[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1571-S1573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Appropriations

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, just a couple of short weeks ago, we 
finally finished the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills, and I 
greatly appreciate those who worked with us to get that done.
  I want to talk today about the need to reach a new 2-year budget 
deal. We have to do that so the Appropriations Committee could then 
begin to work in earnest on the fiscal year 2020 bills.
  We have shown that we can move the appropriations bills quickly, but 
we have to have the budget deal. In fact, unless we will get a budget 
deal, sequestration returns in fiscal year 2020. That would mean steep 
cuts in programs that invest in America and support working families.
  It means we would have to make cuts in our defense programs for the 
next fiscal year--cuts of $71 billion. This is real money. There would 
be a 10-percent cut in funding to support our troops and to invest in 
military readiness.
  It would also require that we cut $55 billion for nondefense programs 
in the next fiscal year. That is a 9-percent cut. The reality is, it 
means less investment in infrastructure, education, housing, or 
agricultural programs. It means less money for veterans' healthcare, 
protecting our environment, or combating the opioid epidemic.
  These cuts are not just hypothetical numbers on a piece of paper. 
They affect real people and real families. They affect people in my 
State. They affect the people in the State of the distinguished 
Presiding Officer. They affect people in the 50 States represented by 
all 100 of us.
  Of course, the worst part about that is the cuts will come at the 
same time we are facing significant increases in important programs 
that we have no control over.
  For example, we have to fund the decennial census. The Constitution 
requires us to have this census, and we have to fund it by $4 billion 
if we are going to follow what the Constitution of the United States 
requires us to do in conducting the 2020 census.
  We have all talked about veterans' healthcare. We have had a 
significant increase in the healthcare costs for veterans, and we have 
to have significant increases in the budget if we are going to 
adequately fund their health.
  The VA MISSION Act, which provides additional private care options 
for veterans, becomes effective in June of this year. That is going to 
cost at least an additional $3 billion, and estimates could climb 
significantly higher. That is on top of the $3 billion increase for VA 
medical care that we have already enabled through advance 
appropriations.
  Then we are going to need an additional $1 billion to ensure that an 
estimated 5 million people who receive affordable housing assistance 
can stay in their homes. In addition to these increased costs, we 
expect to lose nearly $4 billion in receipts and cost savings in other 
programs compared to this year.
  This may sound like just a whole lot of numbers. It is more than 
that. It means we have $15 billion right off the bat that we must 
account for above this year's levels. Of course, I am sure there will 
be more increases that we will have to address.
  As vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I know how hard 
Chairman Shelby and I worked with Republicans and Democrats to get 
through the bills we had this past year. We got them done, but it was 
not easy staying within levels.

[[Page S1572]]

  We have to have a 2-year budget deal. We have to negotiate it now. If 
we wait until the very last second to pass these bills, it will cost 
the taxpayers a lot more money because the Departments cannot plan. We 
are not going to bury our heads in the sand and pretend it is going to 
fix itself.
  Of course, again, in the Appropriations Committee, we try to work in 
a bipartisan way. But we cannot responsibly do our job in the absence 
of cap levels that allow us to meet the needs of the American people.
  Again, this is not just an accounting issue. This is the security and 
the well-being of the greatest Nation on Earth. It is not rhetoric; it 
is reality.
  The budget deal has to be based on parity if we are going to pass it. 
It has to have equal treatment for defense and nondefense programs, as 
we have had in the past.
  We have to invest on both sides of the ledger if we are going to 
create a strong national defense, a strong economy, and a healthy 
citizenry of the United States.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
a letter to all Senators that was received yesterday from over 300 
retired admirals and generals who agree with this premise.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                           Mission: Readiness,

