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Two bills and one resolution were introduced, as follows: S. 3017-3018, and S. Res. 457.
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Measures Reported
S. 582, to provide for the authorized use of Federal vehicle transportation by certain astronauts. (S. Rept. No. 119-82) Measures Passed: Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act: Committee on Finance was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 998, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require additional information on math and clerical error notices, and the bill was then passed.
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Congressional Award Program Reauthorization Act
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs was discharged from further consideration of S. 284, to reauthorize the Congressional Award Act, and the bill was then passed.
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Measures Considered
Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act--Cloture: Senate resumed consideration of the motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 5371, making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026.
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A motion was entered to close further debate on the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill, and, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, a vote on cloture will occur on Wednesday, October 23, 2025.
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During consideration of this measure today, Senate also took the following action
By 50 yeas to 43 nays (Vote No. 576), three-fifths of those Senators duly chosen and sworn, not having voted in the affirmative, Senate rejected the motion to close further debate on the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill.
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Senator Thune entered a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill.
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Appointments
United States Semiquincentennial Commission: The Chair announced, on behalf of the Majority Leader, pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 114-196, the appointment of the following individual to serve as a member of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission: Kellyanne Conway of Washington, D.C., vice Tom Walker.
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Lewis Nomination: Cloture
Senate began consideration of the nomination of Bill Lewis, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama.
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A motion was entered to close further debate on the nomination, and, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, a vote on cloture will occur upon disposition of the motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 5371, making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026.
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Prior to the consideration of this nomination, Senate took the following action
Senate agreed to the motion to proceed to Executive Session to consider the nomination.
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Moe and Mercer Nominations: Agreement
A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that notwithstanding Rule XXII, at 2:20 p.m., on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, of Florida, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida; and if cloture is invoked on the nomination of Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, all post-cloture time be expired and Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of William W. Mercer, of Montana, to be United States District Judge for the District of Montana; that if cloture is invoked on the nomination of William W. Mercer, all post- cloture time be expired and Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination of Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe at 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, and Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination of William W. Mercer at a time to be determined by the Majority Leader in consultation with the Democratic Leader no earlier than Wednesday, October 22, 2025; and that the remaining cloture motions filed on October 16, 2025, ripen at a time to be determined by the Majority Leader in consultations with the Democratic Leader on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
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Mooty III Nomination: Agreement
A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that at 11 a.m., on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Senate execute to order of October 16, 2025, in relation to the nomination of Harold D. Mooty III, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama.
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Nominations Received
Senate received the following nominations: Jennifer Wicks McNamara, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 3 Air Force nominations in the rank of general. 8 Army nominations in the rank of general.
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Nomination Withdrawn
Senate received notification of withdrawal of the following nomination: Jennifer Wicks McNamara, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was sent to the Senate on October 2, 2025
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Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions:
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Record Votes
One record vote was taken today. (Total--576)
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Adjournment
Senate convened at 3 p.m. and adjourned at 6:26 p.m., until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (For Senate's program, see the remarks of the Majority Leader in today's Record on page S7169.)
Every speech and line is the Congressional Record's own text, read from GovInfo. Speakers are matched to members by GPO's own metadata. Referandom places each turn on the Clerk's video by matching its words: 14 of 51 spoken turns were found. Turns without a time are still listed; they just can't seek.
Mr. President, since 1993, Congress has adopted a resolution to recognize this third week of October as National Character Counts Week, and, of course, we are in that week right now.
As Iowa's senior U.S. Senator, I am proud to sponsor the resolution and share that the global headquarters for the Character Counts organization is located in my home State. The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center is located at Drake University.
By the way, Bob Ray was Iowa's Governor for 14 years. So the location in Des Moines makes perfect sense to me because Iowa's values align with the six pillars of character promoted by the national Character Counts organization. These include trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
Throughout my public service, I have strived to improve civic engagement and bridge divisions through respectful dialogue. Part of that effort includes my annual 99 county meetings, where I meet with Iowans face to face. No topic is off limit, and Iowans set the agenda.
Each year, the Drake University Ray Center celebrates ``Iowa Character Awards'' to recognize those who embody civic values. The people of Spencer, IA, will receive the ``Community Character Award'' of 2025 in recognition of their efforts to recover from devastating floods the summer of last year.
