Quorum call a senator is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. A senator i ask the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune mr. President , today, as they do every year at this time, tens of thousands of americans from across the country, including from my home state in south dakota, will march from the National Mall to the United StatesSupreme Court to stand up for the right to life. The march is always inspiring. The huge crowds who come year after year, the commitment and enthusiasm of the participants. And most of all, mr. President , the young people teenagers, college students, young adults. Abortion has been an ugly scar on our nation for a long while now. But seeing all these young people at the march for life every year fills me with hope, because i know that these young people get it. They know that life matters, and theyre ready and willing to stand up and say that. Stand up for the hundreds of thousands of unborn americans who are killed every year i this country by abortion. Mr. President , this year i hope to see congress consider the paincapable unborn Child Protection act. This legislation would protect unborn children who have reached the age of 20 weeks. Thats five months of pregnancy from being killed by abortion. Right now, there are only seven countries in the world that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Seven countries in the world. And among those countries are china, north korea, and the United States of america. Id like to suggest, mr. President , that thats not the company that americans want to be keeping when it comes to protecting human rights. Mr. President , 63 of the American People support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and that doesnt surprise me. Take a look at a 5 month old unborn baby on an ultrasound. Its pretty darn obvious that thats a human being in there. And i think most people instinctively know that human beings, no matter how small they are, are worthy of protection. Mr. President , five months into a pregnancy, babies are doing a lot. Theyreucking their thumbs. Thre yawning and stretching. They are actively moving around. They are responding to nerves. And they feel and respond to pain. The Scientific Evidence on this point is clear. Five months into a pregnancy, unborn babies feel pain. And yet, mr. President , in our country, its legal to abort these babies. The procedures used to perform these abortions are so brutal and inhuman that its difficult to even talk about. Most americans would rightly shrink from treating an animal the way that we treat unborn human beings. Mr. President , every year there are hundreds of thousands of abortions in this country. Planned parenthood reports that it performed 321,384 abortions in 2016. That number is so large, its hard to fathom. To put that into some kind of perspective, thats equivalent to more than onethird of the population of my home state of south dakota. Unfortunately, the paincapable unborn Child Protection act would not eliminate all of these abortions, but, mr. President , it would make a difference and it would bring us one step closer to the day when every child born and unb is protected in law. To all those who are marching for life today, thank you for being here. Thank you for reminding all of us about an injustice that is all too easy for us to ignore. Thank you for standing up for all those babies. The fight may be long, but i know that at the end of the day, it is life that will win. Mr. President , i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin i would ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin mr. President , before coming to washington today, i went to annapolis. The maryland General Assembly is in session. I had a chance to meet with several of our regional delegations in the maryland General Assembly, with our senators, and with our members of the house. Obviously, the question that was asked the most is whats happening in regards to the federal government, whats happening in regards to the f. Y. 2018 budget . Will government be funded past midnight tonight . I must tell you, i was talking to both democratic and republican members of the maryland General Assembly, and there was a common concern, for you see the maryland General Assembly will shortly be receiving from Governor Hogan the f. Y. 2019 budget, the f. Y. 2019 budget. And a good part of any states budget is the is the federal funding programs, and the state of maryland and none of our local jurisdictions have the f. Y. 2018 budget let alone a blueprint for likely action by congress for the f. Y. 2019 budget. The budget should have been passed by october 1 of last year. Thats the beginning of the fiscal year. We have been operating under continuing resolutions during the entire part of this year. In fact, we have been operating on continuing resolutions for years, and its causing significant damage to this country. The republicans control the house, the senate, and the white house, and they cant pass a budget for our country. So when the Republican Leadership asked us in september of last year for a continuing resolution to have more time to negotiate a budget for f. Y. 2018, we had no choice but to go along with the continuing resolution to give more time. But then on three additional occasions, the Republican Leadership has come forward in saying we need additional time. I remember the debate we had in december before the holidays, and the leadership was very clear this would be the last continuing resolution that was going to be needed, they were close to working out deals, et cetera, only to find out today we are still no closer to getting it resolve and