On the recordFebruary 11, 2015
Mr. President, again, I don't hear any Republicans talking about shutting down the government. Indeed, the deadline, as I understand, is February 27 for this appropriations bill. What we are having is a discussion about the President's abuse of his authority under the Constitution by issuing the Executive order. I understand we disagree about that--and we ought to have that debate--and the public I think would insist that we honor our oath by making sure we protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, including against Presidential overreach. I ask my friend, is it going to be the consistent position of our Democratic friends in the Senate that they are going to block us from even getting on the bill so that then they can offer amendments to strip out the parts they don't like? That is the way the Senate is supposed to work, but it doesn't work that way when Democrats are filibustering this $40 billion appropriations bill.
