[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 22 (Friday, January 30, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, when we began this year's appropriations 
process, the task before us seemed almost impossible. It has been many, 
many years since we have completed the full appropriations process, and 
there were lots of challenges in a divided nation and a divided 
Congress.
  I just wanted to briefly, this evening, as we conclude this process 
in the Senate, take a moment and thank the chair and vice chair of the 
full Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins and Senator Murray. They 
and their staff made the impossible real.
  The bills that just passed through this body and headed now to the 
House will save lives and change them--will fund hundreds of billions 
of dollars of positive and valuable activity on behalf of the people of 
the United States.
  The subcommittee for which I am responsible in this Congress as the 
ranking member is the appropriations for the Department of Defense and 
for Intelligence Communities. The chair is Senator McConnell. I have 
truly enjoyed working with Senator McConnell on the very complex, 
challenging, and urgent issues related to our national defense, to our 
intelligence community, and to the future of our Nation.
  Senators, as we all know, don't do anything on their own, even on our 
best days. So I wanted to take a moment and thank all of the staff and 
the clerks who worked tirelessly, who stayed up for weeks on end, who 
dealt with ridiculous crises deadlines, who negotiated and renegotiated 
in good faith across the aisle to achieve this result.
  I want to thank in particular the folks who make the SAC-D 
subcommittee work--of course, principally, Rob Leonard, my clerk, and 
Rob Karem, who is the clerk for Senator McConnell; but in addition: 
Gabriella Armonda, Dylan Byrd, Rachel DaPieve, Laura Forrest, Abigail 
Grace, Megan Handal, Cole Hodge, Brigid Kolish, Alexa Lorick, Ryan 
Pettit, Todd Phillips, Kathryn Plunkett, Kim Segura, Tom Shaffer, and 
Elise Stebick.
  If I missed anyone, count it as my fault, not the staff who helped me 
assemble that list and the following.
  I just wanted to also thank a number of the clerks of the 
subcommittees with whom I worked: Evan Schatz, of course, who is 
Senator Murray's chief clerk; John Righter; Jo Eckert; Jen Becker; Alex 
Carnes, whom I am particularly thankful to for his Johnny-on-the-spot 
assistance all times, including on this evening's vote; and Mike 
Gentile.
  There is more work to do. The next 2 weeks will require us to listen 
to each other, to work hard, and to hammer out more accountability and 
transparency for the Department of Homeland Security to help make sure 
that we meet this moment.
  But at the end of the day, as someone who is proud to be an 
appropriator and to have the opportunity to deliver more than $150 
million for my little State of Delaware, across dozens and dozens of 
targeted appropriations, and then, more broadly, through all of these 
different subcommittees, to help fund critically needed investments in 
medical research, in university research, in the volunteer fire 
service, in law enforcement, in education, in infrastructure, it is 
important that this body do its principal job.
  The power of the purse is something that--going back to old England--
we fought for hundreds of years to wrest away from Kings. When we began 
this process, it was not at all clear to me that this article I body 
would succeed in exercising the power of the purse, but today, we have. 
And for that, I am grateful.
  More than anything else, I am grateful to the incredible and talented 
staff who have made this easy by their hard work.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

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