Like the courageous first responders from 9/11, emergency response teams from across Northwest Iowa pitched in to help the people of Spencer. They didn't stop to consider creed, race, gender, or political affiliation. They were only concerned about those who had the needs caused by the devastating flood. So they simply rolled up their sleeves, and they simply pulled together, neighbors helping neighbors. And, of course, that is the Iowa way.
History tells us how important it is for elected leaders to govern by virtue. At the Virginia ratifying convention, debating whether or not Virginia should ratify the new Constitution, James Madison said:
The American people who elected us are counting on us to live by those standards. National Character Counts Week is a good time to do what is right.
Mr. President, you have to give the Democrats credit for one thing, and that is a healthy dose of gall. Both the House and Senate Democrat leaders were out last week and claiming that they can't fund the government until--get this--we solve the ``Republican healthcare crisis.''
That is right--``the Republican healthcare crisis.'' It is truly amazing how a program Democrats created and tax credits that they chose to sunset have now become the Republicans' crisis. Republicans, in fact, never had anything to do with it. Democrats created Obamacare-- alone. They implemented the enhanced tax credits--alone. And they chose a sunset date for those tax credits--alone.
Democrats are solely, solely responsible for the Obamacare tax credit cliff, and yet they are trying to pin this disaster on Republicans, while at the very same time, they are asking Republicans to bail them out. It is really kind of ironic. Democrats may not win a lot of points for truthfulness, but you have to give them credit for gall.
While Democrats may have created this healthcare situation, I have made it clear, from the beginning, that Republicans are willing to have a discussion about how to address it. In fact, I am perfectly willing to guarantee Democrats a vote. But none of that is going to happen until Democrats reopen the government.
We are not going to negotiate on anything until Democrats stop holding government funding hostage. And if they really want to address their Obamacare mess, they should stop running out the clock on a deal. All they are doing by that action is keeping the government shut down and enhancing--enhancing, believe it or not--the chances this situation doesn't get fixed because the clock is running.
Before I leave the subject of healthcare, I do have to mention the irony that, while Democrats claim they are defending Americans' healthcare, their shutdown has actually suspended valuable healthcare services for a lot of Americans. Medicare and rural patients are currently dealing with the elimination of telehealth services, thanks to the government shutdown.
Telehealth, of course, increases the accessibility of care and lets those who live far from medical treatment, or who otherwise struggle to travel, to conduct prescription refill appointments or other visits from the comfort of their home. But that assistance is currently being denied to them thanks to the Democrats' shutdown.
But I am not sure why I am talking about shutdown costs. Democrats have made it very clear that they don't care about the costs of the shutdown--to anyone.
Democrats used to care, of course, or so they claimed. In fact, I could fill a book with Democrat quotes on how shutdowns harm hard- working Americans.
But over the past 3 weeks, it has become clear that Democrats' previous concerns had more to do with politics than with principle. Democrats were against shutdowns when it served their purposes, and now that it serves their purposes--or so they think--to keep the government closed, they are all for shutdowns, no matter how many Americans have to suffer in the process.
I have talked about healthcare today, and Democrats would definitely like Americans to think that that is what this shutdown is about. But, of course, the biggest driver of this shutdown is not healthcare or any other issue. It is the Democrats' far-left base.
Leftwing activists demanded a showdown with President Trump, and Democrats fell in line. That is why you see the Democrat leader, who actually voted to fund the government in the spring, leading the shutdown brigade this time around.
Far-left groups were rallying this weekend, and the Democrat leader and other Democrat Senators were out paying homage. And if these same leftwing groups have their way, Democrats will be keeping up the shutdown for a long time to come. They don't really care about a solution. This is about politics.
For the sake of the American people, let's hope that there are some Democrat Senators who will eventually put the needs of their constituents over the demands of their far-left base and work with Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding measure that is sitting right here in front of us today. And when passed, it will be sent to the President and signed into law, and this government will open up again.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. President, we enter another week of Donald Trump's government shutdown, and Republicans seem happy not to work, happy not to negotiate, happy to let healthcare premiums spike for over 20 million working and middle-class Americans.
Our country is staring down the barrel of a healthcare catastrophe, and Republicans will spend this week either vacationing or holding pep rallies at the White House. It has been over a month since the House of Representatives even took a single rollcall vote. That is shameful. That is derelict. Government workers must work without getting paid; House Republicans get paid without working.
What about the Democrats? Our position remains the same: We want to end the shutdown as soon as we can and fix the ACA premium crisis that looms over 20 million hard-working Americans and many tens of millions more whose premiums will also go up.
