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Floor Speech

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Mr. LEE. Mr. President, it is a familiar headline: ``Congress announces a deal to avoid a shutdown.''

It is currently midday on Wednesday, March 20, and, on Friday at midnight, just the day after tomorrow, the government will run out of funding for more than half of the 12 budget categories, and most of the government's funding is found within this section that will shut down, absent legislation by Congress.

We are told that the only way we can avoid a shutdown is to vote for what we expect to be a monstrous spending plan, a bill written in secret by a small handful of appropriators and ultimately given the blessing of the ``Law Firm of Schumer, McConnell, Johnson & Jeffries.''

It should be noted that not one Member of this body has had the opportunity to fully review the legislative text or, in the case of nearly all Members of Congress, to see any of it. We have not seen it. We can't see it. We are not allowed to see it.

We don't know much about the particular details of the bill, what will be in it and what won't be in it. But if history is any indicator, as it has been proven to be reliably in the past, there are a few things about the bill of which we can now be certain, even before laying eyes on it.

It will, among other things, be full of earmarks, these special- interest giveaways handed out as sweeteners, as if to make the medicine go down. It won't force President Biden to secure the border. It will perpetuate massive deficits, approaching or possibly even exceeding $2 trillion. To add insult to injury, we can be sure that, when the text is finally released, there will be, alas, insufficient time to read, comprehend the text, air it with the public, debate the bill, and offer and consider amendments.

You see, these bills--massive legislative undertakings that, in many instances, bundle all Federal spending or, in this instance, most Federal spending into one single package--have become synonymous with legislative excess and manipulation.

You see, the firm's modus operandi involves drafting these omnibus bills behind closed doors, with only a select group of appropriators contributing to their formulation. By design, and not by any coincidence, these bills are unveiled to the public and most Members of Congress with barely any time to spare before a potential government shutdown.

This strategic timing, which often unfolds strategically right before a long, scheduled recess, ensures that the bill passes, with minimal scrutiny and little or no opportunity for debate--any meaningful debate, certainly--or for amendments.

In other words, it becomes a ``take it or leave it'' package. It is a charade, occasionally softened by allowing a few votes on just a few amendments. But make no mistake, the firm wields its influence to make sure that no substantial changes are made--certainly, nothing that could threaten the supposed sanctity of their original draft.

Members are thus cornered into a false dichotomy in which their votes for the measure are extracted--extorted, if you will. We are told to pass the bill unread, not understood, undebated, or, alternatively, face the chaos and inevitable public vitriol associated with a government shutdown.

Thus, the individual voices of our elected representatives--our elected lawmakers here in Congress, in both Houses, of both political parties--and, by extension, the will of the American people are diluted in a process dominated by a few at the expense of the many.

It is not that these bills are bad in every circumstance. There are a lot of things that are within them that the government needs, that most--perhaps all--of this body, in some cases, would find unobjectionable. The problem is not that the bill is rotten from one end to the other. It is, instead, that it has been written by a select few, and the many are not allowed to have any say in it.

And when it is brought forward without any timely, meaningful, fulsome opportunity for debate, discussion, public airing, and amendment, Congress, as a whole, becomes a rubberstamp to the firm.

The will of the people is thwarted, and, ultimately, millions-- hundreds of millions--of Americans are effectively disenfranchised from the entire process.

Tonight, with just a few days before the government runs out of funding in these areas covered by this bill, this body, once more, throws American taxpayers under the bus and forsakes fiscal responsibility, if, in fact, we pursue this course once again.

In so doing, they oppose measures that the vast majority of Americans would support--measures like stopping an invasion happening right now at our southern border, resulting in a wave of crime, death, and destruction that we haven't seen in the past.

This is, rather, entirely the result of the whole system of government funding being designed not to benefit the vast majority of Americans but, rather, to benefit the very architects of these bills: the appropriators, earmarks, lobbyists, and special interests--and, of course, all at the direction of the firm.

These entities thrive in the shadows of this process, influencing legislation in ways that serve the architects themselves, often at the expense of the general public.

Americans are bearing the cost of decisions made without their consent or their knowledge, manifesting in, among other things, skyrocketing costs of living and staggering national debt, now exceeding $34 trillion.

It is time to dismantle this corrupt process and restore transparency and accountability to the way we fund our government. The process behind what we fully expect to be a wasteful, insulting, minibus bill is a disgrace. And let history show that a few of us stood up and said so.

This is not the way. Once we get this bill, we shouldn't be forced to rush to judgment on it without debate, discussion, or amendment. We should, instead, adopt a short-term continuing resolution that would take us to April 12, to give lawmakers adequate time to review and understand the bill, to air it to the public, to offer amendments to the bill to improve it, and, finally, vote on it. That is the order in which it should occur, not the opposite.

Instead, the firm would take us down yet another road of ``fire, ready, aim.''

Voting for this minibus is voting in favor of massive deficits, corrupting earmarks, and funding Joe Biden's border invasion. So I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in fighting for fiscal responsibility, for the best interests of American families--the same families we are supposed to represent in Washington.

This proposal, this short-term continuing resolution, is neither Democratic nor Republican. It is neither liberal nor conservative. This is just common sense. Give people's elected lawmakers the chance to be involved in the lawmaking process because we are certainly not doing that now.

To that end, Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill, which is at the desk. I further ask 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.

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Mr. LEE. Mr. President, in wrapping up my remarks, I just want to say this is unfortunate. We owe it to each other and we owe it to those we represent to actually discuss and debate the merits of legislation before being forced to pass it.

The fact that there is bipartisan agreement as to final numbers doesn't mean that most Senators have even seen the bill. They have not. They have kept it secret from us and from those we represent. It is simply disingenuous to suggest that this has been agreed upon long ago.

We need at least a few days to do this. That is why I am asking that we extend the spending period out to April 12. That would give us time to do that. It is unfortunate we didn't get that agreement today. We will be back.

Thank you.

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