Away, which will mean literally thousands of dollars in the pockets of many seniors. I would suggest to our colleagues in the house and the minority of the minority here in the senate who want to shut things down because they have not gotten their way on Health Reform, that it would be so much better for the American People if they chose the path that we did on medicare prescription drugs, which is to try to make it work the best that we can and then to look for ways to make it better. So instead of doing that, what we have is a situation where we are being held hostage, Public Services are being held hostage to eliminate something that frankly that the majority of people already voted to say they wanted to put into place, fix it, yes. Their problems, yes, fix it. But they certainly dont want to go back to hundreds of dollars a month for a family for a policy that covers almost nothing, which is what has happened all across michigan and all across the country, a situation where women get discriminated against on the basis of rates just because were women or we cant find Preventive Care or we cant find Maternity Care as women. We certainly dont want to go back to a situation where a family has a child who gets a serious illness, and then suddenly finds, after spending hundreds of dollars a month on a policy that doesnt cover anything much, that theres a cap on how much care they can get for their child. So they end up with thousands of dollars in outofpocket expenses, maybe going bankrupt, maybe losing their house because even though they were paying for insurance, it didnt cover what they needed. And then, by the way, theres a limit on the number of treatments you can get. And, oh by the way, now that your child has a serious chronic illness you cant get insurance anymore because of your prekreufgt preexisting condition. This is the world in which millions, tens of millions of families have been operating for way too long. We dont want to go back to that. Im certainly not going to be a party to going back to that. So we said, no, negotiate on the budget. Be responsible. Focus on jobs. Move forward, yes. Take us back to a time of bankruptcy for families when theres an illness in the family . No. Take us back to a time when women are charged more than men just because were women . No. Take us back tpo a time when seniors are paying more out of pocket for prescription drugs because of this gap in coverage . No. And we could go on and on and on. And you know, so, when we look at this whole approach and i do have to say given the fact that we as women gain so much under Health Reform in terms of protection, about unfair rates, getting Preventive Care without out of pocket expenses, access to Maternity Care, many women for the first time, so many other things. The majority of those on chair are women. So many ways in which we benefit. We now see the house over and over again sending us something that would delay or end Health Reform and then today on top of everything else, theyve decided not only do they want to stop the next stage of Health Reform, but by the way, we want to repeal what already is the law of the land now on Preventive Care for women, on Family Planning services and mammograms and all of the other Preventive Services that we know save lives. And the amendment that all of the women, Democratic Women authored under our leader, senator Barbara Mikulski which made sure that Going ForwardPreventive Care would be available and affordable, no outofpocket costs, that was repealed in what was sent to us today. Now, its also interesting, Preventive Services for men were not repealed. Only Preventive Services for women without outofpocket expense. So we find ourselves now in a situation where we are waiting for the house to send back Something Else again that will chip away at health care and put in jeopardy the ability for the federal government in the greatest country in the world to be able to provide services tomorrow, whether its safety, whether its health, whether s its the basics like traveling with your family and needing a passport or visiting one of our National Parks or any number of other things that affect us, protecting the air and the water and what we do to support our farmers and so on. So thats where we are. We will once again indicate that we are willing to compromise on the budget issue. This is a budget issue. Support the level of funding that the house says they want, not what we want, because it underfunds critical investments in services and hurts in middle class. But for six weeks as a compromise we are willing to operate the government at the level that they want. But we will not take the next step, which is to take away the ability of millions of americans to have access to basic health care. Tomorrow is an important day for so many reasons, but one of them is that for the first time citizens across the country are going to be able to begin to get the information they need from healthcare. Gov about what is available for them and their families in terms of new health care options. From what weve seen so far, the rates arent only competitive, but lower than was estimated that they would be. And in fact for most families and most individuals, theyre going to be able to get much more care. Theyre actually going to get something theyre paying for. And theyre going to be able to receive it at much less cost than they currently can. So this tomorrow is an important day, whereas they say in michigan, the rubber meets the road. People will begin to find out for themselves, despite