12.30.13

Murray to Republicans: The Door is Open for Budget Negotiations - End the Crises and Walk In

Washington, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to ask consent to begin a budget conference as soon as the government shutdown is allowed to end and the threat of default is lifted. This is the 21st attempt by Senate Democrats to begin a budget conference and kick off long-term budget negotiations. This latest attempt was blocked by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).

Excerpts from Murray’s remarks

“We are holding the door open for our Republicans colleagues to join us in putting a stop to this madness, and all they need to do is come in.”

“We were pushed to this point by a refusal to negotiate, and now the only path forward is for the House to end this crisis, and then join us at the table we’ve been waiting at for six months.”

“We think the only way out of this cycle of constant crises is for the two sides to work together, make some compromises, and get to a fair and responsible long term deal. But it just doesn’t make sense to do that while families and communities are being hurt by this government shutdown and while the threat of a default hangs over our head.”

“Have we really come to the point where simply allowing the government to open is considered by one party to be a political loss? Are we really in a place where the majority of one chamber, in one branch of government, believes allowing the United States of America to pay its bills is a major concession?”

“The great American system we hold so dear—our democracy that is the envy of the world simply cannot work if a minority of members can threaten to shut down the government or devastate the economy if they don’t get their way.”

“That is what I offer here today: A way out, a path forward. It is not a defeat for one side of the other, it is certainly not any kind of surrender. But it would allow us to get out of this mess that has been created, and open up a path to negotiations so we can avoid the next one.”

“Democrats have made it clear we want to negotiate. We couldn’t have made it clearer. We will sit down and negotiate over anything Republicans want, and we pledge to work as hard as we can, for as long as it takes until we get a fair long-term budget deal to end these constant crises.”

The full text of Murray’s remarks follows:

M. President, when a house is on fire, the reasonable thing to do is put it out—and then figure out what happened so you can prevent the next one.

When a ship is headed toward rocks, the reasonable thing to do is steer away—and then work on charting a better course.

When a government is shut down and is headed toward a default that economists say would be catastrophic, the reasonable thing to do is end the crisis, steer away from the next one, and then work together on a long-term plan to avoid these crises in the future.

M. President, we are now in the second week of this absolutely unnecessary government shutdown.

Every day, we hear more and more about the impact this is having on families and communities across the country—and it is only going to get worse.

But M. President, we can end this today. It doesn’t have to continue.

We are holding the door open for our Republicans colleagues to join us in putting a stop to this madness, and all they need to do is come in.

M. President—Senate Democrats have spent the past six months trying to get Republicans to join us at the table in a budget conference.

We knew there were two options: conference, or crisis. Working together toward a bipartisan budget deal—or lurching separately into a completely avoidable government shutdown.

A number of Republicans joined us in our push for negotiations—but no matter how many times we tried, we were blocked.

We were pushed to this point by a refusal to negotiate—and now the only path forward is for the House to end this crisis, and then join us at the table we’ve been waiting at for six months.

Because M. President, Democrats want to negotiate, we want to have a conversation.

We think the only way out of this cycle of constant crises is for the two sides to work together, make some compromises, and get to a fair and responsible long term deal.

But it just doesn’t make sense to do that while families and communities are being hurt by this government shutdown—and while the threat of a default hangs over our head.

I served on the supercommittee—I worked with my colleagues to write and pass our budget in the Senate. I know Democrats and Republicans have some serious differences when it comes to our budget values and priorities. And I absolutely believe we owe it to the American people to try to bridge the divide and find common ground.

But are we really going to ask them to wait patiently, continue suffering through the shutdown, keep watching as we cruise toward an economic calamity, while another supercommittee gets together and has a conversation?

M. President, that just doesn’t make sense.

Let’s have those conversations, let’s have those negotiations, but let’s end the crises and then get to work.

Yesterday, I heard something concerning from the Speaker.

He said he didn’t want to end the shutdown or address the debt limit now because that would be “unconditional surrender” to the President.

M. President, have we really come to the point where simply allowing the government to open is considered by one party to be a political loss?

Are we really in a place where the majority of one chamber, in one branch of government, believes allowing the United States of America to pay its bills is a major concession?

I say to my Republican friends here today, can you imagine if our roles were reversed?

I have been working hard this year to write an early childhood education bill that I think would help a lot of kids and families.

Now I suspect there are a few people in this chamber today, including several on the Republican side, who could one day see themselves in the White House.

If that day were to come, what would my Republican colleagues do if I said to them that if they didn’t pass my bill to expand pre-k, I would get all the Democrats together and we would refuse to pass any spending bills until we got what we wanted?

And if that led to a government shutdown because they refused to let my bill pass, what would they do if I demanded a supercommittee to discuss ways to invest in our children before I allowed a vote to open the government back up again?

I would humbly suggest that my Republican colleagues would say exactly what Democrats are saying now: this is not a legitimate way to negotiate, and the only path forward is to end the crisis and then have a conversation.

M. President—the great American system we hold so dear—our democracy that is the envy of the world simply cannot work if a minority of members can threaten to shut down the government or devastate the economy if they don’t get their way.

That is not what Democrats did when we were in the minority—and it’s not what we would do should that day come again.

Our system was designed to push both sides toward negotiations in a divided government, to encourage negotiation and movement toward common ground.

It breaks down when one side refuses to negotiate in advance of a crisis—and it then falls apart when a minority refuses to allow the basic functions of government unless their demands are met.

M. President, I know all of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, came here to fight for their constituents, solve problems, and make this country work better.

I know there is nobody here today, not a single Senator, who was sent here to shut the government down and push the country toward an unprecedented default on our loans.

And I know so many of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, are sick of the constant crises, hate seeing their constituents get hurt, and as my friend the Senator from Arizona said yesterday, think we should find a way to sit down and find a way out of these dead ends.

M. President, that is what I offer here today. A way out, a path forward.

It is not a defeat for one side of the other, it is certainly not any kind of surrender. But it would allow us to get out of this mess that has been created, and open up a path to negotiations so we can avoid the next one.

I am going to ask for consent, once again, to start a budget conference as soon as the current crises are ended.

Democrats have made it clear we want to negotiate. We couldn’t have made it clearer. We will sit down and negotiate over anything Republicans want, and we pledge to work as hard as we can, for as long as it takes until we get a fair long-term budget deal to end these constant crises.

But first, this current crisis needs to end and the threat of the next one needs to be lifted.

Republicans don’t need a hostage, there are plenty of things Democrats want out of a long term deal that we are very interested in making some compromises for.

So I urge my Republican colleagues to strongly consider taking us up on this offer. We can end this today—we can do the right thing for the families and communities we represent. And we can get back to work helping people, solving problems, and working together.