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Well, I hope everyone had a good break, and I want to thank Senators Murray, Klobuchar, and Schatz for joining me. Well, today we learned that Republicans are trying to rebrand their big, ugly bill. This bill is so wildly unpopular because at its very core, it's devastating to American communities, and Americans are already feeling it. So they're running away from it. So instead of trying to actually address what's hurting families, what do they want to do? Change the name. Hello? Changing the name isn't going to restore somebody's Medicaid. Changing the name isn't going to have those premiums not go up. Changing the name is not going to open the rural hospitals who are closing and laying off people. So it shows what a bubble they're in. And you know, the fact that Donald Trump says a big, beautiful bill is cutting Medicaid is showing the American people just what his values are. And they're not the American people's values. So Americans know damn well that these cuts to Medicaid and to ACA, they are big, but they certainly ain't beautiful. The fact that Republicans think that Medicaid cuts are beautiful, as I said, reveals who they are to the American people. And about the average American, Donald Trump doesn't give a damn. He's in his own little bubble. He talks to his billionaire friends. They make him happy when they say, thanks, Donald, you're doing a great job. You're giving me a tax break. So he's the only one who would really label such a horrible bill as beautiful. Let's be clear. This isn't a branding problem, okay? We each spent a month at home. I did close to 20 meetings on health care, mainly in upstate Republican districts and areas. And you heard how bad it was. I went to the state fair, which is a pretty Republican operation. I had a great time. I saw the butter sculpture. I got to drink chocolate milk, which is the one time a year my wife will let me drink it. But at the state fair, it was clear. So let me show you this chart. Oh, just a different chart. Where's the chart on the phone? Okay, well, this chart is the trade war. The price of goods is up 40% for leather products, 7% for fresh produce, 12% for cars, 18% for consumers in electronics. Can we get the polling chart? Okay, thank you. So here are the polling data, which we'll show in a chart. Pew Research, 46% disprove of this big, beautiful bill, 32% approve. Navigator, 52% unfavorable, 33% favorable. CNN, 61% oppose, 39% approve of the big, beautiful bill. And it's interesting, almost all Democrats oppose it, but depending on the poll, two-thirds to three-quarters of independents oppose it, and a good chunk of Republicans oppose it, up to 40% in one poll, as I understand it. So on the shutdown, this month, Republicans will face their greatest test under the Trump administration. Will they work in a common-sense, bipartisan way to keep the government open? The only way to avoid a shutdown is to work in a bipartisan way. You need Democrats and Republicans with a bill that gets both parties' support in the Senate. Senate Democrats, we've shown firsthand that we're willing to work with them in a bipartisan way to keep our government open, by advancing the bipartisan appropriation bills, which Patty will talk about. However, as we near the funding deadline, Republicans are once again threatening to go at it alone, heading our country towards a shutdown and making the health care crisis even worse. With Trump's attempt of so-called pocket rescissions, Republicans are prioritizing chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people. For weeks now, Leader Jeffries and I were working on the same page. We talk all the time. We just talked to him last night again. We've written to the Republican leaders, asking them to meet us to start the negotiation process. We did that in early August. We didn't hear from them. Weeks later, we wrote a letter asking them to meet with us to start negotiating. Again, nothing. Nothing. Again. Crickets. We heard nothing. Time is short. Republicans need to stop trying this go-at-it-alone approach. They did that with the big, beautiful bill. Look how that's working out for them. Look how that's working out for them. Well, it's not here yet. Okay. We don't want a shutdown. We want bipartisan negotiations and a bipartisan bill. If Republicans want to keep the government open, they've got to work with us. We need some action from Republican leaders showing that they're serious. That they want to prevent a shutdown by working with us. We Democrats are ready to get to work. Patty. Here it is. The star of the show. Look at this. 46-32, 52-33, 61-39. And I give my colleagues a lot of credit. We did over 300 events on health care. Every Democratic senator did an event in their state, I believe. So, this message is sinking in. Patty. Well, less than a month until the next funding deadline, and here is the bottom line. Just as we have worked in a bipartisan fashion here in the Senate on fiscal year 2026 funding, Republicans and Democrats need to work together to fund the government with a short-term CR at the end of the month. That CR agreement needs to reflect Democratic values and principles, and it needs to be a real bipartisan compromise. For the last few months, we have shown a bipartisan way forward on the Appropriations Committee. Democrats have shown that we are willing to work in good faith to write bipartisan funding bills that protect investments in education, life-saving research, and a lot more. We've already passed eight out of the committee, and three on the floor, Milcon VA, Ag, and Ledge Branch. As part of a bipartisan short-term CR, I support conferencing those three bills and passing them with the short-term CR for the remaining nine bills, and I hope that we can continue to make progress on our Senate-passed bills so they will be ready at the end of the month. Now is the time to continue with that responsible bipartisan work, just as we have shown all summer. If House Republicans, however, go a different route and try and jam through a partisan CR without any input from Democratic members of Congress, and they suddenly find they don't have the votes they need from our caucus to fund the government, well then, that is a Republican shutdown. But there is no reason for Republicans to walk away from this table, not after the progress we have made this summer. Republicans need to work with us to keep the government funded. They need to ignore Russ Vought, the guy who's tearing apart the federal budget, breaking the law, and destroying things like cancer research for kids while Trump spends his time golfing. That's not even hyperbole. That's the facts. Now, I stand exactly where I have always been. I support a bipartisan path to fund the government, like we have been doing so far here in the Senate. And that's because I believe that elected members of Congress should decide how to spend taxpayer dollars on behalf of our constituents, not Russ Vought, not Donald Trump, and that means preventing another year-long slush fund CR. Now, on