prayer

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Arizona be given 15 minutes and that I have 5 minutes after him.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, not 15 minutes of our time, 15 minutes of their time.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority does not have 15 minutes.

Mr. REID. He can use whatever time he needs from us.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, a point of information. I am in order after the Senator from Arizona?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Madam President. I thank my colleague from Illinois for his courtesy and I thank the Senator from Arizona for his outstanding remarks, as usual.

For 21 hours, we have heard the Senator from Texas hold forth. What has he accomplished? He has alienated many of his own colleagues. He has taken 21 hours unnecessarily, although he is entitled to speak when he wants, because the vote would have occurred whether he said 10,000 words, 1 word or no words. So as Leader Reid said, this was not a filibuster. But, most of all, he has shown the American people what he is willing to do.

We all know the Senator from Texas has very strong views about ObamaCare. Fair enough. That is why we have a Senate. There is a time and a place to debate them. But he, in his view that he is right and everyone else is wrong, is willing not only to hold forth on the Senate floor in a meaningless exercise, but, more important, urge his colleagues to hold the American people hostage until everyone agrees with his view. He wants to hold the cancer patient hostage who will not get NIH treatments if the government shuts down. He wants to throw the construction worker out of work who is doing a job that is federally funded and will not be funded if the government shuts down. He wants to tell the recipient of Social Security that they may not get their checks if there aren't enough people at the centers to send those checks and make sure they get to the right place because he wants to shut down the government.

The Senator from Texas has passionate views. Fair enough. But when the Senator from Texas thinks he is so right that he can trample on the rights not only of his own colleagues who are in a bit of a tizzy about what he has done, but, far more important, on the needs of the American people, something is wrong.

In this country, we have always eschewed ideologues--people who are so sure they are right they don't listen to anyone else, they don't care about anyone else, and they don't care about the damage they cause as they pursue their goal. That seems to be what the Senator from Texas is doing. I was appalled last night when he tried to make the analogy to World War II and Hitler. As somebody who lost brothers in the Holocaust, to compare the two was absurd. I know my colleague from Arizona mentioned that as well.

I was also surprised he used the book ``Green Eggs and Ham'' as he read to his daughters, because anyone who knows that book knows the moral of that book is to try something before you condemn it. You might actually like it. The main character in ``Green Eggs and Ham'' resisted eating green eggs and ham. Maybe if he were a Senator, he would speak on the floor for 21 hours. But then when he tasted green eggs and ham, he actually liked them. Maybe as the President's health care bill goes into effect, Senator Cruz may actually find that he and his constituents actually like it.

So the bottom line is very simple. There is a time and a place, as the Scriptures say. We will certainly debate ObamaCare in the 2014 elections. I would note we did in the 2012 elections and not a single Democrat who voted for ObamaCare in this Senate lost. Every single person who was up for office had voted for ObamaCare and was not defeated, even though that issue was used against them over and over again. If we want to have that debate again in 2014, fine, we welcome it. By the way, we welcome it in 2016 as well. If the Senator from Texas wants to have a debate on the floor of the Senate about ObamaCare, fine. But don't hold--not just this body because his exercise was meaningless--don't hold the American people hostage simply because he is so sure he is right and everyone else is wrong.

Don't hold the Social Security recipient hostage. Don't hold the road worker hostage. Don't hold the person who depends on inspectors who inspect our food or patrol our borders hostage. Debate ObamaCare all you want, but please don't threaten to shut down the government because you can't get your way.

I yield the floor.

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