[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on another matter, our country 
would be much better off if our Democratic colleagues shelved their 
radical wish list and focused on their fundamental responsibilities as 
a one-party government. But while they continue to spin their wheels 
negotiating this reckless taxing-and-spending spree, their most basic 
jobs are being neglected.
  This week, already months behind the usual pace, the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee released partisan drafts of spending bills 
that are dead on arrival. They spend too much. They cut our 
longstanding taxpayer protections like the Hyde amendment. They 
shortchange our national defense even as we face serious and growing 
threats from terrorism and from major competitors like China and 
Russia. Most of these bills can't earn 50 votes, much less 60.
  When Republicans ran the Senate, by this time of year, we had had 
bipartisan frameworks in hand for months, and we were hammering out the 
fine details across the aisle. Our Democratic colleagues are way, way 
behind schedule, with no solution in sight.
  It is also looking increasingly likely that we will reach Veterans 
Day before the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act--
now, never mind that this year's bill earned overwhelming, bipartisan 
support in committee; never mind that it represents this body's single 
most important opportunity to influence national security. Our troops 
are being put in the back seat so the socialists can drive the car.
  At the end of the month, because House liberals still cannot get 
their act together and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which 
the Senate passed months ago, major highway projects and American 
workers are scheduled to be thrown into limbo.
  Our Democratic colleagues have unified control of the government--
unified control of the government. The country needs them to stop 
arguing among themselves over how to waste trillions of dollars and get 
about executing their most basic jobs.

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