[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 150 (Wednesday, September 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5547-S5548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, today 
the Senate will have an opportunity to take the first procedural step 
toward keeping the Federal Government funded and open.
  At the end of July, the White House and the Speaker of the House 
reached an agreement to guide the appropriations process. Both parties, 
both Chambers, and both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue agreed to the 
terms. We laid out top-line funding targets for defense and nondefense; 
we swore off poison pill policy riders; and, unlike the past several 
budget deals, which took a full year to negotiate while appropriations 
languished, we finished this year's deal much earlier to ensure we had 
enough time to move the appropriations bills.
  In other words, congressional leaders and the President laid the 
ground for a sensible, bipartisan funding process, but instead, over 
the past week and a half, we have seen our Democratic colleagues 
suggest that they may try to shoehorn their longstanding disagreements 
with President Trump into this appropriations process. Even though we 
all agreed not to insist on poison pills or change existing 
Presidential authorities, Democrats are threatening to filibuster 
Chairman Shelby's clean Defense bill over their disagreements with the 
President on immigration policy.
  I sure hope that doesn't happen. I hope our Democratic friends will 
allow the process to move forward when we vote later today. The stakes 
are high. We are talking about critical resources for the missions of 
the Department of Defense. Our military commanders have told us that 
this funding is vital to keeping peace with Putin's Russia, China, and 
all their efforts to harm America's interests. Just days ago, Saudi 
Arabian energy facilities literally went up in flames after what 
appears to be a massive, coordinated attack by Iran.

[[Page S5548]]

  In a world this dangerous, uncertain funding and continuing 
resolutions will not cut it for our national defense. Our men and women 
in uniform do not deserve to have the funding for their tools, their 
training, and their own pay raise, by the way--pay raise--used as 
leverage by Senate Democrats to try to extract concessions from the 
White House.
  So, look, I would urge each of our colleagues to join me today in 
taking the first step toward fulfilling our obligation to keep this 
country safe and secure.

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