The chaplain dr. Barry black will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal father, you hold victory in store for the upright. As we cross the threshold of another day, thank you for calling us to be your sons and daughters. Bless our lawmakers. Make them bigger in their thinking, in their praying, and in their outreach to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. May our senators find nourishment in your sacred word as they press toward the goal of becoming more like you. Lord, lead them upon the byways and highways of service in a way that glorifies you. Grant them grace to walk in your light and follow your guidance. Thank you that your grace abides with us all hour by hour and day by day. We pray in your strong name, amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , october 30, 2015. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable cory gardner, a senator from the state of colorado, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed orrin g. Hatch, president pro tempore. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h. R. 1314, which the clerk will report. The clerk house message to accompany h. R. 1314, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of taxexempt status of certain organizations. The presiding officer under the previous order, the time until 1 01 a. M. Will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. Mr. Cornyn mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the motion to concur in the house message to accompany h. R. 1314. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Durbin mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin mr. President , earlier this week, the whitehouse and congressional leadership announced a budget deal that will avert a potential shutdown of the federal government and prevent a default on our countrys obligations. This agreement would provide relief to the arbitrary sequester caps for two years and maintain the full faith and credit of the United States by extending the debt limit until march, 2017. For months, we have been calling on both sides to abandon any reckless budget cuts and Work Together to give the American People muchneeded relief from this sequester. I applaud president obama and the leaders from both Political Parties for crafting a commonsense solution that protects the American People and our economic recovery. Now, this measure passed the house of representatives and now its our turn. This agreement calls for 112 billion in sequester relief, providing necessary funding for critical programs that Many Americans depend on. With this additional funding, dramatic cuts in these programs can be avoided. Yesterday, i spoke about the importance of Biomedical Research. Funding for the National Institutes of health can lead to medical breakthroughs that keep us healthier and save money in the long run. One illustration, mr. President , one american is diagnosed with alzheimers every 67 seconds in america. One out of every five dollars spent in the medicare system is spent for those suffering from alzheimers and dementia. The numbers are growing. The cost is growing. The research is imperative. And if we can find a way to delay the onset of alzheimers, treat it, cure it, for goodness sakes, it not only will spare human suffering, but it will save our budget. So is medical Research Well spent . Of course. And yet, in past years, weve shortchanged it, in the name of budget relief. Well, this is a moment where we can keep our promise to the n. I. H. And to the c. D. C. And many other agencies that are responsible for key medical research. Thanks to bipartisan support and i want to especially note the senator from missouri, roy blunt, as well as the senator from washington, patty murray, we are going to see an increase in funding in the senate bill this year for n. I. H. If the Senate Number continues, and i hope that it does. But it shouldnt come at the expense of other programs like the centers for Disease Control which faces cuts in our version of the bill and receives better treatment in the house. We cant be the world leader in Biomedical Research by cutting funding for n. I. H. Or c. D. C. We should also restore funding for Community Health centers and Substance Abuse and Mental Health programs. Mr. President , as i travel around the state of illinois, our state like most states is facing a heroin epidemic. We find that the overdoses and deaths associated with heroin are now striking a part of our population that they never struck before. The prevalence of death from heroin in america in the last 15 years has changed dramatically, and now most of the victims are white between the ages of 1844, and that means we have to do something about it. Not only in policing, which is, of course, our responsibility but also when it comes to treatment of those who are addicted. We cant cut back in Substance Abuse and Mental Health programs without paying a heavy price and inviting more human suffering. We need to ensure the f. D. A. Has the funding to fully implement the food safety modernization act. The money in this budget agreement will help us reach these goals and many others. We can Work Together to chip away at the 850 million underinvestment in programs helping our veterans, ensuring that those who put the lives on the line for america, the quality education they deserve. We will use some of the sequester of the budget deal to Fund Transportation programs and transportation, if necessary. Im proud to represent the city of chicago. Our mass transit is essential. We of course stand by our infrastructure as well when it