Look, the ACA premium crisis is not a fix-it-later issue like Republicans keep pretending it is. It is a fix-it-now issue because, very soon, Americans are going to have to make some really difficult choices about which healthcare plan they choose for next year. When they see the increase in the number of dollars that these premiums will cost them because the tax credits expired--$500 a month; $600 a month; $1,000 a month; for older couples, over $20,000 a year--they are going to have to make an awful choice: Do I cut out healthcare altogether and be left alone or do I cut back on everything else to afford a healthcare plan? Do I have to look for a new plan with different doctors, different hospitals, higher copays, higher premiums?
Every American, just about every American--so many Americans, tens of millions--are going to have to start making that choice in the next month.
Health insurance prices under the ACA are now available in about a dozen States, and Americans in those States are already seeing with their own eyes the horrifying truth, what we have been warning about for months; that multiple millions of people are going to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for healthcare so vital to Americans.
When you are in a family and you know you can't provide healthcare for them or a much reduced healthcare and you look at your spouse, you look at your kids, and you say: What am I going to do if they get sick, what a frightening experience for people that Republicans are putting America through, all because they want to cut all of this healthcare, cut Medicaid, cut so much else in healthcare to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.
It is just perverse. It is inside out. It is upside down.
And let's be clear about who will get hurt if these tax credits expire. Republicans have been lying about that too. If the ACA premium tax credits expire, the majority of people who will pay more out of pocket are working and middle-class families. In fact, the majority of people who benefit from the expiring tax credits live in Republican districts.
The State of Louisiana, home of Speaker Johnson, is one of the States about to suffer most.
I read an article last week from CNBC that said:
Middle-class couples in their fifties and early sixties who are too young to qualify for Medicare face the largest dollar increase in premium payments. One Idaho couple interviewed by CNBC will see their premiums spike not by 50 percent, not by 100 percent, but 300 percent-- $15,000 more a year just to have health insurance. That is what financial ruin looks like.
In fact, if these tax credits expire, older Americans could end up spending 30 percent of their income just on healthcare premiums. Can you imagine? What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other? Yet what are Republicans doing about it? Nothing. They are on vacation. It is unacceptable and morally repugnant.
Democrats are demanding nothing more or less than what the overwhelming majority of Americans already want. Even a majority of MAGA voters want it. Fifty-eight percent of those who voted for Trump say renew the tax credits into next year.
Americans want to keep their healthcare costs low and avoid financial ruin. Americans want to see the government reopen as soon as possible. Democrats agree. We are at the ready. We want to get past this crisis. But Republicans need to wake up from whatever dream they are in because fixing the ACA will require them to take action.
Mr. President, on the economy, Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Well, they can start by looking at Secretary Kristi Noem's expense report. This weekend, the New York Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security has purchased not one but two private jets--luxury jets--for Kristi Noem to the tune of $172 million in taxpayer dollars. The administration says these are G700 aircraft. That is one of the biggest private planes there is. And they say they were purchased for safety reasons. Kristi Noem and the administration say these G700 aircraft were purchased for safety reasons. That is like saying they bought a Rolls Royce to get good seatbelts. This just shows you how much contempt this administration has for people struggling to make ends meet.
Let's be very clear. At a time when Americans are paying more for groceries, falling behind on car payments, seeing their electricity rates go up and up and up, Secretary Noem thinks it is a good use of taxpayer dollars to buy two jets known for having ``the most spacious cabin in the industry.'' What ever happened to the Kristi Noem who said that any expense at DHS over $100,000 needed her personal approval? Apparently, she wanted more legroom for flying.
This would all be perhaps a little more amusing if it wasn't so insulting to the American people, because while Donald Trump's Cabinet Secretaries get their private jets, the American people are getting higher healthcare premiums, higher grocery costs, and a worsening job market.
Let me just show this chart with a list of awful headlines about the economy just from the last week or so.
From NBC:
In the Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch:
Those are headlines from last week.
Let me get this straight. Americans pay 90 percent of the cost of Donald Trump's tariffs for more groceries, they see fewer jobs, and now the American people have to pay for two top-tier, private, luxury jets for Kristi Noem.
If you want to know how much contempt Donald Trump has and how much contempt his MAGA administration has for working people, look no further than Noem's luxury jets.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. President, last Friday, I went back to the city of Chicago, which I am honored to represent, and over the weekend, I had two experiences I want to share with you. There was a real contrast, but there was a recurring theme in both.