another note, since Congress should be able to do more than one thing at a time, will Republicans work with us to stop the health care premiums from skyrocketing this fall for millions of Americans? So far, Republicans have refused to lift a finger to extend the tax credits and save families from massive new health care costs. For many, higher premiums are going to mean cuts to their family budget. For others, it will mean giving up their health insurance entirely. That is wrong. Republicans are choosing right now to let that happen. They could easily extend that policy and stop premiums from spiking. Democrats have already written the bill to do just that. Don't try and tell the American people you could afford to cut taxes for billionaires a few weeks ago, but now working families will have to tighten their belts and pay literally thousands of more dollars per year for health insurance. So Democrats are ready to fund the government in a bipartisan way, and we are ready as well to protect health care for millions. Democrats have our priorities straight. To my Republican colleagues, you are lawmakers. Write some laws. Help people. Do your jobs. Don't just hand that pen to rest vote and call it a day. Thank you, Senator Murray. Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Chuck. And I'm sure we can go head to head on who has the better state fair at another time. Biggest one in the country. I really think when you. There you go. When you really look at this, August, it is the tale of two parties. You have one party and that is ours. That's been August, as Chuck mentioned, 300 over 300 events going to rural hospitals. So many of them concerned about these Medicaid and Medicare changes. Talking to our constituents who are scared to death because their mom's in the assisted living, and they know exactly when that Medicaid funding is going to run out, what's going to happen to them. Talking to people who are working two jobs but depend on SNAP and getting help when it comes to groceries and having people that are just looking at the bills, whether it is for their rent, whether it is for their health care, and saying, what did these guys just do to us? That was our August. Then we have these other guys who are literally running out of town hall meetings, hiding in the back of airplanes with hats on. Okay, I may have seen one. Just trying to avoid their constituents while Donald Trump keeps wreaking more havoc, more chaos, and more corruption on this country. So for me, it was actually pretty jarring to come back here, having spent the last few days in my state, embracing these families who had kids that literally watched their friends be shot in the gut, shot in the neck, meeting the family of one of the children who was killed, who that night they were already sitting in the Holy Angels gym trying to find solace among their families and friends. They literally went to that event because they believed in the people that surrounded them. They didn't want to be alone at home. And those harrowing stories of those kids who got saved because their friend, who was three years older, laid their body on top of them, on top of a six-year-old, and his friends get shot in the back but survives. Or the teacher with the little boy who was disabled and couldn't move, and took his body out of that wheelchair, threw it under the pew, and laid on top of him. It's pretty jarring to come back here. Because those kids and those teachers and those faith leaders, in that moment, in that horrible moment, made the decision to look out for each other. And so as I look at this budget before us, I see this opportunity when under Senator Murray and Schumer's leadership, we've been able to already negotiate three bills that'll be good for people right out of this Senate, through that chamber, that's what we should be doing. We should not be embracing a partisan budget process. We have this moment where our colleagues, who we work with all the time in different matters, can finally stand up and say, hey, we want to see a better world here, and we want to see something better, and we want to reverse some of the harms that have been done, and we do not want to embrace this partisan process. So that's where I am, and it's very much dictated by what I just saw happen at home. I think our constituents deserve better than having something rammed down their throats that are going to make their lives worse and not better. Thank you. Senator Schatz. This is not that complicated. Russ Vogt, in late July, said exactly what he thinks, which is that the appropriations process should be less bipartisan. And we disagree. And if Republicans produce a partisan product, they should expect a partisan vote. If they produce a bipartisan product, under the leadership of Patty Murray, they can get a bipartisan vote. But time is running out. There is still enough time to get this done, but to do that, they have to start to show that they're serious about keeping the government open. They have the House, the Senate, and the presidency. This is on them to initiate the process, and they haven't even scheduled a meeting with the key leaders to keep the government open. And I just want to give my Republican friends some free advice. Another jam job is not going to work. You are in charge of the government. The ball is in your court. And you have to decide if you want to shut down or not. Thank you, Senator Schatz. Q&A. Yes. Look, the bottom line is very simple. We Democrats want a bipartisan bill, and we are pushing the Republicans very hard to do it. We're on our front foot. We're unified. We're strong on health care. They're all divided and fighting with each other. Yes. Could I just add one thing that's different from back then? Donald Trump, at the beginning of this year, was nine points up. He's nine points under. And because of Chuck's work and others in our caucus, we have people who have risen to this moment like Governor Cooper in North Carolina and like Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and who are deciding to run because they believe they can win and they're patriots. And on the other side, you have people that are literally stepping out of the ring. And so it is a very different situation than they know it. It's much different than last time. We are on our front foot. People now know, as Amy said, how bad Trump is. His numbers went from 52 to 43. We are unified, and we've been on the same message for months already since the beginning of July, number two. And number three, we have seen that Trump and vote through pocket rescissions, which they just put forward, and all these other issues, don't really want to obey the budget process. We need a bipartisan proposal to avoid a government shutdown. We are working on it. They are not right now. They're not talking to us. We need a bipartisan proposal where we have real input. Yes. No, no, no. Her. As I said, we are willing to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan proposal with significant Democratic input. So far, they are not. Yes. Plan to meet with them soon.