Kay Bailey Hutchison: “Thank you, Madam President. Let me just say that I have introduced legislation. I have cosponsors--Casey, Inhofe, Snowe…”

“Thank you, Madam President. Let me just say that I have introduced legislation. I have cosponsors--Casey, Inhofe, Snowe, Murkowski, Collins, Ayotte, and Hoeven. It is the Ensuring Pay for our Military Act of 2011. It is very simple. It just ensures that in the event of a Federal Government shutdown--which I do not want to happen and do not support-- our military will be paid. It also will allow anyone who is serving our military--civilian defense employees or contractors who do the food services--to also be able to go to work and not have to worry about what is going to be happening back home, especially for those who are serving in harsh conditions overseas. I so hope we will be able to pass this bill. I do not want 1 more minute of stress on our military. The bill is very simple, and it is very short and very clear: Our military personnel and their support will not be affected by a government shutdown. I hope I can have more colleagues signing up. We have introduced this bill, S. 724, and I hope we can get a vote on this bill in very short order so this is off the table. Madam President, I yield the floor. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire. ____________________”