The first was at a church in the city of Chicago on Friday, the Christ Lutheran Church. It is on Wilson Avenue in a section of Chicago known as Albany Park. The church was built in 1911. You look around at the houses outside of the church, and you think: This neighborhood has seen a lot of change, a lot of different people who have come through with waves of immigration. Today, it is predominantly Hispanic, but I would imagine that the march of history would take you through many other groups who have lived in the Albany Park neighborhood.
The pastor there is named Tom Terrell. I was meeting him for the first time. We had a press conference inside his little church, and he told us a story of what had happened at his church, Christ Lutheran Church, on the previous Sunday. There aren't as many people in his church as there were just a few months ago because a lot of them are too afraid. They are Hispanic families. They are afraid, if they go to their church, they might be detained or arrested or that something else terrible might happen, but some brave souls made it to the Christ Lutheran Church on that Sunday.
Pastor Terrell told us this story: At the end of the ceremony, at 12 noon, the people were leaving, heading home, walking away from church, when an unmarked van pulled up, and ICE agents came out of it and started to ask questions of the people who had just come out of church. It was noticed in the neighborhood, what is now becoming more common in Chicago. The neighbors started coming out with whistles. They were standing on their front porches and blowing whistles because the ICE agents were intimidating these people who were just leaving church.
Eventually, enough people started blowing whistles that the ICE agents decided to tear gas the people coming out of church. They threw the tear gas canisters and got in their van and left. Going to church on Sunday, in Albany Park, in the city of Chicago, was an opportunity for an ICE raid. That is what is happening in the city of Chicago. It is not confined to that neighborhood. It is happening there and in the surrounding suburbs.
Are the people afraid? You bet they are. They are afraid of what is going to happen to them and their families. The stories come pouring in one after the other.
Remember how we got started in this conversation? Remember when the President said at his rallies, over and over again, that we are going after rapists, terrorists, murderers, those who are criminally insane, and those who are predators of children? They came into this country illegally, and they are not going to stay.
Well, Christ Lutheran Church was not the place to visit if you were looking for those categories. Those people there were not guilty of any crime other than going to church. If that is a crime in the eyes of some, it certainly isn't in my eyes. That is the reality, as 70 percent of the people who are being detained and arrested in the city of Chicago have no criminal record--no criminal record. Yet they are being intimidated. The restaurants in many parts of the city are not what they used to be. People are not going shopping. They are afraid to go outside at all. That is the reality.
My second experience this week in Chicago is on the same theme.
On Saturday, an estimated 7 million Americans across this country took to the streets, peacefully, with a singular message to President Trump and his enablers: We have no Kings in the United States. That included 100,000
The President is trying to tell the world that it is unsafe to be in the city of Chicago. Well, the weekend before this, we had our 53,000 runners in the Chicago Marathon, with tens of thousands of supporters and families cheering them on. They weren't afraid to be in Chicago, and neither was I.
On this last Saturday, this gathering of people in the city of Chicago--without violence, expressing themselves as Americans, disagreeing with our government, which is part of democracy--was a peaceful gathering by and large. I joined the march in the city of Chicago and carried the sign that read ``Hands off Chicago,'' and I meant it.
Chicago is a great city. It faces challenges, but all cities face challenges. These challenges must be addressed with solutions that are consistent with our American values. This President is abusing his power by fueling this cruel immigration raid policy in unleashing the military, bringing in National Guard men and women from the State of Texas against immigrants and citizens alike.
Don't believe me? I will show you.
The President claims his actions are meant to round up ``the worst of the worst,'' but that has been anything but the case. A few weeks ago, Chicago and the Nation watched in horror as women and children-- immigrants and U.S. citizens alike--were dragged from their homes in the South Shore of Chicago and detained with the use of zip ties. Imagine your child being rousted out of bed in the middle of the night when the front door of your apartment is crashed down and that child is taken downstairs, separated from his mother and father, with a zip tie holding his hands together. When one witness complained that these children were being mistreated, I am sorry to tell you that the person from ICE said: ``F--- them kids.''
Then, just last week, ProPublica reported that, in the first 9 months of the Trump administration, ICE held over 170 American citizens across the country--kicking, dragging, beating, and detaining some of them for days. Let me repeat: They were American citizens.
