[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13639]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             APPROPRIATIONS

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this month the Senate Appropriations 
Committee completed its work on 12 bills to fund the government for 
fiscal year 2016, which begins October 1, 2015.
  I congratulate Chairman Cochran and his subcommittee chairs for a 
full and open process. They worked hand in hand with me and my ranking 
Democratic members. But their bills are based on the postsequester 
levels of the Republican budget resolution. The bills reported by the 
committee are too spartan to meet the needs of the American people.
  The difference between the Republican budget and the President's 
budget request is $74 billion. That is a lot. But even with that 
increase, the discretionary top line will be equal to what we spent in 
2010, 6 years ago.
  I would like to talk about one example of the real impact of the 
Republican sequester level budget--failing our veterans.
  Veterans deserve promises made and promises kept. Instead, the Senate 
fiscal year 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related 
Agencies bill is at least $857 million short of what is needed for 
veteran health care. And the House is even worse, at least $1.4 billion 
below what is needed. At those levels, about 70,000 fewer veterans will 
receive medical care.
  Despite record demand for services, our veterans are still waiting to 
get appointments at hospitals and clinics. In fact, the electronic wait 
list has grown by almost 10,000 over the past 2 months. Sequester will 
result in waitlists growing exponentially.
  Sequester budgeting for veterans' medical care means almost 150,000 
veterans living with hepatitis C will be in limbo, not receiving new, 
lifesaving drugs.
  It is not just care that is shortchanged. Sequester budgeting means 
hospitals and clinics continue to deteriorate. The VA has identified 
between $10 billion and $12 billion of backlogged code violations and 
deficiencies at hospitals and clinics across the country. In fiscal 
year 2013, the VA spent $1.3 billion repairing clinics, but for fiscal 
year 2016 the Republican bills cut funding in half, even as the backlog 
grows.
  Yesterday, the Republican leader stated that he did not want a 
government shutdown. Encouragingly, he added, ``At some point we'll 
negotiate the way forward.''
  Democrats are ready. Since May, we have been asking to negotiate to 
eliminate sequester with a sequel to Murray-Ryan. The only way we will 
have shutdown, showdown, and government by self-made crisis is if the 
Republican majority refuses to send the President bills he can sign and 
instead sends bills that are too spartan or contain poison pill riders 
like prohibiting funding for Planned Parenthood or signature 
initiatives like the Affordable Care Act and climate pollution rules.
  Whether it is funding our troops or keeping our promises to veterans, 
we can't do it without a new budget deal. Freezing Federal spending 
doesn't meet the growing, complex needs of the Nation.
  None of us were elected to make America weaker. Yet sequester makes 
us weaker and sequester hollows out America.
  America deserves better, but we need a new budget deal to do it. 
Democrats are ready to get serious and get to the table. We need to end 
sequester for defense with no more gimmicks and end sequester for 
programs not funded in the defense bill that protect our country and 
make it great.

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