[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FUNDING OUR MILITARY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we are one day closer to Thursday's 
government funding deadline. I am pleased to report that our bipartisan 
talks are continuing to progress toward an agreement on spending caps 
and important priorities all of us are eager to address. But as we 
continue the negotiations, we have the opportunity to make real 
progress with an immediate step that every Senator in the Chamber 
should support; that is, passing a fiscal year 2018 Defense 
appropriations bill.
  We can vote to remove the uncertainty that is hanging over our Armed 
Forces and secure the current year funding that our servicemembers 
deserve. Funding cuts have fallen disproportionately on our men and 
women in uniform. Current funding levels are not adequate to support 
Secretary Mattis's new national defense strategy, and our military 
leaders have made clear that short-term continuing resolutions are 
hardly the optimal way for Congress to fund our warfighters.
  Senators on both sides of the aisle say they agree that our 
warfighters deserve sufficient, stable funding to fulfill the missions 
and tasks their country assigns them. Today, each of us will have a 
chance to back that up with our vote. The Senate will take up a 
noncontroversial measure that passed the House with a comfortable 
bipartisan majority. It presents an opportunity for us to unite and 
give our all-volunteer military a full fiscal year of funding while we 
finalize our talks on other subjects.

  We should seize the opportunity and not delay any longer securing 
current-year funding for the men and women who bravely keep us safe.

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