Take Maria Greeley, a Chicagoan and U.S. citizen detained by Federal agents earlier this month in Chicago. She showed them her passport, but they zip-tied her and held her for hours because she ``didn't look like someone named Greeley.''
Let me give you another example. On October 3, Juan Munoz, a trustee for the township of Oak Park in Illinois, stood with protesters outside of the ICE Broadview processing facility along with other elected officials. Federal agents picked him out of the crowd, shoved him to the ground, and arrested him, while they left his colleagues alone. They held him for 8 hours. Why did they hold Juan Munoz for that long and not his colleagues? He was a person of color.
Does this sound like the work of an administration set on reducing violent crime? I think not. This cruelty is all for show.
While Americans continue to pay inflated prices at the checkout aisle and face the prospect of skyrocketing healthcare premium costs, this is what our President is focusing on.
We the people stood up this weekend to the President's abuses of power. I hope the Supreme Court, when the time comes, will do the same.
The Founders of this Nation designed the Constitution to protect generations of Americans from the very abuses we are watching unfold before our eyes today. They understood the dangers of a military turned against its own people and limited its role in civilian affairs.
President Trump's claims of so-called invasions, rebellions, or emergencies to justify calling the military into American cities like Chicago are baseless. They are simply attempts to bypass laws and the checks and balances of the Constitution.
Judges in Portland, OR, and Chicago, IL, appointed by Presidents of both political parties, have agreed.
In upholding a ruling temporarily barring the deployment of troops in Chicago, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded:
In fact, the court noted that the Department of Homeland Security itself claims that the protests have not slowed down their operations and that ICE has increased its deportations and arrests.
Political opposition, peaceful protests, and even nonviolent civil disobedience are not rebellion; they are the bedrocks of our democracy. If there are legitimate concerns with maintaining law and order, protecting public safety, and controlling crime, the Constitution preserves the power to address that for the States, not the Federal Government.
Whether in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Memphis, or the District of Columbia, it is civilian authorities--State and local law enforcement--that have the primary responsibility for enforcing the law.
I am glad to see Federal judges, including judges appointed by President Trump himself, upholding their constitutional responsibility to interpret the law and apply it to the facts.
It is no surprise that President Trump is now asking the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority to green light his abusive power and allow him to deploy troops regardless of statutory limits or the actual facts on the ground.
The Supreme Court should reject the President's petition. There is no emergency that would justify bypassing the regular appeals process and resolving this case on the Court's shadow docket, without the full public scrutiny that it deserves.
My warning to my Republican colleagues is this: Durbin of Illinois is standing on the floor of the Senate today telling you what is happening to the State and people I love to represent. If the President is allowed to send the military against his own citizens in Chicago without regard to the laws enacted by Congress, what guardrails are left to prevent him from doing it to you in your home State, to the people that you are proud to represent here in the Senate?
We cannot sit idly by while a person who wants to be King takes us down a path to authoritarianism.
Madam President, today is the 20th day of the Schumer shutdown, and people around the country are beginning to feel the effects of the shutdown. For example, here, nearly all Federal employees from government Agencies to those working here in the Senate Chamber will have missed their first paycheck.
One out of every six Americans lives from paycheck to paycheck. It is not uncommon. This means that this shutdown is preventing those individuals from paying their basic expenses: food, shelter, clothing, utilities.
Normally, Americans who aren't able to put food on the table for themselves and their families can fall back on government programs, should they qualify. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently sent a letter to the States, including Texas, announcing they will not be able to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, due to the lapse in congressional appropriations.
According to Federal law, food programs like SNAP and WIC--the Women, Infants, and Children Program--may continue to operate even during the shutdown, as long as funds are available. But once those funds are dried up, it is simply not possible for them to continue providing benefits.
The guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture directs States to pause those payments for the program. This means that Texans who rely upon SNAP as a safety net to buy their groceries and feed their children will not have those benefits until this deranged shutdown comes to an end.
During the negotiations on the One Big Beautiful Bill--the working families tax cut act--I was happy to champion certain reforms to ensure that those benefits were targeted on the
Throughout those negotiations, Democrats accused Republicans of taking food from the mouths of the poor and needy. But, of course, this is not what we did with the One Big Beautiful Bill at all. The reforms we implemented in the One Big Beautiful Bill ensured that these programs were financially secure for the long haul so we can continue to provide those benefits for those who truly need them.