heres the tragedy. Our agencies cannot exist on continuing resolutions. They hit a point where they are no longer able to carry out their mission in the best interests of the American People. We heard that last night on the floor of the United States senate when the representative of the department of defense indicated that our nations preparedness, readiness cannot be maintained by a continuing resolution with last years budget. You see, a continuing resolution, it does not reflect our current priorities. Its where we were on the last time we passed a budget, which is over a year ago. And thats the Spending Priorities that an agency must comply with. Well, if youre in the department of defense, a lot has happened during that period of time. Look whats happening in north korea. Look whats happening with russia. Look whats happening around the world. Our department of defense needs to have a currentyear budget, not another continuing resolution. Weve got to reach this decision. So heres our concern. If we just continue to go along with these continuing resolutions, were going to hurt our National Security, were going to hurt our agencies ability to get their work done, and its going to cost the taxpayers of this country more money, and theyre not going to get the services that they need. So to me, there is an alternative for this date that we need to consider, and that is let us complete our work. Now, i know we have a deadline at midnight tonight. I know that the government will shut down unless we get something done. I must tell you we should make sure the government stays open. No one wins when there is a government shutdown. But were not doing anyone any favor if we dont commit ourselves to get the job done. What i would urge leader mcconnell0 to do so mcconnell to do, allow us to vote on a very shortterm continuing resolution and keep us here until we get the f. Y. 2018 complete. We know theres been reported conversations between the leadership in the Appropriations Committee and in the senate and theres a deal that can be made, but we have to have a deadline. Heres the danger of another longterm c. R. Without having that. Because we hear that there is a group in the house of representatives that is controlling the debate over there. They dont represent a majority in the house, far from it. They certainly dont represent the views of the majority of the United States senate or the American People, but unless we give a deadline now and get this done, were going to be faced with the same concerns a month from now and were not going to be able to get a budget done so that we can deal with the probms o this country. We should not have a shut down. All of us should be committed to pass a shortterm c. R. To keep us here and avoid a government shut down. Everyone loses on a shut down. Mr. President , i have the honor of representing one of the largest number of federal employees of any state in the country. Maryland is the proud home to many incredibly important facilities and installations and many talented federal workers who are on the front line of federal service and they work hard for the American People every single day. I am proud to represent them in the United States senate. Our federal workforce has already sacrificed on behalf of our budget. Theyve gone through too many c. R. Which compromise their ability to get the job done. Theyve gone through too many threats of sequestration, too many pay freezes or pay adjustments that are inadequate, additional costs for their pensions. They have contributed. What they expect from us is to keep the government open and get a budget so they can get their mission done. So for the fake of our federal workforce, lets keep the federal government open. Its a real hardship if we miss this deadline. It is not without costs. Let me make that clear to my colleagues. If theres a government shut down, hardworking federal workers arent going to get a paycheck, yet they still have to pay their mortgage and support their families. Those others there have to take unpaid leave. Those who depend on federal contracts to keep their businesses going will not that assurance and will be faced with the prospect of laying off workers, individuals who need Government Services will find it much more difficult, if not impossible, to be able to get those federal services, whether its tracking down a check that they desperately need, getting a type of assistance to process with the v. A. Or whether it is a matter of security and they need the contact of our government. All of that is going to be put at risk and the taxpayers of this country are left holding the bill. Weve gone through government shutdowns before and weve done analysis each time and every time it costs the taxpayers more. It costs the taxpayers more. So all of us who are concerned about fiscal responsibility, we need to find a path forward to make sure we dont shut down the federal government. It makes no sense. Ive introduced legislation that i would urge my colleagues to make sure we pass because you may be surprised to find out that if we miss the deadline and we go a few days and then we get it done that thoseederal workers who were put on furlough will not be paid for our negligence in keeping the federal government open. Thats not right. Every time we corrected that by legislation, but there shouldnt be that uncertainty on the federal workforce. I urge my colleagues, let us pass legislation. I have the support of over 20 of my colleagues who cosponsored this legislation to make sure that our federal workforce knows that they will receive their full compensation. Its also important in that we move forward on getting this budget