly moved the goalposts. We felt a little bit like we were left at the altar. Not only did they abandon the talks, they started denying that they were ever close to a deal in the first place. Majority Leader Cantor issued a statement Friday saying that reports that progress was being made were "far-fetched." It was as if they decided that even the appearance of a looming compromise was a political liability. It was surreal.

It is no surprise what happened. The headline of today's story in the National Journal says it all:

With Revolt Brewing, GOP Backs Off Deal.

Let me repeat that because that is really what is going on here and the news of the day in the last few days:

With Revolt Brewing, GOP Backs Off Deal.

The story reads:

Concerned about a revolt by the conservative, tea party-wing of the party, GOP leaders have pulled back from a tentative deal to cut roughly $30 billion in cuts from current spending levels. The influence that tea-party conservatives now exercise over the process put the chances of a compromise seriously in doubt.

The story continues:

The GOP pulled back from that agreement last week after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., warned House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, that the deal would trigger a revolt from tea-party conservatives.

In other words, as soon as House Republican leaders took one step toward compromise, the tea party rebelled, so they took two steps back.

The National Journal story describes an offer that was put on the table by the White House that would have met House Republicans halfway. The offer falls squarely in the ballpark of Congressman Ryan's original budget proposal with roughly $70 billion in spending cuts compared to the President's budget request. This is a significant move in the Republicans' direction. These are more cuts than many on our side might support, but it shows how seriously the White House is about wanting a compromise to avert a shutdown. If they are planning to reject such an offer, it is clear they won't take "yes" for an answer and are seeking a shutdown. The Republican leadership in the House, with the tea party breathing down their back, won't take "yes" for an answer and won't support the original proposal made by Budget Chairman Ryan of roughly $70 billion in spending cuts. We know Congressman Ryan is hardly a liberal or a moderate. It shows how far to the right the Republican leadership is being forced to move by the tea party.

This level of spending cuts was good enough for House Republicans earlier this year when Hal Rogers released his original proposal. But the tea party hollered, and House Republicans were forced to double their proposed spending cuts to an extreme level of $61 billion. When that happened, Hal Rogers said the House was moving beyond what was reasonable and into territory where they could never get a deal. Tom Latham of Iowa agreed that in forcing H.R. 1 to go from $30 billion to $60 billion in cuts, the tea party was forcing Republicans to go beyond what was "enactable." These are conservative Republicans saying that the present House proposal is not enactable, cannot pass. Just as the tea party forced mainstream Republicans into extreme territory before, they are doing so again. Anyone who looks at this objectively sees that is what is happening.

The Speaker has said all along that he wants to avoid a shutdown at all costs. I believe him. He is a good man. The problem is, a large percentage of those in his party don't feel the same way. They think "compromise" is a dirty word. They think taking any steps to avert a shutdown would mean being the first to blink. So Speaker Boehner is caught between a shutdown and a hard place. He has caught a tiger by the tail in the form of the tea party. There is even a tea party rally planned for later this week to pressure the Speaker not to budge off H.R. 1.

To try to mask the divisions on their own side, Republicans have resorted to lashing out in a knee-jerk way at Democrats. Their latest trick is trying to accuse Democrats of not having our own plan. That is a diversion. It rings hollow. The only proposals that have been made that would actually avoid a government shutdown are numerous compromises that Democrats have offered Republicans.

I would like to remind my House friends, as they all know, the Senate needs 60 votes to pass a bill. We can't pass anything without Republican agreement. Yet our Senate Republican colleagues are nowhere to be found. Since the Senate rejected the Republican job-killing budget proposal that would cost Americans 700,000 jobs a month ago, Republicans have not moved an inch off their plan.

Speaker Boehner knows, when it comes to averting a government shutdown on April 8, it is the tea party, not the Democrats, that is causing the trouble. At this point, the only hurdle left to a bipartisan deal, the only obstacle in the way is the tea party. But for the tea party, we could have an agreement that reduces spending by a historic amount. We could have a deal that keeps the government open.

A tea party rebellion may hurt House Republican leadership politically, but a shutdown will hurt Americans, all Americans, much more. It is time for House Republican leaders to rip off the bandaid. Mr. Speaker, it is time to forget the tea party and take the deal. There are only 10 days left before the current CR expires. There is no new stopgap being prepared by House Republicans. It seems the only viable proposal is the one the Speaker walked away from. So the Speaker faces a choice: Return to the deal he was prepared to accept before the tea party rebelled last week or risk a shutdown on April 8. I think we know what the right answer is. It is clear. The Speaker has a choice: Appease the tea party and shut down the government or take the right and principled stand and move the government forward by coming to a reasonable compromise between both parties that cuts the budget significantly.

I yield the floor.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska.

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