Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, as I was watching the back and forth here on the floor of the Senate, I could not help but notice that my three colleagues on the other side of the aisle there and I have roughly the same amount of time here in the Senate. In fact, the distinguished majority leader and my friend from Illinois and I came to the House together way back more than 30 years ago.

When I came to this body, and when they came to this body, we had leaders. We had leaders. Do you know what those leaders used to do? They would say at the beginning of the week: We are going to take up a certain piece of legislation, and we are going to work through it. We are going to do what the Senate does. We are going to have amendments proposed, and we are going to have votes on those amendments, and we are going to have the Senate be a deliberative and debating organization, praised as the greatest debating institution in the world, although that probably is not true--and Senator Byrd, a distinguished majority leader, Senator Mitchell, a distinguished majority leader--do you know what they would say--Senator Lott, Senator Dole--do you know what they would say They would say: We are going to take up a bill and we are going to have amendments and we are going to have debate and we are going to have votes, and then we are going to vote on final passage. For 30 years that is how I have watched the Senate function.

Now we have a humanitarian crisis on our border, a humanitarian crisis of incredible proportion, where thousands of young people--while they are being transported by these coyotes, young women are being raped, they are falling off trains, terrible things are happening--and what are we presented here in the Senate? I say shame on you. I say shame on you for not allowing those of us who represent the States that are most affected by this to have an amendment, an amendment voted on. That is unbelievable to me. We put together--and I say with great respect to the Senator from Maryland, saying that we do not legislate on appropriations--excuse me. Excuse me.

We have legislated a lot on appropriations, mostly to my dismay. Year after year I have watched legislating on appropriations. On the Defense authorization bill, it has caused me heartburn time after time. So please don't--please. I have been around here too long for you to tell me we do not legislate on appropriations.

I want to have some amendments debated. I want to be able to tell the people of my State that are being flooded by immigrants--I want to be able to tell them that I had a proposal representing them here in the Senate and I wanted it debated and I wanted it voted on. Is that a hell of a lot to ask? I do not think so. I do not think so.

This is a crisis of proportions that we have seldom seen the likes of. I am sure the majority leader will come over and talk about Republican obstructionism and how we cannot get anything done around here. We have now compiled a record, according to the experts, as the least productive Congress in history--in history. So I am supposed to go back to my home State of Arizona, which is experiencing terrific problems, horrific problems--my constituents are really angry. They expect me to come here and represent them in the Senate and debate and have their views and their desires and their ambitions and their reputation here in the Senate.

What have we done? The parliamentary situation is that there will be no amendments that will be allowed to be debated or voted on no matter what.

The Senator from Maryland said: Well, we do not legislate on appropriations.

We have some amendments on money that would either reduce or increase the amount of funding. Are we going to be able to have that amendment voted on? Hell no. We are not going to be able to have a single thing voted on. Everyone wants to get out of town. So sometime tonight or maybe tomorrow we are going to close up shop and we are going to go home. The humanitarian crisis goes on. It goes on.

What about these children? Are they going to be enticed by coyotes for their families to give a year's salary to transport them from one of these countries to the United States of America? Are an untold number of young women going to be raped along the way? Are there going to be kids who fall off these trains? Is that what is going to happen? We are going to go for 5 weeks without debate on a single amendment, not a single one. What kind of an institution is this? What has happened since the days when the Senator from Nevada and the Senator from Illinois and the Senator from Maryland and I came to this body proud--proud to be a Member of this institution?

I can remember time after time the junior Senator being able to come down here, propose an amendment, have it disposed of--usually losing but at least I was representing the people of my State. Now I cannot represent them. I cannot give them what they believe they deserve here in the Senate.

In a second I will stop and I will ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment so that the amendment Senator Flake, my colleague from Arizona, and I have put together after visiting our border, after talking to all of our constituents, after discussing the issue with our Governor--we came here to represent them. How can I represent them if I am not allowed to express their beliefs and their ambitions and their desires to help solve this problem?

How do I go down to the ranchers in the southern part of my State and say: I am sorry there are people crossing your property every night. What do I say to the families of those people who are being separated? What am I supposed to tell my citizens whom I represent--that I came here to ask for something that I know is going to be objected to? What has happened to this body? What has happened to the Senate, I ask my colleagues?

The approval rating of Congress, the last time I checked, was either a single digit or low double digits. Everybody kind of thinks, well, that is normal. It is not normal. I hearken back again to the days when we first came here. Our approval rating with the people of our country was 70 percent, 80 percent, maybe even a little lower. Is all the fault on that side of the aisle? No. But I would say that the people in charge here have an obligation to allow all of us to represent the people who sent us here. That is not happening today. It has not happened all year. It may not happen until next January, where I am committed and I believe the majority of my conference is committed to bringing up legislation and having debate and having votes. That is the way the Senate was supposed to function.

I know what is going to happen here in

about 30 seconds. I say to my colleagues, this is not right. This is not right. This is not the way we are supposed to represent the people we asked to send us here and let us represent them.

Senator Flake and I have pretty simple legislation. It has to do with the fact that, as the President said, it would modify the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. It would do some other things. It would provide for funds--and I will not go through all of the details of it except to say that I know what is going to happen, but it is not right. It is not the right way for this institution to function. We all should be a bit embarrassed.

I ask unanimous consent to temporarily set aside the pending amendment so that I may call up amendment No. 3742, which is at the desk.

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