Start writing a budget that works for not only my state but every state in the union. It can be done. Its been done many, many, many times before. Unfortunately, this year, our budget ran out on september 30. We had a c. R. That took us from the next day, october 1, to december 8. And then when december 8 rolled around, we had another continuing resolution, c. R. , to take us from december 8 to december 22. And then when december 22 rolled around, we had another c. R. That took us from december 22 to january 19, and thats where we are today. Because some of us said enough is enough. We need to have a budget that works for this country. Here we are on bay two of the Government Shutdown, and this body cant even agree to pay our troops. Thats how dysfunctional we have become. Now were using military men and women as political pawns because of the dysfunction we have here in washington, d. C. In the past, we have always taken care of these folks because the Service Members and their families have sacrificed much for this country. But we continue to draw out the leadership of this body for political gain. The folks i talk to, the rankandfile folks, think its ridiculous, both sides of the aisle, and they think its ridiculous that weve gotten here in the first place. But the truth is if were going to get predictability and the ability for our agencies to plan and the military to plan and the v. A. To plan and our Border Security folks to plan and everybody else, we need to have a budget that goes longer than month to month or three weeks to three weeks. We need a budget that funds more than just chip. Its interesting that chip that could have been three months ago, i had events in montana talking about how important this was months ago. I am cosponsoring a bill that has set on the leaders desk that could have been passed months ago, but it was put in i guess as a sweetener but unfortunately using chip as a political pawn isnt exactly what i had in mind for the program, a program thats been around nearly 20 years and served montanas family so very, very well. But thats not the only program that we havent funded. We havent funded our Community Health centers. I heard the senator from alaska talk yesterday about how critically important they are for alaska. Whether its critically important for montana. I have a notion they are critically important for every rural state in the union and probably every urban state, too, as far as that goes. That needs to be taken care of. In montana, where we have just over a million people, 100,000 people depend on Community Health centers for their health care. Then there is a thing called 340b, not to get in the weeds too far, but these are payments given to hospitals that hold pharmaceutical Companies Accountable and keep our hospitals open. I had hospital administrators and former hospital administrators in my office over the last month telling me if this doesnt get fixed, were going to lose hospitals in montana. Once again, taking away access from regular folks. Thats not included in any of this and could have been done months ago. There have been plenty of folks come to the floor and talk about opioids, talk about pensions. Neither of those are included in this. There is no money for the borders. The southern border needs some attention. The northern border does, too, particularly the ports. There is no predictability for our military. Defense secretary mattis has said that many, many times. Things that are closer to home like rural Ambulance Services needs to be addressed, isnt addressed. It isnt going to be addressed unless we push the envelope and get work to get things done here. Teaching Health Centers that allows us to have doctors in places around this country that cant get doctors. Criticalically important. Full Medicare Coverage for physical therapists and occupational therapists. Were going to lose these folks if we dont have it. Special Diabetes Program for particularly for Indian Country where diabetes is rampant needs to be addressed. Plus a whole lot more. When i was in high school, i debated for a couple of years, and one of the things that was interesting during the debate, because you would go through the debate and you would hear the affirmative and the negative lay out their cases much in the same way as being done by the two leaders here on this issue. When you got done debating, if one team was particularly behind or ahead, they would say well, they didnt make a case on why this is a good idea. Or they didnt make a case, the negative did not make a case and why their case should stand over the affirmative. And i hear the same thing today. When folks come to the floor and say people agree with everything thats in it. Well, i dont, because there aint much in this. We have been coming here for the last four months since the budget ran out the end of september and continue to kick the can down the road. Its just how dysfunctional this body has become. We cant do the basic thing that we were elected to do, and thats pass a budget until the end of the year and have it include the things that are so important to this one, whether it be military or whether it be health care whether it be issues that resolve around medicare, whether it be issues that revolve around pensions. We just dont do much. And i think many of us are getting very tired of saying, you know what, we dont want to we dont want to put forth any excellence in this body. We dont want to put forth any vision or any leadership. Were just going to do the bare minimum every day. We need to stop. Congress needs to stop. With shortterm Solutions