Kennedy urges Senate to withhold members’ pay during the shutdown: “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”

Watch Kennedy's comments here.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:

"Tomorrow, I will be bringing two bills before the Senate. They both have to do with the shutdown and congressional pay.

"The first bill is the No Shutdown Paychecks [to Politicians] Act. The second bill is the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act.

"The first bill would provide that, as long as we're shut down-and I'll explain why in a moment-as long as we're shut down, no member of Congress can be paid. And the money will not be reimbursed at a later date or repaid at a later date.

"The second bill, to address any 27th Amendment concerns, will say, 'During a shutdown, members of Congress will not receive their pay, but their pay will be escrowed, and they will receive it after the government is opened back up.'

"Look, we're on day 36. Like you, Mr. President, I've heard a lot of rumors about, 'We're that close to reaching an agreement.' We've been that close for a week. Frankly, I hope I'm wrong in saying this, but I don't think we're really that close. I wish we were, and I hope we are, but I think we're going to be in the shutdown for a while longer. It doesn't give me any joy to say that.

"In the meantime, none of our staff are being paid. No federal employees are being paid. I got some numbers in this morning that federal workers have had to borrow $365 million so far during this 36-day shutdown in order to just pay their rent. Our military is only being paid partially. Our air traffic controllers are not being paid. People who receive SNAP payments are only being partially paid. I don't think anybody wants to see anybody go hungry in America. And that's not a partisan statement; I think that's a bipartisan statement.

"There's precedent for this, Mr. President. Some may say, 'Well, this violates the 27th Amendment.' I don't think it does. That's why I'm offering two different flavors of bills. But in 2013, President Obama did the same thing that I'm doing now. They were in a shutdown, and President Obama supported legislation that said, 'If you don't open the government by this certain date, then you're going to lose your paychecks.'

"And guess what? Members of Congress had an epiphany, and they found religion. They had a Damascene moment, and they opened up the government. And that's all this bill will do.

"I'm not trying to grandstand. I wasn't going to bring this bill. When I got back here Monday, I heard all the rumors, like everybody else, that we were close. And I hope we are close, but we're not close enough. So, I'll offer these bills tomorrow, and people can vote yea, or they can vote nay, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander."

Full text of the No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act is available here.

Full text of the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act is available here.

Read more about the bills in Fox News Digital here.

Watch Kennedy's speech here.