[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 43 (Thursday, March 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1072-S1074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, finally, an omnibus spending bill. For 
months, there have been negotiations underway. The process has been 
drawn out. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, there was a lot 
of frustration. But soon we are going to vote on an omnibus spending 
package, and we are going to do much more than keep the lights on in 
our government.
  In many ways, this spending package is a testament to the progress we 
have

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made during the past year of the Democratic majority. We have historic 
funding to reduce the cost of living for working families. We get it; 
American families are having a tough time making ends meet and are 
living paycheck to paycheck. We take action in this omnibus spending 
bill to start to address that challenge, and we create good jobs here 
in America. Isn't it about time we focus on making things in America, 
putting people to work with good jobs that supply them? And we need to 
ensure families and children can access critical supplies, like 
nutritious food and clean water that they need to survive.
  This bill also provides more than $13 billion to the Ukrainians 
fighting tooth and nail to defend their freedom. The Democratic Senate 
caucus was fortunate last night to have over an hour and a half with 
the President where he spoke candidly and informally about the 
challenge we face in Ukraine. We have sent millions--maybe billions of 
dollars--in assistance to those who are resisting Vladimir Putin's 
barbaric attack on that nation, and we know that it is the right thing 
to do. There are displays of courage by the Ukrainians the likes of 
which we haven't seen in modern times. President Zelenskyy, 
particularly, has impressed not only the United States but the world 
with his singular courage.
  The funds we are putting in this bill will help Ukrainians on the 
frontline to continue to hold back Vladimir Putin, and on the ground, 
in the air, through cyberspace, as well as helping our NATO allies in 
the region. NATO has never been stronger--30 different countries 
standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to stop Vladimir Putin's 
invasion.
  The omnibus spending package, also, makes crucial investments in 
America at a time when we need it. It will fund research into the 
technologies and innovations. Innovation is an American phenomenon. 
Other countries do it, but I think we do it better. And whether we are 
curing a disease, creating a new industry, or combating the climate 
crisis, America needs to continue to lead the world in innovation. This 
spending bill does that.
  At a moment of great peril and uncertainty in the world, we are 
coming together to defend our families, our security, our economy, and 
our future. But we need to move fast. We need to send this package to 
President Biden's desk quickly.
  For the past 2 weeks, Russian mortars and missiles have been raining 
down on innocent people and children throughout Ukraine. More than 400 
individuals have been killed, with some estimates in the thousands of 
deaths, believing that the current numbers are really an undercount.
  Let me say one word while we are on the subject of Vladimir Putin and 
war crimes. What more evidence do you need than the bombing of a 
maternity hospital and the killing of mothers and infants? This man, 
Putin, and his attack on the Ukrainian people, is not following any 
standards or rules of decent conduct in any way whatsoever. I think it 
is obvious.
  Yesterday, the Russian airstrike that devastated the hospital complex 
in Mariupol is an indication that we will never forget. A video 
released shortly after the bombing showed a pregnant woman being 
carried away on a stretcher, surrounded by pulverized cars in flames 
and blackened trees covered in debris. It was a scene from a horror 
movie--a horror created by Vladimir Putin.
  Ukraine needs humanitarian, military, and economic aid today. That is 
exactly what this omnibus bill will provide--billions of dollars in 
military equipment and intelligence support and even more billions in 
emergency supplies, food aid, healthcare, migration, and refugee 
assistance.
  This is how America stands by our fellow defenders of democracy at 
their darkest hour, and Ukraine needs our help.
  Here at home, the spending package includes a number of provisions 
that will strengthen America and the 330 million Americans who live 
here. We are bringing vital investments back to our home States. I 
support the return of congressionally directed funding, because 
Senators and Representatives know their States and know their districts 
better than any Federal Agency personnel in Washington.
  I am pleased to report that my colleague, Senator Tammy Duckworth, 
and I worked to include $210 million in funding for Illinois projects 
in this bill; and I will be ready to stand up and defend every single 
one of them piece by piece, project by project, as a good investment in 
the future of my State and our Nation.
  This funding is going to help localities in Illinois launch important 
infrastructure, access to healthcare, environmental conservation, 
strengthening community violence prevention initiatives, supporting 
nonprofits doing important work through our State, and much more.
  We also do something that I have worked on personally for the last 
several months and that I am particularly proud of; we are going to 
reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, known as VAWA. For months, 
I have worked on this proposal with some amazing people in the U.S. 
States Senate. On my side of the aisle, Senator Dianne Feinstein really 
was one of the founders of this effort. On the Republican side of the 
aisle, two women Senators have just been amazing--Lisa Murkowski of 
Alaska and Joni Ernst of Iowa. We wouldn't have passed this bill and 
included it in this appropriations measure were it not for their good 
effort; and I thank them very much. They have helped to provide a 
lifeline to survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

