Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, it has now been 95 days since the Senate passed a budget, and I have come to the floor myself now 6 times to ask unanimous consent to move to conference. My Democratic colleagues have asked unanimous consent to move to conference another eight times. After every request, a Senate Republican has stood up and said no--no to the opportunity to work on a bipartisan budget deal.

I want to say to the Republicans who are blocking a bipartisan budget conference: Enough is enough. We have heard so many excuses--refusing to allow conference before we get to a so-called preconference framework; putting preconditions on what can be discussed in a bipartisan conference; claiming that moving to a budget conference--which leading Republicans did call for just a few months ago--was somehow not regular order; to, most recently, claiming we need to look at a 30-year budget window before looking at the major problems we have right now in front of us--which, I add, is unacceptable, because the American people rightly expect us to work on both at the same time.

Hearing these changing excuses week after week has been frustrating not just for Democrats but for many of my Republican colleagues as well.

A large group of us--Republicans and Democrats--think that although we do have major differences between the parties' values and priorities, we should at least come to the table and try to work out a bipartisan deal. That is what American people do every day. And when there is a disagreement, they can't afford to play a game of chicken and hope the other person gives in, because when that happens, important work cannot get done. Kids don't get picked up from school, bills don't get paid, small businesses miss a major opportunity for expansion. Every day regular Americans avoid those kinds of situations, and we here in the Senate should at least try to do the same.

There are extremely important things that are not getting done in the Senate right now because some Republicans want to embrace the harmful top-line spending level in sequestration which has a major gap between the House and Senate appropriations levels for the next fiscal year. We don't have much time left to resolve that gap. After we come back from next week's State work period, we will have 1 month to try to come to an agreement or else we are going to find ourselves in a very tough situation in September. We could, once again, be working against the clock to avoid a harmful crisis. The last thing the American people--who come together and resolve differences every day--want to see is another round of manufactured crises coming out of Washington, DC, and they do not have to. We still have time.

I know there are leaders on both sides of the aisle who would strongly prefer to solve problems rather than to get into yet another political fight that creates uncertainty for our families, our businesses, our country, and our economy. I am confident that if those of us who prefer commonsense bipartisanship over artificial crisis work together, we can reach a fair agreement and show the American people our government does work.

I urge Senate Republican leaders to drop the tea party-backed strategy of delaying until the next crisis, and allow the Senate to join the House in a formal bipartisan budget negotiation.

Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that the amendment which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; that H. Con. Res. 25, as amended, be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate; that following the authorization, two motions to instruct conferees will be in order from each side--motion to instruct relative to the debt limit, and motion to instruct relative to taxes and revenue; that there be 2 hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to votes in relation to the motions; and further, that no amendments be in order to either of the motions prior to the votes; all of the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would object. What the Senator is asking for is a precondition on a conference committee without the consideration of this whole Senate.

What I have offered to him and to this body in my unanimous consent request is a vote on the motion to instruct conferees, which is what occurs in the Senate if we want to put any precondition onto a budget.

I reject his unanimous consent, and I ask again my unanimous consent request.

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