[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6133-S6135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND 
      VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume legislative session in consideration of the conference report to 
accompany H.R. 5895. The cloture motion is withdrawn.
  There will now be 10 minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual 
form.
  The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I will try to be brief. It is getting 
late.
  A few months ago, I came to the floor and urged my colleagues to set 
aside partisan disputes so that we could focus on our most basic 
constitutional responsibility: funding the government in a deliberate 
and timely manner.
  Most observers deemed the prospect dubious at best. Who could blame 
them? Like so much in Washington, the appropriations process was 
broken, but at the urging of Leaders McConnell and Schumer and with the 
help of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--Vice Chairman Leahy, 
in particular--we began to put the pieces back together.
  Steadily, methodically, we passed 9 of the 12 annual appropriations 
bills in the Senate by overwhelming bipartisan margins. Today, I am 
pleased to present my colleagues with the first dividends of their 
cooperation.
  The conference report before the Senate tonight contains the 2019 
appropriations bills for Energy and Water Development, Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs, and the Legislative Branch. It 
contains very critical funding to help transition our veterans to the 
new healthcare program they deserve and have earned under the VA 
Mission Act. It funds nearly 200 construction projects that are very 
important to America's military. It does a lot of other things, but I 
can say that this is an important package, and it is very important in 
what this package does not contain. It contains no poison pills--none 
of the partisan riders that have taken down appropriations bills in 
recent years in this package. As a result, the conference report looks 
a lot like the package that passed the Senate a few months ago by a 
vote of 86 to 5.
  We have a long way to go, but we are getting there with this first 
batch of appropriations bills. I want to take a second and thank the 
leaders of both sides, Vice Chairman Leahy, the members of the 
Appropriations Committee, and all of my colleagues for their 
cooperation in this effort. I look forward to continuing to work 
together and urge you to vote for the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to speak briefly on this.
  Today, the Senate will consider final passage of the ``Minibus #1'' 
conference report. This package contains the Legislative Branch, Energy 
and Water Development, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Bills.
  I agree with what Vice Chairman Shelby has said. When we first 
considered this package in June, we held our first real debate on the 
Senate floor on an appropriations bill in many years. We had eight 
rollcall votes on amendments. We adopted a managers' package that 
Senator Shelby and I submitted. It contained 32 more--a step toward 
returning to regular order.
  Today, we are going to take another step. This is not exactly the 
bill I would have written. I think it is safe to say it is not exactly 
the bill Chairman Shelby would have written. We know you have to have 
compromise. You have to work things out. I also knew I could rely on 
his word, and he could rely on my word. That is why we are here today 
voting on this bipartisan package.
  The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill 
includes significant new investments in mental health and opioid abuse 
treatment. We are not just talking about things we would like to do to 
address opioid abuse; we are actually including it in a bill. It 
invests $1 billion in new funding over fiscal year 2017 levels for 
mental healthcare programs and suicide prevention and $454 million over 
fiscal year 2017 for opioid treatment and prevention.
  This bill also provides resources important to Vermonters. It 
increases funding for long-term, noninstitutional care programs like 
the Veterans Independence Program in Vermont, which partners with 
community providers to support veterans who prefer to continue living 
in their own homes, avoiding costly nursing home care and offering 
better quality of life. It provides funding for homeless veterans 
programs, such as the Grant and Per Diem program that offers supportive 
transitional housing to homeless veterans, and it includes a $40 
million increase for Supportive Services for Veteran Families to help 
veterans and their

[[Page S6134]]

