[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4983-S4984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BUDGET AGREEMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday the administration informed 
congressional leaders that Secretary Mnuchin, White House Chief of 
Staff Mulvaney, and Acting OMB Director Vought reached a deal with 
Speaker Pelosi to prevent a government-funding crisis and deliver on 
President Trump's top priorities.
  The agreement secures the most important priority of the Republican 
conference. In fact, in my view, it is the most important obligation of 
the entire Congress; that is, securing the resources we need to provide 
for the common defense. This deal does it.
  Over the past 2\1/2\ years, Republicans in Congress have worked with 
the President to stop and reverse the decline in the strength and 
readiness of our Armed Forces. After years of insufficient funding that 
hurt readiness and tied commanders' hands, Congress and President Trump 
have secured badly needed funding increases to rebuild and modernize 
the U.S. military.
  There is still more work ahead. The progress we have made remains 
tenuous. America's adversaries are not taking their foot off the gas 
anytime soon, so we can't either. We have to keep up the momentum. This 
agreement provides the stability of funding our military deserves and 
requires. Thanks to tough negotiating by the Trump administration, this 
deal delivers for the security of our Nation. It delivers for our men 
and women in uniform. It protects the progress of the last 2 years and 
provides the fuel for further progress. That is the bottom line.
  The nature of divided government means this certainly isn't the 
agreement Republicans would have written all by ourselves; for example, 
I will never understand why our Democratic colleagues treat funding the 
U.S. Armed Forces like a Republican priority that somehow needs to be 
matched up with additional spending that Democrats like in order to 
make it palatable for them. It seems to me every one of us, both sides, 
should jump at the chance to fund defense adequately.

  Alas, that is not a mystery that is going to be solved for me in the 
immediate future. The fact is, the Federal

[[Page S4984]]

Government is coming up with urgent deadlines with respect to the debt 
limit and beginning the appropriations process.
  The full faith and credit of the United States cannot be in question. 
The last thing Americans need is for Washington to throw a big wrench 
in this red-hot economy that is creating historic levels of job 
opportunities and growing their take-home pay, and so faced with our 
Democratic colleagues' reluctance, the Trump administration took the 
high road. They did what needed to be done for our Armed Forces and 
veterans and negotiated a successful deal. In fact, compared to current 
law, the administration has secured a larger increase for defense 
spending than for nondefense. Let me say that again: a larger increase 
for defense than for nondefense compared to current law.
  What is more, the administration successfully kept leftwing poison 
pills and policy riders far away from this agreement. We know some of 
the far left have been hankering to claw back the Hyde amendment 
protections or cut away at reprogramming authorities and flexibility 
that Presidents rightly possess. I applaud the fact that no leftwing 
riders like that were allowed into the deal.
  This is the deal that was necessary to continue rebuilding our 
national defense after years of neglect, and it is the deal that was 
possible in divided government. I am proud to join President Trump in 
support of it, and I will be proud to support it when the Senate votes 
on the agreement before we adjourn at the end of this month.

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