On the recordDecember 21, 2018
I thank the two leaders for what they have done today. Even though I know some people who are tuning in may not understand what just happened, the understanding that has been reached--and I thank Senator Flake and Senator Jones and others--is that we are not voting on anything else in this Chamber relative to this issue until a global agreement has been reached between the President and these two leaders and the leader of the House. There will not be test votes, and there is not going to be a tabling vote. The Vice President has been over here with his members, negotiating already. What this does, I think, is to push this ahead to a negotiation that will yield a result, and we will do the best we can to keep from shutting down the government, or if it does shut down, it will shut down very briefly. I thank the two leaders for agreeing to go forward in this manner. It allows us to move forward in a positive way, yet keeps the negotiations alive. Only a bill can pass this Chamber now that has all of their agreement. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Arizona.
