[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6843-S6844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today having just 
spent Thanksgiving Day with our troops serving in Afghanistan. It was 
an incredible honor to join President Trump in a surprise visit to the 
soldiers stationed at Bagram Air Force Base. We served Thanksgiving 
dinner to our dedicated servicemembers. Those are the individuals who 
serve us every day. Our troops were absolutely thrilled to receive the 
thanks of our grateful Nation directly delivered from the Commander in 
Chief. They know President Trump has their back.
  The photo shows a number of members of the Wyoming National Guard, 
the 2-300th, the Cowboy Calvary. My

[[Page S6844]]

father-in-law, Bob Brown from Thermopolis, WY, was a member of this 
group when he served in Korea.
  It was such a privilege to introduce the President to some of my home 
State's Wyoming National Guard members. He actually had two of them up 
on the stage with him. They are doing a tremendous job on behalf of 
Wyoming's largest deployment overseas right now in about a decade. We 
told all of our servicemembers how grateful the Nation is for their 
service and their sacrifice and their dedication.
  Meanwhile, here in Washington, the Democrats continue to block the 
bills that we need to have passed to keep our Nation secure. 
Incredibly, they are blocking both the Defense authorization and the 
Defense funding bills. The whole funding of our national defense 
expires in 2 weeks, but still the Democrats continue to waste time--
precious legislative time--on their partisan, obsessive approach to 
impeachment.
  Their holiday season impeachment is hurting the American people, and 
especially, it is hurting our military. The defense funding measure 
includes a well-earned and well-deserved pay raise for the troops. The 
President told the troops about that on Thanksgiving evening after 
serving dinner and after eating with them. It makes you wonder why on 
Earth Democrats would block the pay raise right before Christmas. It is 
amazing. They seem to be blocking all of the things that need to be 
done for our country to move ahead. The truth is, they are so focused 
on giftwrapping an impeachment process for the far left that they have 
left the rest of us in this country out in the cold.
  Besides that, they are slow-walking so many of the pro-worker and 
pro-farmer USMCA trade deals that are so critical for our Nation. It 
certainly means a lot for the breadbasket of America. It means so much 
for us in the Rocky Mountain West. They are preventing us from lowering 
drug costs.
  Above all, people expect us to support our troops. One thing after 
another after another, the Democrats continue to obstruct. The 
Republicans are fighting to fully fund the military.
  Democrats are in the process of waging war against the Commander in 
Chief. Remember, both parties came to the table, and they completed a 
bipartisan budget deal this past summer. The Democrats went back on 
their word. In doing so, they broke faith with the troops and with all 
Americans. Democrats--they filibuster, they impeach, and they neglect 
the troops.
  Really, they are hurting the American people, not the President. The 
President is busy doing his job. This week, he attended NATO's 70th 
anniversary summit and is also meeting with the U.N. Security Council 
members. U.S. forces, meanwhile, are facing heightened threats with 
last year's funding levels.
  While necessary, the stopgap spending resolution we have right now is 
taking a toll on the military, and here is why. The short-term funding 
means that a $22 billion cut has occurred from the summer's bipartisan 
budget deal. It is harming military readiness. It is harming the 
training of our troops. It has delayed and suspended weapons systems 
and programs. Now, that hasn't stopped the House Democrats and the 
Senate Democrats from blocking the full-year defense measures. They 
continue to obstruct.
  Republicans need Democratic support to pass these bills. These need 
to be bipartisan bills. The National Defense Authorization Act has a 
long history of strong bipartisan support. Yet House Democrats continue 
to delay final passage.
  Let's not forget, our troops in harm's way are far away from home 
this holiday season. They are on the frontlines. They are defending our 
freedoms. They sacrifice 365 days a year. They do it to protect our 
Nation. U.S. servicemembers never complain and never quit, and 
Republicans won't quit supporting them.
  Democrats remain too obsessed with impeachment to finish important 
business. The question is, Why are Democrats fast-tracking impeachment 
and filibustering defense legislation? Their partisan impeachment 
production is choreographed down to the final curtain call. It is 
simply a costly, chaotic waste of time. I believe most Americans know 
it. That is certainly what I hear in Wyoming.
  Democrats turn out to be the party of no--no positive ideas, no 
positive vision, no positive agenda for America. All they want to do is 
focus on impeachment. Some ran on it, and others didn't. Whether or not 
they ran on it, that is what they are doing, and they are neglecting 
the American people and the wishes and desires of American families for 
jobs; for a strong and healthy economy, a growing economy; for 
infrastructure, roads and bridges; for all of the things that are 
important; for lowering the cost of medical care and lowering the cost 
of drugs. They are ignoring it all, and certainly they are ignoring 
national security.
  It is time for the Democrats to stop stonewalling. It is time to pass 
the Defense bills. It is time to give our troops the raise they have 
earned and deserve. Let's send the right message to our troops as well 
as to our adversaries. It is time to pass these Defense bills now.

                          ____________________