[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S7125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Appropriations

  Mr. President, tomorrow we will vote on government funding bills the 
House passed yesterday. A lot of hard work brought this appropriations 
process back from the brink. Here are some of the important things that 
will happen as a result: stable, full-year funding for our Armed 
Forces, including research and modernization; the largest pay raise for 
our troops in a decade; and more support for key alliances like NATO, 
close partners like Israel, and high-priority areas like Hong Kong.
  The bills also deliver on vital domestic priorities as well. It funds 
infrastructure and transportation projects. It repeals even more of 
Obamacare by cutting out more harmful taxes.
  Every single State wins in this bill. By way of example, here are a 
few ways my State will benefit. This bill keeps the decade-old promise 
of a new, modern VA medical center with a special emphasis on care for 
women veterans. There is support for fighting invasive Asian Carp in 
West Kentucky, for Central Kentucky's role in high-tech agricultural 
research. Of course, Kentucky has a huge stake in our Nation's battle 
against opioid and substance abuse. I am proud these bills fund housing 
and treatment programs established by my CAREER Act to help those in 
long-term recovery reenter the workforce.
  Speaking of addiction, I am especially proud that this legislation 
includes my T-21 legislation to raise the nationwide age for purchasing 
tobacco and vaping products to 21 years old and help roll back the 
explosion in tobacco and nicotine use among our Nation's youth.
  I am proud to have worked with Senator Kaine and others on both sides 
to ensure that the legislation we drafted became law this year. Senator 
Todd Young of Indiana was also deeply involved in this as well. I am 
proud that these bills include direct bipartisan action that I urged to 
shore up the looming pension and healthcare crisis faced by coal 
communities in Kentucky and across the Nation.
  These are some examples from Kentucky. This legislation touches, in 
fact, all 50 States. This is why full-year funding bills are better 
than chronic CRs. This is why the Senate should pass these bills this 
way and send them to the President's desk.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from South Dakota.