[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 1, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5527-S5528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for more than a week, the Senate has 
carefully considered a set of four appropriations bills.
  Together, they will account for about one-eighth of the discretionary 
spending for the next fiscal year. They allocate funds for a variety of 
pressing needs in communities around the country, and they represent 
four more steps toward the goal this Senate has set to fund the 
government through regular appropriations and to steer clear of another 
omnibus.
  A lot of attention has rightly been paid to huge priorities where 
this legislation will bring major progress: our mission to renew 
America's infrastructure and the ongoing fight against opioid addiction 
and abuse.
  Both are urgent challenges. In one survey last year, 81 percent of 
Americans said the opioid epidemic is either a major problem or a full-
blown emergency, and more than half said infrastructure investment was 
a ``very important'' or ``extremely important'' priority. These are two 
priorities we share throughout this Congress--both parties, both 
Houses, and with the President.
  Here are just a few of the provisions in this legislation: billions 
of dollars of investment in rural communities for everything from 
electric and telephone infrastructure to water infrastructure, to 
broadband internet, to small business loans; a $10 billion overall 
increase from 2017 for infrastructure needs; and tens of millions for 
opioid prevention, including grants for distance learning and 
telemedicine so rural America is better equipped to strike back against 
the scourge of addiction.
  Of course, infrastructure and fighting opioids are only part of what 
these bills encompass.
  They will fully fund the Federal Government's efforts in agriculture, 
transportation, housing and urban development, the interior, 
environment, financial services, and general government. That includes 
essential routine services, from the Forest Service to food safety 
inspections. It includes many targeted programs that have an outsized 
impact on local communities.
  My fellow Kentuckians and I are glad this legislation will help us 
expand rural internet access, invest in new highways and bridges, 
reclaim abandoned mines, and contain the invasive

[[Page S5528]]

Asian carp that threaten our waterways. The list goes on and on. I know 
every community and every State could write its own list. This 
legislation matters to every Senator. It matters to all Americans.
  I am grateful to Chairman Shelby, Senator Leahy, and subcommittee 
Chairmen Murkowski, Collins, Hoeven, and Lankford for all of their hard 
work. We have considered these bills carefully. We have voted on a 
number of amendments. This morning, we will consider more amendments 
and then pass this bill.
  Now, this appropriations package is not the only important business 
the Senate has been working on this week.
  Yesterday, we passed an important extension of the National Flood 
Insurance Program and sent it to the White House for the President's 
signature. We confirmed the 24th circuit court nominee already in this 
Congress, and we voted to proceed to conference with the House on the 
farm bill.
  I understand this year marks the earliest, since at least 1965, that 
both the House and the Senate have passed a farm bill. Here in the 
Senate, it passed with the widest margin of any recorded vote in the 
history of this legislation. So Chairman Roberts and Senator Stabenow 
deserve our congratulations and appreciation. I look forward to serving 
as a conferee myself and to finishing up the farm bill prior to its 
expiration.

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