                                Washington, DC, February 27, 2019.
       Members of Congress: We write as retired admirals and 
     generals, and members of the national security organization 
     Mission: Readiness, to urge you to support programs that help 
     America's children grow into healthy, educated, citizen-ready 
     adults Particularly, we respectfully request that you 
     reevaluate spending caps mandated by the Budget Control Act 
     of 2011 (BCA) and provide balanced investments in both 
     defense and non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs.
       As Members of Mission: Readiness, we recognize the fact 
     that the strength of our military--and our Nation--is 
     dependent on the strength of our people. We are deeply 
     concerned that 71 percent of young Americans ages 17 to 24 
     cannot qualify for military service because they are too 
     poorly educated, medically or physically unfit, or have a 
     disqualifying record of crime or drug abuse. The implications 
     of this recruitment crisis were underscored last year, when 
     the Army fell short of its 2018 recruiting goal by 6,500 
     soldiers. Further, in 2018 the Army missed its end strength 
     goal for the active duty component by almost 7,500 soldiers, 
     and the Army National Guard and Army Reserve missed their end 
     strength goals by 8,000 and 9,000 soldiers, respectively. The 
     shortage of qualified young people who are willing to serve 
     will continue to erode the strength of our military, unless 
     we address the root causes now.
       NDD programs play a variety of roles in supporting and 
     enhancing our national security by contributing directly to 
     the health, education, and development of our youngest 
     generation. These crucial NDD programs include:
       Child Care and Development-Block Grants (CCDBG), which help 
     low-income families afford child care. Research shows that 
     access to quality child care has significant positive impacts 
     on children's social, cognitive, and physical development.
       Head Start and Early Head Start, which help children from 
     low-income families access early learning opportunities and 
     become prepared for kindergarten. Studies have found that the 
     Head Start participants gain long-term educational benefits, 
     including increased rates of high school graduation.
       The sequestration cuts mandated by the BCA pose a direct 
     threat to the effectiveness of these and other key NDD 
     programs. Without a new budget agreement from Congress, NDD 
     funding will be cut by $55 billion compared to Fiscal Year 
     2019. These cuts would severely undermine the ability of 
     programs like CCDBG, Head Start, and Early Head Start to 
     serve children and put them on the path toward productive 
     citizenship.
       Last year, Congress worked in a bipartisan fashion to pass 
     a two-year budget agreement that avoided sequestration cuts, 
     provided key new investments for important programs, and did 
     so in a balanced manner that strengthened both defense and 
     NDD activities. We strongly urge you to follow this example 
     for the coming fiscal years and avoid the drastic cuts of 
     sequestration, while maintaining a balanced approach to 
     setting discretionary budget levels.
       Providing for the common defense is one of the most 
     fundamental and important constitutional duties of Congress. 
     By providing balanced investments across both defense and 
     non-defense discretionary programs, Congress will continue to 
     ensure our national security, both now and for generations to 
     come.

  Mr. LEAHY. These admirals and generals, many of whom I know and a lot 
of whom I do not, have been here with Republican and Democratic 
administrations, but they are all people who have served our Nation and 
care about our Nation. They are part of a coalition called Mission: 
Readiness, Council for a Strong America. They call on Congress to 
negotiate balanced investments in both defense and nondefense programs.
  They wrote: ``As members of Mission: Readiness, we recognize the fact 
that the strength of our military--and our Nation--is dependent on the 
strength of our people.''
  We have certainly seen this. You can go back to the time of World War 
II, when Harry Truman found that we could not find the people we needed 
in our military because of things like malnutrition or a lack of 
education; we needed to improve the nutrition programs in our schools. 
This is not rhetoric; it is reality.
  These admirals and generals want a strong United States of America, 
just as I do and just as every single Member of this body--of either 
party--wants.
  If the press reports are accurate, the President is planning to send 
up a budget on March 11 that not only fails to provide a constructive 
path forward, but it is going to be dead on arrival. If press reports 
are accurate, the President will, yet again, propose deep cuts to 
nondefense programs, even though Congress has rejected President 
Trump's cuts for the last 2 fiscal years. Every Republican and every 
Democrat knows that you have to have a balance between defense and 
nondefense programs.
  President Trump also proposes large increases for defense programs, 
paid for using a budget gimmick that his own Acting Chief of Staff, 
Mick Mulvaney, would rail against when he was in Congress. He says he 
will move large portions of the defense base budget into the Overseas 
Contingency Operation, or OCO, account so that it will not count 
against the budget caps. Mick Mulvaney and most Republicans and 
Democrats have said we cannot do this. It is not a recipe for success.
  OCO is meant for costs associated with military operations in 
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. It is there to address crises overseas. 
It supports our men and women deployed and in harm's way.
  The OCO account should not be used as a slush fund to pay for the 
everyday operations of the Department of Defense or to avoid a real 
debate on the budget caps.
  To suggest we should move billions in the base defense budget into 
OCO at a time when the President is actively reducing our troop 
presence overseas shows what a disingenuous move it is.
  I went back in my notes, and I found a letter written by then-
Congressman Mick Mulvaney--now the acting Chief of Staff for President 
Trump. He wrote this in March of 2014. It is strikingly relevant today, 
5 years later. Then-Congressman Mulvaney wrote a letter signed by 
numerous Members. He opposed a $10 billion increase in OCO, calling it 
is a ``misuse'' of funds and an attempt to ``circumvent the caps'' for 
things unrelated to overseas combat at a time when war operations were 
``winding down.'' He opposed the gimmick. He argued for greater 
transparency and discipline in the budget process.
  He said he would not want any President--well, of course, in that 
case, it was President Obama--to have this power. Now he is Acting 
Chief of Staff of another President, and we are told the President may 
propose an increase of $105 billion, more than doubling OCO funding, as 
we are withdrawing troops. That is not the way forward.
  Let's have an honest conversation, Republicans and Democrats 
together, about our needs as a nation. We have to do the hard work to 
set new caps. It is not easy. Every one of us will have to cast 
difficult votes. Well, so what? We are elected to a 6-year term. There 
is not a single Member of this body who, at one time or another during 
their campaigns, did not say something to the effect of ``I am willing 
to cast tough votes.''
  Well, let us have it, this onerous conversation. Let us do the hard 
work to set new caps. Let us cast those difficult votes. Let us show 
the people who elected us they did the right thing. Let us invest in 
the programs. Let us strengthen our military, grow our economy, improve 
our infrastructure, and build the future of this country we love. Let 
us not use a budget gimmick to frustrate that debate. Trust me, the 
American people will see through that kind of a gimmick.