all the stuff thats going on for the last three years, all the misinformation, the scare tactics, the millions of dollars, the horrible ads that have been run, tomorrow people will be able to judge for themselves. We certainly expect it will take awhile, just as it did for medicare prescription drugs, for it to fully take effect. People will have six months the first time around to figure out what theyd like to do, to be able to sign up for next year. If we find that there are things that need to be improved on, we need to come together and do that. And we are more than willing to do it. But we are not willing to go back to the days where families couldnt find any care for themselves or their families or couldnt afford it. Because we in fact are the greatest country in the world, and health care is pretty basic for each and every one of us, and we need to have a system which begins tomorrow to private sector insurance and competition to have a way to be able to lower costs for families while making sure theyre actually getting the care that theyre paying for. That starts tomorrow. I hope tomorrow, in addition to that starting, that were going to see a continuation of critical Public Services in our country and that well send a message around the world that america really can get its act together, that this Congress Really can Work Together and be responsible and not see the kind of incredible partisan games that have gone on. Not by everyone, but by a minority of the minority who are right now Holding Things hostage in this congress. We can do better than that. Im looking forward to having the opportunity to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in fact, to do that. And im hopeful that the speaker will just very simply put a continuation, a continuing resolution on funding the government before the full body of the house of representatives and let them vote. We have heard from many house colleagues today, republican colleagues, saying that if they have an opportunity to vote on continuing the operations of government, that they will do that. A clean c. R. , continuing resolution, that would allow the continuing functioning of services that the pb depends on. And those, by the way, who are providing as well are depending on. And so the speaker just simply needs to allow a vote, upordown vote, just allow a vote this evening. And i believe if he does that, he will see a bipartisan vote in the house of representatives to be responsible and do the right thing. Thank you, madam president. I suggest the absence of a quorum. Quorum call stab madam president , i ask ms. Stabenow i ask you dispense with the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Stabenow i thought there were others wishing to speak and since there are not, i want to take one moment to speak about Something Else that is running out today that i am deeply involved in and deeply concerned about, and that is the farm bill, the fiveyear Agriculture Nutrition conservation policy of this country. We are seeing the end today of the extension that was put in place last year because of house inaction. Starting tomorrow, we essentially begin to operate on fumes. We will see a time period, a few weeks when we dont see the full impact of having no farm bill. And it is incredibly important that we use this time immediately to negotiate a final farm bill that will not only reduce the deficit as our bill does of 24 billion, but one that can get strong bipartisan vote as we did here in the senate with over twothirds of the senate twice voting for a comprehensive reform bill that addresses supporting our farmers and ranchers from a Risk Management standpoint while eliminating subsidies that dont make sense from a taxpayer standpoint, strengthening crop insurance, strengthening conservation to protect our land and air and water, focusing on regional and local food systems, farmers markets, Small Farmers to support them as well. New jobs in bioenergy as well as investing in Rural Communities all across america through our Rural Development efforts. What we call the farm bill really is the Rural Economic Development bill for the country. 16 Million People work in this country because of agriculture. Its the biggest jobs bill well pass. And our farmers, all of those impacted, have been waiting and waiting and waiting. And, frankly have had enough. They want this to get done. So call on house colleagues again to join with us to be able to finally get this passed into law. This is incredibly important for the economy, for small towns like the one where i grew up in clare, michigan, all across michigan, all across the country, its incredibly important for our efforts to continue to protect our soil and our forests, our air and our water and to be able to maintain the beautiful outdoors that we do and support for hunters and fishermen and others that we do through efforts in the farm bill. Its incredibly important that this get done. It is long overdue. So i couldnt let this evening go by without indicating that on the long list of things that have not been done, the september 30 date is incredibly important for rural america, for our farmers and ranchers who need help when they have a loss, for our families that need help when they have a loss, and for our ability to continue to grow jobs. Our largest area of exports is in agriculture. It is a vibrant, important part of the economy. There is no excuse for this not having already been done. Again, too many games have been played on this, attacking families that need help, choosing