Budget Negotiations

Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I have long believed we have to be serious about the deficit, and I was 1 of about 14 Senators who held back their vote on the debt ceiling last year to make sure we actually created the fiscal commission, which did very good work this year. That work is being taken by a small group of Democratic and Republican Senators to come up with long-term solutions for the debt. I strongly believe that is what we have to do. I also believe we have a responsibility to govern.

Allowing a shutdown when we are this close in negotiations, when a number has been agreed upon and all it comes down to is a disagreement on politics, is just wrong. What makes this situation so troubling is that we have reached this standstill not over dollars at its essence but over politics that I don't believe have a place in the debate.

With a bipartisan deal within reach, it would be irresponsible to shut down the government and punish our constituents solely to score political points. This impending shutdown has broad consequences. While we have now seen 13 straight months of private sector job growth, adding 1.8 million jobs in that time, the economy is still fragile. Everyone knows that in their own States. Too many Americans continue to struggle.

According to an analysis from Goldman Sachs, a government shutdown will cost the economy around $8 billion per year or nearly .2 percent of GDP for each week of the shutdown, all because of a disagreement over social issues not over dollars--because last night there was actually agreement on the dollars.

Economists and business leaders agree that a government shutdown at this time will hurt our recovery, hurt businesses, and slow economic growth. Even Speaker Boehner has admitted it will cost more than it saves.

If a shutdown were to occur, the Small Business Administration would cease to process applications for business loan guarantees, curtailing lending to small businesses already squeezed by tight credit markets. Last year the Small Business Administration supported more than $212 billion in lending to small businesses through its two largest loan programs. At these levels we would see over $400 million a week in small business lending put on hold because of a shutdown.

Our government also provides vital support for businesses seeking to export their products and services and conducting business abroad. The U.S. Commercial Service, a part of the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, has offices and embassies and consulates in over 80 countries worldwide and utilizes its global network of trade professionals to connect U.S. companies with international buyers. Every year they help thousands of U.S. companies export goods and services worth billions of dollars.

If the Federal Government shuts down, these services will end and sales and contracts will be lost. If we look at the shutdown in 1995, we can see evidence of how damaging a disruption of services like these can be. During that shutdown, approximately $2.2 billion in U.S. exports couldn't leave the country because the Department of State and the Bureau of Export Administration were unable to issue export licenses.

Finally, I wish to make a point about visas since I chair the Subcommittee on Export Promotion, Competitiveness and Innovation, which includes tourism. During the last shutdown, approximately 20,000 to 30,000 applications by foreigners for foreign tourist visas were unprocessed each day, and the U.S. tourist industries and airlines reportedly sustained millions of dollars in losses. With the average foreign visitor spending over $4,000 per visit, it is easy to see how fast these losses add up for businesses. These are just a few examples, but the sum total will be much greater.

I am on a bill with Senator Casey and Senator Hutchison to continue funding our troops. Of course, we will do that; of course, they should get their paychecks. But let's look at what this shutdown would do on a day-to-day basis to provide some perspective.

In northwestern Minnesota, volunteers are taking time off from their jobs and from school to help fill sand bags and build temporary levees as we watch the Red River of the north rise to its eventual crest. The flood fight takes all hands on deck in North Dakota and Minnesota, with local, State, and Federal Government working together to protect these communities. Earlier this week, to help in this fight, Governor Dayton declared a state of emergency for 46 Minnesota counties. North Dakota has also been declared a state of emergency.

FEMA has said it will have all the resources it would need to maintain its capabilities during a shutdown. However, if the Federal Government closes its doors, FEMA will not be able to process in a timely manner paperwork and applications that Minnesotans will be submitting for assistance once the waters recede. I have been through these flood fights before. The whole community comes together. The whole community fights that flood. They take days and days and days. Some of them have lost their houses, and they are still out there helping their fellow citizens. I see that and I wonder to myself: And we in this body and in this Congress can't come together when we are this close, when there actually was agreement on a number last night. We can't come together while these volunteers across the Red River are coming together on a flood fight? That is absurd.

I urge my colleagues who are holding this up to reconsider their all-or-nothing stance so we can move forward with the real work that must be done. A setback now would simply prevent the growth needed to address our country's long-term fiscal imbalances.

I yield the floor.

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