[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 172 (Thursday, October 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 BUDGET

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now on the minibus, over the course of this week, I have 
worked closely with Democratic and Republican appropriators to move 
forward on the bipartisan Senate appropriations process. We have made a 
lot of progress this week trying to reach an agreement on amendments. 
We are getting close to an agreement, but we are not there yet, so we 
will keep working today.
  Here in the Senate, unlike the chaos of the House, most Members on 
both sides want to see bipartisanship because that is the only way 
things move forward in a divided government. And the Appropriations 
Committee, under the leadership of Chair Murray and Ranking Member 
Collins, have done a very good job passing out all the bills with 
overwhelming bipartisan majorities, many of them unanimously.
  But there is one crucial point: When we came to agreement to move 
these bills, both sides committed to stopping poison pill amendments 
because that would risk ending the process. Sadly, a small group on the 
other side have tried adding poison pills, and we have been dealing 
with them over the last few weeks. I am optimistic that we will work 
through these poison pills and pass these bipartisan bills soon.
  Democrats made a commitment to our Republican colleagues to pursue 
regular order as much as possible because we want to get these 
appropriations bills done. We have committed to having debates and 
votes on relevant, non-poison pill amendments. I think there are 39 or 
so lined up. But while we are getting close, the work is not done.
  We are going to keep working today. If people want to know why it is 
moving slowly, it is because of Republican insistence on poison pill 
amendments. But that is not going to stop us. We are going to keep 
moving forward, and we are going to try to vote on amendments soon.
  So, once again, thank you to the whole Appropriations Committee on 
both sides. I am optimistic we can get this done.

                          ____________________