Going from crisis to crisis. That is no way to run a nation, and i would tell you that most folks on both sides of the aisle would agree. Thats why we need to start working together to get this problem fixed, because its a problem. The problem of threeweek or fourweek c. R. s, the problem of not addressing the issues that are so critically important to working families and businesses in this country need to stop. We need to Work Together. I have said yesterday were being pulled apart by the far left and the far right, and thats the truth. In days gone past, in Mike Mansfields day, 70 of the work got done in the middle. Now we dont even do the basic of work today. So i would say lets get together. The truth is the republicans control the white house, they control the house, they control the senate, they control the agenda, and they should. They won the last election. But that doesnt mean we shouldnt Work Together as democrats and republicans and most importantly as americans to do whats right by this country. So i would just ask that, in particular to the leaders on both sides, get together, do the tough negotiations, compromise, and come up with a budget that works for not only montana but for every state in this great country. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota im sorry. Wisconsin. He told me minnesota. Ms. Baldwin im proud to be a wisconsin senator. Mr. President , washington is broken. Washington isnt working for wisconsin or minnesota or the rest of america, for that reason. And i rise today to call on all my senate colleagues, democrats and republicans, to fix it. I think its very important for all of us to be honest with the American People and shoot straight with how we got to this point where we are today, amidst a Government Shutdown. At the end of september, nearly four months ago, the republican majority missed a major deadline, a deadline to pass a budget for america and its government and Appropriations Bills that fund the government for the year. Republicans have the power of the majority here in the United States senate, in the house of representatives, and the presidency. Yet, the Republican Leadership has failed, failed to put together a budget for america and its government. That provides certainty for our country. Families in wisconsin who are struggling pie check to paycheck to paycheck, they put together a budget for their families because they have to in order to make ends meet. But here in washington, my friends on the other side of the aisle have played by a different set of rules. On friday night they didnt put forward a budget for america and its government. Instead they offered their fourth shortterm continuing resolution for the last four months. This is no way to govern, simply kicking the can down the road each month and ignoring the real needs of our country. The federal budget is not a calendar year budget. Rather it runs from october 1 to september 30 each year. There are all sorts of historical reasons for why that is, but among them, if we get our work done on time, local governments and other entities that have calendar year budgets get to see what federal funds have been allocated for the things that we do jointly, that make a real difference in peoples lives. And the congress is supposed to get its budget done actually in the spring, and then finish its appropriation process by september 30. In fact, today we should be starting our work on the 2019 budget. Instead we are still working on the 2018 budget that should have been completed last spring and Appropriations Bills that should have been done by september 30. The majority had from september 30 until december 9. That was the first shortterm continuing resolution as its known, to get the job done. And on a bipartisan basis we allocated that time through a continuing resolution. The majority had then from december 9 until december 22, another shortterm continuing resolution. And then from december 22 to january 19, another continuing resolution. But the governing majority still hasnt done its work, so they asked for yet another four weeks. This monthbymonth approach from the majority has failed. It has failed to provide our military and troops with the budget certainty they need. We heard from secretary mattis and his team this week about how harmful these continuing resolutions are to our nations military, and the majority should heed those words because it impedes the militarys ability to plan for the defense of our nation. Under repeated continuing resolutions, the department cant start new programs, hiring and recruitment are limited, and our National SecurityFunding Priorities are left on auto pilot. The Defense Department has made it clear that they need a longterm budget, not week by week and month by month measures. But the majority has failed to deliver results. Our veterans need v. A. Reforms so that they can get the Health Care Services that they have earned. And ive worked in a bipartisan manner on a number of reforms of the v. A. Choice program, but the continuing resolution offered and rightly rejected by both democrats and republicans shortchanges Veterans Health when we should be working together to serve those who have bravely served this nation. Four months ago Congressional Republicans let funding for Childrens Health care expire. They refused to pass legislation that funds the Child Health Insurance program otherwise known as chip. 170,000 children in the state of wisconsin rely on chip for their health care. But the Congressional Republicans were more concerned at that period of time in giving away massive tax breaks. 