[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 144 (Thursday, September 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4247-S4248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Regular Order Process

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today, I want to talk about something that 
has been going really right here in the U.S. Senate, and that is the 
use of regular order to consider the annual appropriations bills.
  What do I mean by ``regular order''? For starters, regular order 
refers to allowing bills to go through the committee process--including 
hearings and a markup--where members of the committee have a chance to 
amend and approve the bill before being referred by the committee to 
the Senate as a whole for additional debate and deliberation.
  The regular-order process is key. It provides the time and space for 
real deliberation. It allows for input from a broad array of Members 
and promotes collaboration and compromise. It is a transparent process, 
one that ensures that both Senators and the American people can see how 
the legislation in question is made and have ample time to digest it, 
not to mention the fact that by ensuring the input of more Senators, 
the regular-order process helps ensure that a broader swath of the 
American people is represented in any final legislation.
  One of Congress's most basic responsibilities is funding the 
government. For all the reasons I just listed, the way we should be 
doing that is through regular order. But we haven't been doing the 
greatest job of that lately here in the Senate. But this year, for the 
first time in 5 years, the Senate Appropriations Committee has 
processed all 12 appropriations bills through the committee. A huge 
amount of credit goes to Senator Collins and to her Democrat 
counterpart, Senator Murray, for making this happen.
  I hope this will not be a one-off but the start of a new habit for 
the Senate--a habit of giving each of the appropriations bills the 
time, debate, and serious consideration that it deserves.
  In their press release following passage of all 12 appropriations 
bills out of committee, Senators Collins and Murray noted that the 
bills had passed the committee by overwhelming bipartisan margins, and 
it is not surprising. When you give Members time to debate and amend 
legislation and make their concerns and the concerns of their 
constituents heard, you are a lot more likely to get bipartisan buy-in 
on the final product.
  Today, we expect the Democrat leader to file cloture on what we call 
a minibus of three appropriations bills: Agriculture; Transportation, 
Housing and Urban Development, or what we call THUD; and Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs, or MILCON-VA. I hope the hearing 
these bills got in committee will be matched by a similarly 
deliberative process on the floor, including ample time for 
consideration of amendments.
  Debate and amendment on the floor is another key element of the 
regular-

[[Page S4248]]

order process and one that also helps promote a bipartisan final bill. 
The debate on the National Defense Authorization Act in July was a good 
example of this. Members had the opportunity to file and offer 
amendments when the bill came to the floor, resulting in consideration 
of 131 amendments, including 33 amendment votes, which helped the bill 
pass the full Senate by an overwhelming bipartisan margin.
  I am looking forward to next week's debate on the minibus, and I am 
very pleased that, among many other good provisions, this year's 
MILCON-VA appropriations bill will continue funding for building out 
the necessary infrastructure for the B-21 long-range strike bomber at 
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The B-21 will revolutionize 
the Air Force's long-range strike capabilities and is an important step 
forward in ensuring that our military is prepared to meet and defeat 
21st-century threats. I have been working to ensure that the Air 
Force--and Ellsworth, the main operating base for the first B-21s--has 
everything it needs for the B-21 mission.
  So, as I said, I am looking forward to debate on the Agriculture, 
THUD, and MILCON-VA appropriations bills. I trust that we will continue 
working through appropriations bills in the coming weeks with full 
debates on the Senate floor. I expect we will need to pass a short-term 
continuing resolution to enable these debates and to allow for time to 
reconcile the House and Senate versions of these bills and get final 
versions to the President's desk.
  Before I close, I do want to mention one troubling thing among the 
good news about the regular-order process, and that is the Democrat 
leader's decision, in his words, to ``invent a new process'' to deal 
with the thorny question of regulating AI, or artificial intelligence, 
because the committee process ``won't suffice''--``won't suffice.''
  I am not too sure what the majority leader hopes to gain by taking 
responsibility for oversight and examination of this subject away from 
the relevant committees of jurisdiction that consider issues like this 
day in and day out and are well-versed in developing solutions. I am 
definitely worried that this new process will restrict Senators' input 
into the final product, leading to legislation created by the leader 
exclusively without collaboration with other Members or relevant 
committees.
  It is a disappointing move, especially considering the progress we 
have made on returning to regular order with appropriations bills. I 
would like to see the leader show a little more faith in the committee 
process and in his committee chairs.
  But, again, I am very pleased that at least on the appropriations 
front, we are back where we should be, and that is processing 
appropriations bills in committee and on the Senate floor.
  I am looking forward to next week's Ag, THUD, and MILCON-VA 
appropriations debate.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The Senator from Kentucky.