not to proceed in a responsible, balanced way as we did in the senate and im recommitting myself again as i have day after day, tomorrow, to make sure that i do everything i possibly can and i call on house colleagues, on the speaker, to do everything that they can in order to finally get a fiveyear comprehensive food and farm and jobs bill done. So that we can continue to grow a very important part of the economy. I would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer will the senator pull your request on that . Ms. Stabenow i would pull my request. The presiding officer thank you. The senator from washington. Mrs. Murray i know many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle are really deeply frustrated this evening because once again with just a few hours left on the clock, House Republican brinksmanship has us struggling to avoid burdening our families and our economy with more dysfunction and more uncertainty. This pattern is simply unacceptable. And some of us, democrats and republicans, have been trying for months to break it. When the Senate Budget passed, i was hopeful that we could move to a bipartisan budget conference where democrats and republicans from the house and from the senate could come together and sit down and try to work out our differences. Democrats tried to begin that budget conference 18 times. Many Senate Republicans agreed with us that we should begin negotiations and begin working towards that deal. But each time, Tea Party Republicans and Republican Leadership stood up and said no. And, madam president , they made it pretty clear why. They believed that they would have more leverage in a crisis like the one were hours away from than they had a few months ago when we were asking for orderly negotiations. Instead of working on a bipartisan budget agreement that would star strengthen our econo, Tea Party Republicans began manufacturing this crisis to defund the Affordable Care act, a law, by the way, that is helping millions of americans and beginning tomorrow shut down or no shutdown, is going to begin helping many more. And due to republicans refusal to come to the table, we are now scrambling to avoid a shutdown. Madam president , im confident the American People, including many in my home state, are looking at House Republicans and asking the same question many of us are. Theyre asking what are they thinking, and why would they hurt their own constituents simply to make a point . Because even if Tea Party Republicans dont want to admit it, a Government Shutdown wouldnt just impact people here in washington, d. C. It will be felt across the country. In my home state of washington, the impacts could be severe. First of all, Washington State is home to tens of thousands of federal employeeses are, who will be employees, who will be furloughed or stop getting paid but its also home to one of our nations largest veterans communities and the v. A. Has confirmed now this week that if the shutdown goes long enough, disability and g. I. Benefits will stop for benefits in places like tacoma and everett and spokane, all because some Tea Party Republicans in washington, d. C. Cant have their way. And thats not all. If the tea party forces this government to shut down, our designate states gorgeous National Parks, Mount Rainier will be closed to the public. Students at the university of washington and Washington StateUniversity May not be able to access Student Loans so they can pay their tuition bills. Funds for important Public Health programs like w. I. C. Could be cut for women and children who really rely on them. And federal support for dozens of head start facilities in seattle and across our state would be at risk. Now, the good news is, madam president , none of this has to happen. We still have time. And the senate has passed a shutdown prevention bill that would avoid all of this harm. The senates shortterm funding bill would keep the government open at current spending levels with no changes in policies while we continue to work on that important longterm budget deal. Now, the senate bill is not a longterm solution, not even close, but as we work to bridge the gap between the parties on our bigger budget issues, the absolute bare minimum congress should be able to do, the least we owe to our constituents, is to not actively hurt them and sabotage the economy, but by playing partisan games with a temporary stopgap continuing resolution by trying to take away health care for millions of americans, Tea Party Republicans are doing exactly that. Madam president , even if their fellow republicans many of their fellow republicans believe that this is an irresponsible and unworkable attitude. Many republicans have spoken out to discourage their own colleagues from waging this pointless, harmful fight over defunding the Affordable Care act. They have agreed with democrats while we might not see eye to eye on everything, we dont have to abandon our basic responsibilities like keeping the government open in order to negotiate. Madam president , we desperately need this kind of commonsense bipartisanship because we have seen repeatedly that families from across the political spectrum are sick of governing by crisis and the uncertainty that it creates in their lives. Theyre sick of gridlock in washington, d. C. That impacts everything from their childcare to their paycheck. Unfortunately, madam president , it seems that the House Republicans havent had quite enough yet. They seem to think this is some kind of game, that whoever is left holding the hot pota