Unanimous Consent - H.R. 3230
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the junior Senator from Texas launched this government shutdown with a 21-hour presentation here on the floor of the Senate. It is clear from the actions of the House and his actions today that he is starting to try to reconcile in his mind all the damage which this government shutdown, which he inspired, is causing across the United States.
This particular unanimous consent request relates to National Guard Reservists, a group which we hold in high esteem. But if the junior Senator from Texas is really focused on veterans and those who have served our country, he should take into consideration the 560,000 Federal employees who are currently facing furlough or are on furlough, who are veterans, a fourth of whom are disabled veterans. So what the junior Senator from Texas is doing is picking and choosing who he will allow in the lifeboat. At this moment, it is National Guard and Reserve, while leaving 560,000 veteran Federal employees out in the water thrashing for themselves. That is not the way we should manage or govern this country.
I can understand the anxiety the Senator feels about the problems he has created, but trying to solve them one piece at a time is not the American way. I object. And I ask unanimous consent, though--before I object, I ask unanimous consent that the request be modified, that an amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, that the bill be amended, then be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
This amendment is the text that passed the Senate. It is a clean continuing resolution for the entire government, including the National Guard, Reserve, VA, NIH--all of them. It is something that is already over in the House of Representatives and reportedly has the support of a majority of Democrats and Republicans and could pass today.
I ask for that modification.
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would say to my colleague from Texas, some of the language which he has used in this debate relative to impugning motives of Members may have crossed the line. I am not going to raise it at this point, but I ask him to be careful in the future.
I object.
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