[[Page S1573]]

  I am ready to have those conversations. I want to move forward with 
the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills. Let's get the work done the 
American people sent us here to do. If we have to stay a few evenings 
and if we have to stay a few weekends, let's do it. It is for the 
greatest Nation on Earth. Let's do it. I urge leadership on both sides 
of the aisle, in both Chambers of Congress, to begin these negotiations 
now.
  Then we have to take up, with urgency, a disaster package. In the 
last 2 years, we have had the deadliest disaster seasons in recent 
memory--Hurricanes Michael, Florence, Irma, and Maria, the California 
wildfires, volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, and typhoons along the Pacific 
coast. These communities, States, and territories need our help.
  When Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont in 2011, I found out firsthand 
how devastating natural disasters can be. Roads were washed away, towns 
and villages were cut off from vital services, and people's homes were 
destroyed.
  The day after Irene, I went around the State of Vermont with our 
Governor and with the head of our National Guard in a helicopter, 
landing in small towns. Many times the only way you could get into 
these towns was by helicopter because roads were gone and the bridges 
were gone.
  You would see bridges, like a child's toy, twisted and a mile from 
where it was supposed to be. A farmhouse that had been on the north 
side of the river was now upside down on the south side of the river. 
We were in the middle of the State, and we knew it was critical. The 
Federal Government provided assistance to help recovery because we are 
part of the United States of America.
  The people of Puerto Rico and others that have been so badly damaged, 
these are Americans. We should stand together to help them. I am sorry 
we were not able to reach agreement to include a disaster package in 
the fiscal year 2019 minibus we passed just 2 weeks ago. We were so 
close to an agreement on a package--so very close, Republicans and 
Democrats alike. It would have addressed the needs of all impacted 
communities.
  It broke down because the President insisted we eliminate disaster 
assistance for Puerto Rico. I guess he thought tossing rolls of paper 
towels for the people is good enough. Puerto Rico is part of the United 
States. It is not, as the White House described it, an island 
surrounded by water, I guess, as compared to those other islands. It is 
a part of the United States. These are American people. They have 
served in our military. They help us in our medical facilities. They 
are Americans, and they cannot be left out.
  Hurricanes Maria and Irma--they had two hurricanes--devastated Puerto 
Rico. They destroyed the island's homes and infrastructure. They caused 
the deaths of an estimated 2,975 people. It was one of the deadliest 
hurricanes our country has ever seen, certainly in my lifetime.
  Now, we provided Puerto Rico assistance in past disaster bills, but 
they have so many unaddressed needs that have to be met. Many people, 
even after the hurricane, are still living in temporary housing. Roads, 
bridges, and communities still need to be rebuilt. One of the largest 
infrastructure projects to be undertaken on the island is the 
rebuilding of Puerto Rico's energy grid, which needs more assistance.
  Most importantly, in the absence of supplemental assistance, we 
estimate that 140,000 Puerto Ricans, U.S. citizens, are going to lose 
nutrition assistance at the end of March.
  We are the United States of America--United States of America--and 
this is the U.S. Senate. We are supposed to take care of all our 
citizens when they have crises. We do not pick and choose based on with 
whom we are politically aligned.
  I voted for disaster relief for States that were predominantly 
Republican and other States that were predominantly Democratic, but I 
don't look at it like that. I look at the fact that they are part of 
the United States of America, and they had a disaster. They should be 
helped.
  Last month, the House passed H.R. 268, a comprehensive disaster 
package that provided over $14 billion to help all States and 
territories impacted by recent disasters to help them recover and 
rebuild. I worked closely with the House on this bill. I believe it 
will address the needs of all disaster-impacted communities.
  On Tuesday, Senators Perdue and Jones and others, working very hard, 
introduced a similar but not identical bill. I am taking these bills 
with me this weekend. I am going to review them carefully. I thank the 
bipartisan group of Senators--Senators Perdue and Jones and others--for 
bringing the issue back to the forefront of the Senate. I am certainly 
committed to working with my good friend Chairman Shelby. I also worked 
with Republicans and Democrats in the House Appropriations Committee. I 
want a package that can pass both Chambers in addressing the needs of 
all States and territories hit by recent disasters.
  I certainly urge the majority leader, Senator McConnell, to commit to 
bringing this to the floor as soon as possible. With that, I see other 
Senators on the floor.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.