00:00Mr. President, I have a motion today that asks every senator a very simple question.
00:07Do you want TSA workers to get their pay? Yes or no?
00:13Are you tired, like many Americans are, of seeing long lines at the airport? Yes or no?
00:22If senators want to pay TSA workers and end the airport chaos, they should support my notion.
00:30My motion. Our TSA workers cannot be taken hostage for political gains, but that is what Republicans have done.
00:41It is unacceptable, unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that
00:51funds ICE with no reforms.
00:54But that's what Republicans have done.
00:57Democrats want to pay TSA workers ASAP, no strings attached.
01:04A yes vote on my motion would start doing just that.
01:08This is the only vote, only vote, not the others, that will fund, that the Senate has taken, that will
01:20fund TSA no ands, ifs or buts.
01:22This is the first time, the first time, the Senate holds a vote related to paying TSA workers that has
01:31zero strings attached to it.
01:33This is the vote, the only vote that says you're for supporting TSA families unconditionally.
01:41All the votes Republicans have pushed so far tie TSA paychecks to fully funding ICE without any reforms.
01:50Republicans say, sure, we'll pay TSA, but only if you keep funding ICE agents without any guardrails whatsoever.
01:58That's not acceptable to the American people.
02:01So today, my motion makes the matter very simple.
02:06Let's pay TSA workers ASAP.
02:10That's it, nothing else.
02:12We can keep negotiating ICE and CBP separately.
02:18We're having some productive conversations on getting reforms to ICE, and Democrats are going to continue pushing for real serious
02:26reforms through legislation.
02:28But that's an ongoing process that should not get in the way of funding our TSA workers.
02:34So let's keep negotiating the outstanding issues with ICE while sending paychecks to TSA workers now.
02:42Let us end the long lines at the airports now.
02:46This is the logical, expedient, and correct thing to do.
02:51I yield the floor.
02:52Mr. President.
02:53I recognize the Republican leader.
02:56Mr. President, this motion, and when I hear the phrases used like no strings attached, or how simple this is,
03:06there isn't anything that would be more complicated than this.
03:11This is a Schumer motion to suspend the rules, to refer the House message, the bill that we're on, to
03:19the Rules Committee, which doesn't have jurisdiction over appropriations or spending.
03:25And he's trying to call it a vote to fund TSA?
03:28I mean, we have had countless votes to fund TSA.
03:32We had one yesterday.
03:35We've had countless motions by our side to pass a continuing resolution that would fund all of DHS, including TSA,
03:44and consistently been blocked by this side.
03:48So, Mr. President, this is a convoluted, I mean, I don't know how you come up with this.
03:55This is very, I'll give you credit for coming up with something that's this convoluted, but it doesn't do anything
04:00that the leader says it does.
04:02It has nothing at all to do with funding TSA.
04:05The opportunity to fund TSA has come and gone multiple times here, when we have had votes here on the
04:12floor, including as recently as yesterday, and countless motions, continuing resolutions to fund all of DHS, including TSA, numerous times,
04:22over and over and over again, and our colleagues on the other side have blocked it.
04:28Can I yield for a question?
04:30This is the only vote available to us, because you have filled the tree, and not put, allowed, an amendment
04:37like this here.
04:38Would the senator be willing to put this amendment, to pay TSA immediately, on the tree?
04:48Mr. President, this is not an appropriations bill.
04:52The legislation we are on right now, which has to do with whether or not citizens, and only citizens, ought
04:59to be able to vote in American elections, has nothing to do with funding the government.
05:02We have had countless votes, and countless appropriations bills brought in front of this institution, the United States Senate, that
05:10actually would fund TSA.
05:12If we want to fund TSA, let's get to work doing it.
05:14And if that group that's meeting, can't come up with a solution here pretty quickly, things are going to get
05:20worse, and worse, and worse, and they already are.
05:23People at airports, anybody who's gone through an airport lately, they don't see what's happening here as serene.
05:30They see this as a convoluted mess, and that's what's happening across the country if we don't fund, if we
05:36don't fund the government, DHS, including TSA.
05:40We're all for it. We've tried repeatedly to do it. This has nothing to do with funding TSA.
05:46This is a ploy. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
05:54Is the tree full, Mr. Leader?
05:58The tree, I would say to my colleague from New York, has on it right now a vote that we
06:04just completed,
06:05and there will be other opportunities to vote on other amendments related to the legislation that we're on here today.
06:12But if we want to have, but if we, if you want to have.
06:15The majority leader has the floor.
06:16If you want to have a debate on appropriations, we can have that.
06:20We've made ourselves available.
06:24The White House is available.
06:25There are meetings going on right now, which I hope ultimately lead to a result where we get these agencies
06:31opened up again, including TSA.
06:33But in order for that to happen, you have to have a willing partner and somebody who's willing to sit
06:37down at the table and negotiate with you,
06:39which we haven't had until two days ago.
06:42Now, hopefully, these discussions will lead to what will ultimately be a result that will fund all of these agencies,
06:49including TSA.
06:51But that is not what this is about, and you know that.
06:53Mr. President, we are having discussions.
06:56I recognize the Democrat leader.
06:59Thank you, Mr. President.
07:01We are having productive discussions.
07:04I just met with our team 20 minutes ago.
07:07We're making some progress.
07:08There's more to be made.
07:09Each side has its own views.
07:12But why hold pay for TSA workers up until when we can do it immediately?
07:20Why wait?
07:21We don't know how long these negotiations will take.
07:23There are some pretty tough positions.
07:25We could do it now.
07:26I yield.
07:27All right, Mr. President.
07:29I recognize the majority there.
07:30I would say, yeah, you talk about doing something quickly.
07:33Referring it to the Rules Committee, which has no jurisdiction over spending over appropriations,
07:41on a bill that has nothing to do with funding these agencies.
07:44But we're happy, we are happy, we'll pivot immediately to fund all these agencies when you are ready to do
07:51it.
07:52I would ask for the A's and A's on this.
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