Continuing Appropriations

Floor Speech

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Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would like to speak about the shutdown that has now occurred.

To say I am outraged is an understatement. What we need is for the folks down there at the other end of the U.S. Capitol Building to open this government. The economy of this country is at risk and they have done it to advance their own narrow extremist agenda.

All of this is due to a relatively small group of lawmakers down in the House of Representatives--some 40, maybe 60--who are intent on having their own way on a personal agenda. They are refusing to work with their fellow Republicans, as well as Democrats, down in the House of Representatives, and the result is a forced government shutdown that is doing a lot of damage to a lot of people. That is why it is important for the American people to say they have had enough and they want these folks to stop this nonsense.

We ought to be keeping government open, but, we need to consider a couple of things. For example, the National Institutes of Health are now unable to bring in 800 patients they were going to start to give medical treatment in breakthrough medical techniques and developments. At the same time, the National Institutes of Health--one of the premier agencies in all of this alphabet soup of agencies that we talk about--they have had to furlough 70 percent of their civilian workforce.

A few minutes ago, we heard the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, explaining that the Director of National Intelligence has told her he has had to furlough 72 percent of the civilians in the intelligence community. That is ridiculous. We have terrorists who are trying to do us harm, and he has had to furlough 72 percent.

Take, for example, NASA. NASA had to furlough 97 percent of its civilian workers in the space program.

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