12.30.13

Murray Calls for House Republicans to End Crises Then Join Democrats in Budget Conference

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to respond to the latest GOP gimmick idea to create a second supercommittee and to ask consent that the Senate move to a budget conference as soon as Republicans end the government shutdown and stop threatening the economy with a default. Senator Republicans blocked this request for a budget conference for the 20th time since the House and Senate passed their budgets at the end of March.

Key excerpts from Murray’s speech:

“Our message today could not be any clearer: Republicans need to end this government shutdown. They need to stop threatening families and the economy with a catastrophic default. And when that happens, we will be waiting at the table to negotiate a long-term deal in the budget conference they’ve spent months blocking.”

“The Senate passed our budget more than six months ago. The House did as well…Every time we tried to start a budget conference, they shot us down. Democrats came to the floor again and again, along with a number of responsible Republicans who agreed we should at least sit down and talk, but Republican leadership and the Tea Party kept saying no. The refused to join us at the table, they had no interest in any sort of negotiations, and they pushed and pushed until they got exactly what they wanted: an absolutely avoidable government shutdown.”

“After spending six months rejecting talks and causing this crisis, now, all of the sudden, they seem desperate to make it look like they are the ones interested in negotiating.

“The latest gimmick the House seems to be considering is to start another supercommittee to debate this issue…I think House Republicans are going to have a lot of trouble explaining to those families who haven’t seen a paycheck since the shutdown started, that they shouldn’t see another until a supercommittee acts.”

“I urge my colleagues today to support this request to end this crisis, take the threat of the next crisis off the table, and then sit down and work with us toward the balanced and bipartisan budget deal I know so many of us in this room want.”

The full text of Murray’s remarks:

“M. President, our message today could not be any clearer: Republicans need to end this government shutdown. They need to stop threatening families and the economy with a catastrophic default. And when that happens, we will be waiting at the table to negotiate a long-term deal in the budget conference they’ve spent months blocking.

“We’ve been trying to work with Republicans toward a fair long-term budget deal for years. Since 2011, Democrats—from the Senate to the House to the Administration—have sat in rooms, negotiated, talked, discussed, and offered compromise after compromise. We tried regular committees—we tried supercommittees. If there was a room where Democrats and Republicans could sit and talk, we found that room and we got to work.

“But no matter what we did, no matter how much we offered, Republican leadership has consistently refused to allow the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share—and they refused to make any compromises to help us get a deal.

“Then my Republican friends said they wanted to return to regular order and that the most important thing was for the Senate to pass a budget. So we did that.

“The Senate passed our budget more than six months ago. The House did as well. And since then we tried to go to conference 19 times.

“We wanted to get in a room with House Republicans, sit at the table—and do everything possible to bridge the divide between our two sides.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy, there are significant differences between the House and Senate budgets. But the American people were expecting us to try, and we were committed to doing that.

“Most importantly, we wanted to make sure we had enough time to bridge the divide and get to a deal—so we wouldn’t lurch into yet another completely unnecessary manufactured crisis.

“But M. President, Republicans rejected our attempts to sit down and negotiate.

“Every time we tried to start a budget conference, they shot us down. Democrats came to the floor again and again—along with a number of responsible Republicans who agreed we should at least sit down and talk—but Republican leadership and the Tea Party kept saying no.

“They refused to join us at the table—they had no interest in any sort of negotiations—and they pushed until they got exactly what those few Republicans wanted: an absolutely avoidable government shutdown.

“M. President, After spending six months rejecting talks and causing this crisis, now, all of the sudden, they seem desperate to make it look like they are the ones interested in negotiating.

“They know it is clear to families across the country that the only reason this crisis continues is that House Republicans refuse to take a vote to end it. And they are doing everything they can to distract their constituents from that simple fact.

“But M. President, the American people are smarter than that. They know the world didn’t begin the day the government shut down. They know it’s not possible for Republicans to discover negotiations twenty minutes before a shutdown, when all they need to do to end this is take a vote.

“M. President, the latest gimmick the House seems to be considering is to start another supercommittee to debate this issue.

“Instead of simply taking a vote and ending this crisis—they want a repeat of 2011. They want another supercommittee.

“Well, I co-chaired the supercommittee two years ago. I know it failed, for reasons we could debate.

“And M. President, I think House Republicans are going to have a lot of trouble explaining to those families who haven’t seen a paycheck since the shutdown started, that they shouldn’t see another until a supercommittee acts.

“M. President, here is what should happen: House Republicans should end this crisis. They should allow a vote on our bill to end the shutdown—which would pass, with bipartisan support. They should stop threatening an economic catastrophe if they don’t get their way. And then we will be happy to sit down and negotiate.

“Of course we’d want to do that—we’ve tried to start a budget conference for six months.

“I know the vast majority of my Republican colleagues came here to help families and communities. I know they came here to solve problems. The vast majority came here to work across the aisle to make this country work better.

“So I urge my colleagues today to support this request to end this crisis, take the threat of the next crisis off the table—and then sit down and work with us toward the balanced and bipartisan budget deal I know so many of us in this room want.

“M. President, it doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t need to keep lurching from crisis to crisis and hurting the families and communities we represent.

“End the crises and then let’s get in a room and talk. That’s the only responsible path forward.”