comes to highways and bridges, rail service, but its important that our mass transit systems across america be maintained. Core capacity and tiger grants, popular Grant Programs that have benefited the entire nation were facing cuts in early investigators of bills. We can reverse it. Senate republicans funded the home program at just 66 million. Now, that was a 93 reduction in funding for this essential housing program. We can start to restore money in that area. Without the sequester relief provided in the budget deal, 770 million would be cut from americas schools. Who in the world thinks that cutting spending on education is the best thing for america in the 21st century . We dont want to eliminate critical title one funding for the most vulnerable kids in america. In my home state of illinois alone, that amounts to a cut of about 40 million if we stuck with the original budget figures. Now with this agreement, we can provide more money for education for the most vulnerable kids. This agreement also protects our seniors by preventing Medicare Part b premium increases and deep cuts to Social SecurityDisability Insurance that were scheduled to occur next year. It also extends ssdi solvency to 2022 and prevents a 20 acrosstheboard cut in disability benefits. The idea of sequester relief is not a new one. A similar agreement to the one were voting on this morning was reached in 2013 between thensenator patty murray and congressman paul ryan who yesterday was sworn in as the new speaker of the house. That had widespread bipartisan support. This should as well. It was the right thing to do then. Its the right thing to do now. Government by manufactured crisis is no way to do the American Peoples business. After months of uncertainty, we have before us a plan to remove the seemingly constant threat of defaults and shutdowns. New speaker of the house paul ryan was very candid yesterday in acknowledging the broken system in the u. S. House of representatives, and i think he can point to our side of the rotunda as well that has a desperate need for more bipartisan solutions. Our work is not done even with this agreement. I encourage my colleagues to continue in the spirit of compromise and a shared goal of growing our American Economy and providing fairness to american citizens. Lets pass appropriation bills free and ideological policy riders that seek to divide us. I look forward to joining my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in passing this bill. Lets get back to work and face the Critical Issues which American Families face every single day. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Mr. Wyden mr. President , yesterday, chairman hatch and i began imagining this legislation on the floor of this distinguished body. It seems to me speaking for more than a couple of minutes at this point would just be excessive. But i think i want to summarize what the central question is at this late hour. It would be fair to say that we have spirited debates here, and fiscal battles that play out in this chamber take place at virtually every news cycle and certainly with every election. Thats as it should be. That ensures that we have the vigorous debate about important issues that the Founding Fathers wanted this senate to be part of, but that must never endanger the sterling economic reputation that our country has built over the generations, and passing this legislation in my view helps to preserve that reputation. With this bipartisan legislation, it is possible to avert a catastrophic default and a mindless sequester which would give an opportunity that the president of the senate and i care a great deal about, and that would be the opportunity to come up with smart, effective, targeted reforms like fixing the broken system of fighting wildfire in our country. That system is just broken today, and with this legislation and the opportunity to bring a bit more flexibility to the cause of reforming our government, there will be an opportunity on a bipartisan basis to fix that broken policy which has consumed literally and figuratively so much of our land in the west. To me, having the opportunity to prevent a Government Shutdown and demonstrate once more that our country pays its debts and pays them on time is central to our obligations here in the senate, obligations we must meet on a bipartisan basis. The reality is that as it has been for decades, that america is the economic rock in tumultuous seas with this legislation. Once again, we preserve our status, our prestige with the ability to say to the world america pays its debts, our full faith and credit is intact. The reality is the cycle of fiscal crisis has gone on for far too long. So to me, the senate ought to view this legislation as, in effect, a springboard to go back to very different and robust and bipartisan budget debates. The people of this country, certainly the people of my sta state, expect senators on both sides of the aisle and differing philosophies to come together to solve the big economic challenges ahead. And the reality is, mr. President , if you count the votes here in the senate to get the important work done, youve got to find some common ground. Neither side can forge the progress we need here in this body all by itself. So let us tonight pass this bipartisan legislation, let us reaffirm our pledge to protect the full, faith and credit of the United States. I urge my colleagues, democrats and republicans this evening alike, to support this important legislation. