[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CR IMPACTS THE MILITARY

  (Mr. ROTHFUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, last summer, the House passed all 12 
appropriations bills before the fiscal year started on October 1.
  We appropriated nearly $650 billion to provide our servicemembers 
with the resources they need to defend this country in the face of 
threats from North Korea, China, Russia, al-Qaida, ISIS, and Iran. The 
House funded other Federal programs at nearly $550 billion.
  For the past 3\1/2\ months, however, our military and servicemembers 
have been operating under continuing resolutions, also known as CRs, 
which means they are stuck at the funding levels they had last year. 
That is because Senate Democrats are holding back the full funding of 
our defenses so they can add billions of dollars more in other Federal 
spending.
  The defense of this country, Mr. Speaker, is not some bargaining 
chip, and preventing our servicemembers from getting the resources they 
need, especially after we have seen servicemember deaths resulting from 
the lack of training and proper equipment, is unconscionable.
  As Secretary Mattis told us last year: ``Long-term CRs impact the 
readiness of our forces and their equipment at a time when security 
threats are extraordinarily high. The longer the CR, the greater the 
consequences for our force.''
  It is way past time for Senate Democrats to end their filibustering 
of our Nation's defense and to start helping our servicemembers in 
harm's way.

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