[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 171 (Tuesday, October 29, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6205-S6206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this week will provide an opportunity 
for our Democratic colleagues to prove that their longstanding goal of 
impeaching the President is not--not--getting in the way of their 
ability to legislate. The Speaker of the House and the Democratic 
leader have taken pains to insist that their party's impeachment 
obsession will not block important business for the American people.
  Well, we are going to find out. As soon as the Senate completes the 
domestic funding legislation we are currently considering, we will turn 
back toward national defense and give Senate Democrats another chance 
to advance the funding for our Armed Forces, which they chose to 
filibuster just last month.
  In other words, this week will bring a litmus test. Are Washington 
Democrats so consumed by impeachment that they cannot even fund our men 
and women in uniform? Do our servicemembers really need to be pawns in 
the Democrats' fight with the White House?
  It is hard to imagine a more basic legislative responsibility than 
funding the Department of Defense. We need to fund the tools and 
training that our men and women in uniform need to carry out their 
missions. We need to give our military commanders the resources to keep 
pace with major competitors like China, which has nearly doubled its 
military spending over the past decade.
  In recent days, our Democratic colleagues have been publicly railing 
against the administration's approach to Syria and the Middle East, 
without, I would note, offering much of a strategy of their own. But if 
they vote to block defense funding later this week, they will literally 
be obstructing the very funding to carry out the missions they say are 
so important.
  The last few days have shown us especially clearly that American 
forces remain in harm's way every day, and their missions do not pause 
just because some politicians don't find it convenient to fund them. We 
owe the Pentagon the budgetary certainty it needs to maintain the 
readiness of our military forces and to invest in the capabilities 
needed to sustain our military edge into the future.
  We also need to be good, reliable partners to our friends and allies.
  Get this. This appropriations bill would fund $250 million in 
military assistance for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance 
Initiative. If that sounds familiar, that would be the exact same 
program that Democrats are currently trying to impeach the President 
for allegedly slow-walking.
  So welcome to Washington, where Democrats try to impeach President 
Trump for supposedly slow-walking aid for Ukraine and simultaneously 
filibuster the funding for the exact same Ukraine program in the 
Senate. Welcome to Washington.
  I think it is safe to say that would elevate irony to a whole new art 
form. I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope, instead, that our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle will land on the

[[Page S6206]]

same side when it comes to support for the men and women who keep us 
safe and for our vulnerable international partners who look to us for 
leadership.

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