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor, and i believe id note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer will the senator delay his request . Mr. Wyden mr. President , i would ask unanimous consent that the time during the quorum call be allocated equally. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Wyden mr. President , i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Paul mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from kentucky. Mr. Paul i ask unanimous consent that we vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Paul the numberone threat to our countrys future is our debt. The numberone threat to our National Security is our debt. This deal give. This deal gives the president the power to borrow unlimited amounts of money. This deal represents the worst of washington culture. The left and the right have come together in an unholy alliance to explode the debt. The left gets more welfare. The right gets more military contracts. And the taxpayer is stuck with the deal. This is a bipartisan busting of the budget caps that will further indenture our next generation. I promised the voters of kentucky to oppose deficits, to oppose budgets that dont balance and to spend only that which comes in. I will not give this president any power to borrow unspecified amounts of money. Our debt now equals our entire economy. Not raising the debt ceiling means we would be forced to only spend what comes in, also known as a balanced budget. I could accept that. But i could also accept a balanced budget that brings us to balance over five years. The debt threatens us like never before and now is the time to take a stand. I have traveled far and wide across america and i have not met one voter outside of d. C. Who supports adding an unlimited increase to the debt ceiling. I hope my colleagues will listen and will listen very clearly to their constituents before voting for this terrible, rotten, nogood deal. The time is now to take a stand. The time is now to say enough is enough, no more debt. The very foundation of our country is threatened by the addition of debt. This is precisely the time when we should be using the leverage of raising the debt ceiling to exact budgetary reforms. In 2011, thats exactly what we did. We had the compromise that worked in the right direction. We had a compromise that said, we will set limits on both the military and the domestic spending. Instead what we have today is an unholy alliance of right and left. We wonder why the deficit grows no matter which party is involved, no matter which party is in charge. The deficit continues to grow because, frankly, many are not serious about reducing the debt. Many up here are serious only about increasing spending for their sacred cow. The true compromise that is necessary in america is for both right and left to say, enough is enough. To say that the particular interest they have in spending money is hurting the country. It is time for the right to say, you know what . The country is not stronger by going further in debt. The country actually i believe is weaker. We do not project power from bankruptcy court. I think the time is now. Enough is enough. We shouldnt be adding more de debt. The left needs to acknowledge this as well. The left may say, this is for humanitarian purposes. We want to help people. And i dont doubt their motives but i do doubt whether you can help people from bankruptcy court. I think we are weakening our country. One of the reasons why weve been able to help so many people in our country is that we are the richest, most humanitarian country in the history of mankind. In the year 2014 alone, we gave away nearly 400 billion in private charity in this country. I fear that will not continue to last. I fear as this deficit mounts, as the debt mounts that it will drag us down. Already some economists estimate that were losing a medical yon jobs a year because of the burden of debt. I think what we need to do is have compromise in washington but the compromise needs to be that the right and the left need to say we dont have enough money at this point. Some say, well, we need to have military readiness, but this week in the Defense Committee and the Armed Services committee, they talked about 20 billion of waste in one Program Within the military. Weve had secretaries of the cabinet departments, the secretary of the navy saying that, you know what . We can save money within the pentagon. But if we keep adding to the top line, if we keep adding more money, if we keep spending good money after bad, were going to bankrupt the country. So i hope my colleagues will listen to their constituents because ive been in 40 of the 50 states and i have yet to meet a single voter who says keep adding to the debt, keep spending more money. What i find is the opposite. They say, Work Together to save the country. Work together not to add more debt. This debt ceiling vote does something that is unprecedented. It doesnt even add a certain amount to the debt. It adds an unspecified amount. Over the next year, year and a half, we will add as much debt as can be crammed into the debt, as much money that can be spent. There will be no limits. We are giving an unspecified amount of borrowing power to the president. I dont care whether its a democrat president or a republican president. Its unconscionable to give unlimited Borrowing Authority to the president. As we contemplate this decision, we need to think beyond the short term, we need to think beyond the short term of selfconstituencies on either side of the aisle and say enoughs enough. We dont have the money. Lets take a stand now and try to reform the process before its too late. Than