But, now, Senate Democrats have voted nine times against a House- passed, short-term funding bill that would immediately reopen the government, and, now, they are preventing these programs from operating at all. So what Democrats falsely accused Republicans of just a few weeks back, they themselves are doing by forcing these programs to end or to pause.
Senate Democrats are literally taking food from the mouths of hungry children. These programs are designed to ensure that those who have come across hard times are able to get the food they need for themselves and their children, and, now, Senate Democrats are the reason why Texans, particularly those in need, are unable to do so now.
But that is not all. This shutdown is creating a particularly severe consequence for rural health clinics across America, many of which are unable to continue their full telehealth services to patients during the shutdown.
One of my constituents wrote in to say:
One of the only good things that come out of COVID-19 is the expansion of access to telehealth, and, now, because of the shutdown, Democrats are denying patients that need that access--denying them that access altogether.
This constituent that I mentioned a moment ago, which I quoted, described immunocompromised Texans who were discharged from the hospital who require followup appointments, but the risk of infection from other patients in the waiting room makes it actually too risky for them to appear in the hospital in person. Telehealth appointments are a good solution for such patients, but due to the shutdown, they are simply not available.
For other patients who live in rural areas or who are homebound from severe illnesses, telehealth could be the difference between receiving care and receiving no care.
My office recently heard a devastating story about one such patient in a Texas hospital who has stage IV cancer and who has missed his last two appointments. This individual lives 45 minutes from care--in the Panhandle, in North Texas--and is a model patient for telehealth. But thanks to Senate Democrats, that is no longer an option for him.
Imagine the devastation of having a loved one suffer from late-stage cancer and knowing that this person is missing out on access to healthcare because of the Schumer shutdown. It is simply indefensible. And these are real people, real patients, and real Texans.
Now, this government shutdown may not affect the Democratic leader or some Members of Congress who are independently well off, but for those people who depend on these services and live paycheck to paycheck, it has real-world consequences. This government shutdown is, in other words, not a game, and yet Senate Democrats refuse to treat this matter with the seriousness that it deserves.
It has been quoted many times now, but the minority leader has said to the news media:
Well, clearly, he is not talking about the individuals I have been referring to. I would like to see the minority leader, the Senator from New York, say those words to the cancer patient who is unable to get access to treatment or to telehealth services, or to the family who relies on food stamps who is unable to put groceries on the table to feed their family, or to the Capitol Police officers who provide security in this very building who are not receiving a paycheck.
I can guarantee the Democratic leader that those people will not say to him that every day is getting better. The people who we work for, our constituents, the folks who sent us here, are growing more apprehensive by the day, not knowing when this will end. And while many people simply don't feel the effects of a government shutdown, very real people, like the ones I mentioned, definitely feel this shutdown.
And it doesn't have to be this way. All we have to do, as we have said time and time again, is pass the short-term funding bill that will only take us to November 21. It has already passed the House of Representatives.
Three Democrats in the Senate have joined Republicans in voting to reopen the government. Are there not five more Democrats willing to buck the heartless display of the minority leader and put the American people first, rather than their political party and their political aspirations?
Well, I hope that the cries of those children who are without food and homebound cancer patients without access to healthcare will carry more weight with Senate Democrats than the ruthless partisanship coming from the Democratic leader.
This is called the Schumer shutdown for a reason, because there is, in fact, one person ultimately responsible in this Chamber.
The House has passed the bill. All Republicans are willing to support it, and we just need a few more Senate Democrats to put an end to this foolishness.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, at 2:20 p.m. tomorrow, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Moe nomination and if cloture is invoked on the Moe nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Mercer nomination; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Mercer nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Moe nomination at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Mercer nomination at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, no earlier than Wednesday, October 22; further, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions; finally, that the remaining clotures filed on October 16 ripen at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, on Wednesday, October 22.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
I ask unanimous consent that the scheduled rollcall begin immediately.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the motion to proceed to H.R. 5371, a bill making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close?
The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Utah (Mr. Curtis), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).
Further, if present and voting: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis) would have voted ``Yea''.
I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch) are necessarily absent.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 50, nays 43, as follows:
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 50, and the nays are 43.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.
Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 458.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Bill Lewis, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 998 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 284 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 284) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed as follows:
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 21; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; and that at 11 a.m., the Senate execute the order of October 16 in relation to the Mooty nomination; further, that the Senate recess following disposition of the Mooty nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session of the Senate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
