[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now, on an entirely different matter, 
yesterday, the Senate began considering our next set of appropriations 
measures for fiscal year 2019.
  Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy have led an exemplary 
bipartisan process through subcommittee and full committee work. 
Yesterday, that same bipartisan spirit was here on the floor when we 
were able to proceed to these measures by consent. Let's keep up that 
productive and cooperative spirit so we can achieve the goal we all 
share--completing a regular appropriations process and avoiding another 
omnibus.
  The measures before us encompass agriculture, interior and the 
environment, transportation and housing, and financial services and 
general government. They would deliver real resources to help American 
communities face real challenges--challenges like clearing the backlog 
of infrastructure needs that are holding back rural America and 
challenges like fighting the opioid epidemic that threatens families 
and communities.
  Among the many, many things this legislation would accomplish, it 
meets these two challenges head on. It delivers nearly one-half billion 
dollars in loans and grant funding for rural broadband. It supplies 
$400 million to accelerate the delivery of water and waste 
infrastructure projects across rural America. It would also deliver 
more assistance to all of the areas of our country that are living 
under the long shadow of the opioid crisis--tens of millions to help 
the FDA crack down on the spread of illicit drugs and to improve care 
in rural communities through distance learning and telemedicine.
  These are just a few of the important provisions in these bills. I 
look forward to considering them this week. I hope we will have a 
robust amendment process, and then, with bipartisan cooperation, we can 
take these next steps together.

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