Government Budget Cuts and Shutdown Debate

for public broadcasting because we like, we like what they say. Well, we just eliminated money for all forms of, of, of media in the, uh, Affordable Care Act.

Now, those are the demands. Those are the demands. I'll just mention, uh, I'll mention one more. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez got very, very upset, as did the socialist wing of her party, when the president sent over

what's called a rescission package. Basically, President Trump just said, "We want you to take some stuff out of the bu- out of the budget that we think is wasteful." And we did. And that upset the congresswoman. She's entitled to be upset if she wants to, but that really upset the

socialist wing of the party. And so we took out, and here's what they want us to put back in. We found that under President Biden, they were spending $3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia.

We put that... took that out. The congresswoman says, "We're gonna shut down government till you put that back in." We found $500,000 of American taxpayer money for electric buses in Rwanda. We found $3.6 million for pastry cooking

classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti. I kid you not. I'm not making this up. It was in, in the budget

under President Biden. We took it out. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez in the socialist wing, the loon wing of the Democratic Party, says, "We're gonna shut down government till you put it back in." I'll just read you a few more

that we took out, they are demanding we put back in. $6 million for media organizations for the Palestinians, $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal, $300,000 for a pride parade in Lesotho, $882,000

for social media mentorship in Serbia, $4.2 million. We took it out. The congresswoman and the socialist wing of their party says we gotta put that back in for them open government. $4.2 million for lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in the Western Balkans and Uganda. I could spend the rest of the afternoon here. We took all that out. It upset Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. It upset the socialist wing of her party.

And now they, tho- that wing of her party and the congresswoman are threatening all other Democrats and saying, "You've gotta shut down, government down till we get what we want." And part of what they want is to add this kind of stuff back into the bill.

And that's what this fight is all about. We're in the process of negotiating a budget with our Democratic friends. We ran out of time. The, the cutoff was midnight Tuesday night.

That's when our, our, our, the, the, the clock struck midnight and the budget ran out. What we had asked for, and what we're still asking for, is to let's continue nego- negotiate, we meaning the Republicans and the Democrats, for six more weeks and try to agree on a budget. That's all we're asking.

We're not asking for any addition, additional appropriations, any conditions, any stipulations. All we're asking for is what we call a clean CR. All we're asking for is just further negotiate. And, and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez,

um, who, who has, has done a stellar job in rising to the leadership of her party as, as a member of the socialist wing, they're about to elect a, a socialist, uh, mayor of New York. I think Mr. Mamdani's gonna win. They ha- they have said to our request, "Let's just continue the

status quo for six more weeks." They said, "We'll give you six more weeks if you will give us $1.5 trillion." That's what they're demanding, and that's why we're shut down. Now, let me say it again, Mr. President, I don't hate anybody. This is America.

I sure don't hate the congresswoman. She is entitled to her opinion, but I'm entitled to mine, and she can criticize, criticize my policy positions, but I c- I'm entitled to criticize hers. And I'm here to tell you, Mr. President, in front of God and country,

based on her policy positions that she's demanding, based on her policy positions that she is demanding that I just outlined, $1.5 trillion

of pure, unadulterated spending porn, based on that demand, based on her policy positions, the American people are looking at her and saying, "This person has single-handedly put an end to dumb blonde jokes,"

because that is the craziest thing I've ever heard. Based on her policy positions, $1.5 trillion of this kind of spending porn, the American people ha- are looking at the congresswoman and saying, "With respect,

she must be bilingual. She must speak English and stupid." And that's why we're not agreeing to it. Now, I hope, I know all, every one of my Democratic colleagues,

and I know more than half of them know better. They know what we're asking for is reasonable. I'm just asking them to meet us halfway. We're not asking for any additional provisions.

They shouldn't ask for any additional provisions. And let's just open back up and continue to negotiate for six weeks. Don't be scared of the congresswoman. Don't be scared of the socialist wing of your

party. I suggest the absence of a quorum. So would you just pull that request? Request, Mr. President, only because Tony asked me to.

I'm supposed to read this, Tony? Yes, please. Okay, you've proofed it? I ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, that when the Senate completes its business today,

it stand adjourned until three clock PM on Monday, October sixth. You check those dates, Tony? That following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired,

the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of Cal one fifteen S two two nine six. Finally, that the culture motions filed during Friday's session of the Senate

ripen at five o'clock or, excuse me, five thirty PM. Without objection. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, Mr. President, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous

order. The Senate stands adjourned until three PM on Monday. On day three of the federal government shutdown, the Senate today failed for a second time this week to advance two short-term government funding bills. The first from Senate Democrats would fund the government till October thirty-first

and extend healthcare tax credits. The other is the GOP House-passed bill to extend funding through November twenty-first. Watch live coverage of the Senate when they return here on C-SPAN Two.

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cspanshop.org to order your copy today. Democratic Representative Suhaib Subramaniam has said he will not accept a paycheck during the government shutdown. Saturday, Congressman Subramaniam will take questions from his

constituents at a town hall meeting in Sterling, Virginia. His congressional district, just outside the nation's capital, includes a large number of federal workers and contractors. Watch live at two PM Eastern on C-SPAN, C-SPAN

Now, our free mobile app, or online at cspan.org. Sunday night on C-SPAN's Q&A