done and getting work done because if we just take the house approach and we say, okay, everythings fine, well be back in 28 days and well see this movie again, weve got issues that cannot wait to be reel solved. We have to resolve issues. The one that has the most attention theres a lot of issues out there, but you one but one that hasnt gotten a lot has gotten a lot of attention is the dreamers. The president set a sixmonth deadline on the removal of the dreamers. We didnt have a problem until then. We needed to fix our immigration system, dont get me wrong, but we didnt have date on the back of individuals who know no other country but the unitedtates as to their shelf life here in the United States. We didnt have that until the president initiated this problem. So when the president did that in september, i applaud colleagues on both sides of the aisle, democrats and republicans, who said, let us come together and fix it in the legislation. I agree with that. We need that. We should have legislation so we can fix the dreamers so they can have a pathway to citizenship and they know that america is their home and that their future is here. That should be done. We had Bipartisan Legislation ready to go, ready to move forward on it, only to find out that while the president said he was for legislation, he then said, well, weve got to deal with other issues. I have this wall im concerned about. I have Border Security im worried about. So the Bipartisan Group work in good faith with the president and narrow the issues that need to be resolved to a view and they talk about Border Security, they talk about the issues concerning the family issues and family reunifications and dealing with the lottery system on visas for families with diversity and they reach a bipartisan agreement, as requested by the president , and they thought with the support of the president of the United States. Yes, it does protect the dreamers and it protects those in tempora protected status. Maryland has a large percentage of people from haiti and el salvador, everything thought we finally resolved this issue, we could go on to the next issue only to find that the president of the United States flipped his position on it. Now, mr. President , i want to be gauged with the president. As the majority leader says, he has to sign bills. I get it, but its tough to negotiate with someone who tells you one thing on one day and then does the exact opposite on the next day. We have our responsibility to act. We have a bill that is bipartisan and has a enough support and clearly pass the United States and the house of representatives and it protects the dreamers and protects those with t. P. S. Status and deal with Border Security. We need to the get that done now also. And we all know that we have Health Care Extenders that need to be completed in addition to chip. Chips very important to get done. It should be made permanent, i should tell you. We have Community Health centers and many other issues that need to be dealt with in this legislation. We have disaster relief. We talked about this many times. We come together as a nation to help though who have been distressed through natural disasters, the people of texas and of florida and puerto rico and those that have been affected by the wildfires. And then, of course to me, the issue i hear the most about, mr. President , is the opioid crisis. We need to make sure that the federal partnership is strong to deal with this natiol crisis. So what should we do . Well, let us Work Together. I must tell you, my constituents, your constituents are not interested in a blame game here. They are making had sure that they have a check to pay their mortgage payments. If they are in need of var services v. A. Services, they want to make sure those services are available to them, they want to make sure they are getting the best money for their tax dollar and they want the United States congress to work and resolve these issues. They expect us to pass a budget and deal with these issues and we have a game plan to get all of that done in a meter of days if we in a matter of days if we make the commitment to get that done. So thats why i have suggested to the majority leader, theres support here for us to stay and get the job done. Keep us in session, keep government open, and we will get the work done. Let us come together with a truly bipartisan budget that reflects the will of the American People and the input of all the members of the United States senate and the house of representatives. A budget that makes sense for our department of defense, makes sense for those doing the research at the National Institutes of health and keep our food safe at the f. D. A. , and those on the front lines of the Social Security administration handling t issues with our seniors. Lets give them the tools in a budget that makes sense for our country. Lets make sure that we pass these open issues that are urgent, some of which have been created by the president , such as the immigration issues. We have a path forward to resolve those issues now. Lets do that. If we do all of that, then we really are serving the interest of the American People. So i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, our first responsibility are to the people of this country. Lets not blame each other. Lets Stay Together and do something that we dont do enough of. Lets listen to each other. Lets get our work done, keep government open, and do whats right for the American People. With that, mr. President , i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll, please. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Wyden mr. President. The presidin