families secure permanent affordable housing.
  The bill nearly doubles funding for the popular Adaptive Sports Grant 
Program and expands it so that more service-disabled veterans, 
including those who suffer from invisible injuries like PTSD and brain 
injuries, can participate in lifelong sports in their communities, or 
train to showcase their mental and physical training at national 
competitions. This bill also includes a $40 million investment for the 
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and its evidence-
based approach to the treatment of veterans bearing the hidden wounds 
of war.
  However, I am extremely disappointed that House Republicans and 
President Trump refused to accommodate funding for the costs associated 
with the VA Choice Program. The program is going to face a shortfall 
beginning in May 2019. We are not helping our veterans if we make 
promises we don't keep. We cannot just take funding from other programs 
for veterans or terminate programs to help low-income Americans or 
important research at the National Institutes of Health, even though 
the President is proposing it.
  We must adjust the budget caps to accommodate programs for our 
veterans that have already passed Congress and been signed into law.
  We made a promise to veterans. The chairman and I will work hard on 
making sure Congress keeps that promise.
  In the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, we make 
significant investments that support scientific research, make America 
more competitive in clean energy and increase funds for renewable 
energy.
  Congress rejected President Trump's shortsighted attempt to eliminate 
ARPA-E, which researches and invests in new energy technologies, and 
increased its funding by $60 million over fiscal year 2018. Thanks to 
the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, investments in the Office of Science 
are increased by $1.2 billion over fiscal year 2017, paving the way for 
new and groundbreaking scientific research.
  And with Hurricane Florence set to make landfall on America's East 
Coast, this package includes the highest ever level of funding for the 
Army Corps' Civil Works program of nearly $7 billion. For every dollar 
invested, it is estimated that there is a $16.60 return by mitigating 
flood damage and transportation rate savings from moving goods on our 
waterways.
  The Energy and Water bill also makes important investments in our 
rural communities through regional commissions, including $20 million 
for the four-State Northern Border Regional Commission. We once again 
provide strong funding for the Weatherization Program, which helps so 
many families in Vermont and other northern States who struggle with 
high home heating prices during the cold winter months. Ad I am pleased 
that the bill supports much needed repairs and improvements in our 
environmental infrastructure and energy infrastructure and strengthens 
innovative ways to deliver these critical assets that will make Vermont 
and the entire country more resilient to the changing climate and 
violent weather events.
  The Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill includes funding to pay 
congressional interns for the first time. A congressional internship 
offers an entrance to a career in public service, but many dedicated, 
young adults do not have the means to spend a summer working for free 
in Washington or in our home districts. By paying interns for their 
work, we open the door to a wider and more diverse pool of applicants 
looking to serve their country.
  I have long realized the potential benefits to our country of 
providing this opportunity to talented young people from diverse 
backgrounds. That is why, since my first day in the Senate, in 1975, I 
made sure there were the resources available in my office to compensate 
our interns. I am glad this opportunity will now be available in every 
office, both House and Senate.
  For the first time in the legislative branch bill, we are also 
requiring Senate candidates to file electronic campaign finance 
reports, something the House has required since 1995. This will 
increase transparency in campaign finance and finally bring the system 
into the 21st century.
  This is a compromise bill. It makes significant investments in the 
American people. It was not an easy path to get to where we are, but 
the Shelby-Leahy-McConnell-Schumer agreement we entered into--the four 
of us--has laid the bipartisan framework for a path forward. This 
package does have bipartisan support. It is free of poison pill riders, 
and it is in line with the bipartisan budget agreement.
  I commend my friend Richard Shelby for his leadership. I also thank 
Senators Alexander, Feinstein, Boozman, Schatz, Daines, and Murphy for 
their vital contributions.
  This is the only successful path forward for the remaining 
appropriations bills, and I am hopeful that House Republicans will 
continue to engage with this process.
  I also remain hopeful that President Trump will join this bipartisan 
and bicameral vision for the appropriations process.
  However, the President's repeated shutdown threats are not helpful.
  Just last week, at a campaign style rally, the President threatened 
to shut down the government after the midterm elections--an attempt 
that would avoid the immediate political consequences of his brash and 
short-sighted decision to hold the American people hostage for his 
useless and ill-considered border wall, which he has repeatedly 
promised Mexico would pay for.
  A government shutdown is not a political talking point. It has real 
consequences on real people, and I hope the President will leave his 
rhetoric at his rally and work with Republicans and Democrats in 
Congress.
  In the Senate, we have come together, Republicans and Democrats. We 
have made more progress than we have in decades in appropriations.
  I hope that we will continue down this path and pass the two 
additional minibus appropriations bills that are in conference before 
the end of the fiscal year. Funding the government is one of Congress's 
most basic responsibilities, and we owe it to the American people to do 
our jobs.
  Lastly, I often say I am a constitutional impediment to my staff--
Chuck Kieffer, Chanda Betourney, Jessica Berry, Jay Tilton, and Jean 
Kwon, as well as Chairman Shelby's staff, Shannon Hines, Jonathan 
Graffeo, and David Adkins, as well as the staff on both sides of the 
aisle for each of the three subcommittees. It takes a lot people to get 
a bill like this across the finish line, and I thank them for their 
hard work and dedication.
  I am ready to vote.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  All time is yielded back.
  The question is on the adoption of the conference report.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) and the Senator from Georgia 
(Mr. Isakson).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Georgia (Mr. 
Isakson) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Florida (Mr. Nelson) is 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 92, nays 5, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 207 Leg.]

                                YEAS--92

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Kyl
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sanders

[[Page S6135]]


     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--5

     Flake
     Gillibrand
     Markey
     Paul
     Warren

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Burr
     Isakson
     Nelson
  The conference report was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, S. Con. Res. 46 is 
considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider is considered 
made and laid upon the table.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 46) was agreed to.
  (The concurrent resolution is printed in today's Record under 
``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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