80 plus of the benefits go to the upper 1 in big corporations. In fact, while these children were ignored, republicans gave permanent tax cuts to powerful corporations and now wont provide permanent funding for the chip program, for Childrens Health insurance for lowincome families. Four months ago the Majority Party that controls washington let funding for Community Health centers lapse. In my home state, 300,000 wisconsinites are served by Community Health centers, including kids on chip. Two weeks ago i visited one of those Community Health centers in green bay, wisconsin. The Health Care Workers and staff describe the anxiety and uncertainty they feel every day because they dont know whether they will have the funding they need to minister to the Health Care Needs of those that they serve. Many Community Health centers cant move forward with longerterm contracts for services or repairs or invest in new medical equipment because they dont know if or when washington will act. They found out on friday night a continuing resolution offered just like the three before it failed to address funding for Community Health centers once again. But it did give tax breaks to big insurance companies. We cannot leave our Community Health centers without the funding they need to serve the people that we all work for. We should take action now to fully fund them because they cant wait any longer. I know that every one of my colleagues here in the senate has come facetoface with the opioid epidemic. I know i have. I traveled my state and met with Health Care Workers, local officials, people from Law Enforcement and the judiciary who are working on the front lines of this crisis. I know what its like to have a loved one dependent upon narcotics. I met with families who have lost a loved one to this epidemic. I met with family members who are currently finding their own lives totally upended because of a loved one hooked on opioids. There is bipartisan support for doing more. There is support across party aisles for the federal government to step up and be a stronger partner in this fight. A shortterm stopgap measure isnt going to do it, and we all know it. So lets find the will to Work Together to provide strong investments in local communities so they have the resources they need for prevention treatment and recovery efforts. Lets Work Together to save lives. We are where we are right now because i think washington has lost sight of what our work here should be about. Making a difference in peoples lives. Hundreds of thousands of young people have had their lives placed in limbo by the politics of washington. The dreamers who have only known america as their home, are working hard. Theyre going to school. Theyre serving in our military. President trump has threatened them with deportation. Right now we have a bipartisan solution that Republican Leadership in both the senate and the house have refused to make a commitment to passing. This bipartisan solution strengthens Border Security and does right by the dreamers. Just a couple of weeks ago i spoke with an education leader in wisconsin. He told me that his school, a catholic k through 12 school, employs by his count 23 dreamers. He cant imagine the devastating impact it might have if we dont figure this out. On thursday last week i spoke with a wisconsin dreamer. She made her way to d. C. , and this wasnt her first trip, to tell her powerful story. She asked for an why you want she asked for an update and i told her what i thought was happening here, and she told me she had just eight days left before her daca status expires. And she said i dont know what im going to do, how ill be able to work. Today she has only five days left. We have a bipartisan solution that Senate Republicans and democrats have worked on together, so lets do our job. Lets get it done. I have the privilege of working for a state with a work ethic that is second to none. I am deeply humbled by that privilege, and i do everything i can to respect and reward the hard work of wisconsinites. That is why ive been working for months on pension reforms, because when people work hard and they play by the rules and build their retirement security, they should be able to depend on the pensions they have earned. Right now 25,000 wisconsin retirees and workers have had their pensions threatened through no fault of their own. I have visited with these workers throughout the state of wisconsin, in green bay, in endeavor, in milwaukee, in brookfield. Hundreds of them. They each have a powerful story. I spoke to one worker who started his job as a trucker at age 23. He worked 40 years. At several stages in his career he had the opportunity, if youll call it that, to forego a potential increase in wages so that he could put more into his pension, so that he and his wife could enjoy a secure retirement. But today he and thousands of others are facing the prospect of massive cuts to the pensions they earned unless congress acts. They cant afford to have us kick the can down the road once again. They need us to act and keep the promises of the pensions they worked so hard for. Lets Work Together. Lets Work Together and get the job done by passing the Butch Lewis Act and save the pension that over a million workers and retirees across this country are counting on. Mr. President , enough of round after round of fighting. The American People are fed up with it. They did not send us here to perform a monthly melodrama. They sent us here to get theupbgdz done. They get things done. They didnt send us here to play political games and create chaos. They sen