  With this year's spending package, Congress will finally reauthorize 
the Violence Against Women Act.
  Additionally, the omnibus includes funding for a longstanding 
priority of mine: research. These investments in research are going to 
help keep America on the cutting edge of innovation when it comes to 
lifesaving medical treatment, therapies, and so much more. For example, 
this bill provides the National Institutes of Health with a significant 
funding increase--this time, a $2.25 billion increase; that is more 
than 5 percent. Five percent, I have kind of established--and, I hope, 
with some of my colleagues--as the Holy Grail of increases each year in 
research, particularly at the NIH. And with the good help of Republican 
Senator--retiring Senator, unfortunately--Roy Blunt of Missouri, we 
have managed to keep our promise. Lamar Alexander, now retired from the 
Senate, was one of the leaders on this issue. And Patty Murray is 
always there from the State of Washington. Well, we are going to keep 
our word again this year.
  Basic medical research, which the United States leads the world in, 
is going to be enhanced with this improvement of more than 5 percent 
increase in the budget of the National Institutes of Health.
  I am particularly pleased that this omnibus bill includes a dedicated 
$25 million for the implementation of the ACT for ALS bill, which 
became law late last year. I want to thank Senator Coons for his 
leadership on that issue. This funding will ensure that NIH can quickly 
launch new initiatives to expand access to treatments for those 
suffering from ALS.
  Sadly, I am disappointed to say that the package does not include 
COVID relief. We are at a turning point in this pandemic. New cases of 
COVID are at their lowest rates in more than 7 months, praise the Lord; 
and parents and families are just as anxious as can be to get their 
kids back in school and life back to normal. These are promising 
developments--from vaccines to better treatments--but we cannot pretend 
that this pandemic is over for good, nor that it won't resurface in 
terms of new variants. We need to prepare for whatever the coronavirus 
might have in store for us. We need to make sure we have the 
therapeutics and strengthen our capacity to detect new variants before 
they become pandemic.
  Given the dire urgency of the situation in Ukraine, I understand we 
simply don't have time to go back to the bargaining table, but many of 
us still believe that a toolkit to deal with future infections in COVID 
or the next pandemic is absolutely essential. I can only hope the 
Senate agrees with that on a bipartisan basis.
  Two years into this pandemic, we know this virus is anything but 
predictable. It operates like free-form jazz. Just when we think we 
have found

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our rhythm, the tempo gets turned upside down with a new variant. This 
current lull in cases is the perfect moment to tune up our instruments, 
keep our fingers sharp, and prepare for whatever is next.
  Let me close by saying that, aside from the omission of additional 
COVID relief, there is much to celebrate in this spending package. It 
is an example of what Congress can achieve when it works together.
  In the face of Russia's horrible invasion of Ukraine, an invasion 
that has already created 2 million Ukrainian refugees, we are standing 
together in defense of democracy. Russia's invasion is a tragic 
illustration of one man's mania and of a conflict that will define the 
21st century if we don't stop it in its tracks. Right now, Putin is 
waging yesterday's war with yesterday's goal of reestablishing the 
Soviet Union. He is sending ill-equipped teenagers in Russian Army 
uniforms into Ukraine to terrorize innocent families and bomb children 
in hospitals, all in some delusional effort that he is going to create 
the new Russian Empire, with him being installed as the Czar of that 
enterprise. He is not willing to face the challenges of the New World. 
So he is trying to revive the Old World.
  Autocrats like Putin live in fear of the future. Democracies like 
America welcome it because we know that the future represents an 
opportunity to build a better world for everyone. That is precisely why 
President Zelenskyy and every Ukrainian is fighting to protect their 
country. They are protecting, as well, the freedom to shape their own 
future, not to have their future dictated by a man like Vladimir Putin.
  With the spending package before the Senate, we can begin building 
our own future as well--a future made in America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). The Senator from Iowa.

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