[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4985-S4986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BUDGET AGREEMENT

  Madam President, on a different subject, yesterday, four 
congressional leaders in the Trump administration reached a bipartisan 
agreement that will strengthen our national security and clear the way 
for important investments in America's middle-class--investments in 
healthcare, education, childcare, veterans, cancer research, and more.
  First and foremost, I am pleased to report that in this deal, 
Democrats have finally found a way to end the threat of sequester 
permanently. The arbitrary and draconian limits of the sequester have 
hammered our ability to invest in working Americans for too long. There 
are large forces pushing the middle class around--globalization and 
automation--and the only answer, because most of our international 
companies haven't really made the effort at least until now, is 
government providing ladders--ways out, ways in, and ways up--so that 
average middle-class people can maintain that great American dream, 
which means, simply put, if you work hard, you will be doing better 10 
years from now than you are doing today, and your kids will still be 
doing better than you. We need those kinds of programs--education, 
infrastructure, healthcare, and childcare--to make this happen; 
otherwise, these big economic forces are going to continue to push the 
middle-class and poor people around. The wealthy--they will do fine, 
even though this Republican Party and this administration seem to make 
them their first choice. Look at that tax cut.
  So this is a good thing. It means that the shadow of sequestration, 
the inability of the government to provide ladders so that middle-class 
people can

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deal with the big forces pushing them around, will no longer hover over 
our work on the Federal budget.
  Not only did we permanently end that devastating sequester, which, by 
the way, the military hated, as well as people who wanted help on the 
domestic side--it slashed them as well. General Mattis was fanatic, 
almost, in a good way about this. I miss him. But we Democrats did this 
in an extraordinary fashion.
  The agreement includes a significant increase in funding for critical 
domestic priorities, including an increase in the domestic budget 
authority that even exceeds the increase in defense by $10 billion over 
the next 2 years. For those counting, yesterday's deal means that 
Democrats have secured over $100 billion in funding increases for 
domestic programs since President Trump took office. At the same time, 
it ensures that our military is prepared to keep Americans safe around 
the world.
  This $100 billion sounds abstract. But let me tell you what it means: 
more funding to the States for opioid treatment. The States are 
desperate for more help. Young people are dying of these horrible 
drugs. Treatment works.
  I held in my arms a father from Buffalo whose son had served in Iraq, 
had PTSD, and then got hooked on opioids when he came back here. 
Finally, the kid hit bottom. He said: Dad, I want to go to a treatment 
center.
  Unfortunately, there was a 23-week waiting period, and the young man 
killed himself in the 22nd week. The father cried in my arms, a big 
steel worker with tattoos and everything else. He was devastated, as 
anybody else would be over the loss of a child. Now there will be more 
money for that. This is not abstract.
  What about fixing VA hospitals? What about more money to help educate 
our kids properly? What about some money to make the burden of college 
less great, as heavy as it is? What about money for climate and clean 
energy? What about money for infrastructure and transportation? That 
$100 billion is not abstract. It is for all of these things. It is 
going to mean jobs for the American people. It is going to mean ladders 
up for the American people. It is going to mean some hope for the 
American people.

  I know that on the other side some on the right will say: This 
increases the deficit. Just a year ago they voted to increase the 
deficit by $1.5 trillion--now, maybe $2 trillion--with a deep tax cut, 
the overwhelming part of which went to the wealthiest people in 
America. So don't start hollering ``deficit'' when it comes to helping 
the middle class when you are willing to deepen the deficit when it 
comes to helping the wealthy. Of course, now, part of this is that the 
debt ceiling will be extended until the summer of 2021, preserving the 
full faith and credit of the United States.
  Looking forward, I think we have laid the groundwork for legislation 
that will hopefully avoid another senseless and harmful government 
shutdown. The House will now move quickly to put this agreement up for 
a vote, and then the Senate can follow suit and send it to the 
President's desk. I was glad to see that the President tweeted--I 
believe it was tweeted--and put out a statement that he supports this 
agreement.

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